SHENMUE 3 kickstarter (PC/PS4) - FINAL DAY - NEW KS RECORD GO GO GO!

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Yeah I think 5 million will be achieved.

Not heard much talk about the kickstarter choices but I'd imagine the fans are console players and want some boxed version to cherish.

I wonder if they've got the choices wrong. At $60 you get a lovely looking PC boxed version.

Could Sony waiver the royalty fee or can they do a boxed one for $70-80.

I mean, I play on PC and its great to see a game like this will remain for a long on time being on PC but the old fans are still console players for the most part I'd imagine and I'm even not sure if these guys can do a good PC version with what we've seen. Is this going to need the community to fix it like so many before.

I can see potential backers looking at it and not being to thrilled
 
Corto said:
That won't happen. In every other KS campaign Paypal was always a very small contribution to the final value of the campaign funding. This Kickstarter is already a success by any measure. The 10M goal is unreachable.
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I mean continue it after the Kickstarter like Star Citizen does to gain additional funding over the next year or so. That should easily pass $10,000,000 then.
 
Krev said:
It will be pretty ridiculous if Bloodstained makes more than Shenmue 3.
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Depends. Shenmue 3 has the big disadvantage that it is virtually irrelevant to people who have not played the first games. And those games are not available on any current platform.
 
I'm not sure if these have been posted here.

[E3 2015] Interview with Yu Suzuki following his Kickstarter achievement
June 17, 2015

The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter: the campaign got underway on stage at the SCE press conference held on June 15 (local time), and achieved its minimum goal in the short space of just 8 hours. It is now aiming to achieve stretch goals, and the amount of backing is continuing to increase as it heads towards the deadline of July 17. At the E3 venue we asked the creator of Shenmue, Yu Suzuki of Ys Net, about his most recent thoughts and about the enthusiasm for Shenmue 3.

-- Congratulations on the Kickstarter achievement.

YS: Thank you. At any rate, it’s the first time I’ve done this, so I don’t have much experience with it. When I heard that the sheer number of accesses to the Shenmue 3 project page on Kickstarter caused it to crash multiple times, I knew we would be successful. This may sound bad, but I was happy. I heard that the times it took to reach the $1 million and $2 million levels are a new record within the games category, and second-fastest across all projects. Since it’s my first experience [with Kickstarter], it’s only through those kinds of statistics that I get a sense of the reality.

-- How do you feel at the moment? Pleased? Relieved? A deserved result?

YS: Well, things are really just getting started. I’m always looking to try new challenges, and so in order to take on as many of these as possible, the more budget we can collect the better. We’ve got stretch goals as well, and I’d like to see how far we can go.

-- Is it accurate to say that all of the development funding will be raised through Kickstarter?

YS: No, development will be carried out with Ys Net own funding together with Kickstarter. I won’t know the scale of the budget until the Kickstarter campaign has finished, so I can’t comment on it right now.

-- What were the events that led to you being on stage at SCE’s press conference?

YS: It started by my sounding them out to see if they had any interest in the Shenmue 3 project. Actually, it turns out that Shenmue was at the top of their list of software that people wanted to see revived. And so, with that being the case, I had the chance to speak with SCE and (without sounding like I’m blowing my own trumpet!) they told me “It’s a game of great historical importance; and everyone wants it, so if you were to go ahead and develop part 3, as an exceptional case, we will give you our co-operation”. I had already let them know that I wanted to do this through Kickstarter, and so that’s how it came about.

-- Are there plans for a release on Xbox One*1?

YS: We don’t have plans for a release on Xbox One*1. The platforms that are confirmed are PS4 and PC.

-- Was the reason you started development on part 3 due to the voice of support from the fans?

YS: That’s right. For more than 10 years I had been hearing those kinds of requests, and trying to find a way to make it happen. I did things like searching for a partner (company) but did not find one that fit the criteria and so I wasn’t able to make a start. Then came the possibility of realizing it through a combination of self-funding and Kickstarter.

-- I see.

