Shenmue 3 kickstarter

[TR0N]

I just heard about this recently  I thought this would never happen but i guess,yu suzuki manage to put it through finally.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3

[wildfruit]

PC version for me to go with my Shenmue 1&2 for DC. Seems plain target will be easy to reach. Don't know wether to pledge to get PC disk or wait in the hope there is a regular retail version.

[TR0N]

PC version for me to go with my Shenmue 1&2 for DC. Seems plain target will be easy to reach. Don't know wether to pledge to get PC disk or wait in the hope there is a regular retail version.

PS4 for me since i have the console all ready.Though i heard yu has a partnership with sony on this which explains the platform choices.

[ShadowKitty777]

It looks like it's almost to the goal already. I'm so happy. ;-;

[Dicer]

It's gonna suck

It's been too long, the budget will be a sliver of what the original cost, and he's done really fuck all since the Dreamcast era...

I want it to be good, but I have my doubts.

[slinkyturd]

Shenmue!

[DragonmasterDan]

I'm going to be the villain here.

Shen Mue for Dreamcast was a neat tech demo, it showed revolutionary graphics for the system. It had a real world time based system and NPCs that followed daily schedules. There were lots of innovations, but kind of like with say Fable another super innovative game.

I didn't find it fun. I picked up Shen Mue II for Xbox when it was inexpensive. Played it a bit.

The most fun thing I found to do between both games was to go to the arcade and play Space Harrier.

I'm one of those people who while impressed by the huge tech leap forward Shen Mue was at the time (I bought the import for my Asian Dreamcast in 1999 and was wow'ed by the visual depth), feel like as a game it's not very fun and quite frankly I can't see why people have been so hyped to see part three.

[DragonmasterDan]

It's gonna suck

Having played the first two games this is my expectation too.

[bartre]

I'm super excited right now.
I just wish there was a physical copy option for a console.

I'm just wondering what's gonna happen to the price of a copy of shenmue.
well, we all know, it's just how badly it's gonna get fucked.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I'd like an HD collection of the first 2.  I know they've mentioned it in the past.  I've never gotten around to beating them, so a collection would rock, especially if they kept the voice acting intact!

[jtucci31]

I've wanted to play Shenmue for a few years now but have been seriously slacking. I finally bought a copy about a year ago and disc one didn't work. Thankfully I'm able to get my hands on a copy of the first disc.

So now I really need to get to playing it and see if playing through the 2nd one to get to this is worth it for me. I'm too much of a slacker. Plus turbo always gets in the way.

This is cool news regardless!

[jeffhlewis]

If you're jumping into Shenmue 1 for the first time in 2015, you might struggle a little bit to get off the ground with it, simply due to age. It's worth sticking with it and beating it though. You have to keep in mind that the game literally invented a lot of the open 3D world gameplay mechanics that you probably take for granted these days.

I was busy toiling away with work until Bartre texted me with the news, at which point I dropped what I was doing and began throwing money at the computer. Couldn't be more excited to see a conclusion to the game, even if it's a ways off.

[seieienbu]

I very much liked Shenmue and Shenmue 2 but that's mostly due to the nostalgia I have of the times when I played them originally.  I haven't played either game in over a decade but I'll probably run through both in a couple of years before Shenmue 3 comes out just to make sure that I'm on the ball and remember everything that I'm supposed to.

[bartre]

If you're jumping into Shenmue 1 for the first time in 2015, you might struggle a little bit to get off the ground with it, simply due to age. It's worth sticking with it and beating it though. You have to keep in mind that the game literally invented a lot of the open 3D world gameplay mechanics that you probably take for granted these days.

I was busy toiling away with work until Bartre texted me with the news, at which point I dropped what I was doing and began throwing money at the computer. Couldn't be more excited to see a conclusion to the game, even if it's a ways off.

Glad i could help

honestly though, we've already waited 13 years since #2 came out in the US.
i think we'll be alright

as far as i'm concerned, this game is $200 well spent.

