Cautious optimism is how I'm feeling here. BUT if we look at the facts, there is a decent possibility that Shenmue could return on Sony's console.


FACT: Yu Suzuki has stated that he believes that Sega will allow him to make the game.

FACT: He said this in front of the lead architect for the PS4

FACT: Said lead architect and Yu Suzuki are good friends

FACT: Sega has mentioned in the past they would be open to leasing Shenmue for console exclusivity

FACT: Now Sony mentions this news we're reading now.


Let's keep our fingers crossed. The chances of Shenmue returning this next generation are far better than it has been in years past. It's just all up to Sega to come up off of the IP.

Just created a twitter account and sent mine in. Guys don't forget today's the day. Let's push hard to let Sony know that we want Shenmue III and for Sega to listen to their customers and #GiveYuTheShenmueLicense. Happy Shenmue Day guys.

Imagine if you were a Sega employee, or an insider in the industry that knows things that are kept in the public. What if you knew that Sega planned on making the infamous sequel that's going to make a shock in the gaming industry. I can only imagine if I knew something like that, It'd be hard as hell for me to keep my mouth shut.

-We have the Sega representative(name escapes me) who was very excited to acknowledge that fans want some more Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia

-Yu Suzuki "I think Sega will let me make the game" (sitting right next to the lead architect of the PS4

-Adam Boyes mentioning that Shenmue is one of the most requested games to bring to PS4. Sony openly hinting that they already have/or will be discussing with Sega about the game.

-Sega mentioning that they are open to revisiting the series if one of the big three is willing to fund it

-Direct trolling from Sega in the new Sonic Racing game


For me it's not even a question of IF Sega will bring Shenmue III back. It's a matter of HOW they plan on doing it. Yu Suzuki's statement to me is the most tangible piece of evidence that it's coming. Or at least there has been some SERIOUS talks within Sega about bringing it back.

Sega is absolutely aware that one of their IP'S is the Pandora's Box of gaming. Shenmue(part1) is literally one of the very last AAA games that is STILL exclusive to one console. That alone made it's value skyrocket. Sega knows it's reputation is on the line when it comes to this one singular game, so they're treating it as delicate as possible.

You're not going to wake up one day and check IGN and BAM!!! SHENMUE III IS ANNOUNCED!!!! out of the clear blue sky. This is going to take tactful planning on Sega's part and they absolutely know it. Which by coincidence we have the Shenmue discussion coming at GDC later this first quarter. If nothing is announced, this will be looked at as an extreme disappointment for everyone involved.

Let's be patient and see what happens after GDC. Until then, keep fighting the good fight!!

Shenmue doesn't even need a kickstarter. Sega has more than enough money to make the game, they simply choose not to.

Good job guys. We're kicking ass and taking names. SHENMUE WONT BE DENIED THIS TIME!!!!

http://www.cnet.com/news/shenmue-3-beco ... ckstarter/


#wesavedshenmue

When I think of Shenmue, I don't look at it as an "open world game". It is the only game of it's genre and I hope Shenmue III is more of the same. Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment F.R.E.E.

The fact that Shenmue III even has a 2017 release date is a dream come true. I waited 15 years for this game, I can wait one more year.

I don't see Sega giving a shit about Shenmue, even less putting money into it. They didn't even gave publicity to the kickstarter or slacker backer campaign.
I think that's a good thing, tbh. Involving SEGA in that way probably would have caused a bigger shit storm than the "OMG SONY FUNDING SHENMUE 3" falsehoods.
Coming from sega, the less has to do with Shenmue the better, this company is a joke today.

If SEGA was smart they could win a lot of PR points if they backed the project like any of us. Say they gave 3M to the project to reach 10M. Everyone here would be happy and more inclined to buy SEGA products... especially if a Shenmue I & II remaster was coming.


The reason why we are at the point we are now with Shenmue III is all because Sega is being stubborn to make the game on their own dime. I still believe Yakuza engine can be easily tailored to make a Shenmue game. Although this is subject to change, I believe they would have a better looking Ryo model under the Yakuza engine than the current one now. Things could change after PSX.

