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

Status
Not open for further replies.
I put $29 for the digital copy. I'll probably double up for the physical copy. I hope closer to the end most people upgrade their pledges to the disk version - especially if these are the ONLY PHYSICAL copies produced. They'd be quite the collectors item and I'm sure the funds raised would skyrocket.
 
Coxy said:
Johnmiceter over on shenmuedojo.net suggested PS4 faceplates as a possible backer reward, would anyone be interested in that?

I might be if they werent TOO pricey and if the design was nice, I was thinking maybe the mirror designs, so they'd look kinda like the Yakuza ones



I seem to have gotten it mixed up with Game Sins, apologies.
Click to expand...
A faceplate would be nice!
 
Shenmue face plates? that seems cool, there's all kinds of things they could do like Shenmue mobile phone cases, PS4 controller skins or an exclusive controller.
An exclusive Shenmue 3 console. Exclusive Vinyl discs, wall scrolls, maybe plushies.
 
Hynad said:
We all want closure. But we also don't want the story to feel rushed. Shenmue is a slow paced game, both in its gameplay and in its story. It's part of what makes the game so great to explore and discover. The slow build-up.

Shenmue 3 will be more successful than the first two. It's coming out on a console that is very successful, and on Steam. So it's pretty much certain to sell [relatively] well and warrant a Shenmue 4.

So I don't think fans should be worried about getting closure or not. A Shenmue 4 is pretty much certain to happen at this point.
Click to expand...

You are all way more optimistic than I am. Game making is an expensive proposition, and success is by no means guaranteed despite the Kickstarter. As beloved as they are, Shenmue 1 and 2 were in essence adventure games, more about dialogue and story than fighting. If Shenmue 3 sticks to those roots (and I hope it will), then it's a niche type of game, not a blockbuster franchise. Suzuki may have had grand visions of a 10 game franchise, but given how few games actually create such strong devotion, a smarter bet would be to use this opportunity to tie up all the loose threads the initial overly optimistic expectations created.

When Joss Whedon created Firefly, he no doubt hoped to have a show that would last 10 seasons. When it was cancelled during the first but he had a chance to make a movie, he didn't waste the chance to bring all major plot threads to a close despite those initial hopes. The movie was a proper goodbye rather than an unfulfilled tease. Shenmue 3 is an awesomely unexpected opportunity. I'd rather it be a proper goodbye than another great game which leaves us hanging.
 
You guys are coming up with some fun ideas, and that is great, but will cheap knickknacks actually being in enough people to justify their production and delivery costs? The ps4 physical reward is already moving the needle so much more than anyone could have anticipated.
 
I lived 14 years thinking I'd never see more Shenmue. If this game somehow bombs (and all trends tell us it will not) I'll live pretty happy knowing we got an extension on the story. Not having a resolution is fine by me, I'm more concerned about YS making the game he wants. He didn't make the first 2 games to fulfill fans desires he made them for himself. He should stay on that track.
 
Ocaso said:
You are all way more optimistic than I am. Game making is an expensive proposition, and success is by no means guaranteed despite the Kickstarter. As beloved as they are, Shenmue 1 and 2 were in essence adventure games, more about dialogue and story than fighting. If Shenmue 3 sticks to those roots (and I hope it will), then it's a niche type of game, not a blockbuster franchise. Suzuki may have had grand visions of a 10 game franchise, but given how few games actually create such strong devotion, a smarter bet would be to use this opportunity to tie up all the loose threads the initial overly optimistic expectations created.

