'I *will* avenge my father! Probably!' TYPE OF GAME Fans hoping for a resolution to the story were left in limbo until E3 2015, where Suzuki, now running his own development studio, launched a Kickstarter for Shenmue III that drew in many backers (including me) to become the most well-funded video game Kickstarter of all time. But making Shenmue games was expensive, and once Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and left the hardware business, Yu Suzuki’s ambitious dream project died. Ryo Hazuki’s quest to find his father’s killer led us through this world and all of its details.Ī sequel followed shortly after.
A real-time day-night cycle? A world full of fully voice-acted characters? Weather effects? Characters who lived out their daily lives on a schedule? These things had been done before individually, but Shenmue brought them together to craft what felt like a living world. At the time, there was nothing else like it. It was profoundly influential on the next 20 years of game design. You could find a part-time job, buy a soda from a vending machine, or feed the neighbourhood cat. Shenmue was something unseen at the time, an open-world game where you could walk down the street and talk to anyone you met. A console-defining game with a massive budget, it had one of the most accomplished game designers of the day at its helm: Yu Suzuki, the Sega pioneer who breathed life into arcades with games like Hang-On, Space Harrier, and Virtua Fighter. Sega released the first Shenmue in 1999 for the Dreamcast. It will delight those who are still fans of the series, but it will utterly baffle any newcomer who attempts to play it as a standalone game. Shenmue III feels exactly like the classic that started it all, 20 years ago. It is also a story about helping an old lady around town, or wasting a day at the arcade.
Yu Suzuki’s ambitious adventure game series is a story of globe-trotting vengeance and magical relics.
At this rate, Shenmue 3 will only add another $700,000 before its deadline, leaving it short of even its furthest stretch goal.Shenmue has always straddled the line between the epic and the everyday. That means the last three days have yielded just $100,000, which would be an enviable achievement were it not for Suzuki's ideal target of $10 million. Shenmue has now raised $3.6 million with 22 days to go. We're going to be partners on it the whole way." We're going to help Ys Net get the game done. Sony's clearest statement on the matter was offered by Gio Corsi, director of third-party production, before Shenmue had even reached its funding target: "Sony and PlayStation is definitely a partner in this game, and it's going be run through Third-Party Production. In the comments on this website and far beyond, a company with such deep pockets using its E3 stage to prompt the public to fund a game with which it is directly involved has been called confusing, distasteful, and everything in between. However, this doesn't address every objection, particularly regarding Sony's role in Shenmue's campaign.
Suzuki also emphasised that Sony and Shibuya are, "not seeing a cent of your Kickstarter dollars." "While it is not business practice to discuss the specific details of such arrangements, I can say that with their assistance on the production and marketing end, and in Sony's case with some publishing support as well, Ys Net is able to use more of the money we collect through Kickstarter purely for Shenmue 3's development." ”I can say that with their assistance Ys Net is able to use more of the money purely for Shenmue 3's development" "Their investment in (and support of) Shenmue have helped to realise a sequel that will stand proud with its predecessors. "Sony and Shibuya Productions have been wonderful partners because they believe in Shenmue and want to see the best for the fans and the game," Suzuki said. The emergence of crowdfunding as a credible way to raise development funds is the main reason that Shenmue 3 exists at all, he said, but the scale of the concept made "more traditional" sources of funding and support a necessary addition.
In an update on the game's Kickstarter page, Suzuki apologised to his backers for allowing the confusion around the role of Sony and Shibuya Productions to continue for so long. Yu Suzuki has offered some clarification on the involvement of third party companies in Shenmue 3's development, though perhaps not enough to quell the discussion entirely.