Shenmue 3 Kickstarter

[BioMotor_Unitron]

Apparently there are a few people that were still waiting for a sequel.

 

[Magician]

Hit the mark in less than 9 hours.

 

[DNSDies]

I already dropped $60 for the physical version.
Gotta complete the set, after all!

 

[Earthquake24]

I backed at $60 as well, but am thinking of going higher...maybe much higher. If they add in more tiers and maybe physical options for PS4, I'll put up some more. They are taking suggestions in the comments section. Still plenty of time (1 month) to change up the pledge, so I'll just watch the updates and see if anything else changes. I'm just happy this FINALLY is happening!

 

[Kid Panda]

I'll bite on a physical copy for the PS4

 

[neojedi]

I'm on the fence for now because the stretch options are awful; all those subtitle options should be a single milestone. I'm really waiting for console versions + ports of Shenmue 1 and 2 included.

 

[celeritas]

I agree. The stretch languages really are poor stretch goals. I backed at $100 myself, for vanity purposes.

 

[TonK]

I've never played a Shenmue so I don't care about this.

 

[Kiel]

I've never played a Shenmue so I don't care about this.

Same here

 

[cdamm]

I'm on the fence for now because the stretch options are awful; all those subtitle options should be a single milestone. I'm really waiting for console versions + ports of Shenmue 1 and 2 included.

its kind of funny- i ended up biting on the digital ps4 version but i originally went higher because i thought that 100 dollar tier had the physical ps4 copy which it didn't. I'd go higher if that physical ps4 thing ends up happening.

they also said that the ports of 1 and 2 were not in the works just yet as that is still being held by sega.

 

[neojedi]

they also said that the ports of 1 and 2 were not in the works just yet as that is still being held by sega.

That makes me a sad panda. Thanks for the info, though.

 

[cdamm]

That makes me a sad panda. Thanks for the info, though.

its all right there in the FAQ.

 

[NeoSneth]

2017. This means they have a long way to go.

 

[totoro]

I hope it gets released in disc form as well!!

 

[roker]

I hope there's a forklift mini game in there or that they at least give a stretch goal for it.

 

[Mugicha]

I'm not gonna back this, but I'm really happy to see the outpouring of support. I liked the first two games, didn't love em, but definitely liked em. I have fond memories of em, and quote them every now and then too, "Are you guys Sailors?" "Would you liked to try a game of Lucky-Hit? How about a game of Lucky-Hit?" shit was classic.

I am curious to see how the story will unfold, but this kind of game just isn't for me anymore. Nonetheless, congratz to Yu Suzuki and team for reaching the goal and hopefully they can give the fans what they want.

 

[TheBigBB]

Those were some of the worst games I ever played, but I'm glad fans of this crap will get their long-awaited next installment.

 

[Earthquake24]

So, yeah this was pretty obvious..Sony wouldn't just let Yu take the stage if they weren't involved or got something out of it.

Sony Is Helping Make Shenmue III

Patrick Klepek

Filed to: SHENMUE 6/16/15 6:45pm

Sony Is Helping Make Shenmue III

There’s something curious about Shenmue III on Kickstarter: it’s only asking for $2 million. It took $47 million to build the original game. What’s the deal? As it turns out, Sony’s partnering with its development.

When the Shenmue III bombshell was dropped during Sony’s press conference last night, it wasn’t clear if Sony was simply giving Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki a huge platform to announce the crowdfunding project, or if there was something...more.

Sony director of third party relations Gio Corsi was on the PlayStation live show today, where he joined Suzuki to discuss one of this week’s biggest surprises.

“We hit our goal in under 24 hours,” said Corsi.

“We”?

Apparently, Sony met with Suzuki at the Game Developers Conference in 2014, the same year he presented an extensive postmortem on Shenmue’s development, which reignited fan interest.

Every so often, Suzuki has floated Shenmue 3 around in interviews, and even raised the idea of crowdfunding its development. The problem for Suzuki, of course, was raising enough money.

“Probably Sega will let me make it,” said Suzuki to Gamasutra in 2011, “I think. It’s simply a problem of budget.”

Corsi said Sony’s been mulling Shenmue ever since its “build the list” initiative was started in 2013, in which the company solicited fan requests and tried to turn some of them into a reality.

“Shenmue 3 was the number one ask on the whole building the list campaign,” said Corsi. “When that first started, right off the bat: Shenmue 3, Shenmue 3, Shenmue 3. This has been asked as long as I’ve been at PlayStation.”

