Next Big Shenmue update... March '19, with details Feb '19

9dragons said:
I see it postive and I can wait. In fact the less they show about the game the better. Showing the unfished product is no good. Because it will be torn appart online in Internet Forums and on Youtube.

Shenmue 3 is an very difficult postition. And it must work hard to live up the Hype. I am quite sure that some old School fans will expect that Shenmue 3 will have a similar Impact than the first Shenmue had and that is quite impossible. Shenmue 3 won't the technical Marvel that Part one was. So some old fans could be

Shenmue 3 just should not try to compete with contemporary Tripple A titles. This battle would just harm to game.

So some limited Marketing and just showing the game when it is ready would be the way. At least in my humble opinion.
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All very valid. It will appeal to a select but vocal audience.

What we have to be mindful of (as you said) is that it cannot make the waves the first games did. Times have changed and it is very much a niche game that won't appeal to the casual gamer. That being said with a renaissance in older IP's and those players coming back to gaming a good marketing push could easily attract new players (or new/old players).

It will sit as a AA title that hopefully gains enough momentum to get to Shenmue 4 and the early rumblings around the ports suggest they have been relatively successful all things considered.
 
March is fine, especially if it's worth the wait. I won't get my hopes up but I won't allow myself to be upset about it either...
 
Shenmue 3 is in a difficult position, because in order to be the game I and many fans want it to be, by modern standards it can't be the AAA 9/10 or 10/10 type of game some people expect it to be. At least in my opinion.

I want Shenmue 3 to stubbornly and rigidly stick to the groundwork that was laid out in Shenmue 1 and 2. I'm not saying Yu can't take advantage of or explore new ideas and more advanced technology, but gameplay-wise, I expect this to play like Shenmue and I just don't think a lot of critics will quite get that. I might be wrong, I don't know and as long as it's competent and well done, I think the game will receive plenty of praise, but I do expect critical responses to range from 6/10 and 8/10 and for sales to be reported as 'decent, but a but underwhelming' in the mainstream gaming media.
 
I've made mention of another title that was shrouded in secrecy before it's official unveiling and that was Resident Evil 2.

Yes, I know it is a AAA title with an exorbitant budget. Beyond that, my point is that absolutely NOTHING was shown about it prior to a reveal of a nigh-complete product 7 months before it's release date this coming January. That makes me hopeful for this event.

Bloodstained has shown a lot more, but also has no official date beyond "2019" now.

I could foresee one more delay until Dec 2019 or Q1 2020, as having a specific date doesn't lock it down. Days Gone is an example of that. They can't go much further than Q1 or they'll be buried under next gen hype.
 
We also have to ask the question if more Marketing would help the game at all? What if excessive Marketing would harm the game? The strengh of Shenmue are the gamplay, and the Story. The Feeling to be part of living world and not just beeing a random dude in a open world like 99 per Cent of other mothern open world games.

But can you Show These strengh in some short YouTube Videos? I might be wrong but I honestly do not think so. Youtube is perfect for tech Demos, to Show off how good the game Looks. But in that deparment Shenmue 3 wouldn't win any Awards.

On the contrary such Videos would just attract some tech nerds, that are complaining about "dead eyes" and similar stuff as it happend in the Shenmue 3 Trailer comment section.

some detailed articles featuring Shenmue 3 in same decent Gaming Magazines or gaming sites would be a a different cup of tea though. This might work to get some positive Attention about the game.

Shenmue 3 Videos on the other Hand are not the appropriate medium to Showcase Shenmue 3 because you cannot see the strengh of the Shenmue Franchise in short Video Clips.

But that is just me.
 

Just a reminder about Cedric's broadcast from Tokyo on Sunday. There will be a special guest (not Yu, as he'd still be in China - correct?), but there will be a reveal for the poster for MAGIC.

I might sound nuts for this, but does anybody find the image of the red pagoda here a little... unreal?

Pun intended. It looks like the pagoda at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo, but there's something about it that made me think "video game" in the lighting. I'm probably just being crazy here.
 
Just more proof that Shenmue 3 actually looks pretty damn good. So good, we're not even sure if the team's using real photos anymore.
 
I'm sorry, I honestly.... And I mean honestly don't mean this as a negative, or bad response to Cedric, but I don't expect anything out of this livestream. At the end of the day, he has to promote his own entire business, and Shenmue is a small part of that.
I don't know when the next big drop of Shenmue news will arrive, but all I will say is to keep your expectations in check, in regards to this China trip Yu-san is going on, the MAGIC livestream, as well as the MAGIC event itself.

I can only be honest to myself here, and state what happened last year. First off, the press stream... Which was broadcast on Shibuya Productions Facebook page, had a few new stills of the game, which was cool! At the Magic event itself, there was an hour interview with Yu Suzuki, conducted in Japanese and French. That's awesome, if you are a French and/or Japanese speaker, but honestly.... I was sitting right there live, and falling asleep after 5 minutes. All we got at the end was a few more still images. That's it.

Later in the day, we had to try to make our way back into the auditorium to try and get a seat for Crazy Time, where a past Shenmue 3 video was shown. Basically the video shown was the same video shown to journalists at Gamescom back in August of 2017, which was the same trailer released to the public, except with a few new scenes.

