SEGAbits Shenmue III Hype Train! Update: Funded but lets go further!

[Spock]

I'm not saying I lost hope in Sega. I'm sure they could release great games in the future. Most of the games (not all) that have been released in the past five years have been remakes of other games or games that are generally based towards children. Making an hd release for Shenmue II has already been done. Making one for the original would be odd because Sega should have done that before making the second game, if that is their plan. As far as making a third game, it would require a lot of money, a very large team, and Yu Suzuki would also need the "ok" from Sega. Does anyone else not think this is a bad idea? Why would Sega want a game series that they created specifically for their own consoles to be released on another companies console? It just wouldn't make sense. Especially after 15 years.

[Tad]

I stick by my original post. Remaster the series, refine it and away it goes.

About Sega's output over the last few years...

I have to admit, I haven't been interested in some of the stuff they do release and sometimes even when I have, other more interesting games have grabbed my attention first. Sega has changed, but every now and then, they release something like Sega All Stars Racing or Sonic Generations that really grabs me.

[Nathan]

Because within the past five years, Sega only releases crap.

That makes...absolutely no sense. If everything SEGA released was considered by 100% of the world's population to be crap, then you might have a point. But guess what? It isn't.

I assume you are trying to make the argument that Shenmue III would see a drop in quality since you believe everything else SEGA has done has experienced the same drop. But again, that is a blind guess, and Yu Suzuki has a near perfect track record when it comes to video games.

I'm not saying I lost hope in Sega. I'm sure they could release great games in the future. Most of the games (not all) that have been released in the past five years have been remakes of other games or games that are generally based towards children. Making an hd release for Shenmue II has already been done. Making one for the original would be odd because Sega should have done that before making the second game, if that is their plan. As far as making a third game, it would require a lot of money, a very large team, and Yu Suzuki would also need the "ok" from Sega. Does anyone else not think this is a bad idea? Why would Sega want a game series that they created specifically for their own consoles to be released on another companies console? It just wouldn't make sense. Especially after 15 years.

No, most of the games are not rereleases or kids' games. If I wanted to, I could easily prove you wrong with the FACTUAL release list, but I'll leave it to you to do your own homework and see how horrendously off you are on this one.

An HD Shenmue II? You mean the North American version that was basically ported? They worked on that for less than a year. It's hardly an HD remake.

Your last three sentences finally are starting to make a little bit of sense. You see, SEGA, like all corporations, want to make money more than anything. If Shenmue sold like Sonic, you'd best believe that there'd be a yearly game, along with Shenmue Tennis, Shenmue Racing, Shenmue Rhythm Game, etc. It doesn't matter what console it was released on, they already broke that rule with Shenmue II on Xbox. They couldn't care less about the Dreamcast anymore when it comes to exclusivity. That thing is a decade and a half old.

Also, Suzuki has already said that SEGA is not the problem, it is the money. And he may not need the 300 member team that he used before, since a lot of the concepts Shenmue pioneered have been explored in other games.

[Tad]

Also, Suzuki has already said that SEGA is not the problem, it is the money. And he may not need the 300 member team that he used before, since a lot of the concepts Shenmue pioneered have been explored in other games.

If you watch Yu Suzuki's post mortem on Shenmue, it's pretty clear it wouldn't cost anywhere near as much as it did too. Most of the tools that are freely available now had to be built from scratch back then. Things like a night and day cycle was difficult, now though, unity can do that with ease.

[Team Andromeda]

If you watch Yu Suzuki's post mortem on Shenmue, it's pretty clear it wouldn't cost anywhere near as much as it did too. Most of the tools that are freely available now had to be built from scratch back then. Things like a night and day cycle was difficult, now though, unity can do that with ease.

If it was that easy,  SEGA or Yu would have done it by now . It was still take a massive Team and millions to make a Shenmue game worthy of the series or Yu . I wouldn't worry it's not like SEGA is ever now going to make it and I can't see anyone coming in to fund a Shenmue III instead of SEGA.

[Tad]

Erm, you should probably take a look at some of the games coming out right now to see you don't need millions or a huge team. The book of unwritten Tales, dreamfall chapters, Broken Sword, Sherlock Holmes, the raven etc are all fine examples of games that didn't have huge teams or financial backing to create.

[Team Andromeda]

Erm, you should probably take a look at some of the games coming out right now to see you don't need millions or a huge team. The book of unwritten Tales, dreamfall chapters, Broken Sword, Sherlock Holmes, the raven etc are all fine examples of games that didn't have huge teams or financial backing to create.

