Kickstarter Update #100 - Shenmue III delayed until November 19th

I hope they do but I have this feeling in my gut that it won’t show up until Gamescom.
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I'm in this same boat. I'm a huge fan of the series, but it is a little exasperating. I'll hold the faith, but whatever gets shown at Gamescom better look damn polished.

It needs to have that night-and-day factor that Bloodstained had recently. Small improvements made a world of difference there and it will here, I think.
 
The greatest irony of this? The Steam page has yet to update to reflect the release date change.

Valascaziel said:
The game needs more refinement and polish, that's fine. How much polish can be done in an additional 3 months if refinements and polish has been going for months since the game was complete?
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Per the update:

Whilst almost ready, the game simply needs a little more refinement before being truly finished.
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It's the final hurdle, sounds like. A lot can be accomplished in three months... considering it's in addition to the 6-ish months from MAGIC - where Yu said the game was complete - to the original August release date. If they need that extra time to accomplish the scope of that polish, they can have it.

Valascaziel said:
Lastly, I would wager you that the demo at E3 2019 for the press? It'll be the same one from months ago.

[...] Impressions that read as a regurgitation of what we read a while back.
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Why understate the difference between someone's recollection of watching, and their recollection of playing?

There was no MAGIC-specific demo, it was just Yu farting around in Bailu for 15-20 minutes playing out early quest-lines. Even if the E3 press demo is just Bailu again, press have 30 minutes to treat it like a playground to explore things that were not necessarily shown in Yu's recorded demo. There will be new things to hear about, especially considering each play session may be different from the last.
 
I recognize that folks are now concerned about both a) competing with AAA games and b) potential further delays, but I still think that the good can (key word) outweigh the bad here. I'm not saying people are wrong to be frustrated and irritated if not outright worried, but we may merely be caught in the moment of frustration vs. catching the beginning of some real doom for the game.

Some have mentioned that the next trailer ought to look improved. Perhaps, but what if the improvements they're trying to make are for the very things that we haven't seen yet? People wonder why we haven't seen Ren or other aspects; perhaps they're still not up to the standard, and they're what needs the polish for the game to be truly up to snuff.

I don't welcome this delay by any means, but I suspect it's worth it in the long run. Patience is usually hardest at the very end. If anything, it may be wiser to mentally prepare for a 2020 delay as some are and be surprised if it goes gold in early November.
 
Don’t know how to react to the news.
On the one hand, I can almost guarantee that this will be the final delay, since at this point they would have to be avoiding a 2020 release, I’m sure, …but then again it’s Shenmue, so…anything goes? ;)
 
I've had my car journey to think this over and have come up with a list of Pros and Cons

Pros
  • The game will have the extra time it needs to look good. No one wants a re-releases shitstorm of bugs etc.
  • It stops the gaming media going bonkers over a game that has 'weird faces' among other things.
  • Further Marketing time, which they are going to need
  • It shows Deep Silver are willing to put their money where their mouth is if they are investing more time in the game.
  • Shenmue is its own market. It can't compete with the big boys we know that. However I think by being the 'different' release it could make it stand out. It will need to in terms of quality, which hopefully the extra time will allow.
  • The original Shenmue had this sort of delay.
  • Yu = quality. He won't release a sub-par product.

Cons
  • Release window. Lots of major plays coming out. Fifa and COD tend to come in October. The issue will be Star Wars (different Market maybe) Death Stranding (which tbh I can't see being delayed) and also XIII.
  • Unknown FF7R release
  • E3 plans/what might come not confirmed.
  • Possible further delay
  • Some will cite the end of the generation. I'd not worry as PS5 will be backwards compatible.
  • The crap way they told us (though if they smash E3 I'll forgive it). They need to handle this game perfectly now as it hasn't been run well in terms of PR at all.
Unknowns
  • The Demo. They could handle this in 2 ways. The game is clearly playable. So either they release the demo soon after E3 or how about they do a What's Shenmue and release it on 27th August.
  • What the marketing strategy is.
  • What E3 could show. That may have changed now but don't forget the 1 and 2 Switch rumours and the fact the SteamDb on those has been busy the last few weeks.
  • Gamecom: could be a big final blowout before November.

Personally, yes this was a bitter pill to swallow. However the pro's IMO outweigh the cons.

Also I always go back to the fact we have waited nearly 20 years for this. 3 months more won't hurt. The game needs to come out in its best form to have the best chance of taking the market on and being successful. Opinions will come and go, conflict and cause tension but we will have the best possible Shenmue 3.

