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[Theonik]

There is almost no incentive for PS4 only gamers to pledge $60 or $100. I'd do $80 in a heartbeat if i could get the ps4 digital version and some extras (i.e dlc tickets /figure). Think they missed a trick there.

Just wait a few days. They are working out some details.

 

[Chaos17]

edit : nevermind

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

There is almost no incentive for PS4 only gamers to pledge $60 or $100. I'd do $80 in a heartbeat if i could get the ps4 digital version and some extras (i.e dlc tickets /figure). Think they missed a trick there.

This is true. I was prepared to donate more than I did when it was first announced.

 

[Theonik]

So yeah back to the games. Ryo's father is voiced by Segata Sanshiro on the Japanese dub of the games. How cool is that?!

 

[Erevador]

Just wait a few days. They are working out some details.

Really want to help the Kickstarter further, but I am not sure there is really much more we can do until they update it in a meaningful way.

 

[Theonik]

Really want to help the Kickstarter further, but I am not sure there is really much more we can do until they update it in a meaningful way.

We can enjoy the games, post about it etc but there is no need to be impatient/freak out. We are only doing harm this way. In the first place there is 0 cause for alarm. There is plenty of time and this is normal. The campaign isn't crashing and burning.

 

[Spaghetti]

loving kicking the shit out of fuku-san in the mornings. arm break fire, all day long. really hope that in shenmue 3 you can have sparring partners to train your moves.

 

[MaxiLive]

It sort of is similar to bloodstained. In the first place the way this kind of funding works is that one source forks in money provisional that you can provide the rest of the budget. Bloodstained asked for 500k and used additional KS funds to expand the funding. This Kickstarter is similar in that Yu Suzuki is funding part of the development essentially out of his own pocket and some other investors that have requested to remain anonymous, this funding is probably provisional that Yu can find the rest of the money himself. When arrangements like this arise the other parties have a fixed contribution into the project, imagine I say 'OK I will give you $X if you can raise the rest of the budget' now, Yu Suzuki reckons he can make the game with his extra finding and $2m. But he knows that the more money he can raise, the more he can do. So like bloodstained he is trying to raise more money to improve the game. Because the scope of his game is greater than bloodstained. And his external backing probably lower, he needs to collect more money. The funding amount matters in both cases because of the same reason, you get a better game. Yu seems to have hired the wrong company to run his campaign however which is unfortunate.

This brings me to point number 2, why is Sony not footing the bill and why KS is necessary.
For Sony to invest in the funding of the game, extensive internal thumb-twiddling must be performed until Sony maybe doesn't fund it. But some SCEI executives see value on it as something that they can support for good publicity. They offered them exposure and some development support that could be anything really, the deal isn't finalised yet I guess, but aren't going to balloon the game on its own as it would require extensive budgeting meetings and paperwork that Yu didn't want to put up with. It would also come with strings attached like any first party project which would mean that Yu wouldn't get to make the game for the fans that he wanted which is what he feared.

Now, with such strong fan demand why would Sony execs probably not fund it in the end. We can look back to Bloodstained for that answer again. Koch media ends up with the IP there, why? Because a lot of publishers, unless you are a cash cow brand, don't like to put much money in properties they don't own as it increases their risk substantially. If you own the IP you can profit from it in the long run through long term investment or selling it. Yu's problem and part of the reason why no-one has taken him up with funding the game besides his fans is because he doesn't own the IP to offer on the table. SEGA is licensing it, so the publisher is asked to fund something owned by SEGA where they don't contribute money to, a SEGA co-production might be more appealing, but SEGA wasn't having it probably so that's that. Then if you think about it, a direct sequel to a beloved IP which was popular but has a low audience for today and has been hibernating for 14 years is not very appealing to the sane investor. Bloodstained even as a new IP is more appealing because it's accessible, it appeals to a known audience they can gauge through KS and they get to rip them a new one later however they please owning the IP and all. Going back to Sony, these days they primarily only deal with games developed internally or that they fully own. They are not risk averse like SEGA is (by necessity) but they are a business, and to them it doesn't fit their model, so Yu would either have to compromise and make the Shenmue reboot with machine guns, somehow get SEGA to give up the IP, both of which he probably tried and failed for years. To avoid that, he decided to go through with KS where Sony offered to support him as long as they don't have to do anything that would go through first party. (producing the game)
I do not claim to have any insider knowledge in this situation and maybe they will clarify soon, this is just my reading from what has been said and my experience. I could be completely wrong.

