Random Shenmue III Thoughts

Down by Law said:
USGamer are ready to tear it a new one and i'm sure VG247 , Destructoid , Giant Bomb and the like wont be far behind.
The US IGN review is the only one im interested in simply because comparison to the review of Death Stranding will follow it.
If places like Easy Allies give it a good review they will just accuse Huber of shilling it.
Can't win, won't win
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If IGN give it even a slighty better score than DS then expect a melt down of hardcore Kojima fanboys :D

Huber's review will be accused of shilling simply because he is a Kickstarter Backer. You just know a certain section of the internet will cling on to that for all its worth and take his positive words as a sign of shilling. You're right about that. That's gonna occur no matter what positive score he gives it.

The potential review bombing still worries me more than what a bunch of media outlets have to say about it...to be honest. Review Bombing is the thing I dread moreso than anything this week....and sadly, something like this could give them a reminder to do it.
 
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@danielmann861 I thought that Bloodstained's embargo ended on launch day? Is the week after embargo true?

Anyway, Deep Silver holding the embargo until 2 days after launch is incredibly stupid. I could understand waiting until launch but I really don't get the strategy here. It sends more red flags and scares away gamers who were on the fence to begin with. At best I assume it could be to prevent spoilers but even then the people most anticipating the game are going to get it regardless and avoid reviews for fear of spoilers.

I just don't get it.
 
I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
@danielmann861 I thought that Bloodstained's embargo ended on launch day? Is the week after embargo true?
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I’ve read it ended on launch day. But it’s mighty strange that most reviews dropped a week later. I don’t know....all I know is reviews for Bloodstained didn’t show up until almost a week later. And I don’t remember much of a backlash about it (unless someone wants to show me said backlash I didn’t see?)

As for SIII. I find it telling that this is the first we’ve heard about the embargo date. Literally 2 days before release. If this was known info before hand, don’t you think we would have heard them lamenting it long ago? (Like a week ago or so?) . The first thing they most likely read are the embargo details on what they can and can’t show. Using my skills of deduction, something tells me the that since we’re literally hearing this two days out that they’ve only just gotten their review copies very recently.

Bad move? I don’t know. But it does lend credence to the theory that either DS has no confidence in it OR DS was late getting it out and wants to give it some breathing room for critics to play through and not just rush out a review within 2 days.

Something tells me outlets only just got the game very recently by the fact that this is the first we’re hearing of this. I don’t know, this is just me thinking, but if DS truly had no confidence in it then why would they even bother sending it out for Review? They know fans are already in. Film studios do this all the time with films they don’t have confidence in.

I’m still of the belief this is more so DS getting it out late (for whatever reason) and giving it some room to breath before dropping reviews in a short space. That’s just my theory. One that isn’t jumping to doom and gloom.
 
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Reprise said:
Just checked out Twitter and surprise surprise, Koch Media have made Shenmue 3 a laughing stock again. Lots of blue ticks and general Joes laughing at the fact the embargo is after the release date and, of course, all are speculating it's because the game is a disaster.

Bravo Koch Media/Deep Silver. Fantastic marketing *slow clap*
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Sigh... Where can I read this? I'd like to remind those blue ticks that Bloodstained, which turned out to be great, also had an embargo past release
 
You think they'll stick to the embargo of 21st November? I'm reading that some other games did something similar and just ended up pushing it back to the release day because of the backlash. Does this mean Shenmue 3 could be one of the only few games to actually have a post release review?
 
This all sucks because come monday and millions of people will be exposed to the narrative of "Kickstarter disaster Shenmue III won't be reviewed until after embargo. Backers pissed off and demand a refund and Yu Suzuki is satan" on video game news shows.
 
danielmann861 said:
I’ve read it ended on launch day. But it’s mighty strange that most reviews dropped a week later on the same day. I don’t know....all I know is reviews for Bloodstained didn’t show up until almost a week later. And I don’t remember much of a backlash about it (unless someone wants to show me said backlash I didn’t see?)
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I assume there wasn't any backlash, because it wasn't a publisher enforced embargo.
 
Reprise said:
I assume there wasn't any backlash, because it wasn't a publisher enforced embargo.
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Yeah perhaps you’re right.

Their reasoning for that embargo ending on launch day was due to a Day 1 patch...but realistically, very few were gonna get a Day 1 review out for that with an embargo on launch day for a game they were warned was in need of a drastic patch.

