[Arique]

Yu Suzuki wants "Shenmue 3" to become a reality, and funding it through Kickstarter might make it happen.

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Ever wish you could get your hands on a third entry into the Shenmue franchise? Well, you might just be in luck. A tweet published by Sebstian-Abdelhamid claims that legendary game developer Yu Suzuki wants to crowdsource Shenmue 3. Sebastian works in French TV and is part of the Monaco Anime Game Show, so his credentials speak for themselves.

The tweet is published in French – as expected – but reads, “Yu Suzuki just said that he is thinking about a Kickstarter to fund the Shenmue 3 developement ! #MAGS”

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Yu Suzuki déclare penser au Crownfunding type Kickstarter pour financer Shenmue 3 !#MAGS
— Sebastien-Abdelhamid (@SAbdelhamid) March 3, 2013

Given the success of other Kickstarters such as Wasteland 2 by inXile Entertainment and Double Fine's adventure title, we're betting that if this does happen, it will more than likely be the largest success in video game crowdsourcing yet. Fans have been awaiting a return to the open-world of Shenmue since the series’ second iteration in 2001. This was when the first Lord of the Rings movie came out, for reference. Feel old yet?

Perhaps the greatest sacrilege that was made can be found in the fact that Shenmue was supposed to be a trilogy. While circumstances surrounding the cancellation of development are unclear, many believe that SEGA didn't want to or couldn't fund its development. The Dreamcast's failing may have contributed to this sort of thinking, but that is simply speculation.

We're extremely excited to hear about anything related to Shenmue. The series is long due for a conclusion, and given the time in between iterations, maybe Suzuki has different plans for the franchise.

So... Do you guys think it'll actually happen? Personally, I think it will. I mean, if TWO games originating here on Retro can get successfully backed (Freedom Planet and The 90s Arcade Racer), then I think Shenmue 3 can get backed too.

[TimmiT]

You are comparing the budget of what Shenmue 3 would need to that of Freedom Planet and The 90's Arcade Racer.

The most funded gaming Kickstarter project is Project Eternity by Obsidian, which brought up $3,986,929. The budget for both Shenmue games was 70 million back then. It won't happen and if it does, it probably wouldn't get the funds that are necessary.

This post has been edited by TimmiT: 03 March 2013 - 03:41 PM

[W.A.C.]

Arique, on 03 March 2013 - 03:17 PM, said:

So... Do you guys think it'll actually happen? Personally, I think it will. I mean, if TWO games originating here on Retro can get successfully backed (Freedom Planet and The 90s Arcade Racer), then I think Shenmue 3 can get backed too.

Freedom Planet and The 90's Arcade Racer are low budget games. Shenmue cost SEGA over 70 million dollars. I never played the first two games but I can't imagine a worthy followup being fully funded through Kickstarter because the first two games had huge budgets.

Edit-

TimmiT beat me to it, but my explanation is more detailed so w/e.

This post has been edited by W.A.C.: 03 March 2013 - 03:38 PM

[Covarr]

If this happens, I can only hope we get HD rereleases of the first two. Some people might not mind it, but I really don't want to buy a Dreamcast and an Xbox just to play all the games in the trilogy.

[W.A.C.]

Covarr, on 03 March 2013 - 03:38 PM, said:

If this happens, I can only hope we get HD rereleases of the first two. Some people might not mind it, but I really don't want to buy a Dreamcast and an Xbox just to play all the games in the trilogy.

They should re-release those games on PSN, XBLA, and Steam before considering the idea of making a Shenmue 3. If the HD re-releases fail to sell decently, then making a Shenmue 3 just wouldn't be profitable unless the sequel made a lot of sacrifices to appeal to a broader audience.

[Mykonos]

I suppose if he wanted to make a very straight forward game just to wrap up the story he could maybe do it, but it'd still need a ton of cash. I think, frankly, his best bet is just to try and wrap it up with a CG movie. Do SEGA hold the rights to Shenmue's engine and art assets? I suppose theoretically he could just team up use those, use the funds to develop new assets (locations, characters, etc.) and just do it that way a la Shenmue The Movie. I don't know if that would cost him less, but...I just can't really see it going well.


Full Disclosure: I don't know much about when Yu left SEGA so if this post is just stupid please ignore.

Editing again: Yakuza is huge in Japan right? Surely being marketed as the spiritual predecessor to that series could give it some attention.