I wish Sega would lend more support to Shenmue III than they are right now. What gets lost in discussion is that III will not finish the series, and I really hope that Shenmue IV does not have to go through Kickstarter to get developed.

I'm concerned that Shenmue III will look like "generic ABC unreal engine" game instead of a game that looks like a Sega game. When you look at Yakuza, you can immediately tell that it's a Sega game without even knowing what it is. But from what I've read from Peter and others who have seen the game there's no need for concern.

That character model further supports what I've been feeling for a while. Shenmue III needs the support of Sega for this to be the game we want it to be. When you look at the character models for Yakuza, it has that Sega look to it. I remember when Yakuza 1 first came out, it immediately drew comparisons to Shenmue. Without knowing what the game was, you can immediately tell that it was a Sega game and some thought it was Shenmue III.

Anyways, S3 could really benefit from whatever shading and graphics tools they use on the recent Yakuza games. Yakuza imo has an aesthetic look that gives us an idea at what Dreamcast 2 games would look if Sega still made consoles. Even though Shenmue III isn't a "Sega" game per-se, these models are not convincing in the sense that Shenmue will have that classic Sega charm to it. But given the opinions of what some saw of the game last year, I remain optimistic that it will deliver. It's unrealistic of me to make a full judgement until I see actual gameplay footage.

The game could benefit from another 1-2 year delay with Sega stepping in for financial support like they should have done all along. We'll see if they get the picture once that Shenmue I and II HD money starts rolling in. Even though Shenmue III is not being developed in house by Sega, I'm sure they will be receiving their cut on whatever profits are made off of Shenmue III.

Ultimately our Shenmue money is still going to Sega. It would nice if they would act like they gave a damn about the future of their IP.

I believe it was mentioned by a few how Shenmue 3 should resemble an art style closer to the Yakuza games/Shenmue online. While I can understand and appreciate that, it's not anything I expected for this project to fulfil, I think that it's an unfair limitation to place on it due to the difference in the games budget as well as really restrictive from a development perspective if Yu-san and the team indeed wanted to challenge/change from that.




Yep. It was me who said that. I still believe that Yakuza should be the graphical benchmark for Shenmue III. Especially in terms of character models. The reason why I say that is because while I have no proof of it, it looks like Yakuza used Shenmue as their base for aesthetic designs and specifically character models. I get the sense that whatever graphics and shading tools they used on Shenmue was directly carried over into Yakuza's development cycle. Kazuma Kiryu's PS2 model looks like he would be a companion that would accompany Ryo in Shenmue V or something.

I don't look at it as "restrictive" so to speak, as I think it's a matter of Yu simply picking up where he left off. While I'm not too fond of the new character models, the words described from the guy who said he saw the game was that "Shenmue III is beautiful", so I'm not too worried about it. I'm confident that Ryo's character model will be fine, along with the others. If Kid Nocon can give us an accurate looking Ryo working as a one man development team, I'm sure development team will get it right.

My biggest concern is the fighting mechanics. I really REALLY hope they continue to use the Virtua Fighter style of fighting. Anything else would feel unnatural

Honestly the delay made me even more excited for the game. I remember Suzuki saying a while back that his favorite part of the whole series happens in the third game. I cant wait to see what that part is. I have complete faith that he will deliver a stellar game.

Knowing Suzuki, I wouldnt be surprised if this development cycle maybe used to joint develop Shenmue IV. Kinda like how 1 and 2 were jointly developed.

It makes it very intriguing of what who those saw of Shenmue III had to say. Calling the game "beautiul" is a strong compliment to give to a video game.


Either way, im thankful we're getting a Shenmue III that surpasses Yu Suzuki's vision. Knowing that he's been nothing but kind and honest to his audience ever since "I think Sega will let me make the game". I feel a genuine sincerity in his demeanor that makes me believe that Shenmue III is going to be mind blowing.


Take your time Suzuki-sama. Take as much time as you need.

