Shenmue Dojo

We bullied them a bit. I mean, we knew they didn't have the funds to do Shenmue 3 but we still made their life hell

At the end of the day, they did let Yu use the Shenmue license. Whether out of respect for his friendship, as is claimed, or because they have a hand in the pot (which I'm sure they do.) They could have been complete assholes about it and flat out said "NO".

Shenmue 1 & 2 happened because of Sega. And now Shenmue 3 will happen because of them.

That said, looking back; even without the funds, they could have been more vocal about their support for the franchise. Yes they did include Ryo in various other games such as Sega Allstars, but was our spite for them just because they wouldn't answer the most basic questions about the future of Shenmue? Or because we actually feared they would never let Shenmue 3 happen?

I have no regrets for being so vocal about wanting part 3. If we would have remained silent we would never see what has happened this week. It is a nice token that they allowed Yu to take his baby and expend the story further, but like I said, if we didn't fight as hard as we have over the years right up to the end I don;t think we would have the success with the kickstarter that we see. Shenmue is always in the news every few months it seemed, like rumors or speculation, so people continuously got to hear about it and that elevated it to a mythical status. Even people that never played the games got to know about it because how vocal and passionate we were.

Sega Sammy has more than enough funds to make Shenmue 3, they simply did not want to.

For them a new failed Sonic project sequel is more appealing than a new Street of Rage or Shemmue. Sony also isn't doing this solely on the kindness of their hearts, they know there is a fanbase out there that will give you around $3M is one day on Shenmue name alone.

SEGA did not know that.

We weren't too hard on them. No regrets. If it wasn't for our continued persistence over the years this game would of never come to fruition.

Not even worrying about Shenmue 3.....Sega FUCKED Suzuki.

Too hard on them? I mean what did we really do? We signed petitions and sent emails. If anything we weren't harsh enough on them.

I think what a lot of younger people didn't realize back then is that while there are people who make video games because of the art, at the end of the day it's a financial business. Sega wants to make a profit, and if they see they can't make money from an IP, then what use is it?

If we were to be really hard on them, probably they would have gone out of business by now...

Malik Ishtahl wrote: Too hard on them? I mean what did we really do? We signed petitions and sent emails.

... to the point of tedium. We were brutal. Remember that one guy who threatened to burn down their headquarters?

On a serious note, I don't think us pestering Sega endlessly is what got Shenmue 3 announced. More a case of shouting loud enough about it anywhere and everywhere we could and making sure Suzuki always knew how passionate we were about the franchise continuing.

Sonoshee wrote:

Malik Ishtahl wrote: Too hard on them? I mean what did we really do? We signed petitions and sent emails.

... to the point of tedium. We were brutal. Remember that one guy who threatened to burn down their headquarters?

Sometimes you gotta fight for what you love! But I doubt they remotely took that seriously.

Sonoshee wrote: On a serious note, I don't think us pestering Sega endlessly is what got Shenmue 3 announced. More a case of shouting loud enough about it anywhere and everywhere we could and making sure Suzuki always knew how passionate we were about the franchise continuing.

Exactly, 14 years of the fans asking. Bringing it up every chance we could. Honestly I don't expect this game to be groundbreaking, but I want to be there for when the journey ends because of what it did for me 14 years ago.

SEGA has always been a frustrating group. Like a really creative, intelligent friend who just can't get it together. Watching them struggle with add-on consoles that bombed, to poorly marketing both the Saturn and the Dreamcast (while at their height creatively) has been painful to watch, and they perhaps understandably fell into a Sonic rut.

So, do I regret pestering SEGA? No. As a consumer and a fan, I don't SEGA's situation, their finances, their specific rationale, and therefore all I can do is make my voice and opinions known.

On that note, do I hold anything against them? Any ill will? Nope, because I don't know their specifics. And, any way it's sliced, they gave me a lot of happy memories, and they gave me Shenmue, even if they didn't follow through to the end with it.

No - and to be honest, given the reaction to the Shenmue III kickstarter (the equivalent of ~40,000 pre-orders in 2 days), they missed a pretty big opportunity. I always felt that this was a unique situation where you couldn't just simply look at total sales for Shenmue II. There were so many factors that affected it, like the NA rights being microsoft exclusive, the xbox game being a dc port (which hindered review scores/sales), and the high amount of piracy on dc.

I think the best thing that could've happened to Sega and Shenmue is to regroup and make a proper fully funded "Sega" Shenmue III to come out on Xbox 360 and PS3 a year before xbone/ps4. I am happy that III is coming out, but now there's a fear of not getting enough funding and having the game be stripped down as a result.

In hindsight, I think Sega deserved every bit of harassment we gave 'em. I even think we were very easy on them. But I will be forever greatful to Sega for accomplishing S1 and 2.

killthesagabeforeitkillsu wrote: Sega Sammy has more than enough funds to make Shenmue 3, they simply did not want to.

For them a new failed Sonic project sequel is more appealing than a new Street of Rage or Shemmue. Sony also isn't doing this solely on the kindness of their hearts, they know there is a fanbase out there that will give you around $3M is one day on Shenmue name alone.

SEGA did not know that.

THIS!

I simply could not believe what I was reading a few days ago when I saw they'd announced a follow up to Sonic Boom even though its the worst selling Sonic game of all time!