Lucky hit?

Shenmue III seems to be embroiled in more controversy then one would expect for such a highly requested game. After going Epic Games Store exclusive to backers being denied refunds, Ryo really can't catch a break on his journey to avenge his father. If you thought this next bit of news would ease your pain a little, get ready to bite your tongue. Publisher Deep Silver has announced all of the various pre-order bonuses for Shenmue III and i?t's nearly as complicated ?as a Ubisoft release.

I'll start it off simple and explain all the content e??very pre-order ??will receive. Regardless of which retailer you go with to get your game, pre-orders will net you three bottles of "Snake Power" elixir, 5,000 playing tokens for the various gambling games, the "Blazing Kick" advanced training scroll, and a set of 24 tickets for the in-game gacha toys. So far, so good.

Next, at Gamestop or EB Games (depending on your region), you'll receive a physical replication of the Dragon and Phoenix Mirror Medallions. That's certainly a nifty bonus for fans. Going with Best Buy, you'll get a pretty cool looking steelbook case for your disc. Finally, if you opt for Amazon.com, you'll get the "Kenpogi Training Wear" ??DLC that grants you an outfit based on traditional Chinese Kung Fu garb. It's kind? of a bummer considering the other two come with a physical goodie.

Pre-orders are now live on each of the corresponding sites. This seems to be limited to the PS4 version, so PC users won't be getting any neat extras (go figure). If none of this is doing it for you, you could always check out Limited Run Games' collector's edition. That certainly looks more fitting for the?? "finale" to this ser??ies than these bonuses.

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Up for a game of lucky hit?

Ys Net really can't seem to catch a break with Shenmue III. After some massive backlash about refusing refunds for players dissatisfied with the title's sudden Epic Games Store exclusivity, it seems Kickstarter backers will not be receiving any retail exclusive content with their keys. As discovered by VG 24/7,?? Ys Net confirmed to backer Antonio Miranda that backers will need to pay for any additional content that ??might come to Ryo's long-awaited return.

"Standard and deluxe versions releas??ed through retail sales are not affiliated with the crowdfunding campaign," Ys Ne??t stated," so will not be included with backer pledges. They will be available for sale separately." While this kind of makes sense in that specific retailers would be funding the additional content, it also creates a scenario where backers are now not getting a "complete" version of a game they helped bring to life.

This also becomes doubly confusing as both the Kickstarter and Slacker Backer editions have exclusive content of their own. Throw in a season pass that has undefined content and is also not being given to backers and this has become a really crappy situation. It seems Ys Net would rather segment out Shenmue III than pro?vide an easy way to get the entire experience, which is certainly reason enough to be agitated.

Shenmue 3 backers won't be getting a season pass [VG 24/7]

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No sailors for Microsoft faithful

Publisher Deep Silver has shot done rumors that Shenmue III will be coming to Xbox One. In the source code for the official website of the game, users on ResetEra found references to a possible port for Microsoft's console. This led to speculation that the long-awaited follow-up to Yu Suzuki's martial arts epic would be finding a home on the platform. Twitter user Wario64 even shared the find, ?which ??sparked more belief that the rumor was true.

Not wishing to have misinformation spread, Deep Silver issued a comment on Twitter. In its statement, the company said, "There is no planned version of Shenmue III for Xbox One." While that doesn't 100% confirm the game will never reach Xbox One, you won't be playing it on the platform in 2019. While that is sad, the lack of a port is likely due to the indie nature of the game. Yu Suzuki took to Kickstarter four years ago to make his dream a possibility. The game may have broken Kickstarter records, but ??there likely is?n't enough funding to secure an Xbox One version.

You never know, though. Maybe D??eep Silver is playing coy and waiting for E3 to reveal the news. I honestly don't believe so, but stranger things have happened??.

Possible Shenmue III Xbox One Version Denied By Deep Silver [Siliconera]

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Remember when the tease was a forklift shot? Good times

Shenmue does such a fantastic job of selling menial tasks to its audience. While a lot of games try to delight us with various lawn mowing minigames and the like; there's something about taking over a carnival stand and asking people if they want to gamble their money away that just resonates. Of course, we can't talk about Shenmue jobs without mentioning the memorable forklift.

Shenmue 3's developer Ys Net can't either it seems, as they confirmed the activity ahead of the release of the new issue of Famitsu. While more info will assuredly be found in the magazine, Ys Net gave us the basic rundown today??, as well as a screenshot.

Amazingly, Shenmue 3 was actually confirmed ahead of Sony's 2015 E3 conference by series creator Yu Suzuki with the same machinery. Wait, 2015? Yep: it feels like ages ago since the third entry was reve??aled.

Shenmue 3 [Twitter]

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Can you help me find some hard drive space?

It just dawned on me that 2019 is not only going to contain Kingdom Hearts III and Resident Evil 2 but Shenmue III. Holy cow is that awesome! What isn't so awesome is the required hard drive space for Yu Suzuki's long-coming sequel. As revealed in a Kickstarter update, Shenmue III will occupy a whopping 100 GB on PC.

