Crowdsourcing for Shenmue 3...really?

[boagman]

I'm not trying to say that I'm a fan of this series (if you can call two games a series)...I'm not. I bought the original Shenmue for the DC for $20 brand new years ago when the DC was still in stores, and I thought it sucked then. Best part of it was the arcade within the game. But Shenmue itself? Ick. Some of the worst money I've ever spent on games.

I do understand that my tastes are not everyone's tastes, though, and the series has quite a following. Fair enough. My question is: are the fans of it ravenous enough to actually make this happen? And if so, isn't there something else that Yu Suzuki could put his energy into re-energizing that would be more interesting?

If it happened, I'd be pretty impressed.

[neorocker]

are the fans of it ravenous enough to actually make this happen?

Yes.

[boagman]

are the fans of it ravenous enough to actually make this happen?

Yes.

If that's so, then why weren't the first two considered commercial successes? I mean, it's not like they have hardware to support anymore...

[Blinge]

Sleeper hit.
Legacy.
Context.

[Skykid]

are the fans of it ravenous enough to actually make this happen?

Yes.

God yes. I've never thrown money at a kickstarter before, but to get a conclusion to Shemue? Take my fucking money.

[cools]

Conclusion: everyone dies.

You owe me £5.

[quash]

Shenmue is awesome, my man. Much like how aliens will play GTA V when they want to know what the American Empire was like as it fell, they'll play Shenmue when they want to know what Japan was like at its peak.

[neorichieb1971]

PS4 AAA budget of a Space Harrier sequel please carried out by AM2.

[Daigohji]

are the fans of it ravenous enough to actually make this happen?

Yes.

God yes. I've never thrown money at a kickstarter before, but to get a conclusion to Shemue? Take my fucking money.

I've only given to two Kickstarters previously, and in both cases I only gave what would have been the retail price of the product coming out of it. But for Shenmue 3? It's the only game I can think of where I would consider contributing significantly more than normal retail price.

The problem is that (unless I missed something), the rights to the Shenmue property still reside with Sega, and Suzuki no longer works for them. He's made murmurings that he believes that he could obtain the rights from them, but he said that a couple of years ago and nothing has come of it yet.

[evil_ash_xero]

A lot of Sega's games for the Dreamcast were full of imagination and a bit ahead of their time. But I'm not sure if they all hold up that well.

Shenmue fits in that category.

[BulletMagnet]

Based solely on my own intuition I'd have to say I'm in the skeptics' camp on this one...offhand I doubt Suzuki will end up going the crowdfunding route (if he ever ends up going any route when it comes to Shenmue 3), and even if he did I'd be very surprised if the campaign performed well enough to produce a game that its supporters would be satisfied with.

[EmperorIng]

I think it would take at least $5,000,000 of crowdfunding money to recreate the exact physics behind Lucky Hit.

[Mortificator]

The problem is that (unless I missed something), the rights to the Shenmue property still reside with Sega, and Suzuki no longer works for them. He's made murmurings that he believes that he could obtain the rights from them, but he said that a couple of years ago and nothing has come of it yet.

I have to wonder if Sega execs would see a new Shenmue from an independent Suzuki as competing with Like a Dragon.

[drauch]

I thought it was pretty well known Shenmue had a legion of fans. Because it rules. I'm surprised this hasn't already happened, honestly.

[boagman]

I thought it was pretty well known Shenmue had a legion of fans.

That's part of my point, though: *lots* of things have "legions of fans". Lots of games and game series. I'm just honestly wondering what, exactly, a game like Shenmue 3 would hold more than, say, a new version of Space Harrier, or another of his oh-so-fine series.

Plus, the crowdsourcing thing just sort of rubs me the wrong way a bit. Maybe that's just me, though.

[quash]

Who actually wants a new Space Harrier? Like, what does Space Harrier not do well enough that it warrants a sequel?

No other series he's been responsible for has the potential to be amazing on current hardware besides Shenmue. Virtua Fighter has been doing its own thing without him for eight years now, so that doesn't count.

[Skykid]

I thought it was pretty well known Shenmue had a legion of fans.

That's part of my point, though: *lots* of things have "legions of fans". Lots of games and game series. I'm just honestly wondering what, exactly, a game like Shenmue 3 would hold more than, say, a new version of Space Harrier, or another of his oh-so-fine series.

Well Shenmue is an unfinished series. I can't think of any other examples in gaming where something has been left so unsettled.

They're remaking and revisiting games like Space Harrier all the time - I don't see anything remarkable about crowd funding something along those lines.

[CStarFlare]

Shenmue cost an astronomical sum to make. Unless 3 is significantly less ambitious, I wonder if crowdfunding is really capable of even making a worthwhile contribution to the development of a third game in an industry where development costs seem to be going up.

I never played the Shenmue games; looking at the Wikipedia entry I'm a little surprised at how fondly it's remembered, as I don't recall its reception being overwhelmingly positive when it was released.

[GaijinPunch]

One of those things I want (I would donate, and buy a next-gen system to get it) but I'm thinking we will all get to make our own ending of the series in our head. That's a huge production for anyone to make, and as stated, neither of the first two made any money.

[Squire Grooktook]

I can't think of any other examples in gaming where something has been left so unsettled.

Legacy of Kain perhaps?

[Ed Oscuro]

One thing that's interesting about Shenmue is that it feels rather different from all the other (mainly Western) open world games that have come (since, mostly).

I think it would take at least $5,000,000 of crowdfunding money to recreate the exact physics behind Lucky Hit.

Sheesh, you must believe in some kind of future physics breakthrough or something...I don't know about that.

[Skykid]

I can't think of any other examples in gaming where something has been left so unsettled.

Legacy of Kain perhaps?

I didn't know it was unfinished. Does anyone actually care?

[Squire Grooktook]

I can't think of any other examples in gaming where something has been left so unsettled.

Legacy of Kain perhaps?

I didn't know it was unfinished. Does anyone actually care?

It doesn't have a real ending for sure. While the ending of Defiance (the last game) wasn't exactly a cliff hanger, it wasn't a conclusion and didn't resolve the franchises main plot.

Though most people admit the gameplay was meh, it has a lot of huge fanboys for the complex lore and twisty time travel storyline. I have a friend who's massively into the franchise's lore, and would probably freak the hell out if there was a new one by the old writing team. I'm not a huge fan of it myself, but I must admit some of it is very cool and the ambition of the whole thing was quite admirable.

[Illyrian]

The last few Legacy of Kain games were incredibly convoluted them. I honestly had no idea what the fuck was going on for the last 25 hours of that series and I was paying attention.

Kain and Raziel were awesome characters though.

[GaijinPunch]

Half Life always reminds me of a successful Shenmue. They're nothing alike, but HL goes through huge gaps of time with no word at all, and each one ends on a cliff hanger.

[Daigohji]

One thing that's interesting about Shenmue is that it feels rather different from all the other (mainly Western) open world games that have come (since, mostly).

Agreed, and I think it's due to the different design philosophy. Most open world games are about giving you a place where you can go apeshit. Shenmue was about giving you a place to live.