Shenmue 3 Announced: $6,333,295

[Aura7541]

Pledging has definitely slowed down immensely. As of this post, it's $3,367,340.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Pledging has definitely slowed down immensely. As of this post, it's $3,367,340.

Yeah, they shouldn't have said anything about sony funding till it was over. They'll make their 4 million goal. But it's going to take a while.

[Aura7541]

Yeah, they shouldn't have said anything about sony funding till it was over. They'll make their 4 million goal. But it's going to take a while.

Hopefully, it gets a large late boost. It happened with Amplitude's KS and Ted Price from Insomniac even pledged $10K.

On a musical note, the KS actually has theme music. You can listen to it here and click on the speaker icon on the top right corner, or on Youtube.

[the-pi-guy]

Pledging has definitely slowed down immensely. As of this post, it's $3,367,340.

Yikes, make it the 29th.  

[Aura7541]

Yikes, make it the 29th.  

Yeah, now I feel very stupid for thinking that it'll hit $4 million by the end of this week >_<

[Raven]

What kind of irritates me about the kickstarter is that they added new goals to it. Now the max goal is 5 million. I know Suzuki probably wants as much of this game as possible to be funded by the public for greater control but come on. It's already been announced that Sony is co-funding and co-developing. You're already in bed with them. You're getting the opportunity you didn't think you'd have and everyone is aware now that the kickstarter was an interest gauge for Sony. I can't help but feel like it's him cheating on his significant other, knowing that they know about it, and still having the audacity to call them and ask them to cook dinner before he gets home.

[the-pi-guy]

What kind of irritates me about the kickstarter is that they added new goals to it. Now the max goal is 5 million. I know Suzuki probably wants as much of this game as possible to be funded by the public for greater control but come on. It's already been announced that Sony is co-funding and co-developing. You're already in bed with them. You're getting the opportunity you didn't think you'd have and everyone is aware now that the kickstarter was an interest gauge for Sony. I can't help but feel like it's him cheating on his significant other, knowing that they know about it, and still having the audacity to call them and ask them to cook dinner before he gets home.

I would've liked to see a physical copy goal for PS4.  

[Aura7541]

I would've liked to see a physical copy goal for PS4.  

That would actually encourage gamers to pledge more.

[Legend]

I would've liked to see a physical copy goal for PS4.  

Yes. but that shouldn't be in the kickstarter. That's for Sony to decide and for Sony to pay for.

I fully agree with Raven here. Classy thing would have been to put up something on the KS at least mentioning why more stretch goals make sense.

[darkknightkryta]

Yes. but that shouldn't be in the kickstarter. That's for Sony to decide and for Sony to pay for.

I fully agree with Raven here. Classy thing would have been to put up something on the KS at least mentioning why more stretch goals make sense.

We still don't know how much money Sony is investing into the game.

[Legend]

Yu Suzuki: I expect individual backers to provide the majority of funds for Shenmue - NeoGAF

Originally Posted by Varion
 
 