[vmorr]

I hope if the dollars keep piling they decide to do up a PS4 physical release. I'd definitely pledge for it. With 30 days to go though I'm gonna hold off on backing, especially with an expected release date of December 2017.

A lot of preorders out there competing for my small bills right now.

[DrOrangejuicer]

I'm just wondering what's gonna happen to the price of a copy of shenmue.
well, we all know, it's just how badly it's gonna get fucked.

Went from a $40 CIB game to an $80-100 CIB game overnight. I have some sealed copies left and saw a spike in interest, now I know why. It'll cool down within a few weeks, imo.

Never been a fan of the series but people do seem to love it. Neat to see a sequel finally happen.

[jtucci31]

Holy fuck this was almost a $20 and now it's on ebay for literally $100. Thank god I have the first one. The second one will be a pain to get if I ever want it, how fun.

[DragonmasterDan]

The second one will be a pain to get if I ever want it, how fun.

Trust me you don't want it.

[vmorr]

I'm just wondering what's gonna happen to the price of a copy of shenmue.
well, we all know, it's just how badly it's gonna get fucked.

Went from a $40 CIB game to an $80-100 CIB game overnight. I have some sealed copies left and saw a spike in interest, now I know why. It'll cool down within a few weeks, imo.

Never been a fan of the series but people do seem to love it. Neat to see a sequel finally happen.

Decided to test this for fun with a copy of Shenmue II for the Xbox. Bought a second copy from a local game shop for $16 CAD, starting an auction at $20 with free shipping. Should be interesting?

[Gypsy]

I'm just wondering what's gonna happen to the price of a copy of shenmue.
well, we all know, it's just how badly it's gonna get fucked.

Went from a $40 CIB game to an $80-100 CIB game overnight. I have some sealed copies left and saw a spike in interest, now I know why. It'll cool down within a few weeks, imo.

Never been a fan of the series but people do seem to love it. Neat to see a sequel finally happen.

Decided to test this for fun with a copy of Shenmue II for the Xbox. Bought a second copy from a local game shop for $16 CAD, starting an auction at $20 with free shipping. Should be interesting?

I put up a spare copy the other day and it sold for $60. It's nuts. It's a $10-15 game normally.

Anyway, this was great news. I never thought we would get this game. Kickstarter has warts for sure but it's been absolutely great for a lot of things as well. I was very happy to back this project.

[jeffhlewis]

I just bumped my pledge to $300. Go big or go home. Been waiting 14 damn years for this!

[wildfruit]

Wow this is crazy. Last week Shenmue 1&2 DC could be had for around £50 for both. Now they're selling for 3 or 4 times that amount.
I'll be keeping mine though.

[Gypsy]

Wow this is crazy. Last week Shenmue 1&2 DC could be had for around £50 for both. Now they're selling for 3 or 4 times that amount.
I'll be keeping mine though.

Sequel fever has caught hold. It's infecting the masses. The last known case to be this bad was probably Fire Emblem but that had no Shenmue II Xbox version equivalent.

[CrackTiger]

I'm just wondering what's gonna happen to the price of a copy of shenmue.
well, we all know, it's just how badly it's gonna get fucked.

Went from a $40 CIB game to an $80-100 CIB game overnight. I have some sealed copies left and saw a spike in interest, now I know why. It'll cool down within a few weeks, imo.

Never been a fan of the series but people do seem to love it. Neat to see a sequel finally happen.

How nice of you to use your first non-Sales post to let us all know that you are sitting on a stack of sealed copies of this suddenly highly sought after game.

[esteban]

Hahsgdhsha...he is a serious businessman.

[DrOrangejuicer]

I'm just wondering what's gonna happen to the price of a copy of shenmue.
well, we all know, it's just how badly it's gonna get fucked.

Went from a $40 CIB game to an $80-100 CIB game overnight. I have some sealed copies left and saw a spike in interest, now I know why. It'll cool down within a few weeks, imo.

