How much would you pay to play Shenmue III? Yu Suzuki considers Kickstarter-like funding.

[Lady Lilith]

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2013/03/how_much_would_you_pay_to_play_shenmue_3

 

Yu Suzuki considers crowdfunding for long overdue sequel

When asked how we’d invest the winnings from a successful EuroMillions ticket, we often discuss our desire to fund the full production of Shenmue 3. It’ll never happen, of course, but reports coming out of the Monaco Anime and Game Show suggest that series creator Yu Suzuki is at least considering crowdfunding to finally get the sequel off the ground.

“Yu Suzuki says he’s thinking about a Kickstarter-like model to fund Shenmue 3,” said a French journalist in attendance at the show. “[He] would also like to continue the story of Shenmue in anime or manga form.”

It would be fascinating to see if the sequel could raise enough money on a website like Kickstarter to fund its full production. The original game cost an incredible $47 million to make (slightly less than original rumours suggested), and was a commercial disaster. The most successful Kickstarter campaign to date, the Pebble E-Paper Watch, pulled in just over $10 million, so Yu Suzuki would have to smash plenty of records to get the project funded.

Still, if the sequel ever did hit a crowdfunding site, we’d be right there with a fistful of dollar bills. To raise more money, we’d even consider selling those precious Phoenix and Dragon mirrors stashed away in our basement – it’s not like they’re doing anything anyway.

 

This ought to have a good chance.  I'm be curious about seeing a third game, finally....

[CasaDeBen]

Never got to play these games, and I always wanted to.

[Death]

The original game cost an incredible $47 million to make (slightly less than original rumours suggested), and was a commercial disaster.

 

Huh? Where did this guy get his info? Shenmue received nothing but praise from what I remembered.... then again it probably didn't sell well since it was released at the very end of the Dreamcasts life :/ And I'd say I could save up a little and shell out a few hundred if it's guaranteed that production on III would start.

[Lady Lilith]

I've got a long way to go until I even think about a third game...I haven't gotten very far in the first game, and that's three discs...I think I can finally import Shenmue II (for Dreamcast) if I beat that, I picked up a CD-X that removes the region lock.

[CasaDeBen]

Didnt they have shenmue 2 on xbox?

[Parker]

Shenmue is one of my favorite series of all time and the original on the Dreamcast is easily one of the greatest games of all time. Shenmue II was released on the Dreamcast in Japan but luckily it was also released on the original Xbox over here so we were able to enjoy that one as well. If there was a guarantee that the game would be put into production I'd put a few hundred down easy. I think an HD remake of Shenmue and Shenmue II released on PSN and Xbox Live! would be a huge success and could raise a lot of money for the production of III.

 

 

Parker

[Lady Lilith]

Shenmue is one of my favorite series of all time and the original on the Dreamcast is easily one of the greatest games of all time. Shenmue II was released on the Dreamcast in Japan but luckily it was also released on the original Xbox over here so we were able to enjoy that one as well. If there was a guarantee that the game would be put into production I'd put a few hundred down easy. I think an HD remake of Shenmue and Shenmue II released on PSN and Xbox Live! would be a huge success and could raise a lot of money for the production of III.

 

 

Parker

 

Shenmue II was also released in PAL territories on Dreamcast.  They were going to release it in the US too, but scrapped it at the last minute (I think it was due to American Dreamcast production shutting down earlier than EU's or something)

Edited March 5, 2013 by gamerm1337

[Roboemperor]

Do the people who fund get a copy or not?

[Lady Lilith]

Do the people who fund get a copy or not?

 

 

I would assume so, since that's how the Pier Solar HD kickstarter worked.  Can't be positive though.  Sure would suck to drop a substantial amount donating, then have to buy the game yourself.

[Roboemperor]

I would assume so, since that's how the Pier Solar HD kickstarter worked.  Can't be positive though.  Sure would suck to drop a substantial amount donating, then have to buy the game yourself.

I wouldn't mind even a 50% discount if they gave it. Also you can't trust anyone when that kind of money is in talk.

[Dreakon139]

Huh? Where did this guy get his info? Shenmue received nothing but praise from what I remembered.... then again it probably didn't sell well since it was released at the very end of the Dreamcasts life :/ And I'd say I could save up a little and shell out a few hundred if it's guaranteed that production on III would start.

I think they probably mean a commercial disaster in the sense that they didn't make nearly as much as they spent developing it.  Not that people didn't like it, or even that it didn't necessarily sell well.

 

As for Shenmue III and kickstarter... if they promised a PC release of some kind I'd probably dump a respectable amount of cash into the project.  If only console (which I don't really use anymore), I might throw a fiver into the mix.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Dreakon139

[Karnacharya]

While I'd love to see Shenmue III, I don't think that Kickstarter is ideal for a big budget project like this. Optimistically speaking, I imagine that this project would raise ~2,000,000, which is nowhere near enough. On the other hand however, if Suzuki wants to continue the story via manga or an alternate medium, Kickstarter might be more viable.