YS: Also there was the aspect of Kickstarter of “creating something together with everyone”. As I stated in my promotion video, it’s the spirit of “within your hands”. Some say that the Shenmue series is the originator of the open-world genre. In reality, with the present amount of $2 million, making a Shenmue that will meet everyone’s expectations, even without implementing an open world, is unlikely to be achievable. However, the demand I hear most from the fans is to know how the rest of the story plays out.

-- Yes, that’s something we’d like to know.

YS: In addition, the Shenmue series has a rich portrayal of Eastern and Japanese culture, and so it has quite a different feel to it compared to any other open world games. Because of this, trying to accomplish both the “story” aspect and the “open world” aspects simultaneously is likely to lead to the budget rising higher and higher, and no matter how much time passes it is impossible to get development underway. After thinking long and hard, I have decided to do as much as possible with a minimum level of funding, even if it means creating something story-oriented. Then, if additional development funding is collected, I will add on various elements. And so I decided that development will be based on this kind of scalable approach.


-- This way of thinking is uniquely suited to Kickstarter, isn’t it.

YS: Further, with [development of] any game, there is a piece of it which can easily cost a lot of money to implement; while at the same time it has another piece that doesn’t need to cost a lot of money, namely making it interesting through its ideas and plot. I also think that Shenmue does not consist of merely its story and its open world; it is also fun to play, and I think the way we capture this is vital. Above all, I decided to maintain both the fun and the story aspects, even at the minimum budget level.


-- How much money will be raised is becoming increasingly of interest.

YS: Yes. It’s not that we will not be implementing an open world, but doing so lavishly will cause the budget to shoot up. On the other hand, since I am a creator, I’d like to try new mechanisms. I have set stretch goals with that balance in mind.

-- Compared to 15 years ago, the possibilities for game implementation have greatly widened. Are there any games that have influenced the creation of part 3?

YS: That would be Shenmue 1 and 2.

-- What aspects do you place most importance on, and wish to continue in the new game?

YS: Firstly, the most important is that I want to show how the story continues. As well as that, “nostalgia” is a keyword here: the nostalgic feeling of when we created part 1 and 2, 15 years ago. But even at that time, the setting for part 1 and 2 was the world of 1986. In principle, I believe that going back to an earlier age really brings out the flavor of a region’s culture. That’s the case with the era of the 1980s (and earlier), compared to the current day. Even looking at other countries around the world, as the eras pass by, the scenery of cities all starts to look the same.

-- Yes, that’s true.

YS: This kind of Eastern and Japanese culture, and the spiritual aspect, is what makes Shenmue special. Although though this has given it popularity in the West, what it expresses is certainly not Western. Through thorough creation of so-called Eastern spiritual aspects, culture and customs, I want to bring out people’s interest towards a different culture. There are a lot of things I would like to carry through from parts 1 and 2 to part 3, but through the scalable plan that I mentioned earlier, I want to pay special attention to these kinds of things.

-- Are there any aspects you want to try, given the increase in hardware specs nowdays?


YS: This may not directly answer the question, but actually when we made part 1 and 2, we also completed the plan for part 3. I want to go forward with that exactly as we had planned.

-- Could you explain more?

YS: In part 1, we implemented an open world that we called FREE, and the concept of time passing within the game. In part 2, we greatly expanded that world. In part 3, and this may be giving too much away, but we planned to keep these aspects intact, while making it much deeper. And in parts 1 & 2, while there were elements centered around money e.g. you could “do a part-time job, gamble to increase your money, purchase items at a shop...”, they did not really have any connection with the fighting and skill improvement parts. So when we make part 3, I have in mind to build up those elements; that’s something I would like to try doing.

-- What would be a concrete example?

YS: I’m thinking of a “Technique Scroll” system. Through actions in the game, you can gain new technique scrolls which let you perform special moves. Whether these moves are something you can control directly, or whether they are implemented in a QTE, is something we will be considering and deciding in the future.

-- Please tell us about the release schedule.


YS: Release is planned by the end of 2017.

-- Could you give a message to our readers.


YS: It is thanks to the continuous voice of the fans who have waited for the next part of Shenmue across these many years, that we have been able to get started. This is only possible thanks to all the people who give their support. I will continue to put in my best effort, so please give your support and encouragement.