When Joss Whedon created Firefly, he no doubt hoped to have a show that would last 10 seasons. When it was cancelled during the first but he had a chance to make a movie, he didn't waste the chance to bring all major plot threads to a close despite those initial hopes. The movie was a proper goodbye rather than an unfulfilled tease. Shenmue 3 is an awesomely unexpected opportunity. I'd rather it be a proper goodbye than another great game which leaves us hanging.
Click to expand...
this isn't a very good comparison.

shenmue is a fully formed thing. its story was written long before the first game even came out. rushing to the end of the series in one game is a total disservice to this 20+ year endeavour, not to mention clashing greatly with what was set up before it in the previous two games.

wrapping up loose plotlines to a television series that never made it past its first season is probably a lot easier than that.

this is not only an opportunity to continue the story, but to introduce new people to the world of shenmue as well. rushing to the end for the sake of closure isn't going to create a good product for them, or for us long-time fans. it won't even be a satisfying creative effort either.

all it gives us is an ending. nothing more. it'd end the series on a low note rather than a high one.
 
Spaghetti said:
this isn't a very good comparison.

shenmue is a fully formed thing. its story was written long before the first game even came out. rushing to the end of the series in one game is a total disservice to this 20+ year endeavour, not to mention clashing greatly with what was set up before it in the previous two games.

wrapping up loose plotlines to a television series that never made it past its first season is probably a lot easier than that.

this is not only an opportunity to continue the story, but to introduce new people to the world of shenmue as well. rushing to the end for the sake of closure isn't going to create a good product for them, or for us long-time fans. it won't even be a satisfying creative effort either.

all it gives us is an ending. nothing more. it'd end the series on a low note rather than a high one.
Click to expand...

In a way I really agree with you. I want the game to be everything Yu Suzuki envisioned originally. However, I am also afraid that we will get another amazing adventure but will once again be caught up in a situation where the next game is cancelled.

I really hope that I am wrong because I have waited so long for this. Tbh I had given up.
 
Update on my broken Dreamcast: I removed the drive and it gets to the BIOS screen with no problem. I'm playing with my backup now.

So, how to not suck at darts?
 
Not sure what more they could add to get more pledges. PS4 physical is enough IMO. I guess they could always add extra versions of the game that collector's would love. Add-ons too. The extra additions might be too much probably but they'll fill in the gaps in price where tiers don't exist. Maybe:

Shenmue 3 Physical Steelbook Kickstarter Limited Edition PS4 - $200
-- Embedded Steelbook Case. Includes Lower Tiers: Art Book, T-Shirt, Capsule Toy etc.

Shenmue 3 Physical Steelbook Kickstarter Limited Edition PC - $200
-- Includes Lower Tiers: Art Book, T-Shirt, Capsule Toy etc.

Shenmue 3 Exclusive PS4 Dreamcast Edition / Case + Faceplate - $600
-- Dreamcast Style packaging with Shenmue PS4 Faceplate. Includes Lower Tiers.

Ryo Hazuki Journal Replica - $800
-- Physical Journal that includes marked chapters of Ryo's journey.

Record a Voice Message to be Used on In-Game Phone - $2500
-- Record a short answering phone message that will be heard when Ryo dials your six digit backer number. Example: "001366" "050000" "000180".

Help Design an In-Game Capsule Toy + Unique Physical Replica - $3000
-- Create your very own capsule toy and we'll send you a unique physical replica of it.

Replica Phoenix Mirror & Dragon Mirror - $6000
-- Includes name and backer number engraving on the back.

Shenmue 3 Add-Ons: Add Extra Items to Your Pledge
-- Shenmue 3 Digital PS4 + $29
-- Shenmue 3 Digital PC + $29
-- Shenmue 3 Physical PS4 + $60
-- Shenmue 3 Physical PC + $60
-- Shenmue 3 Physical Steelbook Kickstarter Limited Edition PS4 + $100
-- Shenmue 3 Physical Steelbook Kickstarter Limited Edition PC + $100
-- Shenmue 3 Exclusive PS4 Dreamcast Style Packaging Edition + $120
-- Shenmue 3 OST Digital + $15
-- Shenmue 3 OST Physical CD + $25
-- Printed Art Book + $80
 
Spaghetti said:
this isn't a very good comparison.

shenmue is a fully formed thing. its story was written long before the first game even came out. rushing to the end of the series in one game is a total disservice to this 20+ year endeavour, not to mention clashing greatly with what was set up before it in the previous two games.

wrapping up loose plotlines to a television series that never made it past its first season is probably a lot easier than that.

this is not only an opportunity to continue the story, but to introduce new people to the world of shenmue as well. rushing to the end for the sake of closure isn't going to create a good product for them, or for us long-time fans. it won't even be a satisfying creative effort either.

all it gives us is an ending. nothing more. it'd end the series on a low note rather than a high one.
Click to expand...

