Magic Monaco Press Conference

[Valascaziel]

I'm personally okay with a delay--if they show an extensive trailer, replete with some gameplay at MAGIC only to reveal a 4-6 month delay from the August date, that's fine by me.

I think they can ill afford to go much farther than that. Steady info says PS5 is coming in H1 2020, if not sooner. The hype of that would bury it(though if it is BC with enhancements, maybe not as severely).

 

[reminisce]

The scenery picture looks like it's based off real lifes' Guilin's Elephant Trunk Hill.

About Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin, China.



Shenmue 3:

Real Life:

The Legends of Elephant Trunk Hill



Text source: https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-attractions/elephant-trunk-hi

Image source: Search Elephant Trunk Hill on Google Images.

A virtuous voyage unlike any other. Deep history and mystery.

 

[RiGoRmOrTiS]

The select people should be Kickstarter backers, industry insiders and journalists (many of whom wouldn't bat an eyelid at shitting on the game for clicks) did not fund and make the game a reality. It seems like they are handling the games marketing as if they fully funded development themselves.

Old cinematic footage with unfinished animations/models won't cut it anymore. We need near finished cinematic footage from various locations and actual gameplay showing battle mechanics, exploration and object/NPC interaction. Anything less is pretty much unacceptable at this point... If those things are missing from the footage but then they say people saw those very things behind closed doors that would be an affront to Kickstarter backers.

 

[Jigen]

First of all this is how most Japanese development is, very secretive and selective. Yu Suzuki is a veteran game designer who has been doing this for longer than some of us have been alive. I'm sure if he commits a date to paper he intends on hitting it, why else would he have delayed the game twice already with vague time periods, but the time we're given an exact date people believe he won't hit the target. The game is still in beta they don't want to risk a public showing before final polish, which I assure you is still not done. Also, don't forget about the demo all backers were promised such and it will be ready around March most likely. I have no idea about marketing, but all I can say is I'm sure a product this large has intricacies we are overlooking. My 2 cents.

 

[Spaghetti]

I think they can ill afford to go much farther than that. Steady info says PS5 is coming in H1 2020, if not sooner. The hype of that would bury it(though if it is BC with enhancements, maybe not as severely).

I'm not so sure on the line of thinking here. The PS4 install base will still exist after a PS5 announcement, and we know they don't automatically go out and buy the new console as soon as it's available. The Last of Us launched on PS3 in 2013 not many months before the PS4 launch, and still sold over 7 million copies on its original platform.

Delay talk is premature though, IMO.

I really think that you are missing the point here. There shouldn't be any ambiguity. That is part of the problem. If this is something that has all been lost in translation, that should be a learning experience for them. Have it professionally translated if a significant portion of your audience doesn't speak the same language.

I think you're shifting what the point actually is..

Certain details will not be set in stone, in clear as day black and white, until we actually see them play out at MAGIC. I am advocating against a shoot first, ask questions later approach when covering this.

 

[Peter]

I don't understand the criticisms at all here. What did people expect? Whatever it was, you haven't been paying attention to the past few years. The whole purpose of the event this morning was one key thing: Shenmue 3 information. The production of the press conference itself is simply a by product, and to be honest, I don't care how we get the information, its getting it that matters.

In terms of what we got, it's very positive, which is what I wanted. Confirmed from French speaking attendees:

- Yu Suzuki will be present at the event
- Dedicated Shenmue 3 conference
- Never seen before trailer
- Shenmue t shirt available at the event
- selected guest gameplay


The biggest announcement by miles, is that Yu Suzuki himself will be there. Let's put this into context a bit. 24 hours ago, he wasn't. If he was not going to be at the event in person, then this would have been heading for another failure. There is no way extensive coverage of Shenmue 3 would be shown at the event, if the man himself wasn't there. No way. At best, we would have gotten a phoned through trailer, like we got at Gamescom last year. But now that Yu Suzuki himself will be at the event, all bets are off. Who knows what will be shown. Who knows how we are going to have it presented. Whatever way you want to approach it, gameplay will be at the event, and I will hold fire to see what exactly this means.

Also, we have specifically a Shenmue 3 dedicated event to look forward to. Not a repeat of the past 2 shows where all he has done is give the game career timeline we have gotten for years now. This appears to be a focused presentation, accompanied with a never seen before trailer. Again, that's huge. We have not had that once in the entire process now. In 1 months time, we will finally have an in-depth look at this game.

 

[Valascaziel]

Maybe @Spaghetti can chime in with some knowledge here--

If we take into account the development method being used by Yu--when can we expect to see the most improvements and refinements? Towards the end? Say May-June?

 

[johnjohnbrem]

Are people really upset about an off-hand comment about an event that is over a month away and subject to change? Come on now. New screens look great, that's all I care about.

