Did Deep Silver Do Shenmue III Justice?

While YsNet may not have produced good enough videos, Deep Silver still managed to give out or failed to enforce the usage of new assets when those were available.

When magazine covers still used the Shenhua render from 2017, with a completly different face... It is problematic.
Do you think they would choose to send old material if they had newer material at hand? Perhaps it was just a case of websites and magazine choosing to use older images for whatever reason (there have been many articles posted on line post launch that are still using captures from the Roy and Shenhua E3 trailer).

Perhaps Deep Silver could have done a better job of pushing Yu to provide newer material, but ultimately, magazines have deadlines and there’s only so long they can wait. If Yu was dragging his heels, I don’t see what Deep Silver could have done without behaving in a way that might damage the relationship between the two companies. At the very least, I think YSNet are as much responsible for this as Deep Silver.

I agree that this was unprofessional, but do you really think this had a big impact on sales in the grand scheme of things though? Magazine readership, even digital, is way down these days and I’d imagine that just a single trailer provided more exposure than all of the magazine previews combined.
 
Do you think they would choose to send old material if they had newer material at hand? Perhaps it was just a case of websites and magazine choosing to use older images for whatever reason (there have been many articles posted on line post launch that are still using captures from the Roy and Shenhua E3 trailer).

Perhaps Deep Silver could have done a better job of pushing Yu to provide newer material, but ultimately, magazines have deadlines and there’s only so long they can wait. If Yu was dragging his heels, I don’t see what Deep Silver could have done without behaving in a way that might damage the relationship between the two companies. At the very least, I think YSNet are as much responsible for this as Deep Silver.

I agree that this was unprofessional, but do you really think this had a big impact on sales in the grand scheme of things though? Magazine readership, even digital, is way down these days and I’d imagine that just a single trailer provided more exposure than all of the magazine previews combined.



I dont think it had an impact but it's more like a showing about how they treated that release.

And while magazines have deadlines indeed, some where released a good while after new renders were available.

But I'll go even further: At the very least, DS had playable builds around E3 time. What prevented them to take hi-res hi quality screenshots from that ?
That is something everyone on Dojo was able to do without any access to specific tools unavailable to DS.

The bare minimum was done here from a marketing perspective from Deep Silver. It took until Gamescom for them to release more significant footage.

Then again, this doesn't negate in any way the good things they did. But it almost feels like at somepoint, they decided to hand off that release, cash the epic money to make their investment back and call it a day.
 
I dont think it had an impact but it's more like a showing about how they treated that release.

And while magazines have deadlines indeed, some where released a good while after new renders were available.

But I'll go even further: At the very least, DS had playable builds around E3 time. What prevented them to take hi-res hi quality screenshots from that ?
That is something everyone on Dojo was able to do without any access to specific tools unavailable to DS.

The bare minimum was done here from a marketing perspective from Deep Silver. It took until Gamescom for them to release more significant footage.

Then again, this doesn't negate in any way the good things they did. But it almost feels like at somepoint, they decided to hand off that release, cash the epic money to make their investment back and call it a day.
I see where you’re coming from and perhaps there did come a point somewhere during development when they decided it was best to just cut their losses, but keeping in mind the question posed by the OP, I don’t think it’s fair to say that they did a bad job based solely on some old renders and b-roll.

There are clearly things that Deep Silver could have done better (the ridiculous post-launch embargo fiasco springs to mind), but ultimately, short of pumping more money into the project, I don’t think them doing a better job would have lead to a better game, a better critical reception nor would we have seen noticeably better sales.

I’d probably go as far as to say that Shenmue 3 failed to do itself justice before trying to apply that criticism to Deep Silver.
 
I see where you’re coming from and perhaps there did come a point somewhere during development when they decided it was best to just cut their losses, but keeping in mind the question posed by the OP, I don’t think it’s fair to say that they did a bad job based solely on some old renders and b-roll.

There are clearly things that Deep Silver could have done better (the ridiculous post-launch embargo fiasco springs to mind), but ultimately, short of pumping more money into the project, I don’t think them doing a better job would have lead to a better game, a better critical reception nor would we have seen noticeably better sales.

I’d probably go as far as to say that Shenmue 3 failed to do itself justice before trying to apply that criticism to Deep Silver.



Well, yeah as I said, it's not all black or all white. Nothing is perfect. Some things could've been done better and some things were done bad. But there were also some good things done, notably their Gamescom showing.
 