The only thing that would make Shenmue 3 suck is if Lan Di doesn't catch these hands at some point in the game. I'm not trying to see him ride off in a boat or fly out on a helicopter this time.

Yakuza to me is the best series Sega has going since Shenmue. Even though both games are very different on the surface, you can certainly see Shenmue's influence in the Yakuza games. Every time I walk in Club Sega, watch Kiryu put his 100 yen in a Space Harrier machine it just makes me want to play Shenmue even more.

Not to mention the fact that Ryo (Akira) is technically playable in Yakuza through the VF2 and VF5 cabinets respectively.

I hope the menu music is the exact same one from the first two games.

After hearing that Suzuki-sama received further financial capital to produce the game, this means that YS will be able to make the Shenmue III that he wants. The best Shenmue news this week wasn't that a "trailer" was shown, it was that Yu Suzuki got much needed financial support to develop the game. I'm confident that the final game will look MUCH better than the trailer we saw this trailer. If this means that Shenmue III gets delayed to 2019 so be it.

Basically that trailer we saw today was Project Berkley 3 trailer. There were significant visual improvements from Project Berkley to Shenmue I. I think we will see the same when Shenmue III goes into full promotion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ6-QRThA8A

What I got from this update is that Shenmue III would benefit greatly if they had more support from Sega. I'm not sure if this is possible, but it would be nice if the Virtua Fighter source code/engine can be ported to the Unreal Engine. Tekken seemed to have moved seamlessly to the UE4 without any problems. It would be nice if Sega allowed Yu Suzuki to experiment with the VF code on the Unreal Engine.

Also that logo needs to go. There was nothing wrong with the original logo at all.

Anyone find it interesting that Sega themselves are producing interviews related to Shenmue? Given their track record of consistent idiocy towards the series I find this quite fascinating. Good read and hopefully more great news from Sega in the future.

Reporting this video to the mods. Hopefully they will do the right thing and get this piece of shit off of Shenmue Dojo.

Shenmue I and II is really what's going to be the key factor. The best part of the HD announcement is there will be a new wave of gamers who are going to feel what we've felt for years anticipating the release of Shenmue III. The more, the merrier when it comes to Shenmue III's sales. As soon as a new gamer beats Shenmue III, is another gamer who will be on #SaveShenmueIV campaign if it comes to that.

I just want to play the game again. IDGAF about aspect ratios or any of that. If possible it would be cool to stretch to 16:9 but if not, I'm still going to play it like it's 2000 all over again.

^ So is that pretty much confirmed we will fight Lan Di and actually defeat him? Is that Lan Di Ryo is carrying at the 10th picture in the chapter concept art? Man.



I think it's Lan Di. But the general consensus believes that it's Ren and I can see how. This is pure speculation on my part, but I have a gut feeling that Lan Di will become an ally at some point during the series and he's going die in some noble sacrifice. Why else would Shenmue II push the narrative of Ryo forgiving Lan Di so much during the game?

There's two things that I'm looking forward to about Shenmue III

1. The conversation between Ryo and Lan Di when they finally confront each other. Given the fact that Lan Di knows that Ryo is after him, and also that he killed Iwao in somewhat honorable fashion ("I'll allow you to die like a warrior") and the fact that Lan Di has no apathy towards Ryo leads me to believe he's going to have a logical explanation as to why he did what he did. During the fight, I totally expect a choice box to appear that will ask if you want to kill Lan Di, or let him live when the time comes.


2. Whatever the scene/moment in the game that Yu Suzuki mentioned as the part in the series that has the most meaning to him, whatever that may be

The fact that YS is this quiet I'd assume is because him and his team has their nose to the grindstone on getting Shenmue III prepared for the "2018 release" that it's scheduled on. Each time I find myself frustrated that we haven't seen an iota of gameplay footage, I remind myself that we're grateful that development on Shenmue III is even happening in the first place.

It feels as if what we've been shown of "Shenmue III" right now is some Project Berkley level prototype footage. Until other key characters are shown (Lan Di, Niao Sun, Ren etc.), or live gameplay footage then any screenshots of Shenmue III is likely very old footage.

