Understanding why gamers won't like Shenmue 3

Zoltor said:
Even if that were true, and Deep Silver wwere brought in as a publisher, which they weren't, but for the sake of argument, lets say they were. Deep Silver didn't come in unlil the very end of 2018. That means for 3 years, Sony still wasn't doing much.

Sure some would argue that the game is too far out, and if anyone else said that, it would be a viable reason(well except Square lol, they're just as bad as Sony), but Sony is up here constantly promoting games that wont come out for another 5 years lol, so yea Sony doesn't get to use that excuse.
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They were in August 2017. Publishing and investment.

www.kickstarter.com

Update 72: New Partner!! ＆ gamescom 2017 Update #3 · Shenmue 3

日本語はこちらHello Everyone, We have a major announcement today concerning our new publishing partner, and follow up details for gamescom. Deep Silver Partnership SignedThe Shenmue III project has signed a global publishing contract with Deep Silver, the game division of the German company, Koch...
www.kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com

But yes in those 2 years they didnt do much but I'd suggest they probably had nothing to work with in that time. History already shows that the Alpha footage from Gamescom 2017 was a bit of a shock and caused friction between Shibuya and Deep Silver.

Anyway it would be nice for Sony to help out more. They've got a machine there that could really bring in some new players with the right trailer of course.
 
spud1897 said:
They were in August 2017. Publishing and investment.

www.kickstarter.com

Update 72: New Partner!! ＆ gamescom 2017 Update #3 · Shenmue 3

日本語はこちらHello Everyone, We have a major announcement today concerning our new publishing partner, and follow up details for gamescom. Deep Silver Partnership SignedThe Shenmue III project has signed a global publishing contract with Deep Silver, the game division of the German company, Koch...
www.kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com

But yes in those 2 years they didnt do much but I'd suggest they probably had nothing to work with in that time. History already shows that the Alpha footage from Gamescom 2017 was a bit of a shock and caused friction between Shibuya and Deep Silver.

Anyway it would be nice for Sony to help out more. They've got a machine there that could really bring in some new players with the right trailer of course.
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Hm was it in 2017 my bad? Lol that makes me feel even better about Shenmue 3, my calculations on how much time Yu Sazuki had to redesign the game plan for um the game, was 1 year off, yikes(I was paying so close attention too, I even predicted the change in direction long before it was announced, so how did I mess that fact up).

Well anyway, Sony are still a bunch of lazy scrubs.
 
Im a shenmue die harddd. I think we all in here are.

But the thing is,back in the day when shenmue 1 & 2 came out, shenmue was FAR ahead compared to other games. There was nothing like it. The problem is that shenmue didn't got promoted the way a lot of other games do. I still ask some people If they've ever heard of shenmue....,and they look me in the eye as If they see water burning.

Nowdays games have improved massively,which means it might not impact or impress many people as it did back in the day + a lot of people didn't play the first 2 shenmue's because they didn't even know it existed.

And these things could make it a bit hard for people to understand where our passion is coming from.
 
Ray said:
Im a shenmue die harddd. I think we all in here are.

But the thing is,back in the day when shenmue 1 & 2 came out, shenmue was FAR ahead compared to other games. There was nothing like it. The problem is that shenmue didn't got promoted the way a lot of other games do. I still ask some people If they've ever heard of shenmue....,and they look me in the eye as If they see water burning.

Nowdays games have improved massively,which means it might not impact or impress many people as it did back in the day + a lot of people didn't play the first 2 shenmue's because they didn't even know it existed.

And these things could make it a bit hard for people to understand where our passion is coming from.
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Shenmue did so much, that even games today don't, and the things games today sometimes "do", do, are rather shallow when compared to the Shenmue variant.

Also sometimes I wonder where the hell people were in 1999, and 2000, because Shenmue 1 had probally the most commercial air time in VG history. Lol seriously every other commercial(not commercial break, actual commercial), was a Shenmue commercial.


Now 2 is a different thing, MS is brain dead. They spend who knows how many millions in back alley dealing to get Shenmue 2 exclusively in NA, yet then they don't even advertise it. What's even worse, in 2014, it was apparent that they still haven't learned their lesson sigh(they had to have spent a ton for that long Elite Dangerous timed exclusive, yet MS didn't advertise that either, and that is a big deal game too).
 
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It really just all boils down to an individuals taste and what they prefer in gaming in general.

Some people like the thrill of score chasing.
Others like the thrill of competition.
Others want compelling narratives.
Others want to be preached to.
Others want new experiences that think outside of the box.
Others want safe, formulaic and generic

and so on.

It all just boils down to a matter of taste. Just like back in the day, Shenmue III won't appeal to everyone. But for those it does appeal to, they'll either like it or love it.

Just the same as I couldn't give two shits about say Fortnite for example, so too will an audience not care about Shenmue III....but I don't think it really matters. Not everything is for everyone and that's okay. Not everything has to be super inclusive for everyone.
 
