Sony's partnership with Yu Suzuki.

GhostTrick said:
Bloodstained reached 5.5 Millions. It's Castlevania without the name.
Shenmue III at 6 millions was a given.
I'm not saying E3 didnt push it more. But I'm saying Sony didnt do that as a charity. It benefited them as much as it benefited Shenmue III.
Showing a game on stage doesnt requires a lot of investment. People make it sounds like it was a gesture for Sony to say at E3 "Shenmue III is coming to PS4".
Click to expand...

Shenmue 3 at 6 million was not a given. If that were the case the Kickstarter goal would have been higher than 2 million. The Shenmue community has been waiting on this game for almost 2 decades Sony involvement definitely helped. I'm not saying it was everything but Shenmue 3 needs all the help it can get.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
Shenmue 3 at 6 million was not a given. If that were the case the Kickstarter goal would have been higher than 2 million. The Shenmue community has been waiting on this game for almost 2 decades Sony involvement definitely helped. I'm not saying it was everything but Shenmue 3 needs all the help it can get.
Click to expand...
I agree. The promotion on the E3 stage probably brought in a load of backers who had played & enjoyed the first 2 game sbut forgotten about them long ago. It put Shenmue 3 firmly in the spotlight once more and generated a shed load of publicity, both good and bad of course.

It was mutaully beneficial for Sony and YsNet. It made Sony look good and gave YsNet possibly the largest platform in gaming to announce the comeback.
 
Tbh, I don't think the Sony E3 plug helped with KS funding total so much as general marketing and awareness. I think the total would've more or less been the same with us diehards finding and funding the project regardless, but I don't think nearly as many potential newcomers (that probably didn't fund) would be left watching, waiting, and curious about the series. I think it got the press itself more interested and aware of the game than they otherwise would've been as well. This last point is, of course, a double edged sword though which 9dragons kind of alludes to.
 
I don't understand the desire to negate or undermine the benefit of launching on Sony's E3 stage, just because you don't want them receiving "too much" credit.

Suzuki obviously thought it was worth doing, or he wouldn't have been there.

He was offered the leg-up because Shenmue topped a large survey of the most wanted games on PlayStation.

The fans who voted in that survey are grateful they were heard, and that Shenmue's crowdfunding was given mainstream attention that could have been directed at literally any other game.

I don't see the need to snipe at that arrangement or downplay it out of some misplaced resentment.
 
GhostTrick said:
You know, having Shenmue 3 at E3 isnt some kind of charity. It helped Sony's E3 as much as it helped the kickstarter.
Click to expand...

I always said that Sony having Shenmue 3 on their stage was always about 'winning' E3. It was a clever move. It wasn't about Shenmue 3 itself or the end product. It was about getting the Playstation name all over mainstream media and getting as many people to buy PS4s as possible. Lots of people bought PS4s because of that E3 (FFVII remake, The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3).
 
The only Problem is, that Sony has not done much for Shenmue 3 besides the E3. And that has been almost 4 years ago. If they feature it again in the next couple of month before the release I take everything back. But for now other People should get more credit than Sony to Keep Shenmue 3 alive.

But there are dark sides too. The Sony Hype can hurt a game a lot. Look at the Days Gone debacle. A good game was trashed because it does not live up to the high expecations some Sony fans had. If a game under the Sony flag is not like the hyped fans expect it will be trashed. It does not matter the game deserves the bashing or not. It will just happen thanks to the fanboys in in the Internet.

I personaly have nothing against Sony, I am Playstation User since day one and from all the modern console makers I like them the most.

But I still think it might be smart also to mention have darker aspects when a Game is related with Sony. The Hype surrounding Sony is massiv. The Hype can help Shenmue 3 a lot, give it a boast that would not be possible otherwise but It can also harm the game.
 
Let's Get Sweaty said:
I don't understand the desire to negate or undermine the benefit of launching on Sony's E3 stage, just because you don't want them receiving "too much" credit.

I don't see the need to snipe at that arrangement or downplay it out of some misplaced resentment.
Click to expand...

I know the Like button makes these posts fairly obsolete, but I'ma bring it back...

QFT!!!
 
Last edited:
Reprise said:
I always said that Sony having Shenmue 3 on their stage was always about 'winning' E3. It was a clever move. It wasn't about Shenmue 3 itself or the end product. It was about getting the Playstation name all over mainstream media and getting as many people to buy PS4s as possible. Lots of people bought PS4s because of that E3 (FFVII remake, The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3).
Click to expand...


My thoughts exactly.
 
Shuhei Yoshida (SOA - CEO) put in enough for a copy as well.