What this means is fans get the game they want, (provided they fork the dosh) Sony gets the publicity, Yu's backers get some money back which they aren't forced to disclose, Yu gets to make the game he wants, but has to deliver it. Here is where the KS magic happens. Yu has to make this work, he has to make this thing, and we need to trust he will. This is a tall order for most people, especially those who don't care about a sequel to a dead IP. But it is the only path we end up with a Shenmue III we possibly want without Yu being in his 80s.
Given this is a do or die, I expect Yu to do whatever it takes to deliver this even if he has to take loans from Yakuza.
Edit: I just wanted to put this rant out for the last time so people stop asking/I don't have to do it again/can link it. I apologise for the long post.

Haha! Don't apologise it is a great post and you have the similar thoughts/knowledge to me

So yeah back to the games. Ryo's father is voiced by Segata Sanshiro on the Japanese dub of the games. How cool is that?!

I never knew this!!! Now I have to play the Japanese version next time I go through the game.

 

[Erevador]

We can enjoy the games, post about it etc but there is no need to be impatient/freak out. We are only doing harm this way. In the first place there is 0 cause for alarm. There is plenty of time and this is normal. The campaign isn't crashing and burning.

No I agree, I think we're saying the same thing. Best to focus on the games and leave the numbers game and backseat baseball until the campaign really moves forward.

On that note, there was an interesting thread on Shenmue Dojo about the Baisha village, and how this artwork seems to be depicting....

Now, those round buildings are quite famous in China, they're called "tulou (土&#27004", which literally means "earth building". They're communal residences, which, as far as I know, are only found in Fujian Province, in Southeast China. They're communal residences, which, nowadays, are more and more of a tourist attraction, really.

Very cool.

 

[Spaghetti]

On that note, there was an interesting thread on Shenmue Dojo about the Baisha village, and how this artwork seems to be depicting....

Very cool.

man that looks so cool.

i'm totally ready to see these environments in shenmue 3.

 

[eso76]

Very cool.

Saw a documentary on one of those a few weeks ago.
Fascinating.

 

[MouldyK]

Just finished watching an anime called Shirobako and look what was in the end credits:

The Dreamgast 4!

I bet that alternative reality got Shenbue 3, 4 and 5 and finished the story of Ryu Sazuki! TT_TT

 

[Doctor Professional]

Man I wonder how it would have been if Shenmue 2 launched on the PS2,

Would have vanished into thin air, the real question is if there was an English Dreamcast release on time. (along with the Xbox port)

Do they really think Shenmue won't sell at least same as Infamous SS?
t)

You make this sound easier than it is, also selling the same as Infamous would be nice but that's actually a unstable number.

 

[IrishNinja]

So yeah back to the games. Ryo's father is voiced by Segata Sanshiro on the Japanese dub of the games. How cool is that?!

so, so cool..never knew this in the day

 

[openrob]

Saw a documentary on one of those a few weeks ago.
Fascinating.

What was the name of the documentary?

 

[Theonik]

No I agree, I think we're saying the same thing. Best to focus on the games and leave the numbers game and backseat baseball until the campaign really moves forward.

On that note, there was an interesting thread on Shenmue Dojo about the Baisha village, and how this artwork seems to be depicting....

http://www.beijinghikers.com/photos/FujianXiamenTulou/Fujian-Tulou-inner-balconies_640x362.jpg
Very cool.

