Interview with Cedric Biscay by Gameblog (Magic '19)

Yokosuka

Yokosuka

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Cédric Biscay (Shibuya Productions) nous parle du MAGIC et de Shenmue 3 : "Faire plaisir aux fans"

Nous avons profité de notre récente venue à Monaco pour avoir également un long entretien avec Cédric Biscay, organisateur du MAGIC, fondateur de la société Shibuya Productions, et donc co-producteur de Shenmue III. L'occasion d'aborder avec lui différents sujets liés à l'événement monégasque...
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Cédric Biscay (Shibuya Productions) nous parle du MAGIC et de Shenmue 3 : "Faire plaisir aux fans"

Nous avons profité de notre récente venue à Monaco pour avoir également un long entretien avec Cédric Biscay, organisateur du MAGIC, fondateur de la société Shibuya Productions, et donc co-producteur de Shenmue III. L'occasion d'aborder avec lui différents sujets liés à l'événement monégasque...
translate.google.com translate.google.com

Very interesting interview!

- Cedric disagreed with the decision to show the Gamescom 2017 trailer because it did not reflect the quality of the game and that's why the Shibuya Productions logo was not visible at the end of the trailer.

- If Shenmue 3 is a flop, he estimates a fifty-fifty chance of getting Shenmue 4.
 
A good read overall and Cedric comes across well.

The Gamescom 2017 must have been a Deep Silver decision but the sounds of it. Question is have they disagreed over any other parts?

I like the fact he's not ruling out a Shenmue 4 and he's quite right a 4th game would have a tonne of assests already done. We make this game a success and we will get a 4th. Maybe even Sega will jump in.

Great find.
 
I'm not even sure Gamescom 2017 was a Deep Silver decision, judging from the interviews back then. Seems the motivator was guilt about not showing fans enough up until that point.

A good interview with Cedric all the same. The machine translation is a bit funky and hard to parse, but I think I got the general gist of things.
 
"Shenmue 4 has 50% of possibilities to happen if Shenmue 3 bombs" might kinda be newsworthy, to be honest.
 
adom11800 said:
It's reassuring to know if Shenmue 3 is a flop then that's doesn't mean there will be no Shenmue 4. He said it would be easier to make this time. Besides everyone would back another kickstarter easily.

I feel Shenmue 3 will sell well though, hopefully.
Click to expand...

I would be willing to kickstart again for sure if I l ike the part 3 no matter what the critics might say. I would be happy to fund it again.

It is good that 4 is not out of the question at all even if is not that successful but lets hope that 3 will be a big success. I'll do my best to support the game as much as I can.
 
Wait, he thinks Shenmue 4 will still 50% likely happen if Shenmue 3 is a total failure?
 
ShenmueTree said:
Wait, he thinks Shenmue 4 will still 50% likely happen if Shenmue 3 is a total failure?
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Because Shenmue IV can be made more cheaply now the systems are in place. Even if Shenmue III doesn't sell enough to cover costs, it could sell enough to warrant making a fourth game as it could sell enough to cover the costs for that game.
 
Yep. Getting to Shenmue III was the hard part, and it required a lot of critical pieces to occur naturally over the course of time (emergence of crowdfunding, Yu & Cedric's friendship, Sony's third party productions team, sustained fan organisation and campaigning).

The barrier to Shenmue IV is purely financial, now that it's relatively safe to say Yu Suzuki has proved an authentic Shenmue experience can be made on a budget.
 
What people also need to realize is that both the Kickstarter success and the relentless passion of fans inevitably spawned the HD editions of I+II.

I firmly believe based on SEGAs response to both it's announcement and subsequent sales, even for a series 18 years old, they now see real value in the IP.

SEGA is always going to SEGA(hello, Skies of Arcadia?), but I think they may be anxious to wipe a bit of egg off with Shenmue IV.

The ball, honestly, falls right back into their court after August.

With Yu essentially edging towards full retirement, if I were SEGA, I'd say "Okay, series is planned for 4 games? Here you go, basically a blank check, a strong team. Make your swan song. Good luck."

That's my dream scenario. Hope it comes to pass for him and all the fans. What a conclusion for one of the best resurrection stories in gaming history.
 
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i think its hard to tell if Sega would or could be involved with another Shenmue title.
maybe it was already a deal for Shenmue 3 that Deep Silver will stay as a publisher if the game is a success
because without Deep Silver Shenmue 3 would have way more restrictions.

also wouldnt that be a little shady if Sega steps in for Shenmue 4 just because they saw that Shenmue 3 was a success?
they werent interested in making Shenmue 3, no funding, no distribution.
i think Suzuki said in 2010 that all the concepts for S3 are ready
but Sega was not convinced because sales were a concern. thats why they told Suzuki he can use the IP
but he as to figure out where to get the money and everything else.

so now we have to thank the fans, YS Net, Shibuya Productions and Deep Silver for Shenmue 3. Sega, not so much.
im a little torn if i would like to see Sega on board for the next game
because they were the ones who didnt believe in the brand.
not that i hate Sega or anything. maybe Sega and Koch Media / Deep Silver could just work together as one unit.

i mean Sega and Koch Media / Deep Silver are already partners for years, why not work together on Shenmue.
 
Wild theory but we are still in position to win the lottery: Shenmue 3 is said to be a complete success and Yu Suzuki announces not only Shenmue 4, but also Shenmue 5. I think this is what the man wants from the bottom of his heart, and so do I. It sounds crazy but playing three new Shenmue games would be awesome. If not Shenmue 5, perhaps a spin-off. I want these type of game projects never cease to exist. Yu Suzuki is an old man, he is not going to make games forever so it is now or never.

If Shenmue 3 is a success, it might also help brilliant developers such Junko Kawano or Hidetaka Suehiro to revive their career. A new generation of developers who grew up with Shenmue could express their ambition easier as well and make plenty of indy games with Shenmue vibes. We have so much to gain from a Shenmue 3 triumph.
 
Yokosuka said:
If Shenmue 3 is a success, it might also help brilliant developers such Junko Kawano or Hidetaka Suehiro to revive their career.
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Swery released The Missing last year to critical acclaim. I've not played it yet, will pick it up on a sale, but I did back his Kickstarter game The Good Life, cool to see a game made by him set in the English countryside.
 
adom11800 said:
Besides everyone would back another kickstarter easily.
Click to expand...

Not to the tune of $7 million they wouldn't.

It's true that Shenmue IV will require less overall funding than Shenmue III, but people need to shake off the expectation that record-breaking Kickstarter money is there on tap whenever Yu decides to ask for it. Shenmue III was a one-of-a-kind announcement with unrepeatable hype. It's imperative that the most is made from this opportunity to negate the need for further trips to the crowdfunding well, as to say returns will be dwindling is a vast understatement.
 
Consider the inevitable press it would garner. The media would jump on it as basically the series taking the fans for mugs if they Kickstarted 4.

I'd back it of course but I can't see that the numbers that backed 3 would do so again. 3 had the element of surprise and hype.

Make 3 a success and we will get 4.
 
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