Never been a fan of the series but people do seem to love it. Neat to see a sequel finally happen.

How nice of you to use your first non-Sales post to let us all know that you are sitting on a stack of sealed copies of this suddenly highly sought after game.

NOT TRUE! Somebody asked about some OILY JOYSTICKS awhile back and BAM, there I was with INFORMATION. So, like, this is AT LEAST my second non-sales post. [time lapse in which I check my posts] ANOTHER! Somebody wanted to know about Dreamcast accessory prices and I was happy to assist - and I didn't even try to sell him a VMU! And wait until I get my Galaga 90 score up!!

But look, if you just wanted a good price on Shenmue you could have just PMed me.

[technozombie]

I never really got the chance to set down and play Shenmue on Dreamcast. I guess with the prices now I'll never get too lol.

[mickcris]

I never really got the chance to set down and play Shenmue on Dreamcast. I guess with the prices now I'll never get too lol.

Dreamcasts can read cd-rs. 

[technozombie]

I never really got the chance to set down and play Shenmue on Dreamcast. I guess with the prices now I'll never get too lol.

Dreamcasts can read cd-rs. 

True, I usually try to avoid that, but I think this case would warrant it.

[vmorr]

Update: game flip successful. Going for a little more than I thought it would given its condition.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/141696870094

[Gypsy]

Yeah condition doesn't matter as much when it's a case of people in a mad rush to play the game. Hell yours in in better shape than one I sold for $60 shipped on Ebay but that was literally the day after the announcement.

[vmorr]

PS4 physical copies now available for $60 pledge. Looks like it'll have a special case or something.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/1283532

[sirhcman]

So now Sony needs to crowdfund to get games made? Pretty disappointing. I will not be backing this since Sony is behind it, they have plenty of money to waste on everything but their gaming division? I always heard that this was one of the few successful parts of Sony's portfolio so why do they need to crowdfund for something like this?

[TR0N]

Teaser out for the game.Before any one freaks out on how the characters faces look,yu suzuki has stated this is a early build.I guess this teaser was put up to assure the game backers it is coming along.

[TheClash603]

Apparently I am easy to please, because I thought the game looked really nice.  There's been quite the backlash from people over the character models, which were then stated to be temporary.  I'm torn if that's true, if they were actually temporary the trailer should be started with some sort of disclaimer.

[SignOfZeta]

Teaser out for the game.Before any one freaks out on how the characters faces look,yu suzuki has stated this is a early build.I guess this teaser was put up to assure the game backers it is coming along.

He's doing for Dreamcast?! Shit, I'm in!

Oh wait...that's...a...PS4?

Yeah............

[Psycho Punch]

anyone that thought this was going to be a 3d graphics hallmark for this generation is crazy. I'm glad that they're actually finishing the story for once though.

Shenmue 3 won't be the end of the series, Yu Suzuki says

...

[SignOfZeta]

What Shenmue 1 and 2 were is a thing that doesn't exist anymore. Most of what it was trying to do is now done with most hit games. More detail given to every dumb object in the world than you'd ever be able to appreciate or experience to the extent that it makes the world seem both intimate and infinite. Also "realism".

The thing is, a lot of people got tired of that shit before they found the sailers. I was a fan, personally, and enjoy all of the first two games. The second one did a great job of being the same as the first but with nearly all the annoying crap fixed. However I'm pretty sure that out of the dozen or so people I know locally that owned a Shenmue game at some point...I think I'm the only one that cleared either of them.

How does a mega budget game with no fans survive? You either have to make this shit fluid and fun and get the sales or make it this thing where you wander, molocule by molecule, through the perpetual dusk of 80s nostalgia with the mindfulness of a 100 year old monk, generating very poor sales and never having the revenue to build the world as complex as you want it to be. 

