I can't believe none of you have started a thread for this yet! This was my favorite announcement at E3. Shenmue 3 kickstarter was announced. and 9 hours later, reached it's 2 million dollar funding goal. It's really happening! The estimated release date is December 2017. Hyperventilating from excitement. I LOVED the first 2 on Dreamcast.
Oh, I saw that too! I was really surprised when I heard about it yesterday, checked it out and saw how much they had funded already. (I just checked again, too - they're up to $3 million already!)
It just amazes me how powerful Kickstarter can be. There was that other game, Bloodstained, that just finished their campaign with $5.5 million and I imaging Shenmue can go even further at this rate!
I'm really considering becoming a backer...even though I haven't played the first two games in the series >_>
This seems like it will be the largest sum raised for a game on Kickstarter by the time this is done.They are running away with it, kind of crazy since it was only a proof of popularity sort of thing - if they succeeded then Sony and other people were going to invest from what I have heard.
I still haven't played Shenmue. I said I was gonna play it whenever Shenmue 3 was released, since I didn't want to get blue-balled with a story that never gets a proper conclusion. Guess it's about time I play them, huh?
It would be nice if he ported his original two titles to steam, since the 3rd installment is getting a PC version. The first two are so old, and the Dreamcast's life span was so short lived, but man it had some GREAT games, such as Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, and Time Stalkers / Climax Landers (same game, released under 2 names, they got into trouble with "Time Stalkers" because too similar to the shooter franchise "Time Stalker". Time Stalkers / Climax Landers is part of the Alundra and Land Stalker series, and is a great game, as is the rest of the series, except Alundra 2 lol. Owning a Dreamcast was worth it though just for those few RPGs.
I doubt they would port them, it would take too much money and resources I think. Seems like it was a hard sell to get this made - seems it was just to be made to finish up the story as a passion project. Apparently every title lost money pretty much hence why its taken this long to get another title.
I too would love it if they ported Shenmue 1 and 2 to PC but I think they were asked about ports and said that they can't do anything about them and it's up to SEGA or something along those lines. I really doubt we will see them ported...
I am so pumped for this! I'm going to be backing it as soon as I can get a pre-paid card to put on file since I refuse to give them my credit card for security reasons and they don't accept paypal. I was so happy to hear the Shenmue theme but was still in disbelief, then Yu suzuki came out and I was starting to believe it a bit more. When I saw the kickstarter got a little nervous but then within minutes he had half a million dollars to it so I was feeling quite confident. Now we're over 3 million in less than 2 days! We are finally getting Shenmue 3 after 14 long years of waiting!
I've never played the first 2 in this series so, to me at least, this just seems like a cool extra but nothing I'm overly excited about. If they make a physical copy for the PS4 (with the original 2 games) then I might pick it up, but otherwise I'm probably just going to pass on this. (I'm not a fan of digital and the PS4, so far, is only getting a digital copy.)
But for those who loved this series and wanted a third game... congrats, hope it's everything you want it to be.
Between this, FF7, and Last Guardian, I don't know which announcement came closest to making my heart stop. But I will say this Shenmue 3 one put the biggest grin on my face.
But they need to go the extra mile on this one. What I mean by that is potentially pulling off some sort of HD remake collection of 1 and 2
I don't know what to think about this being on kickstarter. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the game will be reality. But do we want to set this precident? "Pay in a little and we'll make the game"?
We as gamers might need to be wary of this in the end.
I don't blame Sony one bit for waiting for kickstarter's campaign before putting up the rest of the funding for this. They had to see if people TRULY wanted it.
Fans like to talk but not put their money where their mouths are. So they needed assurance.
Remember, Shenmue 1 alone cost Sega 70 million to make. And they didn't even get 10% of that back because the game didn't sell well. Same with the second game.
I see how this COULD be a bad precident going forward. BUT there is another way to look at this. Many games never see sequels or the light of day simply because companies aren't going to risk flops. They're costly, VERY costly.
So putting a game on kickstarter to see if reviving a classic is TRULY viable is a boon to gaming, not a bain.
But of course, it can be abused just like anything else (*cough dlc*) As long as it's not abused, I'm ok with a company testing the waters with kickstarter
Bar none, this is the biggest news coming from E3 this year. I am genuinely excited for this. I haven't been this excited for a game in years. Shenmue 3 will be awesome and I can't wait for it. They will finally continue the story, about time... I just hope that they include Shenmue 1 and 2 in the bundle with the game for those who are unfamiliar with the story. Sony and Sega are really listening to the wishes of gamers.
I too would love it if they ported Shenmue 1 and 2 to PC but I think they were asked about ports and said that they can't do anything about them and it's up to SEGA or something along those lines. I really doubt we will see them ported...
Yeah that seems to be the case. Hopefully SEGA see the support for this though and decide to get a team together to do it themselves. I've never played the series.
kickstarting is not all that different than pre-ordering, except the amount of time you have to wait before receiving your copy of the game is much higher. I don't really see it as a bad thing if it's the only way for a studio to be able to convince their higher ups that there's demand for the game.
I am not quite confident that this game will get very far. Sure, it has raised a lot of revenue as of right now. But I believe that the FF7 remake will still be more popular than Shenmue 3. I might get my hands on the game once it's out on the market, however, just to see what the hype is about. :lol:
I was so happy to hear the Shenmue theme but was still in disbelief, then Yu suzuki came out and I was starting to believe it a bit more. When I saw the kickstarter got a little nervous but then within minutes he had half a million dollars to it so I was feeling quite confident. Now we're over 3 million in less than 2 days! 
We are finally getting Shenmue 3 after 14 long years of waiting! 