They have an obscure podcast to promote, so they'll take it.
If people are upset by what we got this morning they haven't been paying atention for the past few years. Their marketing sucks but we knew that already. Apart from that, looking forward to march!

 

[Spaghetti]

Maybe @Spaghetti can chime in with some knowledge here--

If we take into account the development method being used by Yu--when can we expect to see the most improvements and refinements? Towards the end? Say May-June?

Truthfully, I don't know. I only started learning about game design methodology in the wake of Shenmue III, and each situation will be different for every game and every developer. There's no one-size-fits-all blueprint for making a game.

Improvements are gradual, and these days can really go up to the wire on release - and even after it now games can be patched digitally to provide bug fixes and minor refinements, all the way up to additional features like alternative control methods, etc.

That said, if they're really wrapping up development to hit that August release date, they should be done around late July. I don't know how obvious the improvements will be once we actually play the game, because so much of it has been kept under wraps. Until we see the same scenes we've seen already play out in a final/near final state, it'll be hard to gauge what has been improved and where.

That said, completely from a layman's point of view - the big improvement I'm noticing in the new character screenshot, is that character lighting is significantly more advanced than it was as of Gamescom '18.

 

[Peter]

I am just so confused, I mean.... everyone, and I mean everyone who has posted here in the past 24 hours since the conference pre-hype thread went up, said they expected nothing. One screenshot, or two at best. Today we have gotten literally everything; Yu Suzuki, Shenmue 3 presentation, Shenmue 3 trailer, gameplay, Shenmue 3 merchandise...

and there is still uproar and complaints???

 

[spud1897]

They have an obscure podcast to promote, so they'll take it.

Podcast or not they have the right to express their views in a calm manner. Please refrain from these types of comments.

 

[spud1897]

On the plus side I have to say I'm really pumped for Monaco and want one of those exclusive t-shirts! Whatever the colour.

 

[Let's Get Sweaty]

What's a word for beautiful and brilliant?

Well, I don't like to brag.

Cedric really needs to stop using Shenmue as a way to promote Magic Monaco. It is remarkably selfish.

Without Cedric - Kickstarter or no Kickstarter - Shenmue 3 would not be happening. He has taken a massive risk on this game, which for 14 years nobody else was willing to do. If he wants to use it to promote his bread and butter business interests (and he's not even selling tickets, remember), then I say more power to him. He's earned that right, and he gets one chance a year to use it.

 

[reminisce]

Most folks have to wait until E3 for anything, if that. We're already less than a month away from 3/9/19. Lots to look forward to. Yu Suzuki-sama will appear. A new exclusive trailer will appear. Maybe more surprises will appear? MAGIC is going to be MAGIC. I'm Huber Hyped.

 

[orient]

It's important to remember that Magic is not a huge show, and that Deep Silver's marketing plans will not be hinging on this one event. If the public don't get to see Shenmue gameplay at Magic (and that's a big IF at this stage, because we don't have the full details yet), it's probably because Deep Silver don't want to waste all their juicy reveals on this show and this show alone. Five months is still a decent amount of time for promotion.

 

[RiGoRmOrTiS]

I am just so confused, I mean.... everyone, and I mean everyone who has posted here in the past 24 hours since the conference pre-hype thread went up, said they expected nothing. One screenshot, or two at best. Today we have gotten literally everything; Yu Suzuki, Shenmue 3 presentation, Shenmue 3 trailer, gameplay, Shenmue 3 merchandise...

and there is still uproar and complaints???

I think the complaints stem around the "select people" comment in regards to who gets to see footage/gameplay; such silly exclusivity this late in the game, especially when you are potentially hiding footage from those who actually made the game possible in the first place.

If that doesn't actually happen and we see everything people will be happy.

 

[SledgeNE]

And on the press conference they had still the release date with August 2019 on a big picture with Shenhua.

 

[johnjohnbrem]

Podcast or not they have the right to express their views in a calm manner. Please refrain from these types of comments.

Sorry, don't mean to sound like an asshole, but when was I anything but calm and respectful? I just pointed out, answering to KidMarine's post, that of course some users will be annoyed or offended by today's press conference; they have a plataform on which to vent and they'll take this chance.

 

[danielmann861]

I think the complaints stem around the "select people" comment in regards to who gets to see footage/gameplay; such silly exclusivity this late in the game, especially when you are potentially hiding footage from those who actually made the game possible in the first place.

If that doesn't actually happen and we see everything people will be happy.

Pretty much this. I'm not angry or upset or anything like that but I do have to question that "select people" comment and what exactly that means. I'm holding out hope that the trailer will be a mix of gameplay and cinematics.

Screenshots are nice and all but I'm at a point where I have to see something more than just screenshots to truly believe in that August release date. Otherwise it's just a penciled in date.

Anyways, next month can't get here any sooner.

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

Bring back Awesome Japan!

lol I KNOW you're being facetious