Think about it...Shenmue is the only game that got a platform holder CEO to use kick-starter & contribute to Crowdfunding.

That's hype material for Marketing rite there.

www.playstationlifestyle.net

Shuhei Yoshida Contributed $29 to Shenmue 3 Kickstarter, Says Suzuki is "Flexible" With Game Scope - PlayStation LifeStyle

It's no secret by now that one of Sony's big E3 "megatons" was the announcement of Shenmue 3 Kickstarter drive for the PlayStation 4. With PlayStation LifeStyle scheduled to have a quick sit down with Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida at E3, we, of course, just had to ask about it.
www.playstationlifestyle.net www.playstationlifestyle.net

SIII def do have legendary hype behind it that can be properly extracted if DS put in the passionate fan/effort.
 
9dragons said:
The only Problem is, that Sony has not done much for Shenmue 3 besides the E3. And that has been almost 4 years ago. If they feature it again in the next couple of month before the release I take everything back. But for now other People should get more credit than Sony to Keep Shenmue 3 alive.

But there are dark sides too. The Sony Hype can hurt a game a lot. Look at the Days Gone debacle. A good game was trashed because it does not live up to the high expecations some Sony fans had. If a game under the Sony flag is not like the hyped fans expect it will be trashed. It does not matter the game deserves the bashing or not. It will just happen thanks to the fanboys in in the Internet.

I personaly have nothing against Sony, I am Playstation User since day one and from all the modern console makers I like them the most.

But I still think it might be smart also to mention have darker aspects when a Game is related with Sony. The Hype surrounding Sony is massiv. The Hype can help Shenmue 3 a lot, give it a boast that would not be possible otherwise but It can also harm the game.
Click to expand...

Like other people here have said the only reason Sony promoted games like Shenmue 3 at E3 2015 is to sell more PS4 units. The only other thing that Sony has done for Shenmue 3 that we know of is host the 2017 teaser. If you’re worried about hype backlash well that’s already happened with the aforementioned 2017 teaser. The game has been consistently trashed on from people who were expecting Shenmue 3 to look like every other modern AAA title. Then there was the whole debacle at the beginning of the Kickstarter with people believing that Sony was funding the game. Even after that was cleared up, there still was this lingering fear that big AAA publishers would use the Kickstarter platform in the future to actually gauge interest in their games thus becoming an expensive pre-order system and not for the independent projects it was meant for.

This game was going to be shitted upon no matter whether Sony entered the picture or not. How many times have the character models been bitched about? I’ve practically lost count. For some people, the game is just not going to live up to their personal expectations and they won’t accept any other explanations. Like I’ve said before, the only thing we can do is support this game to our fullest and encourage others to do the same. If the game is excellent which I don’t doubt then it won’t matter what shit Shenmue 3 got.
 
Sony PS4 is the number selling console of this gaming generation, they've almost sold 100 million units worldwide. If Shenmue 3 were never announced Sony would still sell 100 million units. Sony E3 presentation helped Shenmue 3 way more than Shenmue helped Sony. The Shenmue series was dead in the water for a decade and a half with no good news in sight. The Shenmue community did tweetathon after tweetathon begging Sega to release Shenmue 1&2 remasters for years with no results. The Shenmue community tweeted Gio Corsi and Adam Boyes non stop for Sony to support Shenmue. I even remember visiting the Shenmue forums back in the day and gamers were saying they would buy multiple copies to further help the Shenmue franchise. The point I'm trying to make is the Shenmue community was desperate. When Shenmue 3 was announced everyone was shocked. The goal was always to get Sega to release Shenmue 1&2 remasters and hopefully they sell well enough for Shenmue 3 to be considered. E3 is the Super Bowl of gaming. All hardcore gamers either attend, stream or check for updates that happen at E3. Sony announcing Shenmue 3 at E3 put a huge amount of momentum behind it. Every major gaming website and blogger/vlogger was talking about Shenmue. That's why Shenmue 3 was funded in 9hrs. I don't have any proof of this but I would bet anyone that the majority of the 7 million raised is from new gamers hearing and following the hype. I don't believe the Shenmue community alone could raise 7 million. Also remember Sega didn't release the remasters till after Shenmue 3 was announced and funded. I know Sega said the remasters were planned all along, but they had been saying that for years with no results. The Shenmue community is now in a good place, we are literally months away from Shenmue 3 but let's not act like Shenmue was this powerhouse that helped the PS4. History says otherwise. Please don't hate me :LOL::ROFLMAO:
 
@Tsukuyomimagi99 Negative backlash was hard to avoid that is true. But without Sony People might be more realistic about the game and do not bash the graphics that much. Everything Sony does These days is surrounded by some unrealistic Hype. Even if Sony themselves say it is nothing Special, People still think it must the best in the world. The state of Play Shows are the best example to adress this mindsight of the gaming community .