This is so cool.

Haha! Don't apologise it is a great post and you have the similar thoughts/knowledge to me

I never knew this!!! Now I have to play the Japanese version next time I go through the game.

Well, it was more of a stupid rant really reading it again I'd have to rewrite this and add some references from different interviews where I'm pulling things but yeah…

Some people speculated that it's the reason Ryo owns a Saturn, but they are probably wrong. But yeah just a cool piece of trivia.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Forget Lucky Hit. Bring back Big or Small!



That was my shit.

 

[Theonik]

so, so cool..never knew this in the day

It really is. I really like the flashback scenes with the JP acting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmJB5ymy7hk

 

[shinobi602]

Bring back arm wrestling goddamnit.

 

[Spaghetti]

yeeeeeeaaaaah son, gambling dens all day long. i just used to cheese my way to wealth with roll it on top and resetting when i lost

 

[MouldyK]

Forget Lucky Hit. Bring back Big or Small!



That was my shit.

Hmm...nah...

...but I wouldn't mind it being in Shenmue 3 along with Lucky Hit, if you insist...

...something, something, Lan Di Revenge...after Big or Small of course.

 

[Spaghetti]

i'm hoping there's a nod back to the kitten sidequest with some animal interaction. there's gotta be like a few dogs or something roaming around those guilin villages

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

i'm hoping there's a nod back to the kitten sidequest with some animal interaction. there's gotta be like a few dogs or something roaming around those guilin villages

Goat or get out.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Forget Lucky Hit. Bring back Big or Small!



That was my shit.

BET IT ALL

*Lose*

RELOAD SAVE!

 

[Sectorseven]

Big or small has to come back and I have to be able to save my game before each bet.

 

[eso76]

What was the name of the documentary?

saw it on tv, but didn't catch the name. Looked recent enough, being full HD and pretty good quality.
I just tried looking for it on YT but no luck. Not sure if it was fujian tulou, but the documentary didn't make it look like a tourist attraction; it was showing how people living there work together for the community (cooking, teaching etc) and a lot of the interiors.
None of that looked like it had been faked for tv.

This is not the video i saw (that was 1hour+ long) but i remember it being filmed in a similar style as this scenes starting at 30"

https://youtu.be/ZZ_Z58r3mIs?t=30s

 

[Spaghetti]

Goat or get out.

oh god that'd be funny. the dried fish or fried tofu question would be so much easier. it'd just eat either.

 

[Acquiescence]

Forget Lucky Hit. Bring back Big or Small!



That was my shit.

That music. Few games had a soundtrack soaked with as much atmosphere as Shenmue II.

 

[Erevador]

man that looks so cool.

i'm totally ready to see these environments in shenmue 3.

Saw a documentary on one of those a few weeks ago.
Fascinating.

More pictures:

Awesome to imagine what Yu Suzuki could do with that setting.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

I really don't get why Sony it's afraid of this. Yes it was a commercial failure back then, but there's many conditions related to it.

To be honest, with all the promotion Sony could give this game, I can't see how it wouldn't be a success. Would be a 10 (lets say 15 in case Sony gave 5 to Yu in a 10M kickstarter scenario) more risky than The Order? Or Beyond Two Souls? And are those games cheaper than a 10-15M game?
Do they really think Shenmue won't sell at least same as Infamous SS?

Come on Sony...

Also they mess it up by saying they were helping funding the game. Many people were expecting to see the outcome of the first hours/days to invest or not. Soon as they heard sony's words, they thought this was a Bloodstained situation (While it seems it's not)

Sony OWNS The Order, they own Beyond, they own Infamous.

They do NOT own Shenmue. Thusly, it falls under 3rd party relations. Meaning, 3rd party probably only has a limited budget. They can't be spending millions of dollars, not get the IP, and also share profits between yu, and sega.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Forget Lucky Hit. Bring back Big or Small!