Whil?e that is probably down to 4K assets being available, it likely means the PS4 version is also going to be ridiculously big. As we head further into the future and game developers continuously push the boundaries of graphics, this number is only going to keep increasing. Sadly, internet speeds aren't getting that much better, so anyone opting for a digital copy could be looking at a long wait.

At least the rest of the specifications are pretty manageable. The page does have a disclaimer saying that the specs are based on an in-progress build and may likely change, but it doesn't seem you'll need a PC of the future to see the (possible) end of Shenmue. You can see the system r?equirements below (there is no minimum or recommended setup).

• Minimum: OS: Windows 7x64, Windows 8x64, Windows 10x64 (64-bit OS Required)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-4460 (3.40 GHz) or better; Quad-core or better  
• Memory: 4 GB RAM  
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti or better (DirectX 11 card & VRAM 2GB Required)  
• DirectX: Version 11  
• Network: Broadband internet connection  
• Storage: 100 GB available space  
• Sound card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card 
• Additional Info: Requires Steam Client to activate.

Happy New Year! [Kickstarter]

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Still a ways off

Shenmue III might still be set for December 2017, but that hasn't stopped developer YS Net from updating us every month or so, and this time, it has modified the official website. The project seems to be rather slow-going, but it's making progres?s, as evidenced b??y the newest video below, showing off an area called "Bailu Village Hut."

As I've said before, I'm pretty careful with what I back in terms of crowdfunding, and I think this is something that truly can't afford to fail. Th?e quality is of course up in the air, but I don't doubt?? that this will be finished at some point. 

Shenmue III [Shenmue]

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'I could do with a bit more money'

$6.3 million isn't enough for Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki.

Talking to Eurogamer, Suzuki said that while the game will?? be crafted in line with the funds available to it, the game "doesn't have to be gorgeous visually??."

"I c?ould do with a bit more money!" Suzuki said. "The game itself doesn't have to be gorgeous visually - a lot of the money these days goes into the graphics. If we perhaps compromise on the graphics and put more into the story, we can make a good game. The most important thing, to me, is that the game's interesting, and that it's something people want to play."

In additi?on to the record-breakingly successful Kickstarter campaign and funding from Sony itself, Suzuki launched a further PayPal fund campaign following this year's Toyko Game Show.

"Kickstarter's not the only source of money. There's also funding from Sony and Shibuya Productions. Before we started Kickstarter, we had goals set around the budget - so if we only got $6 million, we'd create Shenmue 3 based upon what we could do with ??that $6 mi??llion." 

We're still tryin??g to gather funds. Obviously, the more money we have the more we can do??. Even if we don't get as much budget as the previous games, we'll still make this game.

"Kickstarter's finished, so we know what the minimum budget is. We completed the game flow at the end of August, this month we're testing the game engine for Shenmue to see how it works. The team's a lot smaller than when we [were] working on Shenmue 2. But the process is just beginning - at ??this point we only need a small team.

"We said we'd get it ou??t for Christmas 2017?. Now I've got to work towards that, because that's what I said."

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Interest in first two games increases

Six months ago, if you wanted to buy a second hand copy of Shenmue or Shenmue II on eBay you could do so for in some cases as little as $15. The games seemingly kept low resale value online due to the second game ending on a pretty nasty cliffhanger narratively that had very little hope of ever being? resolved.

With that in mind, it may not surprise you to learn that sales of second-hand Dreamcast consoles and the original pair of Shenmue games have seen a huge spike in demand since the announcement of Shenmue 3, resulting in a dramatic ?rise in the prices?? of the original games.

Reported by MCV, physical? game retailers have seen demand balloon?? since E3.

We sold 20 Dreamcasts in the last week alone. All of sudden, people are asking where they can play the original two Shenmue games. The announcement of Shenmue III really piqued everyone’s interest.

Anecdotally, I've seen prices on eBay for Shenmue II inflate from $15 up to upwards of $100 ??i??n just a matter of months. 

So, have you recently picked up a Dreamcast and the first two Shenmue games? If so, how much did you end up spending?

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Fan remake: Original Shenmue in Unreal 4

Korean modder Kid Nocon began his unofficial HD remake of the original Shenmue last year, before any of us knew that Shenmue 3 would burst onto the ??scene and become the most funded video gam??e Kickstarter yet. 

Nocon's original efforts, in Unreal 3, look pretty great.

His latest video, though, is for a remade version of the Hazuki Residence in Unreal 4, the engine that has given us wonderfully uncanny Sonic and Mario mock ups.

Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki has noted, "I’ve been looking at a several different engines over the past three years for Shenmue III, and Unreal Engine 4’s colors fit the color of the world I envision for Shenmue." It might end up looking something like ??this. Hell, just hire the ki??d.

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Most funded video game in site's history

The crowdfunding campaign for Shenmue 3 has drawn to a close, ??raising a total of $6,333,295.

That sum makes the project the most funded video game campaign in the history of Kickstarter, beating out the previous record holder Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and its $5,545,991 total.