The game got more Attention thanks to Sony that is true, but are Sony fanboys with their unrealistic expecations really the right audience for Shenmue? I do not think so but I really hope I am wrong.
 
Last edited:
Its difficult because a balance has to be struck.

The game was 15 years dormant with little to no news so using the Sony machine made sense, even if it brought some unwanted attention.

Then theres the issue of sales. We know that 3 has to sell well to ensure Shenmue 4 and hopefully a bigger budget Shenmue 4. Sony could play a role in that. We need to appeal to some new players. Shenmue is a niche game but I don't think it cant attracts beyond its fanbase.

I'd take some negative comments from these idiots who think everything should be AAA etc if it meant getting new people into the series and secured Shenmue 4.

I'm also going to sound bitchy lol but watching state of play yesterday I didn't think the character models in Monster Hunter were great at all and this is being pushed hard by Sony. It's got a way bigger budget etc. Some people just like to moan about Shenmue because its 'cool'.

Excuse the Friday morning rant Haha.

In short Sony helping expose the game to a wider audience is a good thing and could tip the balance. Negative opinions wont stop people buying the game who are generally intrigued by outside of the normal fanbase.
 
The good thing about Shenmue 3 is that it might be different enough from the Mainstream games These days to get the attention of some adventure fans that do not just care about graphics. These people might like the game a lot. Shenmue 3 has many chances to be a big hit.
 
9dragons said:
@Tsukuyomimagi99 Negative backlash was hard to avoid that is true. But without Sony People might be more realistic about the game and do not bash the graphics that much. Everything Sony does These days is surrounded by some unrealistic Hype. Even if Sony themselves say it is nothing Special, People still think it must the best in the world. The state of Play Shows are the best example to adress this mindsight of the gaming community .

The game got more Attention thanks to Sony that is true, but are Sony fanboys with their unrealistic expecations really the right audience for Shenmue? I do not think so but I really hope I am wrong.
Click to expand...

If Sega ported Shenmue II to the PS2 instead of the Xbox, I think we would've got Shenmue III a long time ago. In a perfect world, the Shenmue series would've been completed on the PS3. Shenmue would've been just fine on PlayStation. This all falls back to Sega for not making the logical move to PS2 once the Dreamcast was done.

If anything we're underestimating the impact of how much the PlayStation brand helped Shenmue. This is the first time in the series history that a Shenmue game is being released to a console base of 100+ million. PlayStation is really the only place that makes sense for Shenmue. It's been proven that the Xbox audience doesn't really play those types of games, and out of old school stubborn Sega pride I don't see Yu Suzuki it making a Nintendo exclusive so that only leaves PlayStation which also happens to have the largest console base out of the 3.

Shenmue would've been exposed to a much larger audience even back in 2001 when the PS2 was red hot. I have a hard time believing that the audience who played games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Persona, etc. wouldn't give a game like Shenmue a chance back then.
 
Last edited:
darksniper said:
If Sega ported Shenmue II to the PS2 instead of the Xbox, I think we would've got Shenmue III a long time ago. In a perfect world, the Shenmue series would've been completed on the PS3.
Click to expand...

I think the situation would be even worse if they'd ported it to the PS2. In order to get it running as well as it was on the Dreamcast (which itself isn't all that well) on the PS2 they'd have to basically rebuild it from the ground up. And then nobody would buy it because they're too busy playing GTA3.

The Xbox was the right platform, with it being (just like the Dreamcast) a co-operative effort between Sega and Microsoft; most Sega properties went to Xbox at the time, mostly for hardware reasons. And there weren't really any competing open-world games on the Xbox at the time either.

What Shenmue II needed was better marketing, because the only people who knew it was out on the Xbox were people who already owned it on the Dreamcast.
 
Í even have heard rumors that it was not easily possible to get running on the PS2 A port would have taken years.... The PS2 was not a perfect system. In some ways the DC was even better but Sonys Marketing power made the PS2 a success mainly and not the hardware which was over hyped anyway and could not live up to the final product.

Nothing against Yakuza 1 for example it is still a good game but I still think Shenmue looks better. Which speaks for the Dreamcast Hardware

It is a pity that North America did not get Shenmue 2 as well. But i also agree that MS should have done better marketing with the Xbox Version of S2. I think the Xbox Version could have done better. I might be wrong but I cannot remember of any shenmue like games were on the Xbox around that time.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top