I don't mean to come off as a dick, but I feel we are getting to a very pivotal point in terms of hype and expectation from a fans standpoint, and I don't want to lose the bottom line of the fact that this is a fan forum. I know we have been a little caught up lately, in terms of being a little bit more tight lipped, and that's came with Sega Europe reaching out across the entire community to join forces in helping promote the Shenmue re-releases. I will never to inflict any ill will towards anyone on the production side, but at the same time, I am going to do what I can to help people get to the release date of this game, without losing their minds amidst the promotion of this long awaited instalment.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting anything from the livestream either. I'll only really be watching it because... well, I've got nothing better to do at 9am this Sunday. I'll just sit there with a cup of coffee and some breakfast, and see what happens. China too, I don't expect anything majorly relevant. Yu is supposed to be bringing "good news" but I really don't think that'll be much more than confirming the game for the Chinese market at last.

With MAGIC itself, expectations will be shaped by those press conferences early next year. If they really are going to give us the details of how Shenmue III will be shown in March, then only those who willfully ignore those details will be disappointed. Big or small, we'll know what we're in for... in theory. Seems like they're well aware how this year went down poorly with the community, and are trying to limit that happening again.
 
I think Yu will show a little something tomorrow probably some new screenshots and talk about the game. Im hoping
 
Oh we can always hope. But me personally, I passed that point of focusing on the next big event, to the point where I don't think about it at all. When stuff happens, then I bask in the joy and hype.
 
I don't really expect anything, to be perfectly honest. If we get a couple of screens or tidbits of information for Christmas, I'd call that a win.

I've been thinking about the game and I'm of the following impression. Yu waited for years for the opportunity to make this game. It is his baby and he is putting every ounce of heart and soul into it. He's working 6-7 day weeks.

That being said, I doubt he would've even shown the first two trailers had it not been for pressure. I think he would have been content to be relatively silent up until 5-6 months from launch.

It is tough to show such early footage, because you know people will be hyper critical.

A lot is riding on the February-March timeline. We should get our first look at a very recent build of the game, as well as a more concrete idea of what the expanded scale resulted in.

A lot can change in 5 months of development time, but we need to see it in action at this point. I don't think screens will cut it by March.

If that is what we get, one could say a delay is imminent or the project is in deep trouble; the latter I just don't see Yu allowing to happen.

We know it won't be a critical darling, but I don't think he'll release a MN9, either.
 
I am ok with the silence. And as I have already said silence might be the best way to promote the game in these days and age. The main selling point of S3 won't be the graphics. It will be the gameplay and Story. It is hard to promote these elements with short video clips and trailers. These trailers will just attract the gamer kids that do not understand what they have here. Just look in the comment sections of S3 related Youtube videos.

And I cannot even blame them somehow to be honest. Was just watching a video about the upoming games in 2019 and even Shenmue 3 was included. It deserves the mention of course but compared to the other Games Shenmue 3 was completly of concerning the visuals. They used the GC video from last year, and not the latest prophecy trailer from 2018 but still. Shenmue 3 will be very different then other games graphically. So if you want to promote it you have to promote other things than the graphics.

I am personally very happy with the graphics of the latest trailer and I was even more than glad with the graphics of the old Trailer. Because the graphics were/are charming and suits well in the Shenmue Universe. I even woud have supported to game if it had the Dreamcast visuals. They were brilliant as well.

But it is not about me. I tried to see it from a modern gamers perspective and they could have some issues with the graphics.

That's why I think it is better to wait with the big reveal, till they have lots of gameplay to show, that can underline the great atmosphere that Shenmue games normally have. And S3 will have it again as well. I am sure about it.
 
A few new screens between now and Feb, then the gameplay reveal in March -- that's what I'm anticipating.
 
Valascaziel said:
If that is what we get, one could say a delay is imminent or the project is in deep trouble; the latter I just don't see Yu allowing to happen.
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I think yet another delay and the project being in deep trouble can be used synonymously at this point. With Sony having no plans to join E3 of next year and companies like Square Enix putting out job ads for PS5 games it's pretty save to say Sony will announce the PS5 at some point in 2019 and release it at some point in 2020. If Yu delays S3 into 2020, it will get crushed by the PS5's hype. Any non-AAA IP still coming to PS4 in 2020 will.

It's crunch time now. They need to wrap up English voice recording asap and spend the next six months polishing the hell out of this game. Taking all factors into account, like the "red tape" on PSN and manufacturing times for the bluray discs and everything (not sure how long it takes to roll out a game on steam), they will have to have the game finished and go gold by late June of 2019, early July at the very latest. Well, if they want to release the game in late August, that is. But as I said, pushing the game's release into 2020 is not an option imho.
 
Live stream has begun.

Shenmue III was mentioned just as I was tuning in, and parts of the Gamescom 2017 progress video were shown in a wider sizzle reel for Shibuya Productions.
 
Spaghetti said:
Anddddd it's over. Yeah, was basically what we were told. Poster reveal + guest announcement.
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I had a quick watch and it wasn't anything overly exciting. There's something early next year outlining what might be presented so that will be key.
 
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