As for SIII...I just don’t want to jump to doom and gloom. Given the fact that this is literally the first we’re hearing about this embargo, I have to believe it’s a simple case of maybe they got the game late and maybe DS just wants to give it some breathing room instead of rushing reviews in a less than 2 day span.

There’s no denying the PR sucks and it’s a further stumble that outrage hacks will use to their advantage. But I just can’t be all doom and gloom about it either. I have to believe there has to be another reason. If they really had no faith in it then why even bother sending it to critics when you know fans already bought in? I have to believe there is another reason and I don’t just want to buy into the doom and gloom. I’d be more worried if they didn’t even bother sending it to the critics. Then I would be concerned.

Still, can’t wait to see the click bait hacks jump all over this and tell us how much of an outrage this is. They’re already spinning it as DS has no faith in it when no one knows for sure what really is the case here.
 
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Reprise said:
I assume there wasn't any backlash, because it wasn't a publisher enforced embargo.
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There was a little backlash prior to the embargo as late embargoes always do. In fact I recalled that gamers thought it reinforced the narrative that Kickstarted games are just meant to disappoint a la Mighty No 9.

Here's what I hope is that Shenmue 3 pleasantly surprises reviewers and we get a bunch of scores of 7 and maybe at best 8, then everyone will forget the embargo issue much like how now people forgot they were ever worried about Bloodstained.
 
danielmann861 said:
Yeah perhaps you’re right.

Their reasoning for that embargo ending on launch day was due to a Day 1 patch...but realistically, very few were gonna get a Day 1 review out for that with an embargo on launch day for a game they were warned was in need of a drastic patch.

As for SIII...I just don’t want to jump to doom and gloom. Given the fact that this is literally the first we’re hearing about this embargo, I have to believe it’s a simple case of maybe they got the game late and maybe DS just wants to give it some breathing room instead of rushing reviews in a less than 2 day span.

There’s no denying the PR sucks and it’s a further stumble that outrage hacks will get clicks on. But I just can’t be all doom and gloom about it either. I have to believe there has to be another reason. If they really had no faith in it then why even bother sending it to critics when you know fans already bought in? I have to believe there is another reason and I don’t just want to buy into the doom and gloom.

Still, can’t wait to see the click bait hacks jump all over this and tell us how much of an outrage this is.
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The thing is, even if that's the case, it's kinda patronising to tell reviewers they can't review the game until days after the release. It doesn't look good. Surely reviewers are capable of making their own judgements if the review codes are received close to release? I've seen plenty of "where's our [insert new game] review" articles over the years from outlets explaining they have chosen to give themselves more time to appreciate and absorb a game before reviewing it. I get that it's supposedly done so there's an equal playing field, but it really is dreadful PR.
 
Reprise said:
The thing is, even if that's the case, it's kinda patronising to tell reviewers they can't review the game until days after the release. It doesn't look good. Surely reviewers are capable of making their own judgements if the review codes are received close to release? I've seen plenty of "where's our [insert new game] review" articles over the years from outlets explaining they have chosen to give themselves more time to appreciate and absorb a game before reviewing it. I get that it's supposedly done so there's an equal playing field, but it really is dreadful PR.
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Not denying it’s bad PR. This game has had bad PR for a long time.

It was a good week until this stumble. Seems to be the way with this game.
 
I wish they went public with the reason why. A simple tweet like "We put the embargo up this way to make sure reviewers fully experience the game before review" or something would help a lot.

Instead we get silence.
 
Down by Law said:
On a lighter note, found a much better unboxing of the CE and Steelbook (there's no spoiler on it either, in fact, it's embossed and very nice)


That lamp is so nice, I'm really pleased it wasn't a cheap piece of crap.
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White gloves, red clothes... I always knew Mario was a Shenmue fan
 
ShenmueTree said:
Theres no way a review embargo being lifted 2 days after release is acceptable. What the fuck, Deep Silver?

You could make a case for same day embargo but even then youre pushing it.

People will defend this though.
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Who cares. They did it with Doom on PS4. People crying about a review embargo need to go back to the days when games reviews would be in print a full month after the games released.

Ridiculous behaviour by an outrage mob.
 
spud1897 said:
Who cares. They did it with Doom on PS4. People crying about a review embargo need to go back to the days when games reviews would be in print a full month after the games released.

Ridiculous behaviour by an outrage mob.
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I agree it is ridiculous. But it’s fuel to the people’s fire and the internet is rife of it now. The hate against shenmue 3 is real which is sad, I know us fans will love it but this will put potentially new people off trying the game hampering it’s success.
 
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