-- Thank you very much.
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Andrew House on Shenmue III and console exclusivity.

To expand a little on that, first of all Mr. Suzuki was thinking "Let's develop this game with Kickstarter funds". That was the beginning. The moment some of the teams in our company heard that, they were all like "This is interesting, we want to help out in some way".

But before that could happen, we decided that we needed to find out whether there truly was the fanbase to justify that. And so, it was decided that if the crowdfunding was successful in meeting its target, Sony would assist in developing the title. And so, it became a PS4 console-exclusive title*1.

But anyway, first Mr. Suzuki was going to do the Kickstarter. So first of all, I think us letting Mr. Suzuki announce the Kickstarter on stage at the press conference the other day on its own was us supporting the project in a major way. It allows him to let everyone know that the project exists.
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First interview from: http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2015/06/17/88607.html
Translation obtained here: http://shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47878


There is also another interview posted on the 17th that is fans plan to translate.
http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2015/06/17/88607.html
 
-- Compared to 15 years ago, the possibilities for game implementation have greatly widened. Are there any games that have influenced the creation of part 3?

YS: That would be Shenmue 1 and 2.
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.
 
Just popped in Shenmue after all these years and I'm still as engrossed in the environment as I once was when my cousin let me play this game for the first time. My first ever Dreamcast game.
 
AmanoBuff said:
Mighty No. 9

Total: $3,845,048
First 4 days: $1,409,662 - 36.6% of total funding
Last 4 days: $1,140,662 - 29.6% of total funding

First 4 days and last 4 days = 66.2% of total funding


Bloodstained

Total: $5,545,992
First 4 days: $1,968,115 - 35.4% of total funding
Last 4 days: $1,822,456 - 32.8% of total funding

First 4 days and last 4 days = 68.2% of total funding


Both of these got more than 65% of their total funding during the first and last 4 days. Shenmue's KS might not get the same on its last days as it did on its first, but they should be able to reach 7.5M or perhaps even 8M.

Shemnue 3

Total: $ ???
First 4 days: $3,278,834
Last 4 days: $ ???

Hope this helps paint a better picture of how this campaign will play out.
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Using the Data from your numbers you can calculate that Shenmue 3 is on track to:

First 4/Last 4 days: Total of 6,4 million (66% of funding)
Rest: 3 million (33% of funding)

9,4 million confirmed. Kewl^^

Don't quote me on that^^
 
Was watching an Adam Boyes interview and he said that backstage after the announcement, Yu was crying and had a box of tissues with him. Poor guy.
 
I've read a lot of stuff that explains why Shenmue was so special back in the day. Reading that makes me skeptical of Shenmue 3 though. All I hear is how amazing the graphics were and how the world is filled to the brim with little details. They were very unique games at the time.

Given the limited budget, dev time, Suzuki's absent time, and the fact that there are more games like it now, it makes me wonder if a new Shenmue can be as special and unique. Is it more about finishing the story now? I'd love to read an insightful article or post that explains why playing the old games would be amazing even today. Just looking for an excuse to get into this franchise.
 
Acquiescence said:
Was watching an Adam Boyes interview and he said that backstage after the announcement, Yu was crying and had a box of tissues with him. Poor guy.
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Shenmue was (is) his baby. I can only imagine how he felt all these years trying to make up to the countless requests from fans and not being able to. It must've been really frustrating. As a fan you can't help but have stupid amounts of respect for him...

I only wish people driving all this "anti-Shenmue" click-bait agenda could think the same.

Kensuke said:
I've read a lot of stuff that explains why Shenmue was so special back in the day. Reading that makes me skeptical of Shenmue 3 though. All I hear is how amazing the graphics were and how the world is filled to the brim with little details. They were very unique games at the time.

Given the limited budget, dev time, Suzuki's absent time, and the fact that there are more games like it now, it makes me wonder if a new Shenmue can be as special and unique. Is it more about finishing the story now? I'd love to read an insightful article or post that explains why playing the old games would be amazing even today. Just looking for an excuse to get into this franchise.
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It definitely is more about finishing the story now. That is the main request from fans, meaning the size and complexity of the open world are dependant on the kickstarter stretch goals.
I'm not good with explaining games, but even with all the advancements in technology that goes into making games there's still nothing quite like Shenmue.
It's a very demanding game in terms of pace and story development, but it can be as equally rewarding if you let yourself immerse into its world.