This post has been edited by Mykonos: 03 March 2013 - 04:02 PM

[Black Squirrel]

The major problem with Shenmue is that it simply isn't marketable. Even with the cult status it may have earned in the last decade, sales will never offset development costs (assuming quality is to be maintained). There's a reason they didn't finish it a decade ago.

It's one of the great tragedies of out time, but such is life. Be thankful they didn't run it into the ground like some Sega franchises.

[TimmiT]

Obligatory proof that we already have a Shenmue 3:

[Josh]

You guys keep throwing out that 70 million dollars line, but wasn't the biggest REASON it cost that much because of how long development took? They built the game and designed the engine, then scraped almost the entire thing and moved to the Dreamcast, left a lot of things on the cutting room floor...

According to Wikipedia (the most reputable source on the 'net), the budget for both games combined was $70 million. I'm not saying a Kickstarter the size of Arcade Racer would work, but I think with modern tech and a streamlined plan, it could be significantly less expensive to produce.

[Tiller]

TimmiT, on 03 March 2013 - 03:35 PM, said:

You are comparing the budget of what Shenmue 3 would need to that of Freedom Planet and The 90's Arcade Racer.

The most funded gaming Kickstarter project is Project Eternity by Obsidian, which brought up $3,986,929. The budget for both Shenmue games was 70 million back then. It won't happen and if it does, it probably wouldn't get the funds that are necessary.

Technically the most crowd funded game was Star Citizen, which is up to 8 million dollars as of right now. That and the game was only using crowdfunding to gain investor interest.

But your point stands. Game needs a much larger budget than that. It wouldn't cost nearly as much as the old games, but if you want the game done right it needs it a bit more of a bite.

[Mykonos]

TimmiT, on 03 March 2013 - 04:17 PM, said:

Obligatory proof that we already have a Shenmue 3:

Oh how I wish my laptop could run Sleepy Dogs.

[doc eggfan]

I thought the story and assets were mostly already set to go. If they were to use the same engine and release on Dreamcast, cost shouldn't be too much, just have to dust off the old GD-rom press. Fat chance of this happening, but I view it as the most sensible option.

Costs would skyrocket if you wanted to meet modern standards though.

[Black Squirrel]

Josh, on 03 March 2013 - 04:24 PM, said:

You guys keep throwing out that 70 million dollars line, but wasn't the biggest REASON it cost that much because of how long development took? They built the game and designed the engine, then scraped almost the entire thing and moved to the Dreamcast, left a lot of things on the cutting room floor...

According to Wikipedia (the most reputable source on the 'net), the budget for both games combined was $70 million. I'm not saying a Kickstarter the size of Arcade Racer would work, but I think with modern tech and a streamlined plan, it could be significantly less expensive to produce.

Shenmue II borrows vast chunks of its assets from the original Shenmue - in a sense it's two halves of the same game

Saturn development costs might be a factor, but my understanding is vast chunks of money went into character animations and graphics technology. Shenmue did some pretty pioneering things - you've got mass conversions of real-world human movements into 3D animation, a multi-hour non-linear 3D adventure, a weather system, voices for every character in the game, unparalleled freedom for era and so on. A lot of its tricks are standard now, but back then it was way ahead of its time. Arguably the rest of the world still hasn't caught up in some cases.

[MathUser]

As for a Shenmue 1 and 2 re-release. There's a rumor that they've been done for quite a while and Sega isn't sure when and if it'll release them:

http://www.gamesrada...ver-year-rumor/

I figure a downloadable title on PS3, 360, and steam probably wouldn't be that expensive. Highly detailed graphics aren't as expected of those titles. As also mentioned, modern tools for developing would make creating the game alot cheaper than it would be then. Plus it being released multi-console could help Sega finally make a profit off it. Even better if there were a kickstarter to help with the cost of development.

[TimmiT]

Josh, on 03 March 2013 - 04:24 PM, said:

You guys keep throwing out that 70 million dollars line, but wasn't the biggest REASON it cost that much because of how long development took? They built the game and designed the engine, then scraped almost the entire thing and moved to the Dreamcast, left a lot of things on the cutting room floor...

According to Wikipedia (the most reputable source on the 'net), the budget for both games combined was $70 million. I'm not saying a Kickstarter the size of Arcade Racer would work, but I think with modern tech and a streamlined plan, it could be significantly less expensive to produce.

Not really, Shenmue with modern graphics and standards would still cost a lot to make, possibly more than the first two Shenmue games together. Also, according to the source of the 70 million number Shenmue 1 alone took 70 million to make.

This post has been edited by TimmiT: 03 March 2013 - 05:58 PM