Did you watch Firefly? Right from the first episode they clearly had plans for where that story was headed, they just never know how many episodes they have to get there. Serenity was an incredible opportunity and Whedon didn't waste it.

As for ending the series on a low note, that's a highly premature conclusion, far more than mine. There's no reason Suzuki could not have compressed the story into something quite exceptional and satisfying for 3. In fact, there are those who feel that external pressures to "trim the fat" can often improve a story.

In any case, we'll find out, I suppose. Let's just hope Suzuki does have an endgame in mind.
 
Spaghetti said:
shenmue is a fully formed thing. its story was written long before the first game even came out. rushing to the end of the series in one game is a total disservice to this 20+ year endeavour, not to mention clashing greatly with what was set up before it in the previous two games.
Click to expand...

It feels weird to hear someone say this about a series of games that is so notorioiusly filled with vamping, sidequests, distractions, and filler content. To call Shenmue narratively languid is almost an understatement. We're talking about games where the hero has to get and actually work a monotonous day job. Imagine if everytime Frodo got hungry in Lord of the Rings, they devoted 10 minutes of footage to showing him hunt a rabbit, skin it, cook it, and eat it. You could probably cut about 80% of the content in Shenmue 1 and lose very little from the overall story.

Shenmue's attention to extraneous, superfluous detail is the hallmark of the series, it is true. But truncating the story down from 5 games to 3 is probably not all that big of a deal. It's probably more difficult from a production standpoint (having to generate art assets for 5-10 different locales) than it is from a storytelling standpoint. At the end of the day, the story is kung-fu movie fodder anyhow -- not Hamlet or Henry V. If it takes you 40+ hours to do a kung-fu revenge story, you're probably doing something wrong. Even Kill Bill was kinda pushing it with 2 separate movies.
 
Ocaso said:
Did you watch Firefly? Right from the first episode they clearly had plans for where that story was headed, they just never know how many episodes they have to get there. Serenity was an incredible opportunity and Whedon didn't waste it.

As for ending the series on a low note, that's a highly premature conclusion, far more than mine. There's no reason Suzuki could not have compressed the story into something quite exceptional and satisfying for 3. In fact, there are those who feel that external pressures to "trim the fat" can often improve a story.

In any case, we'll find out, I suppose. Let's just hope Suzuki does have an endgame in mind.
Click to expand...

He already cut chapters. I don't want to miss character progress just to see the end of a story Yu worked on way longer than Whedon on firefly...
 
Ocaso said:
Did you watch Firefly? Right from the first episode they clearly had plans for where that story was headed, they just never know how many episodes they have to get there. Serenity was an incredible opportunity and Whedon didn't waste it.

As for ending the series on a low note, that's a highly premature conclusion, far more than mine. There's no reason Suzuki could not have compressed the story into something quite exceptional and satisfying for 3. In fact, there are those who feel that external pressures to "trim the fat" can often improve a story.

In any case, we'll find out, I suppose. Let's just hope Suzuki does have an endgame in mind.
Click to expand...
except that there is a reason, and it's the exactly the one i've talked about. yu suzuki himself said that ending at 3 would not be a satisfying conclusion, and i totally agree. it doesn't even remotely feel like we're at the end of ryo's story at all. fast-forwarding to some artificial conclusion is not the way to see the series out at all.

yu suzuki is already trimming the fat by saying he can get it done and ended with one more game after 3. not to mention the chapters already trimmed from shenmue II. for a series that was supposed to span into 5 or more whole games, that's enough trimming.

and honestly, the firefly comparison doesn't work at all. apples and oranges.

the real missed opportunity here would be not doing right by fans and not giving them the continuation of the story as intended. the outpouring of support for shenmue 3, the record breaking support, is a fantastic springboard to continue the series as intended. it is not a limping attempt at just giving closure, and it shouldn't be.
 
