Shenmue 3

New Shenmue 3 teaser trailer finally released

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With Gamescom going full swing tomorrow, PlayStation youtube channel has released a teaser trailer (And the first trailer since the project was announced way back!) for Shenmue 3. Featuring predominantly Ryo and Shenhua, we get to see the trailer kick off from where Shenmue 2 finishes and some delightful enviroments are showcased. I must admit for the budget of over $6 million, that is some fine looking areas the team have come and I can’t wait to get the chance to explore them. Let’s hope we get to see more of the game with Gamescom opening to the public tomorrow!

What did you think of the trailer? Comment below with your thoughts!

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Yu Suzuki announces Shenmue 3 release date delayed to second half of 2018

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Yu Suzuki has announced, in a message to Shenmue 3 Kickstarter backers, that the game has become bigger and more beautiful than he initially expected. As such, the development schedule has been revised and the release of the game has shifted from the end of 2017 to the second half of 2018. This pushes the release date back 6-12 months. Suzuki mentions that new technologies have allowed the team to discover new possibilities and expressions, and promised that details of the revised schedule will be detailed in a backer report later this month. Suzuki closed the video message by thanking backers for their understanding and continued support.

The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter was initially revealed on the Sony stage at E3 2015 and upon completion of the campaign in July 2015, the team had raised $6,333,295. That amount increased to $6,762,419 following a “slacker backer” campaign held on the shenmue.link website for those who missed the campaign. Development was said to begin early 2017, so fans like myself were not expecting the game to meet the December 2017 deadline. To be honest, it’s good news to hear an announcement of a delay, as it relieves the team the pressures of rushing a much anticipated game and gives fans warning of a delay a full 6 months before the originally anticipated release.

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New Shenmue 3 developer update gives us a peek at the game in action

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A new Shenmue 3 developer diary has finally hit for Kickstarter backers, and as seen above the game is indeed being made! Yeah yeah, I know, there was little doubt that the game is happening but I still have this suspicion that Yu Suzuki’s plan is to run off to a remote island with a luxury car. The latest video tells little but shows quite a bit. We see a developer working on a QTE arcade machine displaying Playstation buttons and arrows. We then see Ryo pushing something and then the player accessing the iconic in-game diary. A peek at a small village is given and the room appears to be littered with concept drawings of NPCs.

During a dialogue meeting, somebody is paging through the Japanese Shenmue 2 guide book and we see more NPC drawings on a white board. Quest test play shows off a messy room covered in dirt and debris. Ryo is seen from behind opening a cabinet and it is noted that all characters are tentative and are from older resources – so don’t judge the back of Ryo’s head! We then go to a meeting with Yu Suzuki where we see him talking with his staff and in the background there is a screen showing off what looks like Ryo outside and then a scene inside a small room with an arcade machine. We again see Ryo outside and a quick shot of a village at dusk with lights lit.

All in all, not much is revealed but it is very exciting to see the game being made! What did you think of this peek at Shenmue 3?

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Shenmue III music developer diary

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A new video developer diary has been posted to the Shenmue III Kickstarter page. This one focuses on Shenmue III music and features a subtitled chat with Yu Suzuki on the subject.

The discussion ranges from Yu Suzuki’s taste in music, his history playing in rock bands that performed Deep Purple and Van Halen style music and covers, setting the tone with music in a video game, and how he directs his audio teams on a project. The video comes off like a nice, natural and unscripted chat with the legendary Sega developer.

Towards the end of the short video, Suzuki previews some of the new songs from the upcoming game.

Shenmue III is still targeted for a December 2017 release for PS4 and PC. Imagine that guys, we’re now just a year away from that target date! Are you excited? Do you think Suzuki and the boys will deliver on time?

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SEGAbits at New York Comic Con 2016: Shenmue 3 Interview with Cédric Biscay

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SEGAbits attended New York Comic Con 2016 and had the opportunity to speak about Shenmue 3 with Cédric Biscay, president and CEO of Shibuya Productions. Cédric was kind enough to sit down with our own Kori-Maru to tell us how he got his start in the industry, what it’s like to work with Yu Suzuki and more!