 
 Should probably have spent the last few hours working instead of doing this considering I don't doubt someone else will do a translation of the full thing in short order, but oh well. - He noticed that fans were getting more and more despondent about the chances of a Shenmue 3 ever coming out, and being willing to settle for just about any format (novel, manga etc.) just to see the conclusion of the story, but he really wanted to make the sequel as a game even if it didn't have all the bells and whistles he'd like to put in it. - He first learned about Kickstarter about 3 years ago through a fan who'd used it before, although it took a while before he decided that was really the way to go forward. Tried looking for a major company to partner with, but couldn't find one that met his criteria. Eventually, he decided Kickstarter was the best option. - Sega readily allowed him to make the game, and SCE gave their support too (nothing specific here). - It'll be out on PS4 and PC. No mention of other platforms, no mention of considering any other platforms.- 2 million is the bare minimum for the game to exist, and if that was all they got, it would just be focused on the story. The more money it gets, the more of the things he wants to do will be possible. - He wants to give the fans what they want as much as possible, asking for their opinions during development and incorporating those into the final game. Like if they have two ideas for a character, they might ask backers to vote on which they prefer.- As far as money goes, he expects the game's investment will primarily come from individual backers, so he wants them all to be happy with the finished product. Doesn't sound like Sony and others are giving them all THAT much. - The story will take place in Guilin, beginning immediately after 2's end. You'll be able to go around the town(s) in that area, back to the mountains, infiltrate the Chi You Men's Guilin branch, etc. - Back when he made Shenmue 2, he was determined that Shenmue 3's focus would be making a deeper open world rather than a bigger one. Fewer characters means they can have more to say, they can have more complex AI, etc. The character Ryo will talk to the most in 3 is Shenhua, so he wants to develop her as much as possible, making it so that talking to her lots makes her behaviour towards him change, makes quests involving her proceed differently, etc.  - Not that any of this is to say it won't be an open world game. Stretch goals will determine how much the town(s) can be expanded (presumably this is referring to stretch goals like those we can already see, the 'other towns' in that video aren't addressed here.) - QTEs were originally designed so that people who weren't very good at battles could still enjoy the game.  - He wants to make 'free battles' (which are likely to have their name changed) less about pressing buttons at the right time and more about making the right decisions.  - He also wants to make them less about practising and inputting commands and more centred around the Technique Scrolls, so obtaining and using those is enough to win battles. These Technique Scrolls will ideally connect a number of different elements in the game together in a natural way. "Shenmue had a number of minigames, gambling spots etc. that you could spend time playing around in, but I wanted something that would connect all of them somehow. I mean, obviously you can obtain money through part-time jobs, use that in gambling to get more of it and then buy weapons...but not that kind of connection, a closer one. If we can meet a number of our stretch goals and make the open world elements more elaborate, I'm hoping to be able to connect these side elements together, centred around the scrolls. - He's desperately trying to find some way to include forklifts in the game in a way that will make sense, because Shenmue fans seem to love them.  - He wanted to gather as many of the people who worked on the earlier games as possible because it'd be reassuring to fans. They're planning to publish staff comments from a number of figures working on the game, including the writer Masahiro Yoshimoto. - He's asked about whether he has an idea in his head about what'll come after Shenmue 3's done (presumably 4, but it doesn't come out and say this). He says he does, but right now he's focused on working on Shenmue 3. Certainly doesn't sound like this game will be 'it' at any rate. - As the Kickstarter page says, he's hoping the game will be ready to release at the end of 2017.

 

Originally Posted by oimori
 
 

 
 http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2015/06/17/57874.html (quick translation, sorry for some misunderstanding) Q: Will you collect a development cost by kickstarter alone? A: No, by aggregate of YS NET's independent fundraising and kickstarter.  Q: Why did you take the platform in SCE conference? A: It began from my suggestion (to SCE), that is "Do you interested in Shenmue 3 project?" In fact, they also hoped the revive of shenmue.   In such a situation, I got a chance to talk with SCE, and they thankfully told me  "It is important title in gaming history and everyone desire(to revive), so if you develop  Shenmue 3, although it's exceptional, we will cooperate you"  But I had reported that I want to do it with Kickstarter, so we took such style.

 

GiantbombSony's john drake confirms that Sony are not the only ones providing additional funding (at 15:48) from the reddit AMA

Q:  Shenmue 3 is just the start. How successful does the game need to be for us to get Shenmue 4 and so on until the saga is complete? A:  If the fans are not happy with 3 there will not be a 4. So I please hope we can together make this game the best it can be.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/commen...i_new_posting/ also

Q. Love your work! You are a pioneer in this industry! As for my question: How much game elements/features will we be missing in the game if the campaign doesn't reach the $5 million mark? A.I will say this: if we reach the $5 mil mark, one of the things I really want to do with Shenmue 3 will become a reality. At $10 million, it will truly have the features of an open world

 

[Raven]

The rate at which his Kickstarter is bringing in money after the announcement of private investors, including Sony as a major one, his campaign will be lucky to go over 5 million.

[Max King of the Wild]

The rate at which his Kickstarter is bringing in money after the announcement of private investors, including Sony as a major one, his campaign will be lucky to go over 5 million.

Ha. It'll be above it

[Legend]

[Aura7541]

$10 million is quite a hefty goal. I know the KS is far from over and Suzuki can get funding outside of KS, but that's still a lot.