It's a tough one; I remember during a livestream of Shenmue III being shown at a games festival, the lady from Deep Silver seemed really sincere about the passion involved for this series, but on the other hand, the Epic fiasco wasn't good. I'm not saying it shouldn't have happened, but finding out from a trailer was not a smart move (although I still believe that many people were *WAY* too over the top about it...it's a fucking game for crying out loud).

It was disappointing to see old assets being used and that's something that needs to change for S4.

Deep Silver must surely know that Shenmue III was not the end of the series, so who is to say they're not on board for a Shenmue IV? As has been said many times, the hard work of learning UE4 and building a team from the ground up has been and gone, so it should in theory be much easier to make a new game.
 
The Epic fiasco wasn't good. I'm not saying it shouldn't have happened, but finding out from a trailer was not a smart move (although I still believe that many people were *WAY* too over the top about it...it's a fucking game for crying out loud).

The reaction was beyond stupid. I know people have a right to like or dislike something, but my word the reaction was ridiculous. Death threats being brandished about, the whole project being labelled a scam etc. Madness and the media didn't help.

But as you say it was handled extremely poorly which equally contributed
 
Death threats being brandished about, the whole project being labelled a scam etc.
I think when you consider what the intent of kickstarter is, and then you realize that Sony, Deep Silver, and then Epic were all in on the project... I think people calling it a scam have a solid case.

What's the point of kickstarter if 3 publishers are going to dip their hands into the project after kickstarter is finalized? And then Deep Silver basically sold our keys to Epic. Epic attempted to buy consumers. That's pretty shady stuff.
 
I think when you consider what the intent of kickstarter is, and then you realize that Sony, Deep Silver, and then Epic were all in on the project... I think people calling it a scam have a solid case.

What's the point of kickstarter if 3 publishers are going to dip their hands into the project after kickstarter is finalized? And then Deep Silver basically sold our keys to Epic. Epic attempted to buy consumers. That's pretty shady stuff.
The Epic stuff I'd agree with to a point but it's still not a scam. Masses of people assumed, wrongly (myself included), it would be going to Steam. However the original kickstarter never even mentioned Steam. Anyone who filled in the survey in 2018 (my dates might be off) had fair reason to be pissed. Steam was mentioned there but does in justify a reaction that included death threats? Also as much as people want to try and say kickstarter is a pre-order it isn't, it's a donation and everywhere it said subject to change re the rewards and delivery. Shady yes, illegal, unlikely & subsequently no lawsuit was ever lodged or likely to ever be lodged.

Deep Silver came on afterwards, they had nothing to do with the kickstarter and the game needed a publisher for a physical release. That's fine that happened with many kickstarters.

Sony, personally, I think were due a bigger role until Deep Silver came in. We know they put something small in and gave the platform. The media didnt help by wrongly reporting that Sony were funding development. Far from it as it turns out.

So to call the Epic stuff shady I'd agree. I'd also add poorly communicated and managed. But does it justify the death threats? Does it justify the amount of idiots on the internet who had nothing to do with the game shitting on it and passing off misinformation as fact (Yong Yea I'm looking at you) definitely not.

Trying to even pass that off as anywhere near justification for that is plain ridiculous.
 
In the end, it boils down to the quality of the game. Yes, Deep Silver could have made a better cover and could have been more careful about what pictures get used in magazines and so on, but I think they didn't do too bad.

Trailer-wise, they did what they could. The environment trailers were good, the day in Niaowu trailer was ok. If you try to make a good story trailer for S3, good luck with that. With the game having almost zero plot progression and no "dramatic" scenes except for the last 5 minutes of the game, DS had no other choice than using the hilarious "I WIIIILL avenge my father" sequence.

If S3 had been a great game, it would have gotten noticed regardless. It had enough media coverage and enough of a brand.

II think you can't really put any blame on DS here, other than making that awful cover.
 
Difficult.

I think we got a better Shenmue 3 in lots of ways because of them, but we don't know what pressure was put on YsNet to ship the game which could have harmed the final product.

I think shipping in November was the wrong move. As DS got 100% of the Epic deal, maybe they got their money back and just wanted it out. Even so, going Epic exclusive reduced its reach. Should've been a 2020 release also.

I will always thank them for taking the project on, but it upsets me to think that they took money making methods at the expense of the fan base and the overall experience. Again though, the DLC money could be funding Shenmue 4 so it's difficult.
 