That was my shit.

Yeah, that's how money was made.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

More pictures:

Awesome to imagine what Yu Suzuki could do with that setting.

That looks awesome and could be really cool in the game. A little bit of that tight Kowloon living space in the Guilin countryside.

 

[hodgy100]

well thats my shenmue journey to an end. and not a happy one

caught Jimmy,
insert disk 3,
thrown back to bios.
try to play again.
nope.avi



inspected the disk, looks fine. tried it in a different system, no luck.

after further inspection, there is a light scuff along the very edge and a couple of light scratches elsewhere on the disk, probably happened during transportation

im crushed! think a disk repair service can salvage this?

 

[Erevador]

well thats my shenmue journey to an end. and not a happy one

caught Jimmy,
insert disk 3,
thrown back to bios.
try to play again.
nope.avi



inspected the disk, looks fine. tried it in a different system, no luck.

after further inspection, there is a light scuff along the very edge and a couple of light scratches elsewhere on the disk, probably happened during transportation

im crushed! think a disk repair service can salvage this?

Definitely give it a try! That's a heartbreaker.

 

[hodgy100]

Definitely give it a try! That's a heartbreaker.

The damage is so minor I can't capture it in a photo

 

[Oriel]

loving kicking the shit out of fuku-san in the mornings. arm break fire, all day long. really hope that in shenmue 3 you can have sparring partners to train your moves.

Hopefully not as annoying as fuck-san (that's how it sounded to me in the English dub).

 

[MrCunningham]

Just finished watching an anime called Shirobako and look what was in the end credits:

The Dreamgast 4!

I bet that alternative reality got Shenbue 3, 4 and 5 and finished the story of Ryu Sazuki! TT_TT

That's funny. The console on the box is the WonderMega:

Which is a Sega CD/ Mega Drive combo unit released in Japan during the early '90's.

 

[Oriel]

well thats my shenmue journey to an end. and not a happy one

caught Jimmy,
insert disk 3,
thrown back to bios.
try to play again.
nope.avi



inspected the disk, looks fine. tried it in a different system, no luck.

after further inspection, there is a light scuff along the very edge and a couple of light scratches elsewhere on the disk, probably happened during transportation

im crushed! think a disk repair service can salvage this?

Try a lens cleaner. The DC had a notoriously bad laser head.

 

[Dremorak]

10 Million isnt enough to make a console game. They HAVE to be getting a substantial amount of investment from outside sources. Anyone telling you that an extra 5 million will change the design of the final game in any way is kidding themselves. The only this the kickstarter is doing is proving to outside investors that there is an audience for this game.

Anything you have read to the contrary is a mistranslation, misinterpretation, or something similar.

Games are very, very expensive to make (on a console/AAA level)

Google average salary for artists, coders and designers, and then imagine the number required for this kind of game, how long they will be working on it, and do the math.

There is no way this game gets made for less than, say 50 million.

 

[Oriel]

That's funny. The console on the box is the WonderMega:



Which is a Sega CD/ Mega Drive combo unit released in Japan during the early '90's.

Redesigned, renamed and released in the West as the Multi-Mega in Europe and Genesis CDX in the US:

Sega loved all these different hardware configurations. A Sega Mega CD/Mega Drive/32X/all in one device would have been epic though. Hell throw in Saturn and DC support while they're at it.

 

[openrob]

10 Million isnt enough to make a console game. They HAVE to be getting a substantial amount of investment from outside sources. Anyone telling you that an extra 5 million will change the design of the final game in any way is kidding themselves. The only this the kickstarter is doing is proving to outside investors that there is an audience for this game.

Anything you have read to the contrary is a mistranslation, misinterpretation, or something similar.

Games are very, very expensive to make (on a console/AAA level)

Google average salary for artists, coders and designers, and then imagine the number required for this kind of game, how long they will be working on it, and do the math.