Series creator Yu Suzuki announced the campaign last month as pa??rt of PlayStation's E3 press conference, asking fans to contribute at least $2 million to make the project a reality.

While the project trebled its initial funding goal, that amount still fell well short of the $10 million Suzuki indicated would be needed to make Shenmue 3 a "true open world" game.

In addition to the money raised via Kickstarte??r, Sony is helping bankroll the project, investing an unspecified amount to assist with production, marke?ting, and publishing the game.

Shenmue 3 is in development for PlayStation 4 ?and PC. It's targeted for a De??cember 2017 launch.

Shenmue 3 [Kickstarter]

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Both voice actors confirmed

In case you hadn't heard, Corey Marshall, the English voice actor for Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki, is returning to voice the character in Shenmue 3. As of this week, ?Masaya Matsukaze has been confirmed as well, meaning both the original Japanese and English Ryo a??re now on board.

Shenmue 3 is closing in on $5.8 million with just eight hours to go. It surpassed the funding total for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night earlier tod?ay, making it the most funded video game project in Kickstarter history.

Shenmue 3 [Kickstarter]

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But everyone loves Shenmue so it's okay

The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter has surpassed five million in funding with just under a day and a half to go, but creator Yu Suzuki has insisted that they need roughly $10 million to have a fully realized open world.

It's s??hooting for the stars for sure, but a number of different choices c??ould have been made to bump the campaign up significantly.

Lack of transparency

When Shenmue 3 was anno??unced during E3, the whole world (myself included) went crazy. Series creator Yu Suzuki was teasing it a day before, but no one really could have expected it given how long the series had been on hiatus. Then the questions starting coming, and things got a little more complicated.

??It came out the day after the announcement that even though the team was asking for money on Kickstarter, Sony would be funding the game. I kind of feel bad for Su?zuki as he had to apologize for "misleading" people, but the entire "Sony is funding some of it, but we're not actually going to tell you how much" business was a bit weird. That's definitely something that should have been explained at E3.

If there's one thing we learned about backers over the years, it's that they want an idea of what they're contributing to, and where their money is going. With Shenmue 3, there are still some doubts tho??ugh in terms of the latter point Yu Suzuki has confirmed that all of the campaign proceeds are going directly to the game, and not Sony.

Stretch goal wackiness

Yes, one of the??ir stretch goal?s, one they haven't reached yet, is actually a "new Kickstarter [cash] record." I'm speechless.

While the campaign runners did end up catching on to the concept of stretch goals, it took them days to scramble to come up with ideas. At first, the campaign only ha??d a mere few mentions of what ??they'd do if they surpassed their funding amount.

The days of "let's just see how much we get on Kickstarter and be surprised later!" are over. Campaigns need to think about the big picture and keep the train running with constant engagement and new goals and activities. IGA's Bloodstained campaign did this impressively, with multiple social media metagames and daily stretch goal updates. Maybe the Shenmue&?nbsp;team can up their funding with a good post-Kickstarter?? PayPal campaign and reach that lofty $10 million mark.

Of course, a lot of future Kickstarter success is going to be contingent on luck and timing. Having Sony announce Shenmue 3 during its E3 press conference did wonders for the campaign, yet Inafune is struggling to have lightning strike twice with Red Ash -- his unofficial Mega Man Legends project, announced at Anime Expo.

The Shenmue 3 team has your money -- now we just wait for the finished product. As for myself, I backed it at the $29 level. Shenmue means a lot to me as a s??eries, and it got me through some really tough times. If the campaign was handled a bit better and wa??s more focused, I may have upped my pledge.

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If you can part with $60

I haven't been following Shenmue 3 too closely on Kickstarter, but my fing??ers are crossed for director Yu Suzuki. I hope the project turns out the way he envisions it and fans are satisfied (as if that's even possible). Today's Kickstarter update is a big one for those of you considering chipping in: backers who commit to $60 or more can opt for a physical copy of the game on PlayStation 4.

The disc will come packaged in "an exclusive, backer-only case" whether you choose PS4 or PC, and you'll also "be able to participate in surveys and vote in polls for the ideas you want to see in the game." If you're fine with a digital copy, the minimum tier for either platform?? is $29.

Where's that $10,000 forklift tier?

PlayStation 4 Physical Reward Confirmed! [Kickstarter]

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Hell froze over 3 times tonight

It's already been a heck of a night for games that we never thought we'd see happen -- The Last Guardian, a Final Fantasy 7 remake, and now Shenmue 3 on Kickstarter. Yu Suzuki, creator of Shenmue, Outrun, and many others is back, and all he's looking for is a cool $2 million to produce a new Shenmue. That's a far cry from the $70 million budget the Dreamcast original. Planned consoles for now include PS4 and PC, but it looks like the campaign is nearly at $1 million mark already, so don't be sur??prised if we end up getting stretch goals for other systems. 

I hope the "Hey Mister, wanna wrestle?" kid is b?ack. 

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