When Jason spoke with Sony’s Adam Boyes about the list, Shenmue came up immediately.

“We get a ton of requests for Yakuza, a ton of requests for Shenmue. We see the lists. Like everything that people have tweeted Gio, literally we have a person that compiles those lists and prioritizes based on how many requests we’ve gotten. And I think to date there’s well over 10,000 mentions across like forum threads and stuff like that. So those are the ones we’re focused on.”
It sounds like both Sony and Suzuki found themselves in a tough spot. Fans demanded more Shenmue, but how to prove that beyond a tweet? Social media is nice, but it’s not money.

“We said ‘the only way this is gonna happen is if the fans speak up,’” said Corsi. “We thought Kickstarter was the perfect place to do this. We set a goal of two million dollars, and if the fans come in and back it, then absolutely we’re going to make it this a reality.”

That part isn’t really laid out in the Shenmue III page on Kickstarter, however. There’s no mention that Sony’s involved, nor the promise of additional money from outside investors.

Here’s what it says on the Shenmue III page:

“The real challenge now is to deliver a sequel that we will all be satisfied with after 14 years of waiting. After much research and planning, we set the funding goal at this level believing it will make possible a fulfilling Shenmue experience.

With regards to development of the game, we have an experienced team, deeply connected with the Shenmue franchise. With modern tools, experienced professionals, and the community of Shenmue by our sides, we have set ourselves up for success.

We will do our absolute best to deliver Shenmue 3 and the rewards by their respective deadlines. However, there is always the possibility that problems may arise which could affect reward delivery. There may end up being changes in game or reward designs. We may press right when we are supposed to press left and get hilariously head butted and kneed in the groin.”
Bloodstained, for example, is securing 90% of its funding from outside Kickstarter, with the Kickstarter project being used as a means to confirm there’s loads of fan interest in the game.

With Shenmue III, the rest of the money seesms to be coming from Sony. How much? No idea.

“Sony and PlayStation is definitely a partner in this game,” said Corsi, “and it’s going to be run through third-party production. We’re going to help Ys Net get the game done, we’re going to be partners on it the whole way, and really excited to see this thing come out in a couple of years.”

As of right now, Shenmue III has raised $2.7 million (and counting), and it’s scheduled to be released in December 2017 on PlayStation 4 and PC. Other platforms could happen eventually.

 

[RevQuixo]

Not going to back for a physical PC copy or a digital PS4.

You'd have my money with a physical PS4

 

[theMot]

Shamwow > Shenmue

 

[Taiso]

Shenmue III: Still Looking For Sailors

I'm backing this, btw.

 

[Hot Chocolate]

Backed at digital PS4, if a physical teir opens I'm all over it

 

[omegasit]

I'll bite on a physical copy for the PS4

I'm waiting on this as well. Very surprising that the PC has a physical, but not the PS4.

 

[neo_mao]

Granted, I am new to the whole kickstart concept so maybe I am missing something here - but can someone please explain to me why holding a kickstarter for a game that has the support from a corporation is not unethical? Maybe it is totally fine and I am just missing something.

But I thought the whole point of a kickstarter is to raise funds for a game that would not get made without fan support? But that doesnt seem to be the case here. Or am I missing something?

Shenmue or not, I'm not interested in backing this - it doesn't sit well with me. I hope this precedent doesn't set some bad trend going forward.

 

[TheBigBB]

Granted, I am new to the whole kickstart concept so maybe I am missing something here - but can someone please explain to me why holding a kickstarter for a game that has the support from a corporation is not unethical? Maybe it is totally fine and I am just missing something.

But I thought the whole point of a kickstarter is to raise funds for a game that would not get made without fan support? But that doesnt seem to be the case here. Or am I missing something?

Shenmue or not, I'm not interested in backing this - it doesn't sit well with me. I hope this precedent doesn't set some bad trend going forward.

No, you're right, it is complete bullshit that they have a Kickstarter. I'm surprised that a game unveiled at E3 by Sony is allowed to participate on Kickstarter when the money they're raising is literally just a glorified pre-order. I know this has been a common complaint of crowdfunded shit, but at least most of the time you are under the impression that the project actually has no money to go forward without your help. In this case it's basically Sony telling the fans to prove that they want the game. A totally gutless decision. They should have the balls to just fund the game outright if they want to be involved with it.