So I'm still hoping against hope for Shenmue III...

[Oly J]

foolish I know given the last console release of a Shenmue game was over a decade ago, (honestly I think not going multi platform with the Xbox port of 2 was a really bad idea) for some reason I was torturing myself looking for whispers of an announcement, and the best I got was Wikipedia saying that Yu Suzuki wants to crowd fund the game if possible, call me negative but I just don't see that happening.

although I did see that apparently, in playstation magazine February 2014 issue, Shenmue III was rated the third most wanted game (not that I think that's going to make a difference but still, it's nice to know)

I don't know how many Shenmue fans are still out there, but, even if there were enough, would they ever be organised enough to crowd fund the development of a game? somehow I doubt it but what do you think?

also, I heard rumours for years of HD re-releases on digital markets...since I've seen nothing I'm gonna assume that's not happening (especially since last I heard SEGA was sitting on the completed remastered versions for over two years and hasn't decided to release them)

I'm also hoping against hope now for a western release of Yakuza 5, although since that game already exists, if I ever fulfil my ambition of learning to speak japanese I'll just import it. I don't know what it is about these games that makes me so....unwilling to accept that in all likelihood it's never going to happen, no other game or even genre has this effect on me.

so what do you guys think? is it possible for any number of fans to be organised enough to crowd fund the production of a game? does a game being "most wanted" make even a bit of difference? has anybody else heard anything about these HD re-releases or was that just a rumour?

 

[McMarbles]

WiiU exclusive. Believe it.

 

[Lalo Lomeli]

I know that kickstarter and crowdfunding is all the rage right now, and I can see why, but I really think is really dangerous for big-ass publishers to start charging money for the promise of a game of your favorite IP; and that at the end of the day, they aren't contractally obligated to make the game or that it has a the quality you would expect for.

First of, they have the money to actually make Shenmue III, just like Ubisoft can make a Beyond Good and Evil II, capcom a Megaman, SquareEnix a HD release of Final Fantasy VII; and in a few of these cases they know they can make a great deal of money, but for any reason they just don't do it.

And you know what? It's their job to do it. To make a meaningful market research about what their fans want, to take financial risks about what games to put out there which it can make a profit, to balance a little team, if it's a niche game to avoid skyrockering costs and reduce risks. A lot of people complain that decision makers of the big publishers are "money people" and don't understand games, and it's true, but they understand these terms and even then they don't do it.

At most, you can go the Megaman route, give crowdfunding to the creator of the series, to have a spiritual successor, but even in that case, you won't have the closure of the Shenmue story that I think is part of what you want.

I'm hoping against hope for a sequel of Mischief Makers.