Either way I'm indifferent about Shenmue III not showing up at E3. We've got the piece of mind of the first two games to hold over until then so it's whatevs

I'm almost starting to believe a delay would be the best case scenario for Shenmue III. I think a delay would cause an unintended increase in hype for Shenmue III. Yeah there will be some "journalists" criticizing the delay for their own motives. But given the forecast of I and II HD on the upward trend, there will be a whole new generation of gamers who will understand why we feel the way we do about Shenmue III. This will do nothing but add to the mystique surrounding it.

Money talks, and Shenmue HD is the alarm clock that is finally going to get Sega to wake the fuck up.

If a delay means getting Sega officially on board for Shenmue III and/or future installments, Kiwami remakes and a consistent release schedule for titles beyond III, then I'm all in.

The similarities between Shenmue and Yakuza are there, but it's very meta and not the obvious ones that journalists like to bring up.

To me the most striking similarity that no one seems to talk about is the character models. I truly believe that whatever tech Sega was using to craft their character models in Shenmue were used to develop the Yakuza games. I remember when Yakuza was first announced on PS2, people immediately thought it was a new Shenmue game. Back when Shenmue III was just a thought, I always imagined the character models to look similar to what you'd see in Yakuza 3,4,5 etc.

Another similarity is when Yakuza forces you to advance the game on it's terms and not yours. It's not quite as fleshed out as Shenmue but it's there. There's been moments in Yakuza where I was like "I could see that happening in Shenmue, or yeah they took this from Shenmue". The beginning of Yakuza 3 and the whole baby mission in 6 stand out to me.

What's really funny is how people are praising Yakuza 6 for having all NPC's having full voice acting like it's some new innovation. As if there wasn't a game in 1999 that did this almost 20 years earlier

That's an obvious bait post, but why would we expect anything less from you. If we don't feed him he won't keep creating this drivel guys n girls...

You have the right to disagree with everything I say, I am (and will always be) fine with that.

I realise that the journey of this project hasn't been as pleasant as we all want it to be, but still, and unlike the vast majority of people here, I chose to realistically examine this journey and from its' very beginning, not through my rosey dreams and wishful thoughts.

I also fully realise that this choice won't be popular here, and will make those who base their opinions on wishes and dreams (instead of real solid facts) see my posts as drivel, because they simply are not to their liking.

But are they really? I think everything that's happened so far has shown without a doubt, time after time, that they actually aren't.



I don't see how more money being put into Shenmue III can be a bad thing. The only negative about this is that we have to wait another year or so. If you can't see the positive in that, then Shenmue III likely won't live up to your "expectations" no matter what. Personally I'd advise you to not buy the game at all and save yourself some time, money and grief.

We still don't know what the game really looks like. The only thing we have to go off of is progress videos which seem to get better and better each time. Reserving judgement until I see the actual gameplay footage.

It's funny that people are always comparing the Yakuza series to Shenmue, and now the voice actor for Shenhua is named Haruka.

If Shenmue and Yakuza were to ever do a crossover game, I could easily see Shenhua being some sort of mother figure to Haruka. That would be cool. But yeah I thought the same thing when I saw that.



Shenmue III is going to feel kind of weird as it's likely going to be the first game in the series with "good" voice acting. If I'm Sega/d3t, I'd default Shenmue I and II HD to Japanese just to mitigate any predictable criticism of reviewers docking points for the English voice acting.

Pre-order figures haven't been made public and likely won't be. All we have to go on is the strong performance we've seen in the Amazon charts.

Hopefully game hints will now be delivered in Iwao's voice through the speaker in the PS4 controller. :)


The noise after you obtain a move scroll should go to the controller. You know the DO DOOM DOOOOOM noise \:D/ \:D/

I don't care about 4:3, 16:9 , letterboxes, HD, SD or any of that. I'm just glad that I can finally play Shenmue again and that Sega answered my lifelong dream of playing Shenmue I with some bloom on my TV. Life is good.

I appreciated how he tried to bring rationality and balance to certain threads. Spaghetti will be missed and I hope he comes back one day.