It's not that I want it to fail, I just don't see what "success" would look like. Will it be glacially paced and wooden? If not, is that a good or a bad thing? Are we seriously going to keep going with that shitty fighting system? A gimped Virtua Fighter with QTEs? It could actually play well, like Devil May Cry or whatever but...that would just be completely fucking wrong, to me anyway, and with what looks like PSP graphics? Who wants that? Keep in mind that there aren't enough actual Shenmue fans to make this game pay the rent (aka: this is a failed series for a reason) so at least half of these players are "normal" gamers we're talking about. Assasins Creed and Mass Effect fans. What will satisfy them and OGs and sell more units than the old games?

We'll see, I guess. For sure I was sad to see the series die when the end of Shenmue 2 was so incredibly cool and thought provoking. Will Ryo avenge his dad or will he...grow out of it, basically, as he matures beyond simple motives and outlooks? I cared at one point but do I want to really know now? I too have different goals than I used to. What game do I want to play in order to learn the end of the story?

I hate almost all new games but I do play new installments of old series. Do I actually have the patience to play a *real* Shenmue 3? One with controlls *barely* better than Resident Evil? I don't know. Probably not. Do all the kick starters? Seems doubtful. It seems doubtful that a new generation of kids will emerge, in love with shitty controlling games that were once state of the art but now look 15 years out of date because everything from Japan does now.

I don't know what I would want from this. What do you want from this? A box with a 3 on it, obviously,  but beyond that?

Keep in mind, I may be a hater but I'm the asshole that bought Shenmue 1 and 2 (not on XBox you fucking traitors) and beat them both mutiple times 15 years ago or whatever. So it's not like I don't love Yu Suzuki and all that but...the Dreamcast is dead, friend. It was the saddest thing in the history of gaming, but it sure did happen and you can't go back.

[Gypsy]

I actually have EU copies of both Shenmue games. I wanted the 2nd to play with the original audio of course, but I picked up the first to make it easier to import save data. I've cleared both of them at least 4 times each, it's hard to remember exactly. So, I really do want to enjoy Shenmue III, we'll see.

Actually I also grabbed a Japanese copy of the first game just for the jukebox cd. And I mean, why not, hardly anyone gave a shit about Dreamcast back when I bought it, let alone Japanese imports. I have a substantial Dreamcast library and it barely cost me anything. Prices of US copies are getting pretty dumb on some games, I blame Nintendo Age users. My Japanese copy of Project Justice plays the same, oddly enough. Awhile back I dumped some US games to element and replaced them with Japanese copies.

Anyway as for what I want out of this game, I just want to see the story end. The ending of 2 was a ball buster. You bring up some fair points like these games are really slow especially by modern standards. I loved it but I see lots of people hating on it now. After they spent entirely too much money tracking down US copies in 2016 because it was what youtube told them to do and all their gamer friends on facebook were doing too.

[TR0N]

Update now sega is doing a hd version of shenmue 1&2.This was in talks for awhile now and even hinted,so it's not a surprise.

[Psycho Punch]

Update now sega is doing a hd version of shenmue 1&2.This was in talks for awhile now and even hinted,so it's not a surprise.

Can't wait to play Autistic Martial Artist Simulator 1 and 2 again. Especially since I bought merchandise.

I hate almost all new games but I do play new installments of old series. Do I actually have the patience to play a *real* Shenmue 3? One with controlls *barely* better than Resident Evil? I don't know. Probably not. Do all the kick starters? Seems doubtful. It seems doubtful that a new generation of kids will emerge, in love with shitty controlling games that were once state of the art but now look 15 years out of date because everything from Japan does now.

You know you got me thinking, that's exactly why I have current gen consoles in the first place. Modern game design is nice and all but I feel like they homogenize a lot of unique traits those games could have. I like japanese games being japanese games, clunky and experimental, a good amount with medium to low budgets, it's nice to have variety as in PS1/SAT onwards until PS3/360. Not all games need to be triple A smash hit like.

