Vague speculation from insider on problems with this port...

AM2 Podcast - Matt

AM2 Podcast - Matt

Joined
Aug 19, 2018
We need to get to the bottom of this mystery.

http://backinmyplay.com/123-fall-preview-ys-shenmue-rpgs-music-ports/

John aka Dark1X from Digital Foundry (did their Shenmue review) on a podcast with seemingly some Insider information on Sega/D3T and this port.

Around 34 minutes in basically he says, "I have an inkling of what's going on behind the scenes and I feel really bad for them."

This was after he had this exchange on Twitter:
"The situation behind this is quite a story and not a positive one, unfortunately."

I need to know what problems he's alluding to. It's making me fear they aren't going to be able to patch out all these bugs...

Does anyone have any clue what he's referring to?
 
Probably something to do with Sega being cheap. Guarantee the mods shut this down though. Only sunshine-pumping conspiracies are allowed.
 
mrandyk said:
Probably something to do with Sega being cheap. Guarantee the mods shut this down though. Only sunshine-pumping conspiracies are allowed.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to shit talk the game though. I'm worried about it because I love it.

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything that can clarify these statements.
 
mrandyk said:
Probably something to do with Sega being cheap. Guarantee the mods shut this down though. Only sunshine-pumping conspiracies are allowed.
Click to expand...

If they do shut it down, it's only because these quotes/tweets are already being discussed in at least two other threads.
 
I would imagine it has to do with the project being rushed and some brutal working hours and the fact that despite all that its still not enough and people are still disappointed. I am curious what exactly this contract between Sega and d3t for this project was, and if Sega or d3t are ultimately to blame, did d3t just not make the dead line they had promised? Did Sega drop an early early dead line on them? There is just a million different scenarios of how things ended up this way...
 
mrandyk said:
Guarantee the mods shut this down though.
Click to expand...
nope
mrandyk said:
Only sunshine-pumping conspiracies are allowed.
Click to expand...
Generally we try to avoid conspiracies of any kind. I don't see how that's a bad thing.

Seeing as this is information from someone in a relatively trustworthy position, this thread will remain open.
Just keep in mind everyone that speculation is speculation. We'll never know for sure what he's meaning unless he clarifies himself.
 
Even when SEGA was good they had a bad habit of rushing games out before they were 100% ready.
 
AM2 Podcast - Matt said:
I need to know what problems he's alluding to. It's making me fear they aren't going to be able to patch out all these bugs...

Does anyone have any clue what he's referring to?
Click to expand...
I think the most important thing to learn from this podcast is that Sega sent a list of known bugs to reviewers and asked them to not consider those in reviews because they would be part of the patch. You didn't even mention that part. They knew in advance that it wasn't ready for release.

In my opinion, someone in upper management really wanted the August release date to get ahead of Spiderman, Red Dead Redemption 2 and all of the other big name titles coming out in fall. (Or Sony couldn't provide enough manufacturing capacity for a later release date with the other titles that are coming, hence the stock shortages we're seeing) They figured the on disc version was at least playable from start to finish and locked in that build for release knowing it could be patched after the fact because they were willing to take the risk. I think Japan's release date is their original target for actually finishing and Japan is going to get the original intended release out of the box.
 
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Jibby said:
nope

Generally we try to avoid conspiracies of any kind. I don't see how that's a bad thing.

Seeing as this is information from someone in a relatively trustworthy position, this thread will remain open.
Just keep in mind everyone that speculation is speculation. We'll never know for sure what he's meaning unless he clarifies himself.
Click to expand...
I stand corrected, figured this type of speculation wouldn't be allowed. I haven't been in the review thread.

Can Sega seriously ask reviewers not to mention certain bugs? I have read none of the reviews, but I'm guessing they complied? That's an incredibly shady practice.
 
I’m pretty disappointed over this, but Sega’s been a constant disappointment for years. I don’t have much faith they’re going to patch this to the point it’s as playable as the originals, which is what really bothers me. why spend more money on these games when they’ve already sold a ton of copies and probably won’t sell many more?
 
mjqjazzbar said:
I don’t have much faith they’re going to patch this to the point it’s as playable as the originals, which is what really bothers me. why spend more money on these games when they’ve already sold a ton of copies and probably won’t sell many more?
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I don't know about this. I feel that Shenmue's popularity is going to be a slow burn. Every time a big update or trailer drops for III, I suspect we'll see a spike in Shenmue Re-release sales. And then when Shenmue III finally does come out, I expect that sales will see a massive surge. And that's not even mentioning the road to Shenmue IV and beyond.