There is no way this game gets made for less than, say 50 million.

Well I suspect you know more than the guys actually MAKING the game.

 

[Oriel]

10 Million isnt enough to make a console game. They HAVE to be getting a substantial amount of investment from outside sources. Anyone telling you that an extra 5 million will change the design of the final game in any way is kidding themselves. The only this the kickstarter is doing is proving to outside investors that there is an audience for this game.

Anything you have read to the contrary is a mistranslation, misinterpretation, or something similar.

Games are very, very expensive to make (on a console/AAA level)

Google average salary for artists, coders and designers, and then imagine the number required for this kind of game, how long they will be working on it, and do the math.

There is no way this game gets made for less than, say 50 million.

What you have to remember is that a lot of work for Ys Net has already been done by Sega. All the assets for Shenmue 1 and 2 has been handed over to Yu and his team. Presumably any part finished work on 3 has likewise been given to them. Also they haven't needed to work on a custom engine, instead using the Unreal 4 engine.

10 mill might still not be enough but anything beyond that could be small enough to be obtained from outside investors.

 

[Maligna]

The damage is so minor I can't capture it in a photo

Believe it or not, in a case like this I usually just wash the disk with water and a soft cloth and then very carefully dab it dry with another soft cloth. I've had much success with this method.

 

[Hynad]

Well I suspect you know more than the guys actually MAKING the game.

To me, I take this 10M goal as meaning Yu Suzuki is missing that amount to make the game he and all the fans dream he'll make.

Basically, he has some secured funds from other sources at Ys Net, and the 10M is what is missing to make a Shenmue game as full fledged as the first two.

He could have secured 2M, maybe 10M... Maybe the amount that the investors will put into the project is dependant on the kickstarter amount...

Who knows.

What's sure though, is that 10M is the key amount to secure if we want to get the complete Shenmue 3 experience.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Why isn't 10m (15m, really) enough for a well-run team? Run the numbers for $ per head on a 2 year budget, and that's 50+ full time employees. They don't have to invent the game engine (UE4), and inherit some assets from the original titles.

While modern games are expensive (we're talking a straight-up $10m bet if this is funded traditionally... that's a tough sell), I think modern AAA gaming has led to some comical notions of how expensive something "has to be" to be good.

 

[Shadoken]

Would have vanished into thin air, the real question is if there was an English Dreamcast release on time. (along with the Xbox port)

This is the same kind of thing people were saying about Shenmue Kickstarter too. There is noway it would have sold lesser than the Xbox port. Not to mention Japanese sales which both the Dreamcast and Xbox didnt have access too given their poor user base in Japan.

 

[Kamek]

I feel like I just saw a video posted with the Japanese voice actor for Ryo, and now I can't find it anywhere after 45 minutes of searching. Did I just make this up?

 

[Hynad]

Why isn't 10m (15m, really) enough for a well-run team? Run the numbers for $ per head on a 2 year budget, and that's 50+ full time employees. They don't have to invent the game engine (UE4), and inherit some assets from the original titles.

While modern games are expensive (we're talking a straight-up $10m bet if this is funded traditionally... that's a tough sell), I think modern AAA gaming has led to some comical notions of how expensive something "has to be" to be good.

A lot of the groundwork [and then some] for Shenmue 3 is already done. They have access to assets of the project from Sega. They are using U4 to make the game.

Updating those assets to current day standards shouldn't cost that much. And they're getting help from Sony to facilitate their work on the PS4. I don't think we should worry about how much money over 10M they should need by today's standard.

If Yu Suzuki says he needs 10M to make his game, I'll take his word over those of any of the armchair experts on here.

 

[DAREALGUMMY]

I feel like I just saw a video posted with the Japanese voice actor for Ryo, and now I can't find it anywhere after 45 minutes of searching. Did I just make this up?

Check the updates section of the kickstarter.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Check the updates section of the kickstarter.

To be fair, that's the last place I would've looked too.