169 Days and counting! Stick together people we can do it. We have done for 20 years already!
 
The conspiracy theorist in me is starting to believe that Yu JUST MAY have finessed (for a lack of a better term) his way into using some of the development costs to go into Shenmue IV development. It's possible he may have had to been convinced by another producer to say "Hey, we gotta stop here".

When Corey Marshall said that they were in deep, I think there's more than meets the eye with that statement.
 
I actually don't want to see more of the game. My hope is we have only seen a small portion of the content. Games now have a habit of showing way too much, my plan was to not even watch any E3 coverage on shenmue 3. It would feel like a waste this close to launch to not just wait a little longer to experience it all myself.
 
RunningWolf said:
This seriously makes me angry! How many times are they going to do this! I swear this game will get delayed again in November. They'll keep doing this because you guy's pretend like it's perfectly fine and for the greater good. We still haven't even seen real gameplay ?!
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Would impotently raging about it on a forum make the situation better?
 
RunningWolf said:
This seriously makes me angry! How many times are they going to do this! I swear this game will get delayed again in November. They'll keep doing this because you guy's pretend like it's perfectly fine and for the greater good. We still haven't even seen real gameplay ?!
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It's the 3rd time if you count indeed all the delays. But the 2017 one ? Yeah, I wouldn't count it considering this was a placeholder date when they didn't have a publisher. A 2018 release date was then announced. This was the first real delay to August 2019. It's not getting a 3 months delay.
Keep in mind a game being delayed is a luxury not every games have. So yeah, I prefer a world where Shenmue III has the luxury to be delayed rather than a world where Shenmue III would've released in 2017 with barely a year and a half of developpement.
 
RunningWolf said:
This seriously makes me angry! How many times are they going to do this! I swear this game will get delayed again in November. They'll keep doing this because you guy's pretend like it's perfectly fine and for the greater good. We still haven't even seen real gameplay ?!
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I understand the anger but there's nothing we can do. If its not ready then why release it into a mountain of criticism.

There's plenty of disappointment but what's 3 months?

Also the 2017-18 delay was always going to happen with the scope of the project changing.
18-19 again reflective of the expanded scope and it would be rushed

This is the only one that's a bit meh. But it's only 3 delays!
 
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I thought there were a lot of people on the forums today...

I guess if it's delayed, it's delayed. It'll suck that I can't enjoy it as part of my "things being released in August that I thought would never be released" month festival. But so long as the game is decent. I know this can be a bit of a piffy way to look at it, but ultimately if the game is decent then I don't think, just personally speaking for myself, that I would look back on it and think "I really loved that game but I wish it wasn't delayed."

And I think I'd rather not have the people working on the game put in a position of having to work extra, extra hard to make a release date which ends up with a potentially buggy and poor game when all is said and done.

I dunno, when you've waited as long as we have for this game to come out. It's like, what's a couple more months after a decade? ?
 
It doesn't even matter. They're the professionals, and it is their work. They have no obligation to show us anything, or release it according to when the fans would want it. You have to remember that Yu Suzuki and his team know what's best for Shenmue better than any of us ever will. It used to be that developers could work in peace without receiving backlash from the public. Now with the Internet, that is unfortunately not the case.
 
spud1897 said:
I understand the anger but there's nothing we can do. If its not ready then why release it into a mountain of criticism.

There's plenty of disappointment but what's 3 months?
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As disappointing as the delay is, you make a fair point.
Besides, it’s still within the accepted range in my book (ie just a few months).

…It’s the timing, number, and overall lack of thought behind the update that really get my eyes rolling here. I mean wow.
 
I'm really hoping we get a delay into Q1 2020. I'm sure most of us are more than OK with delays if they need to polish it up.

The issue is they're sending it to die by releasing it in November or at least increasing the death chances significantly.
 
ShenSun said:
I'm really hoping we get a delay into Q1 2020. I'm sure most of us are more than OK with delays if they need to polish it up.

The issue is they're sending it to die by releasing it in November or at least increasing the death chances significantly.
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Q1 2020 is likely going to be Final Fantasy VII, The Last of Us 2 and maybe Resident Evil 3 Remake... and possibly more after E3.
 
Heya guys! New user here, just registered to say the following:

I don't mind about the delay, as long as the game is released in a complete state, in a reasonable time given the circumstances, then it's fine for me.

But I am worried about Shenmue III being released alongside Death Stranding which will take over the spotlight and sales.

Now, I don't have a social media presence, but shouldn't someone contact Yu's team (like it has been done before) to let them know why the new release date is a bad idea?

I know this means the game would be delayed further, but I am thinking about Shenmue's future, not only Shenmue III sales, but also a potential Shenmue IV to end the series.

This worries me.
 
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