Shenmue III cover art on German Amazon

The covers fine. The vast majority of people won't care about the cover they will have read about the game or seen videos of it.

Hell it's been in EDGE I'm not worried.
 
spud1897 said:
The covers fine. The vast majority of people won't care about the cover they will have read about the game or seen videos of it.

Hell it's been in EDGE I'm not worried.
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Agree.
I just think it's time for Deep Silver to have some consistency with these preorder pages. Went to shopto and they have the 2 year old trailer posted and inconsistent Ryo pics. I'm seeing this almost everywhere with a preorder page. It's just a mess.
 
Ianpm31 said:
Agree.
I just think it's time for Deep Silver to have some consistency with these preorder pages. Went to shopto and they have the 2 year old trailer posted and inconsistent Ryo pics. It's just a mess.
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Agreed with the consistent approach. I do think that will come join the coming weeks following Monaco.
 
spud1897 said:
The covers fine. The vast majority of people won't care about the cover they will have read about the game or seen videos of it.

Hell it's been in EDGE I'm not worried.
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They don't. I shared it on other forums I'm a part of when it was first discovered and the reactions from 'normal' gamers and casual fans was generally 'cool.' There was no outrage or disgust. Conversation quickly moved on to the Edge exclusive and people looking forward to the game.

The thing I'm excited about is this all makes it feel more real. They're obviously confident in that release date to be finalising the art and contacting retailers :)
 
Reprise said:
The thing I'm excited about is this all makes it feel more real. They're obviously confident in that release date to be finalising the art and contacting retailers :)
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Silver lining right here. It does genuinely look like they're hitting August come hell or high water, which is brilliant news.
 
Yes the new trailer might be the perfect way to start the marketing and push some sales. I have a good feeling that the marketing will start soon with full force. Cannot wait till Saturday.
 
Reprise said:
Also, Deep Silver have obviously been contacting retailers in anticipation of this trailer... They must think it's going to generate a lot of hype and demand for pre-orders :D
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Very true, and also it's looking near definite that the pre-order doors are opening once the trailer drops, which is a very clever and strategic move to catalyst sales, which it almost definitely will. Potentially thousands of sales before the game's even out.

Pre-orders starting 6 months out means they must be feeling confident they've got an excellent game on their hands.
 
9dragons said:
Can you guys explain what made the old cover better than the new one? They are the same style in fact. Target render o the main character with some background. They do not look bad, but what makes them so much better in your eyes than the new one that offers the same style. Are the obsolete character models that big issue for you?
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I just think the composition of the Shenmue III cover is a bit too basic. The originals had more going on.

I don't think it's bad or amateur. There are plenty of amateur fan-made boxes for Shenmue III that genuinely do look bad in more ways than just their composition, but for an official cover it kind of feels like the package designer at Deep Silver did it at about 4PM on a Friday.

Would like to point out though, that until they're literally printing sleeves for the game boxes... this can be changed. If it will, or enough fan pressure builds to force the issue, is another matter entirely.
 
You know what guys? Isn't Peter doing a shenmue 3 interview with Yu Suzuki?
This would be a good question. If this Is or is not the final cover art.
That way, many worries coulb be put to rest. One way or another.
 
Personally, I'm just going to make and print my own cover.

Here is my first amateurish attempt so far.

tayhOLp.png


Not great, but I kinda like it.

But still, I believe that covers do matter for people who want to buy games on a whim if their first time seeing it is in a store, and that includes digitally as well. If covers did not really matter then every cover would just be blank with the title of the game.
 
Covers do matter of course. They are one of many ways to promote a game. But what is good cover and what is not a good cover is highly subjective. It depends how you see the game. How you feel about it.

I am new Shenmue Fan . Just a fan since 2018. Had a dreamcast back then and heard about Shenmue but missed back then because got caught by the ps2 hype.

So the old cover means nothing to me. I think they are as okish than the new cover. But that's just me. For some people the old covers have some magic i cannot see or feel.

Maybe because I am new fan without nostalgia.