In a world where Shenmue is a relevant, active franchise again, I don't think that this is a one and done deal. It's definitely in SEGA's best interests to make this a definitive version.
 
Sappharad said:
I think the most important thing to learn from this podcast is that Sega sent a list of bugs to reviewers and asked them to not mention those in reviews because they would be part of the patch. You didn't even mention that part. They knew in advance that it wasn't ready for release.

In my opinion, someone in upper management really wanted the August release date to get ahead of Spiderman, Red Dead Redemption 2 and all of the other big name titles coming out in fall. (Or Sony couldn't provide enough manufacturing capacity for a later release date with the other titles that are coming, hence the stock shortages we're seeing) They figured the on disc version was at least playable from start to finish and locked in that build for release knowing it could be patched after the fact because they were willing to take the risk. I think Japan's release date is their original target for actually finishing and Japan is going to get the original intended release out of the box.
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Holy shit! What kind of scummy shit is this!?

New lows for sega man! I get the feeling this entire project of re-releasing the games was a ball ache to get green lit.. And thus I really have zero faith we will ever receive the so called 'definitive' versions they promised us.

I would love hear the fallout from all of this. Somebody needs to break silence.
 
Hazuki X said:
I get the feeling this entire project of re-releasing the games was a ball ache to get green lit.. And thus I really have zero faith we will ever receive the so called 'definitive' versions they promised us.
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Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't, but what can't be ignored is that the game sold and sold well.

I get the impression that the performance (sales wise) of I & II surprised SEGA and I have no doubt that they'll want to repair any potential damage done by allegedly rushing the game to market. The game will make them a steady flow of cash from now until Shenmue III and they'll want to maintain that by ensuring that the port has a good reputation.
 
Jibby said:
Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't, but what can't be ignored is that the game sold and sold well.

I get the impression that the performance (sales wise) of I & II surprised SEGA and I have no doubt that they'll want to repair any potential damage done by allegedly rushing the game to market. The game will make them a steady flow of cash from now until Shenmue III and they'll want to maintain that by ensuring that the port has a good reputation.
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have we actually got solid sales numbers now?
 
Hazuki X said:
have we actually got solid sales numbers now?
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No concrete numbers just yet, but it was the 2nd highest ranking physical seller in the UK last week. Retailers both online and highstreet have also been struggling to keep up with demand which ultimately proves that it's been selling more copies than SEGA anticipated.
 
Sappharad said:
I think the most important thing to learn from this podcast is that Sega sent a list of known bugs to reviewers and asked them to not consider those in reviews because they would be part of the patch. You didn't even mention that part. They knew in advance that it wasn't ready for release.

In my opinion, someone in upper management really wanted the August release date to get ahead of Spiderman, Red Dead Redemption 2 and all of the other big name titles coming out in fall. (Or Sony couldn't provide enough manufacturing capacity for a later release date with the other titles that are coming, hence the stock shortages we're seeing) They figured the on disc version was at least playable from start to finish and locked in that build for release knowing it could be patched after the fact because they were willing to take the risk. I think Japan's release date is their original target for actually finishing and Japan is going to get the original intended release out of the box.
Click to expand...

Yeah I heard about that when it initially dropped, and tbh I forgot about it (did early reviews actually have to do NDAs?). Literally every day since the weekend before launch there has been some new shocking piece of information about Shenmue I and II HD. Every. Single. Day. From bugs, to sega and d3t behaving strangely, employee and company tweets, other announcements and user input and feed back, its been a whirlwind. I have been keeping a very close eye on whats been going on and talking to other people that have been doing the same, comparing notes etc. I cant keep up with it and I am lost in all the madness, I wish everyone knew what I knew and every little tid bit that has been dug up but alot of it is on these forums, some of it not. Its easy to tell that something is very fishy with this release and something happened or changed some where along the line.

I will say it again, I really wish the situation would be addressed directly by Sega because this is just too unusual and strange to let everything stand the way it is, I feel the consumer absolutely deserves some kind of explanation for this.
 
mrandyk said:
I stand corrected, figured this type of speculation wouldn't be allowed. I haven't been in the review thread.

Can Sega seriously ask reviewers not to mention certain bugs? I have read none of the reviews, but I'm guessing they complied? That's an incredibly shady practice.
Click to expand...
It seems likely to me. I was astonished that the usually meticulous Digital Foundry didn’t mention any of them. There’s no way they could have missed them.

Plus, let’s be honest. We have ample evidence that the games review press doesn’t care about ethics (although I don’t include Digital Foundry in that, who I consider solid).
 
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