Enjoy our video content? Please give us a like and subscribe on our YouTube page. Thanks!

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Latest Shenmue III Update is a Developer Room Video

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The latest Shenmue III update that dropped this morning gave us a quick video of inside Ys Net’s Dev Room for the game.

In the video, we first see a developer animating a rather familiar QTE scene. The event in question, which features Ryu Hazuki hopping on stones to cross a stream, occurred in the epilogue of Shenmue II. It’s revealed that the team wanted to create the event for the third game, which brings us to a possibility of the entire last act of Shenmue II being playable again in the new engine.

The team member moves the scene’s camera around and discusses a future meeting with Yu Suzuki about cooler angles to use for the event.

The second part of the video takes us to another developer working on a scene situated on a mountain. An avalanche occurs and Ryu must run for his life as boulders of all sizes fly down towards him.

As the documentary ends, we see a few shots of devs at work and, finally, a quick glimpse of Yu Suzuki smiling.

The short film is titled Development Report Vol. 1, so hopefully this is the start of a new series of videos that Ys Net releases with some of the monthly Shenmue III updates moving forward.

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Yu Suzuki reflects on one year since the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter was funded

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In the latest Shenmue 3 Kickstarter update, Yu Suzuki shared a special backer exclusive video in which he looked back on one year since the campaign was successfully funded. Those expecting major revelations or exciting new information will be disappointed, but it is nice to see shots of Suzuki and his team discussing the game’s development. A few notable moments in the video include Suzuki stating “Your cheers at the Sony announcement still ring in my ears” and the mention that late last year the team began using Shenmue 2 characters for battle and conversation tests in Unreal Engine 4 – I would personally love to see these development videos someday. Suzuki also stated that the prototype build began development in January and that is has been six months since the project has really taken off. Elements that are beginning to come together include battles and facial expressions and the crew are said to be happy with development thus far. Suzuki ended the video saying he believes it will end up to be a good game, and he once again thanked backers for their support. No date has been decided yet for surveys, which would decide stuff like shipping addresses and shirt sizes and information needed for in-game appearances.

Overall, Shenmue 3 looks to be progressing well. The environments, while not jaw dropping as they were with the Dreamcast originals, look good and it is always nice to see Suzuki smiling and talking about the game’s development. Here’s hoping as time goes on we see more of the game in progress and get a peek at some cutscenes and battles.

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Shenmue 3 update shows off in-game environments

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Above is early footage of Shenhua’s house from the upcoming Shenmue 3. The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter also sent out various photos of these environments (which you can see below) giving you a closer look at how far the game’s graphics have come along compared to what they showed previously. The Shenmue Dojo twitter account also did a side by side comparison of Shenua’s house from Shenmue 2 to Shenmue 3 and it seems like everything is where we last left it 15 years ago.

I’m not really sold on the over use of lighting, but its looking rather impressive so far for being this early into development. I really can’t wait to see more updates, so far color me surprise. What do you guys think of Shenmue 3‘s new environments? Let us know in the comments below!

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New Shenmue 3 screens unveiled at Magic Monaco 2016 press conference

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The Monaco Anime Game International Conference kicks off February 27th, and of interest to Shenmue fans is a much anticipated Shenmue 3 presence. As a preview of the event, a press conference was held today which featured new screens and details on the upcoming game. While the details side of things is scant right now, images from the event have hit social media. Twitter user Shenmue Forever posted some cool photos of the panel which features some new screens of the game. The images are kind of hard to see, but thankfully the Magic Monaco Twitter account shared one of the screens (seen above), and another has also found its way online (seen after the break). While the game is still very much in an early state, it’s great to see what feels like what one would see while playing the game. Let’s be honest, nothing is more iconic than the back of Ryo’s head – it is what players see for a majority of the game.

More details from the panel will be shared as we hear them!

