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Yu Suzuki

Shenmue: The Animation Now Running On Adult Swim

Shenmue: The Animation Now Running On Adult Swim

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Shenmue: The Animation was announced in 2020 as one of the “partner” shows between Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. At the time both companies were owned by telecom AT&T. The phone giant has already sold off one and is in the process of unloading the other onto Discovery, so no one knows how long the partnership will actually last. But it got us a Shenmue anime. So far, Adult Swim hasn’t had very good luck with producing original anime, even with Crunchyroll assisting. The continuation of FLCL was a major disappointment, and though Fena: Pirate Princess originally gained critical interest, they changed their minds once they saw the weird direction the story was going. I didn’t mind Blade Runner: Black Lotus very much, but some people couldn’t get over how plastic the cheap CGI looked. In a separate industry, Yu Suzuki hasn’t been lucky either. He spent years trying to get Shenmue III made, and when he was finally able to scrape together enough cash, the end result displeased a lot

Shenmue Reborn As Anime Series

Shenmue Reborn As Anime Series

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It has been a weird ride for fans of Yu Suzuki’s RPG-slash-life-simulator Shenmue. The original game, released in 2000 for the Dreamcast, was one of the most innovative of its time, one of the first to attempt an authentic, living, breathing world where people went about their activities as they do in reality. Suzuki managed to get a sequel out before the Dreamcast prematurely bit it, but only Europe would see the original release — Americans got an XBox port. Then, for over fifteen years, fans demanded another Shenmue. It wasn’t until the invention of crowdfunding that it became possible for Suzuki to sidestep executives with closed pocketbooks and appeal directly to the fans. The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter shattered records and the finished product was released in 2019, to…mixed reactions. It was the expectation that Suzuki would choose to close out the story and make this a “trilogy.” He chose not to, and it’s unlikely there will ever be a Shenmue 4. But the series will live on in other

Shenmue 3: The Gamescom Trailer

Shenmue 3: The Gamescom Trailer

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Shenmue 3 is so close, we can feel the punches. The latest trailer from Sega, Ys Net and Deep Silver hit the Net this morning, and they make one thing clear: Ryo’s fists will get a workout. Of course, getting into fist fights is only part of the Shenmue experience. There’s also wandering around, taking on odd jobs, buying useless trinkets from vending machines, and wasting your money at the arcade. We actually got a glimpse at the arcade games that will be available this time. The expected QTE simulator is there, and so is a pachinko machine, but will Sega be slipping in another of their arcade classics? They might just decide those are better off sold separately. Far more people are disappointed by Deep Silver’s decision to accept an Epic Games Store exclusivity deal than in the prospect of not having Hang-On or Space Harrier. Ys Net is working on a refund system so that anyone who absolutely CANNOT play PC games from anyone besides Steam (why, exactly?)

Shenmue 3 Developers Now Offering Refunds To Disgruntled Customers

Shenmue 3 Developers Now Offering Refunds To Disgruntled Customers

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This is something you might not expect to hear about until after a game comes out, but developer Deep Silver, publisher YsNet and exclusive PC distributor Epic Games Store are now offering refunds to Kickstarter backers of Shenmue 3. The reason: some of them have been demanding it. Loudly. Last month’s E3 brought with it two new bits of news for Shenmue 3: a trailer, and the revelation that Epic Games had obtained exclusive rights to the PC version of the game — when it comes out, you’ll only be able to buy it at the Epic Games Store. Essentially, this amounts to having to load up a different launcher when booting your game, an inconvenience of a few seconds…but we guess some folks are too used to using Steam for everything. Some PC gamers were so outraged by this exclusivity deal that they decided they didn’t even want the game anymore. They demanded the ability to rescind their pledges, which is a pretty rare thing to be able to

E3 2019: Shenmue 3 Might Not Truly Be The End

E3 2019: Shenmue 3 Might Not Truly Be The End

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Here’s something we never expected to hear. The websute USGamer caught up with Yu Suzuki, director, writer and pretty much everything behind the existence of the Shenmue series. The reporter asked Suzuki if Shenmue 3 would be concluding the story of protagonist Ryo…not really a question most other reporters felt like asking, because obviously it would, right? Think again. USGamer reports that “Suzuki took out his water bottle and placed it on the table between us and pointed to about the halfway point.” Then he said “Whole story of this bottle, about here,” through a translator. The reporter asked for clarification, and if he meant halfway. He meant even less. “40 percent,” said Suzuki. Shenmue fans know the game’s storyline was originally intended to be very long. When it was conceived on Dreamcast, a long number of games were planned — plans that had to change when the Dreamcast started collapsing and Shenmue II didn’t sell well on the XBox. What is Suzuki betting here — that he can crowdfund

New Shenmue 3 Trailer

New Shenmue 3 Trailer

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A new trailer for Shenmue 3 dropped over the weekend. At two and a half minutes and with real gameplay footage, it’s the most revealing look we’ve gotten to date for the highly anticipated sequel. The trailer was revealed during MAGIC, a Japanese developers’ conference described as “conferences and round tables with famous international authors, game designers, producers, writers and illustrators”, though it’s also sort of a regular con with gaming, manga and cosplay contests. The original Shenmue was sold as “the most realistic game ever,” and upon its release it looked impressive, but time and advancing technology have shattered that illusion. It’s clear with Shenmue 3 Yu Suzuki and crew are no longer shooting for realism. The environments are pretty, but the animations have almost a stop-motion feel, as if Will Vinton stepped through a portal from the 1980s and created a few cutscenes for Shenmue 3 in between raisin commercials. I’d be very surprised to learn there was any mocap involved — either that or they got their