But that's just me and it seems very, VERY hard in this era to sell to a mainstream audience an imperfect game or something that doesn't take itself seriously and isn't afraid of being goofy and gameish. It seems like the Yakuza series, for example, gets discovered as a hidden gem obscure series by the press and gamers in every single western release. There's praise for a month then everyone forgets about it again.

And let's be honest here, Shenmue 3 will be just as goofy as its predecessors, everyone who faked excitement on E3 when the words "Shenmue 3" appeared (but didn't recognize the iconic theme bgm in the first few seconds of the video lmao!) will at best buy it, play for a week or two and return it for gamestop credit. I don't see the momentum for a Shenmue 4 or significant fanbase growth, imo.

[Gypsy]

As long as Yakuza gets good enough sales I don't care how it happens lol.

I actually didn't get hot and heavy into the series until 2013 when I went back and played 1-4. Ever since it's been my favorite modern Japanese gaming thing.

0 I think was a fairly big success but the series still has a bunch of very Japanese things in it that will gate out a fair number of people that play video games.

At this point I'm just glad that we mostly don't have content cut out anymore. But of course Sega has fallen back to their old ways and it looks like Kiwami 2 has some cuts. Though in this instance it's not removing parts from the US release as it is just REMOVING THINGS FROM THE GAME that were in the original. Entire areas even. Very disappointing.

I agree with you on Shenmue 3 unfortunately Punch,we aren't going to see Shenmue 4. So it's unfortunate that Yu Suzuki thinks it will happen, because that means this b movie story won't see its completion in 3. I'll still play it though, ofc.

Edit: As for the homogenization of modern gaming yeah it's easier to be safe and take those guaranteed checks. It's pretty crazy how many Ass Creed games there are at this point. I got bored and couldn't be bothered to finish the first one, yet we are like 20 games deep now? Blah.

[seieienbu]

I'm desperately hoping that Yu Suzuki has the common sense enough to know that this isn't likely to start off the franchise into the 16 part epic he envisioned over 20 years ago.  The thing that I want most out of Shenmue 3 is closure to the story.  The thing that I want absolutely least would be an ending similar to Shenmue 2 that resolves nothing but sets up for a sequel which I doubt I'll ever receive.

I'm excited about Shenmue HD, certainly.  I'm greatly looking forward to seeing Shenmue in 16x9 with high resolution graphics.  I recall reading that the remaster would have both English and Japanese which also seems really cool. 

With all the good stuff said?  I'm honestly worried that releasing Shenmue 1 and 2 would actually hurt sales of Shenmue 3.  Yeah, I love the games but even in their day Shenmue didn't exactly sell super well.  I feel that worst case scenario is that Shenmue 3 has a cliffhanger ending and it doesn't sell due to the mystique behind the games going away when the populace at large gets a chance to actually play a game that they've never played but were still interested by.  Part of the appeal of Shenmue 3 seems to me to be people excited to play something that they missed out on.  There's a small but vocal group that has been clamoring for Shenmue 3 for years and that's likely the best marketing you could ever have.  I really hope this doesn't turn out anything like, say, Mighty #9.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I can't wait.  I never did get to play through 1 & 2.  I played them both for hours & hours when I purchased each one for Dreamcast, but had other games I was working on at the time, so, never got back to them.  Are they keeping the original dub I wonder?  I don't know that it would be in their budget to redo all the voice acting.  It'd be great if they had 2 english versions.  1 that's nice & professional sounding, & well, the other one, which I enjoy, but, partly out of nostalgia & partly cuz it tickles my funny bone.  I also can't recall if there's been any talk about how the dub for 3 will be.  If they keep the originals from 1 & 2, it might be weird if 3 sounds really nice & polished!

[SignOfZeta]

That's kind of my point. How do you do that? The shitty voices are now themselves as nostalgic as the 80s were when Shenmue was made so...do you improve that or what? Which is more authentic? You're fucked either way.