Ocaso said:
Did you watch Firefly? Right from the first episode they clearly had plans for where that story was headed, they just never know how many episodes they have to get there.
Click to expand...

I did watch Firefly, and enjoyed it very much. Yes, Whedon probably had some details worked out, like the origin of the Reavers etc., and the general direction of the first season. But you can't tell me he had planned through 10 seasons already. That's ridiculous.

Ocaso said:
Serenity was an incredible opportunity and Whedon didn't waste it.
Click to expand...

Depends on how you look at it. The movie certainly was a gift, but I'm not happy with some of the story choices it made. It kind of wasted the potential of the character of Book. Which was later explored in comics (there are several Firefly comics, I haven't kept up with them, though).

So, this comparison isn't really good. Firefly was a TV show. It wasn't resurrected in the same medium. It got a movie. And that wasn't even the end. It got several comics...

Shenmue on the other hand was a game series and it does get a direct sequel in the same medium.

How about another bad comparison: George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire". Originally planned to be a trilogy. But grew to 7 books. Might even be 8. Only 5 have been released so far. And there certainly are people who wish that the story would be wrapped up with the upcoming book 6, because of the author's glacial pace. After all, he might die (god forbid) before he'll be able to finish the story. He has a great answer to those concerns.


Ocaso said:
There's no reason Suzuki could not have compressed the story into something quite exceptional and satisfying for 3.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, there is: money. The game appears to be "underfunded" as is, no need to make things worse by cramming more story into it. Also, what you consider to be "trimmable fat" in a story, others might think of as the best part... I don't see how a premature ending of any story could ever be exceptional and satisfying.
 
This is far in the future but just something I'm thinking about as this is the first KS I've backed, do these games usually go out in time? I don't know how that works, when development is coming to a close and a release date is given, do backer copies go out on time w/ public release?

I just don't want to be stuck a week, 2 weeks after it's on store shelves still waiting.
 
Add Ons need to happen. A friend of mine would like to contribute and since they aren't prepared for Paypal (which is baffling to me), he needs to pledge through me. I'm in at $300 and they explicitly state backers could only pledge once for those tiers (which is also baffling) so I need a way to get my friend at least another physical PS4 copy.
 
border said:
It feels weird to hear someone say this about a series of games that is so notorioiusly filled with vamping, sidequests, distractions, and filler content. To call Shenmue narratively languid is almost an understatement. We're talking about games where the hero has to get and actually work a monotonous day job. Imagine if everytime Frodo got hungry in Lord of the Rings, they devoted 10 minutes of footage to showing him hunt a rabbit, skin it, cook it, and eat it. You could probably cut about 80% of the content in Shenmue 1 and lose very little from the overall story.

Shenmue's attention to extraneous, superfluous detail is the hallmark of the series, it is true. But truncating the story down from 5 games to 3 is probably not all that big of a deal. It's probably more difficult from a production standpoint (having to generate art assets for 5-10 different locales) than it is from a storytelling standpoint. At the end of the day, the story is kung-fu movie fodder anyhow -- not Hamlet or Henry V. If it takes you 40+ hours to do a kung-fu revenge story, you're probably doing something wrong. Even Kill Bill was kinda pushing it with 2 separate movies.
Click to expand...
there's a vast difference between filling a game world with things to do and artificially stunting a story that has been written in its entirety before the first game ever came out. one adds actual depth to the world, the other just cuts the narrative off at the knees. not to mention there is a vast difference between showing or telling, and actually doing.

you either start shenmue 3 with a very stupid timeskip to the final chapters, or you stitch the ending onto the chapters that would have made up shenmue 3 as intended. that's not editing. that's butchering.
 
border said:
It feels weird to hear someone say this about a series of games that is so notorioiusly filled with vamping, sidequests, distractions, and filler content. To call Shenmue narratively languid is almost an understatement. We're talking about games where the hero has to get and actually work a monotonous day job. Imagine if everytime Frodo got hungry in Lord of the Rings, they devoted 10 minutes of footage to showing him hunt a rabbit, skin it, cook it, and eat it. You could probably cut about 80% of the content in Shenmue 1 and lose very little from the overall story.