It’s all about marketing to the right people. There’s an audience for a game like Shenmue. Don’t sell it as something it isn’t.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
It’s all about marketing to the right people. There’s an audience for a game like Shenmue. Don’t sell it as something it isn’t.
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My question is how do you market Shenmue III to people outside of the fanbase? The trailers so far have been great teases for fans, but I don't know if any of them have sold an audience outside of us on it?
 
danielmann861 said:
My question is how do you market Shenmue III to people outside of the fanbase? The trailers so far have been great teases for fans, but I don't know if any of them have sold an audience outside of us on it?
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It's not that hard, when it comes down to it, Shenmue is just the ultimate evolution of the pure Adventure genre, market it like you would any pure adventure game. Then in addition, highlight aspects that make Shenmue stand out above everything else ever made. This would probally revolve showing off a bit more of the story, and exploring/puzzle solving, as well as interaction with major/key NPCs, but that should help nab all the adventure genre fans who aren't already a fan of Shenmue.

That Youtube video called what is Shenmue-Shenmue Kickstarter is a great start/prime example of how to pull this off. We need a video like that based more around Shenmue 3 as well.

PS. Oh yea, and Yu Sazuki, we love you and all, but you need to stop promoting Shenmue as this "FEE" genre game, we get what you mean when you came up with it, but most people will be confused by it.
 
What has been said, has already been said so I’d just be preaching to the choir. On the other hand, look at Yakuza 7. Lots of people are reacting to the changes of becoming an RPG without giving it a chance. We have to accept that people have different tastes and that Shenmue isn’t for everyone and despite how much we want the third game to succeed, there will always be people who just don’t agree with the appeal.
 
Sony put Shenmue 3 on its E3 stage and that arguably helped the game break a world record in under 24 hours. I think it's pretty unfair to say they did nothing to help Shenmue 3. While I think the game would've been funded with or without Sony, that level of promotion was like a shot of steroids.
 
But we have to be honest, you have to have a certain set of taste(s) to enjoy something like Shenmue, which is why it worked for me.

  1. I’m a Virtua Fighter fan
  2. I love martial arts
  3. I was always interested in Japan
  4. I love RPGs (Shenmue was conceived as one)
  5. I just like something that stands out
 
compared to the late 90s early 2000s people are much more tolerant today of walking simulators, puzzle games, point and click adventure games so we may end up surprised with some of the new fan base.
 
The chance of Shenmue 3 is that journalists have given ground to youtubers. Shenmue and journalists way of playing have always been contradictory since they have to rush a game to release their review at time. And we all know Shenmue is a game not to rush.

Another problem is obviously the technique. Many people will find the game ugly. For these people (including those who played Shenmue on Dreamcast), it's just not possible to get into the universe with so archaic facial animation and lack of artistic personality like an UE4 student game and I can understand that. I read many Shenmue fans having been disappointed that way.

I also anticipate some critics from newcomers about the game design itself. Some may find the different puzzles not enough challenging while other will think the game is not enough fun in its core.

We all expect these remarks.

Personally, I'm more interested about what may the fan community think about it. Looking forward for the reception of upcoming Lan Di's appearances for instance. The social experience around the narrative will be fun to live for sure.
 
I say "let them talk!" Haters drip-feed resentments.

When the whole Shenmue fan community and new fans are in partymode and celebrate the release of Shenmue III let them have their whiney comments under random online articles about ancient gameplay mechanics, stiff character models and a much better game called "Yakuza"...

Because who has the time and will be there to read their BS? Right! Them.
 
standtrip said:
I feel like as Shenmue 3 will release there will be a lot of gamers outside of the hardcore fanbase who will check it out and then voice their opinion of it negatively and that I am already prepared for. It's alright for someone to not like the game but there are many reasons why a person may not like it.

Shenmue 3 will cater to the exact same tastes of the first two, people like us who like the series very much I'm assuming will have almost no complaints but for others they will not like some stuff.
  • The way the game looks graphically
  • The slow pacing of the game
  • The English voice acting
  • The combat
  • The realism
These complaints are very much in line with the 1st two games but I don't know for sure how gamers will criticize it. Since the game in general is a huge modernization of the Shenmue formula it may very well in fact be well recieved but I am almost certain many gamers will not like Shenmue 3 and that's fine. It's always been a niche and polarizing game but also charming enough to be seen as one of the greatest series ever by Yu Suzuki.
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Any gamer who is a fan of run & gun shooters like Gears of War will probably not take particularly well to Shenmue. It's most likely a mental deficiency thing.
 
WildManofBorneo said:
Any gamer who is a fan of run & gun shooters like Gears of War will probably not take particularly well to Shenmue. It's most likely a mental deficiency thing.
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You never know... I mean, individual gamers do like to mix things up and have different itches to scratch. I've played a lot more Ghost Recon than I ever expected I would just based on my aesthetic tastes.
 
I’m a fan of run and gun shooters.
And i’m a fan of Shenmue.

It’s all about an individuals preferences and taste and nothing else. Some will like Shenmue and get it. Others won’t see what the big deal is and will dismiss it. It’s as simple as that.
 
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