But new buyers are not attracted by nostalgia. They are attracted by plain stuff. Attractive character models might help. So putting Shenhua on the cover is not the worst idea.

New customers are not caught by the magic the Shenmue series has to offer. They see things different than you old school fans.
So what is bad for the fans might be at least ok or maybe even good.


But that's just my humble opinion. It is ok if you do not like the cover and think Shenmue 3 deserved something better. It is good that the fans are caring about very aspect from the game.

But we should not get over dramatic about it. Because new buyers might not be as critical as you think.

I believe that fans that really love the series are way more critical than the people that are new to the series.
 
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ShenmueTree said:
Personally, I'm just going to make and print my own cover.

Here is my first amateurish attempt so far.

tayhOLp.png


Not great, but I kinda like it.

But still, I believe that covers do matter for people who want to buy games on a whim if their first time seeing it is in a store, and that includes digitally as well. If covers did not really matter then every cover would just be blank with the title of the game.
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I like the Choubu banner in the top.

It's something that may lack in the current cover: Exoticism. Rural Asia, traditional architecture, classic martial arts... elements that easily draw the consumer' eyes and interest while slightly informing them about the nature of the game.

Looks like they wanted rather to focus 100% on symbolism and the legendary status of the game with the mirrors, the cave and the characters. Shenhua is almost as famous as the former now, even for people who barely heard about Shenmue.

By putting forward two characters (who look very "Sims" lol), they're also echoing the gameplay heavily based on human relationship which is a precious metal in gaming, so it may not be a bad strategy either.

Hopefully a considered decision is lying behind this design choice, rather than "we had no other artworks to hand at the time" which would be frustrating to hear. Orient's cover proved me that the new logo was eventually good so maybe my vision is biased again.
 
Disappointing, but not unexpected. I think the cover is mostly okay, but not good or great. It's mostly the gold logo that looks bad to me, I dislike how the lines squiggle a bit. The rest is a bit uninspired but okay.
 
What if the generic cover is a big troll move to reveal the true cover at MAGIC?
 
why is it so important that everything around S3 needs to generate a huge worldwide WOW effect?
i think some people really overestimate the "magic power" of Shenmue,
like the gaming industry will treat it with so much attention and every reveal will generate
a huge worldwide reaction and there will be so many surprises that will shock every gamer.

i love Shenmue, i really do but come on, in the end it will be just another game in the eyes of the average worldwide player.
and 99,8% of that market doesnt care if there is Ryo, Ren or Lan Di on that cover or if its
black and white or golden. Shenmue 3 is not made for people
who like to play or watch Anthem, Fortnite, Dota, LoL, Destiny or Apex 8 hours a day.
Shenmue as a project is way too special and way too calm to keep up with the loud and fast modern times.
and i think that this is a good thing because that means we will get the Shenmue we want
and not another streamlined flat AAA game.

how loud was the cry of joy for the Shenmue 1 & 2 re release? it was loud among the fans
but it was over after the release. no big numbers on Twitch or Youtube. it was nice for us and some newcomers, thats it.
if Sega is okay with that, we should be okay with that.
and the same thing will probably happen with Shenmue 3. all of us will be hyped through the roof
and we will like and share every interview, buy copies for different platforms, post pictures
of the Kickstarter goodies and it will be all cool and great. for us. in that fan bubble.

but people outside of that bubble, who only care for the newest 2019 games with the greatest actionscenes,
multiplayer modes and best graphics effects etc wont even notice that our bubble exists.
they have no idea about our discussions regarding the boxart. do you think some random gamers
will stop in a shop in front of the PS4 box and say something like "uuh Ryo and Shenhua could have looked better." or
"oh look that Tetris boxart looks way cooler than Shenmue 3".
probably not.

again, i think thats a good thing. fans will pay and enjoy the project
and the AAA mass market wont even notice the game - thats good because otherwise Shenmue
would end up as some streamlined mass market game and we dont want that.
i really wouldnt expect like some kind of worldwide Diablo or GTA hype around the release date of Shenmue 3.
the important thing is that we will enjoy it and we keep it alive.

sorry i had a glass of alcohol.
 
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