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Shenmue 3 Update: Kickstarter Rewards to remain exclusive and official site gets a refresh

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Happy 2016! With the new year comes an update on Shenmue 3! While the latest Kickstarter project update doesn’t get into any of the development, the results are in for the survey asking whether or not rewards exclusive to Kickstarter backers should be made available to PayPal backers. Initially, this survey was held on Twitter, which many cited as being unfair since it was open to anybody and not just Kickstarter backers. Thankfully, Ys Net listened and held a new survey exclusive to Kickstarter backers. The survey shows that while the “Yes’s” outweighed the “No’s”, the “No’s” and “Either’s” were to great to be ignored and it has been decided that Kickstarter exclusives will not be made available to PayPal backers.

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Ys Net releases Shenmue 3 progress report on the game’s development, featuring new screens

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As Shenmue 3 enters the third month of post-Kickstarter development, a much welcomed progress report has been posted detailing what the team has been up to and what they plan to work on in the coming months. Most exciting are four screens of the game in-progress showcasing battle tests, a cutscene, and an environment which you can see after the break or at the above link.

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Update: SEGA Europe marketing director says they are exploring opportunities for re-releases of legacy titles like Shenmue

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Marketing Week held an interesting interview with SEGA Europe marketing director Jon Rooke. The interview, which centers around the company’s recent changes and a shift in approach, also touches on the Shenmue series. SEGA allowing Yu Suzuki to use the license to make a third game and the Kickstarter campaign proving to be a success “shows that people love [SEGA’s] legacy”, said Rooke. The article adds that Rooke said SEGA is exploring ways to re-release the original two Shenmue titles.

Could it be that much like Valkyria Chronicles performing well on PC, it took the successful backing of Shenmue 3 for SEGA to rethink rereleases of classic titles? It has long been rumored that there are reasons for SEGA holding out on Shenmue and Shenmue II, chief among them being that there are rights issues standing in the way. Whatever the case, it’s good to hear somebody like Jon Rooke speaking publicly about a possibility of a re-release.

Update: The article’s author has shared the exact quote from Jon Rooke on Twitter:
When I asked about Shenmue being remade, I was told: “There are lots of opportunities for legacy titles. We are exploring. We know what fans want as they have a petition.” So it now appears that the quote wasn’t referring to Shenmue specifically, but legacy titles as a whole.

[Source: Marketing Week]

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Yu Suzuki says convincing SEGA to let him do Shenmue III was easy

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Shenmue3Yu Suzuki has done a couple of interviews about Shenmue III the other day, one of the more interesting ones was with Dual Shockers one in which they asked him about how hard it was to get the rights for the project which Yu Suzuki said:

” It’s difficult to explain. I am the one who created Shenmue, so Sega allows me to take decisions for the game. They trust me because I know more about the workings of the game more than anyone else. There were no problems. Sega is very helpful and collaborative with me. They hope the best for Shenmue III. I actually still work for Sega as an adviser, so we have a very good relationship.”

Dualshockers also posted a video of Yu Suzuki explaining the “AI Battling” which was a goal during their Kickstarter. Check out that video here. If you’re a big Yu Suzuki fan, I’d suggest you give the interview a read and if you’re Yu Suzuki and you are reading this, how about you answer our emails, bro?

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Shenmue 3 kicks off three month PayPal Slacker Backer Campaign

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For those that missed out on the initial Shenmue 3 Kickstarter campaign, Ys Net has just kicked off a second campaign which is set to run for a little over three months and utilizes PayPal. Dubbed the Slacker Backer Campaign, the campaign is described as follows:

For everyone who could not participate in the Shenmue III Kickstarter, we have heard your voice! Here is one more chance to show your support and make Shenmue III even better. All funding collected here will be added to the Kickstarter total for the game’s development.

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Shenmue 3 Kickstarter reveals development progress and future plans

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It’s normal for most Kickstarter campaigns to go silent for a bit following successful funding, mainly because those behind the campaign are now hard at work creating whatever it is you backed. Of course, in the case of Shenmue 3 which raised over $6 million, backers were more eager than usual to hear something new. Thankfully, the radio silence didn’t last too long as backers received an update last night on the development progress and future plans. Better yet, we heard it straight from Yu Suzuki himself!

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