The box art and promotional material looks cheap.

Look at this
Shenmue-eur-dc-coverart.jpg


and this

610tmXNvIHL.jpg


then compare with this

shenmue-iii-3.png


Even the re-releases look better

81Y%2BIcM5yQL._SL1500_.jpg



maybe a budget issue. It just looks cheap.

You forgot to add these, which look pretty classy:

CCD43FC0-40E5-4709-B52A-C205E6DA6AF1.jpeg
37C98161-8CEB-49B7-A399-63F761424068.png
 
Depends on what you hold DS accountable for and what you hold YS accountable for. Could DS have done a better job marketing the game? I suppose, but marketing isn't free and they already dumped money into the development of the game so then is that YS' fault for requiring additional funding in the first place? The trailers show almost every action scene in the game, to the point where they basically spoil the ending: should DS have shown what the game is actually like, or should YS have made the game more action oriented?

Both DS and YS were in a bad position simply by virtue of where S2 left off. Bailu Village and rural China is a hard setting/vibe to sell. Worth noting that conditions for S3 were basically perfect: record breaking KS, HD re-releases of the first 2 games, a 4 year development with seemingly little publisher meddling etc. Most of the major issues (KS controversy, EGS exclusivity, release window, poor critical reception) were self-inflicted wounds by both YS and DS.

Ultimately, to answer the question as it was asked, I would say yes.
 
In the end, it boils down to the quality of the game. Yes, Deep Silver could have made a better cover and could have been more careful about what pictures get used in magazines and so on, but I think they didn't do too bad.

Trailer-wise, they did what they could. The environment trailers were good, the day in Niaowu trailer was ok. If you try to make a good story trailer for S3, good luck with that. With the game having almost zero plot progression and no "dramatic" scenes except for the last 5 minutes of the game, DS had no other choice than using the hilarious "I WIIIILL avenge my father" sequence.

If S3 had been a great game, it would have gotten noticed regardless. It had enough media coverage and enough of a brand.

II think you can't really put any blame on DS here, other than making that awful cover.

I wish I could buy into that line of thinking, but I cannot. I mean the first two Shenmue games are proof that quality doesn't always sell in the end. Then there are video games that are released by publishers who engage in unethical practices who end up becoming successful regardless. In the age of social media, there are those that now buy products not because of their quality, but because they want to make a statement.

What I am getting at is that public relations are just as important (if not more so) as the product itself. Deep Silver in that department were callous and did not consider the backlash that would ensue from the Epic deal. They did do a lot of good for Shenmue III, I won't debate that, but some of the errors they made hurt Shenmue as well. And finally, for those who say its Suzuki's fault for signing on with them, keep in mind that he had no idea this mess would happen. We can only say that now because hindsight is 20/20.
 
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The English VA makes it extremely difficult to make a quality trailer in the West as well. I know some of you love it, but it's just not a good look for the series in general. It is the #1 thing people mock.
 
The English VA makes it extremely difficult to make a quality trailer in the West as well. I know some of you love it, but it's just not a good look for the series in general. It is the #1 thing people mock.
At least it attracts people that never play any games with Japanese voice acting.(Since some people are like that.)
 
I wish I could buy into that line of thinking, but I cannot. I mean the first two Shenmue games are proof that quality doesn't always sell in the end. Then there are video games that are released by publishers who engage in unethical practices who end up becoming successful regardless. In the age of social media, there are those that now buy products not because of their quality, but because they want to make a statement.

What I am getting at is that public relations are just as important (if not more so) as the product itself. Deep Silver in that department were callous and did not consider the backlash that would ensue from the Epic deal. They did do a lot of good for Shenmue III, I won't debate that, but some of the errors they made hurt Shenmue as well. And finally, for those who say its Suzuki's fault for signing on with them, keep in mind that he had no idea this mess would happen. We can only say that now because hindsight is 20/20.
Wasn't Sony gonna publish the game initially? God knows why Yu took the DS deal instead. Probably DS contributed more to the development budget than Sony were going to.
 
If I was an oil tycoon I'd have just thrown a blank cheque at Yu to create the game he actually wanted to make.
And don't worry, I wouldn't have asked him to include oil rigs in the middle of Bailu either.

It feels like he was let down on various aspects. Money being the main. Story writers being another.
 
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