Shenmue's attention to extraneous, superfluous detail is the hallmark of the series, it is true. But truncating the story down from 5 games to 3 is probably not all that big of a deal. It's probably more difficult from a production standpoint (having to generate art assets for 5-10 different locales) than it is from a storytelling standpoint. At the end of the day, the story is kung-fu movie fodder anyhow -- not Hamlet or Henry V. If it takes you 40+ hours to do a kung-fu revenge story, you're probably doing something wrong. Even Kill Bill was kinda pushing it with 2 separate movies.
Click to expand...

You've got it quite wrong. Shenmue's story is a bigger deal and stayed with so many because of all the "superfluous" detail. The story stripped to its essentials, no one would care about.
 
The problem is money. I assume that with what they've budgeted they can't make all the locales that Yu Suzuki wants to cover in his story.

I completely understand the worries about not finishing the story though. Shenmue 4 could be another 14 years wait. It could never ever happen. Because let's be honest, Shenmue 3 just barely came into existence in the first place. To not finish the story in 3 is some very optimistic forward thinking. Kudos to Suzuki for at least trying I suppose.
 
shinobi602 said:
This is far in the future but just something I'm thinking about as this is the first KS I've backed, do these games usually go out in time? I don't know how that works, when development is coming to a close and a release date is given, do backer copies go out on time w/ public release?

I just don't want to be stuck a week, 2 weeks after it's on store shelves still waiting.
Click to expand...
Well, I was supposed to get MN9 during Spring '15 but then the partnership with Deep Silver happened and the released date was pushed to September.

I'm getting free DLC campaign with Ray as compensation, so that's nice. No physical copy, though.
 
shinobi602 said:
This is far in the future but just something I'm thinking about as this is the first KS I've backed, do these games usually go out in time? I don't know how that works, when development is coming to a close and a release date is given, do backer copies go out on time w/ public release?

I just don't want to be stuck a week, 2 weeks after it's on store shelves still waiting.
Click to expand...

Physical rewards sometimes take time to be sent. From my experience digital backers usually are already playing the game while the physical dudes are still waiting. If a retail copy is also made it depends on how the campaign is organized who gets their discs first.
 
shinobi602 said:
This is far in the future but just something I'm thinking about as this is the first KS I've backed, do these games usually go out in time? I don't know how that works, when development is coming to a close and a release date is given, do backer copies go out on time w/ public release?

I just don't want to be stuck a week, 2 weeks after it's on store shelves still waiting.
Click to expand...

I'm also curious with this. Never pledged for a physical game on Kickstarter. I'm hoping they send the game out to correspond with launch. Would suck to be waiting.

Being the Shenmue fan I am though, I'll be definitely buying every version of Shenmue 3 possible so I'm not worried too much, but yeah, would be nice to think we'd get it slightly early or on release day.
 
shinobi602 said:
This is far in the future but just something I'm thinking about as this is the first KS I've backed, do these games usually go out in time? I don't know how that works, when development is coming to a close and a release date is given, do backer copies go out on time w/ public release?

I just don't want to be stuck a week, 2 weeks after it's on store shelves still waiting.
Click to expand...
You don't have to worry about that. Usually, backers get copies earlier or at the time of release date.

It's the release date itself that usually gets delayed...
 
shinobi602 said:
This is far in the future but just something I'm thinking about as this is the first KS I've backed, do these games usually go out in time? I don't know how that works, when development is coming to a close and a release date is given, do backer copies go out on time w/ public release?
Click to expand...