If you have the time, there's this article that explains Shenmue much better than I ever will.
 
THESE ARE THE TRUE ANTI-CLICKBAIT FACTS! - PLEASE SPREAD THE TRUTH EVERYWHERE YOU CAN!

KHQddeT.png


On what should be the happiest week that Shenmue fans could imagine (and it is), there are nonetheless people out there intent on raining on our parade with misinformed and misreported claims.

Since the beginning of our campaign to revive the Shenmue series, we've had to untangle web after web of misinformation propagated by lazy journalists. So it's almost fitting that on the week Shenmue III is finally announced, we're doing more of the same.

We wouldn't mind, but the irresponsible clickbait polluting the Internet over this issue could easily harm the continued success of the Kickstarter we've all waited so long to embrace, and without more stretch goals being reached there will be noticeable limitations on what can be achieved in developing Shenmue III.

Sony are not the Fairy Godmother waving their magic wand to fully fund this game. They are providing some financial assistance to get it onto PS4 and helping a lot with marketing, as it's phenomenal PR for their brand to do so. But this is Yu Suzuki's independently owned project and crowdfunding is critical in deciding the scope of its actual development.

By this stage we expect no better from the media, but we implore all fans to arm themselves with the facts and spread the truth to combat any negativity being falsely aimed at this Kickstarter.

We still need YOU to ‪#‎SaveShenmue‬.

Cross-post from here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=169277839&postcount=1242
 
Can we just talk about the games? Anyone remember stumbling across the Hang On arcade machine in the Yellow Head Building of Shenmue 2? That was great. Loved going through all of those rooms.
 
This kickstarter is really poorly made. It's entirely pointed to Shenmue fans. For newcomers, the kickstarter shows NOTHING of the game they want to make : no prototype, barely any mock up besides the cinematic river scene... What gameplay will be like ? Camera ? Control ? Linear levels ? Open world ?

I wouldn't be surprise if this ends up no attracting much more people but the hardcore fans because they do a terrible jobs at selling a dead franchise to new comers
 
UnluckyKate said:
This kickstarter is really poorly made. It's entirely pointed to Shenmue fans. For newcomers, the kickstarter shows NOTHING of the game they want to make : no prototype, barely any mock up besides the cinematic river scene... What gameplay will be like ? Camera ? Control ? Linear levels ? Open world ?

I wouldn't be surprise if this ends up no attracting much more people but the hardcore fans because they do a terrible jobs at selling a dead franchise to new comers
Click to expand...

I don't know if that is even possible without ports of Shenmue 1 and 2.
 
UnluckyKate said:
This kickstarter is really poorly made. It's entirely pointed to Shenmue fans. For newcomers, the kickstarter shows NOTHING of the game they want to make : no prototype, barely any mock up besides the cinematic river scene... What gameplay will be like ? Camera ? Control ? Linear levels ? Open world ?

I wouldn't be surprise if this ends up no attracting much more people but the hardcore fans because they do a terrible jobs at selling a dead franchise to new comers
Click to expand...
It's really impossible without SEGA putting out ports of the original games or compromising its status as a sequel. In part that is one of the reasons no publisher would touch it.
 
I understand it seems like the Kickstarter isn't going to pull in any new fans but it's essentially being made because of existing fans of the series. They could do a better job of maybe pulling in new fans by explaining the game and the story in the Kickstarter video but even that won't be enough. People need to play it and the only ones who should be blamed for that not being possible are Sega. Nobody else can do anything about it unfortunately and that's just the way it is.
 
ElTorro said:
Depends. Shenmue 3 has the big disadvantage that it is virtually irrelevant to people who have not played the first games. And those games are not available on any current platform.
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I feel like this whole thing should have been better co-ordinated. If Shenmue 1 and 2 HD were released as downloads at around the time of the Kickstarter launch, Sega would have cashed in big. Everybody wins.
UnluckyKate said:
This kickstarter is really poorly made. It's entirely pointed to Shenmue fans. For newcomers, the kickstarter shows NOTHING of the game they want to make : no prototype, barely any mock up besides the cinematic river scene... What gameplay will be like ? Camera ? Control ? Linear levels ? Open world ?