They aren't Shenmue and play nothing at all like the game and if SEGA did Shenmue on the cheap its name would be even more inthe dirt . Shenmue 3 and 4 would take huge amount of effort time and a big number of staff  There's still some 10 chapters left to be told , God knows now many locations and characters to be modeled and what not. 

Even when you use middleware like Unreal , Havok and the like it doesn't come cheap most of Shenmue money went on manpower to make a game . Making a RPG  on the scale of Shenmue just doesn't come cheap . Look at Shenmue II even with the engine done all the gameplay done (as we could see on the Saturn) It still took SEGA a massive team and some 2 to years to complete the game . With Shenmue III there's next to nothing of the game done . It most prob a reason why SEGA won't go near it and why Yu Suzuki can't get the funding for the title .

And btw I have Sherlock Holmes on the PS3

[Tad]

No, it wouldn't, but I don't think it would be anywhere near the numbers flying around for the originals and Yu Suzuki has said he can complete it in 3 games.

Couldn't the Yakuza engine pull this off now that I think of it? They're not the same game, but they do have some similarities.

[Team Andromeda]

No, it wouldn't, but I don't think it would be anywhere near the numbers flying around for the originals and Yu Suzuki has said he can complete it in 3 games.

RPG don't come cheap and a semi open world RPG like Shenmue would still take a huge number of staff . Its not so much the engine , but the staff needed to make a game like Shenmue . And if Yu cut it down by a huge ammont I guess he could make it just one game. But I rather Shenmue  saga was made the way it was meant to be and seeing as it took 2 games and some 6/7 gigs of data just to tell the story of some 4 chapters in a basic low res of 640X480 . Then there's little of chace of Shennue III alone being able to tell the story of the remaining 12 chapters in the high def world that is this and last gen consoles.


You'll be looking staffing numbers of 100 odd and at least 2 years of development time and that alone not come cheap 

[Spock]

^My point exactly.^

I like Shenmue & Shenmue II. They should be titles that don't have a sequel to them. Sure, the script is already written, but wouldn't it be a lot cheaper if it was turned into a book instead? Also, if the game was released, then why would you care what engine it was on anyway? You would just want to play it, right? I know that if it was released, I wouldn't play it because the idea would be too ridiculous. Of course, that's just my opinion. There would be maybe twenty who would play it, if that many.

[crackdude]

What the hell Spock. So it makes sense that the sequel to a videogame is a book, but not a videogame? Because...

[Tad]

^My point exactly.^

I like Shenmue & Shenmue II. They should be titles that don't have a sequel to them. Sure, the script is already written, but wouldn't it be a lot cheaper if it was turned into a book instead? Also, if the game was released, then why would you care what engine it was on anyway? You would just want to play it, right? I know that if it was released, I wouldn't play it because the idea would be too ridiculous. Of course, that's just my opinion. There would be maybe twenty who would play it, if that many.

Considering how many people bought it last time as an exclusive and on a dying console, I think the "twenty who would play it" comment goes straight out the window.

[Barry the Nomad]

With the Toejam and Earl kickstarter making 500k, Shenmue fans are saying "Imagine what Shenmue could get" on a similar campaign.

Not to be Debbie Downer but, I feel that TJ&E are far more popular than Shenmue. I don't really know how much Shenmue would make on kickstarter, but my outlook isn't positive.

[Tad]

With the Toejam and Earl kickstarter making 500k, Shenmue fans are saying "Imagine what Shenmue could get" on a similar campaign.

Not to be Debbie Downer but, I feel that TJ&E are far more popular than Shenmue. I don't really know how much Shenmue would make on kickstarter, but my outlook isn't positive.

I know it's just your thoughts, but I'd strongly disagree with that. Whenever I talk about about classic Mega drive games or games for that matter, know one has ever brought up Toejam and earl for me - wheather that's online or not. Even when the KS was announced it seemed like it had a luke warm reception compared to the many other games people have tried to bring back. And compared to other KS' s, it took a long time to raise that money really.

I suppose the issue with Shenmue going that route is how much would it need. I stand by my orginal post and say it wouldn't cost as much as it did back then, but as pointed out by TM, it would still cost a bit.

[Barry the Nomad]

I think Shenmue fans are more vocal than TJ&E fans, mainly because the Shenmue fans want closure. I do think if the TJ&E Kickstarter didn't happen, it wouldn't be as heartbreaking to fans as the possibility and then failure of a Shenmue III. But I do think Toejam and Earl is more recognizable and has sold more games than Shenmue (and both franchises have had three games, so it would be interesting to see if somebody could actually compare sales of the two franchises).