Shenmue 3 Launches August 2019 — New Trailer

Shenmue 3 Launches August 2019 — New Trailer

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Shenmue 3 is closer to reality than ever! Yu Suzuki and his development team revealed the first full trailer for the long-anticipated closer to the Shenmue trilogy today. Considering this story was left incomplete on the original XBox, it’s been a substantial wait. It’s also been quite a wait since the initial reveal of Shenmue 3 over three years ago, during E3 2015. A record-breaking crowdfunding campaign raised over six million toward the project, sending a clear signal people wanted more. Since then the game has remained in closed-door development, with only the occasional screenshot being released. But we not only got a trailer today, we have a solid release date! Suzuki thinks he can get Shenmue 3 out the door August 27, 2019 — almost precisely one year from now. Sega most likely chose today to drop this trailer for a reason: it happens to be the release day for Shenmue I and II on the Playstation 4 and XBox One. A year is a long time to wait

Shenmue And Shenmue II Coming To Modern Consoles

Shenmue And Shenmue II Coming To Modern Consoles

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We’ve been waiting for Shenmue 3 since 2015…..well, truthfully, we’ve been waiting for it since Shenmue II on the original XBox; we just never had definitive hope until recently. But now that we know it’s coming, it would make sense for Sega to rerelease the first two games, wouldn’t it? This release may be anticipated among the faithful, but there are only so many of us, and new fans would be a great help toward higher sales. Yup…Sega had the same thought. The beloved game company announced today Shenmue 1 & 2 are coming to Playstation 4….AND the PC, AND XBox One, even though the XBox won’t get Shenmue 3. These two games pack over a hundred hours of life in 1980s Japan. All the QTE fighting, errand-running and forklift driving you can eat! Don’t forget the arcade games. Since their original release, Shenmue I & II have established a passionate following and are revered as one of gaming’s greatest series of all time. These revolutionary masterpieces deliver a gripping

Could Shenmue 1 & 2 See A PS4 Remastered Release?

Could Shenmue 1 & 2 See A PS4 Remastered Release?

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As you all know, Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki and his team have been working on the long-awaited third game in the Shenmue trilogy for at least two years now. It has been far longer since either of the first two games saw a retail shelf. Shenmue 2 came out for the original XBox and the first Shenmue was released even longer ago, on the original Dreamcast. People who were born when that game came out are now about to graduate high school. Given this, it would make good sense for Sega to remaster and rerelease the first two games on modern systems before the third game comes out. No one really knows if the company is thinking about it; however, we got a big hint on New Year’s Day. Cedric Biscay, the founder of Shibuya Productions (one of the studios working on Shenmue 3) tweeted this: I wish you a Happy New Year ! All the best for 2018 ! It will be great with the #Shenmue3 release on #PS4

Fresh News On Shenmue 3

Fresh News On Shenmue 3

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The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter launched on June 16th, 2015. It’s been two and a half years since then, and we haven’t seen much of the game, but in this case that’s a good thing. A Shenmue sequel that could be done in two years (with today’s development standards) wouldn’t be a game that was very good. With the new year comes a new video from Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki and animator Hiroaki Takeuchi. You know what job Suzuki has, but Takeuchi is working as CG animation producer for Shenmue 3’s cutscenes. The video they appear in cannot be embedded, so you’ll have to click this link to watch it. In the video, Suzuki asks Takeuchi how development is coming along. Shenmue 3 is being made in Unreal 4, far better than what the Dreamcast could render. “The graphics are certainly improved over what I had in mind,” says Takeuchi. “While there are of course things that would not compare to a AAA title, they are better than what I had

Physical Copies of Shenmue III for PS4 Might Not Make Retail

Physical Copies of Shenmue III for PS4 Might Not Make Retail

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Whether or not a retail version of Shenmue III will actually be available upon launch for consoles is still not clear. According to VG24/7, an email exchange with the developer Ys Net stated that the company was still unsure whether it would make a physical edition of the long-awaited sequel available for PlayStation 4 players to buy. Initially, only digital versions of the game were offered to backers of the Kickstarter campaign. After some criticism from fans and a good deal of feedback from those who wanted to have a physical box of the game to keep Ys Net later added a $60 tier. However, it was unclear whether this backer edition of the title would be exclusive to Kickstarter contributors or would make its way to brick and mortar stores. For what it’s worth, a physical edition has already been confirmed for PC while Shenmue III might not even make it to other platforms such as the Xbox One. Shenmue III was first revealed during Sony’s E3 media briefing

Sony is Helping to Fund Shenmue III

Sony is Helping to Fund Shenmue III

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Yesterday, the $2 million funding goal for Shenmue III was smashed in just a few hours. However, despite the obvious success of the Kickstarter campaign and the intense interest in the game, questions were raised about how such an ambitious title was ever going to be able to be developed with such a tiny budget. This is especially when you consider that the first two titles in the franchise are some of the most expensive games to ever be made. Well the answer to that came today. Speaking on their official YouTube channel, Sony’s Director of Third Party Production Gio Corsi revealed that the Japanese company was partnering with Yu Suzuki to ensure that the game comes out. Corsi detailed how the Kickstarter campaign was essentially being used by both the developer and Sony to see how much interest there was in the project and whether it would be financially viable. While Sony didn’t go into detail about how much the game would cost, as is usual for most games,