I cannot think of a single Kickstarter game that was delivered in a timely fashion. They almost all get pushed 6-12 months back from the estimated delivery date.

If you want delivery on-time once the game is actually finished, you should almost certainly get a digital copy. If you opted for a physical disc, then you are basically at the mercy of the US Postal service and the competence of the people manufacturing the rewards.
 
border said:
I cannot think of a single Kickstarter game that was delivered in a timely fashion. They almost all get pushed 6-12 months back from the estimated delivery date.

If you want delivery on-time once the game is actually finished, you should almost certainly get a digital copy. If you opted for a physical disc, then you are basically at the mercy of the US Postal service and the competence of the people manufacturing the rewards.
Click to expand...
Fuck :(

I'll probably buy a retail copy at release anyway. I'm fine with double dipping and giving them the extra money.
 
hamchan said:
The problem is money. I assume that with what they've budgeted they can't make all the locales that Yu Suzuki wants to cover in his story.

I completely understand the worries about not finishing the story though. Shenmue 4 could be another 14 years wait. It could never ever happen. Because let's be honest, Shenmue 3 just barely came into existence in the first place. To not finish the story in 3 is some very optimistic forward thinking. Kudos to Suzuki for at least trying I suppose.
Click to expand...
well, i dunno. if shenmue 3 was always intended to be a smaller and more intimate game, three areas seems appropriate for that. the stretch goals cover the density and interaction within them more than anything, so i wouldn't be concerned at all that this element is limited.

what people are failing to see is that shenmue 3 is a springboard into properly concluding the series. a series people thought dead for 14 years has broken video game crowd funding records. not only will that make publishers look twice if they're ever asked to help out funding another instalment, it also means ys.net could return to kickstarter in four/five years to fund the next game.
 
sechsterangriff said:
You don't have to worry about that. Usually, backers get copies earlier or at the time of release date.

It's the release date itself that usually gets delayed...
Click to expand...

Not my experience from numerous Kickstarters where I went physical (Wasteland, Pillars, Pinkerton Road, Broken Age etc.) but I live in Europe. Those games also came with digital copies though which made things better.
 
I'm still not seeing any official word on Steam or GOG support. As far as I can tell, everything about PC distribution is up in the air.

It sure would be great if they'd confirm one or the other before this campaign is done. I don't want to get stuck with some shitty distribution option at release.
 
El-Suave said:
Not my experience from numerous Kickstarters where I went physical (Wasteland, Pillars, Pinkerton Road, Broken Age etc.) but I live in Europe. Those games also came with digital copies though which made things better.
Click to expand...
Hmm... Usually I get a shipping notice or an update around release. I also live in Europe so when the time I actually receive stuff varies I blame it on postal/logistic services and customs.
 
epmode said:
I'm still not seeing any official word on Steam or GOG support. As far as I can tell, everything about PC distribution is up in the air.

It sure would be great if they'd confirm one or the other before this campaign is done. I don't want to get stuck with some shitty distribution option at release.
Click to expand...

Coming exclusively to Uplay!

No, really though. there's 0% chance of not coming to Steam.
 
ArjanN said:
Coming exclusively to Uplay!

No, really though. there's 0% chance of not coming to Steam.
Click to expand...
this. they're probably unable to confirm steam without going through greenlight first, and seeing how there's no game yet, no greenlight.

i don't think there's anything to worry about with this. yu suzuki or at least cedric biscay knows which way the wind blows on PC.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

AAAA games just come and go these days
2
53
109
NeverYouMind replied
Do you have a ‘go to’ game?
2 3
100
125
Ceadeus replied
Z2 Go vs Z1 Extreme Benchmarks (Legion Go S)
2
73
10K
StereoVsn replied
Prologue: Go Wayback! - Trailer
Trailer 
4
321
IbizaPocholo replied
Go Home Annie: An SCP Game - Official PC Update and Console Announcement Trailer
Trailer Platform 
0
77
IbizaPocholo replied
Top Bottom