Why won't SEGA release a HD version?

[FlagshipFighter]

I sometimes mess up on my QTE's because of the color display. When "A" shows up I think to press "B" because its red on a Xbox 360 controller. GAH!

Perhaps we should ask them to include an option for classic colors on the QTE's. Worst case scenario, it could be modded in.

Don't you guys worry, I'm going to get 'mah boi' @shengoro86 on the case!

Personally, i got use to the xbox colour scheme as i use that more, but either way for me personally it doesn't matter.

The element that does matter for me is that it's big and prominent just as is on DC. Too many games in the HD era made it too small and shoved in the corner/edge almost like the Dev's were ashamed of having it.

Oh and did anyone play Ryse? That game was so ashamed of it, it didn't even show the button, just the colour! That was really weird when playing, but strangely in that game it didn't even matter anyway as you could never fail doing it.

I still believe Beyond had a conceptually good idea with handling QTE's but the execution was a little off at times, and like ryse ultimately didn't matter as there was no fail-state.

Makes me appreciate Yu if anything, he made it more challenging as the game went on!

Yu says he may not implement qte or that it'll be different, is that (still) correct? Going to be fascinating seeing the creator of the mechanic take it further...

[Spaghetti]

Honestly, i have no idea. Any manager with half a brain would see that it's easy money as it would sell a shit load on curiosity alone. And the explanations generally "accepted" by the community frankly fail to 100% convince me, i'll quote Spaghetti's post for convenience:

A.) Time - They likely had a fire lit under them after the success of the Kickstarter, but a HD remaster takes time and effort if you're going to do it right.

B.) Legal complication - There have been mutterings about legal complications stopping SEGA properly making a Shenmue remaster happen. Some say they're related to the branding tie-ins (Timex, etc), and others that middleware used to make the game no longer have identifiable owners due to insolvency and asset stripping of the original owners. Neither of these have been substantiated by fact, but it could be true.

C.) Legacy - Shenmue was wrongly a scapegoat for the death of the Dreamcast. Like a game of telephone, inaccurate and inflated budgets have been passed on as fact, and the true cause of death of the Dreamcast (bungling all hardware from the Megadrive onwards) was disguised by executives. SEGA have recently gone back on this though, especially since the KS success put significant egg on their face. They're acknowledging that Shenmue III is a big deal, and they know Shenmue sells judging by how much they've been farming it out for merchandising and allowing cameo appearances from Ryo.

D.) Tie-In - They want to ride Shenmue III's hype, and likewise Shenmue III wants to ride the wave of renewed interest a Shenmue collection would bring, but Shenmue III isn't due for another 21 months at the earliest, and they want to be released close to each other for maximum effect.

A) Sure, i agree, but why not at least announce it then and start building up the hype, if you are serious into the project?

B) This is maybe the only reason that somehow could make sense, but i doubt it's because of stuff like timex and coca cola (all they need is to change the textures). Completely wild guess but maybe they lost the source code? i know it happened to Final Fantasy 9 and that's why it still hasn't gotten a single remaster (it's finally coming tho, and i read somewhere that the devs handling it said development was a nightmare).

C) I agree in theory, but i refuse to believe that after that huge KS success Sega's managers can't see that an HD remaster would make easy millions on hype alone. No one can be that dumb.

D) I don't see how postponing the HD remaster could help Shenmue 3, or how releasing close to Shenmue 3 could generate more hype for the remaster than it would already have. If anything, it would be better to release the remaster as soon as possible so that as much people as possible can get into the series.

My best guess is that for some technical problem the remaster would cost more than Sega is willing to spend on it, there's no other logical explanation.

A.) Not really a wise strategy for a remaster. Announce it and release it in quick succession is probably the way to go. Hit quick and hard like a bullet. It's only really AAA games that get these announcements waaaaaay before they're due to come out.

B.) In the case of Timex it's not really just changing the texture, as Ryo's watch is based on an existing Timex model. They'd need to remodel the watch to avoid any kind of infringement. SEGA might also want to preserve the game as it originally came out and try renegotiating the licencing. As for the source code, IDK. I don't think they've lost it, but your guess is as good as mine. Yu might have said by now if that was the case. At best only some of the pre-release development materials for referencing have disappeared.

C.) SEGA have been warming back up to Shenmue, but who knows if there's still some ill-sentiment towards it within the corporate structure. I feel most of those people are long gone and replaced with people more sympathetic to the series though. It's still a possibility that some higher up in SEGA still feels anything Shenmue related in the form of a game is risky. Even if there's cold feet I don't think it'll last long though.

D.) It's all about the synergy. Shenmue III creates interest in Shenmue HD, Shenmue HD creates interest in Shenmue III. Too long a gap between them means some of that is lost. Can you imagine the hype blitz if Shenmue HD is released in June-October 2017 leading up to Shenmue III in December?