I wouldn't be surprise if this ends up no attracting much more people but the hardcore fans because they do a terrible jobs at selling a dead franchise to new comers
Click to expand...
Yeah, the Kickstarter video is shocking. If you look at the Bloodstained and Mighty No. 9 videos, they really sold the narrative of 'they told him he couldn't do it, but veteran game designer is back and needs you to prove you want this game!'
The Shenmue video is really dry and consists of Yu Suzuki talking about systems and mechanics.
Playing to emotions is what drives hype. I don't know what they were thinking.

Oh man, the temp dubbing over the cutscene as well, just awful. The video would be much better without it.
 
Vashzaron said:
Use DEmul 0.582 (2013!) instead. Been using it to Stream and haven't noticed any glaring graphical problems with it.

Requires a beefier PC than what NullDC would need tho.
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Huh, I've never used DEmul, only NullDC. I haven't ripped my Shenmue discs yet though either, only a couple games like TXR and Soul Calibur to try them out. NullDC works well for me, maybe I'll take the time to rip my Shenmue discs and see how they play on my PC.

All of my game data is on my Nexus VMU's though, kinda makes using NullDC not as attractive versus the good old DC, lol.
 
djshauny said:
So why was the third game never started by SEGA? Did the others tank or something?
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Shenmue would've had to be purchased twice by every Dreamcast owner for it to turn a profit. It sold 1.2 million to the 6 million Dreamcast owners at the time. Shenmue II was released on Dreamcast after the console was already discontinued. It didn't even get a North American release. Shenmue II was later ported to Xbox at a time when it had 5.4 million owners. It sold about 250,000 units on Xbox.
 
djshauny said:
So why was the third game never started by SEGA? Did the others tank or something?
Click to expand...

Sega ran out of money and had to kill the Dreamcast off. Shenmue was super expensive to make, but a lot of that was due to changing platforms and doing much of the development twice essentially. It took so long to develop that the Saturn had come and gone before the game came out, thus re-developing it over for the Dreamcast and thus the ballooning budget.

Shenmue was uncharted territory back then, there weren't other games like it, at all, it pretty much paved the way for what most of the big AAA open world games are today.
 
djshauny said:
So why was the third game never started by SEGA? Did the others tank or something?
Click to expand...

The first game sold well. 1.2 million to a userbase of ~10 million.

Shenmue II was only released on Xbox in the US and flopped. The Japanese and PAL Dreamcast versions sold fine though. i believe the Shenmue II PAL version still holds the record for the most imported game of all time.
 
shagg_187 said:
You know what, that may happen. It'll be awesome if it happens.

"Remember when we unveiled Shenmue III on stage last year? Here to showcase the first gameplay footage, Yu Suzuki!"
Click to expand...
I think this game has a guaranteed slot at future Sony conferences.
 
Jo Shishido's Cheeks said:
$3.5m is on the cards for today!
With all things considered, I'll be satisfied reaching $5m.
Still ridiculously excited about everything.
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While I think overall the more detailed information about the production they can give upfront the better, it can be a double edged sword. I think the $10million for the full experience of what Yu wants to do has lead to some taking an all or nothing approach.

The way I see it Yu said $2 million for the barebones Shenmue III and we've passed that considerably. Assuming they don't quite make $5million and only hits $4.5million (which would require a massive collapse in interest for the remainder of the KS), that doesn't mean they pull it back down to the $2million level, they'd still have over double their budget from the barebones game.

Also that doesn't stop them looking for additional funding sources afterwards, as many other Kickstarted games have done. Whatever happens between now and the end of the campaign, Shenmue III is almost certainly going to be one of the most, if not the most, successful gaming kickstarters and that could help Yu get more investors, both by showing the interest in the game and by giving him more funds so he can start building a better, richer game to show to investors.
 
Huge, huge Shenmue fan. Had to up my pledge from $175 to $300 just now. I don't post here often, but I have a couple things I want to say/ask:

-Is it possible that Yu Suzuki doesn't know just how much he'll get from Sony yet? Maybe the $10 million from the fans is him thinking worst case scenario?

-I think this game's commercial success may surprise some people if it's a well made game. This isn't 1999-2002 anymore and the platform isn't Dreamcast or the original Xbox. The PS4 should be in a ton of homes by the time this game is released. Plus you've got to acknowledge how much of a factor social media (Twitter, streaming, etc.) is now compared to the 90s and early 2000s. There's more ways to get the word out today.
 
They should add a new $55 tier that includes two copies for those willing to spend that full price. Gift one to your friend, or get it for both PC and PS4.

They need to add a limited $1000 tier where you are an NPC in Shenmue world (that is, your name, age, nationality, etc).

They need to add a limited $2000 tier where they model the NPC after you and your name, and give it a fully fledged "life" in the Shenmue world, adding Yu Suzuki's touch. Also includes the info in $1000 tier.
 
Dead End Irony said:
Huge, huge Shenmue fan. Had to up my pledge from $175 to $300 just now. I don't post here often, but I have a couple things I want to say/ask:

-Is it possible that Yu Suzuki doesn't know just how much he'll get from Sony yet? Maybe the $10 million from the fans is him thinking worst case scenario?

-I think this game's commercial success may surprise some people if it's a well made game. This isn't 1999-2002 anymore and the platform isn't Dreamcast or the original Xbox. The PS4 should be in a ton of homes by the time this game is released. Plus you've got to acknowledge how much of a factor social media (Twitter, streaming, etc.) is now compared to the 90s and early 2000s. There's more ways to get the word out today.
Click to expand...

It may very well be that sony contribution is not in a fixed value but in services/marketing as a publisher would do after the completion of a game. Pillars of Eternity for example had a very successful KS campaign and Paradox helps them afterwards with physical disyribution/publishing.
 
I will back this project at the end of the month(Payday for me).

Really I don't know... Haven't played the other games yet but the impact of the likes of Last Guardian, FF7 remake and Shenmue III gave me chills. I will back this project to get a digital copy, but more because if only I can be a little bit of help for the dream of so many fellow gamers, it is worth it :)
 
Btw, do people think that the Dollar/Yen exchange rate will have an effect on the budget? Because while 2 million or even 5 million $ don't seem that much, the exchange rate is the highest in the last 10 or even 15 years right now.
 
GavinGT said:
Shenmue would've had to be purchased twice by every Dreamcast owner for it to turn a profit. It sold 1.2 million to the 6 million Dreamcast owners at the time. Shenmue II was released on Dreamcast after the console was already discontinued. It didn't even get a North American release. Shenmue II was later ported to Xbox at a time when it had 5.4 million owners. It sold about 250,000 units on Xbox.
Click to expand...

Important fact - Shenmue II was released on Dreamcast back in September 2001 in EU when the Dreamcast was ending. Shenmue II on Xbox was released in March 2003 in NA and, subjectively, many people said that they preferred the Dreamcast version despite the fact that the Xbox version displayed more people on screen. I believe the difference is more pronounced once you play the Dreamcast version via the VGA adapter, it looks amazing. Also, the Xbox version featured additional filtering that turned a lot of people off. Many people tried to import the Dreamcast version still even when the Xbox version was out, even when the Dreamcast wasn't selling anymore.
 
Everblue said:
He isn't getting any cash from Sony.
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Sony is only providing marketing, and essential support for the PS4 port. It does imply some money is involved, but unlike Gies and other bitter fanboys are implying, they are not funding the bulk of the development costs. That is entirely up to kickstarter contributions.
 
GavinGT said:
They're definitely giving him some. It's just not a ton.

(first 35 seconds)
Click to expand...

They are putting money to port the game on the PS4. Anything else will go to marketing which I am sure will be very heavy depending on the final kickstarter results. However, saying that, the kickstarter and E3 also proven to work providing you have strong marketing support anyhow, so there is a strong possibility that Sony might be all in on the marketing front providing the game is definitely good.
 
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