Yu Suzuki: Shenmue III Latest Information (TGS 2018)

View the video below the article text.

At the 2018 Tokyo Game Show on September 22nd, Yu Suzuki and Shenmue III animation director Hiroaki Takeuchi spoke for a short time on the topic of Shenmue III. 

The Shenmue topic was a special section within a larger presentation about a VR game created by JPPVR (and their software subsidiary VReS) for which Suzuki is general producer. Sitting next to Suzuki and Takeuchi is Taichi Shibuki, the CEO of VReS.

• This was Yu Suzuki's second appearance on the JPPVR stage at TGS,  See the video (subtitled) of his earlier appearance on one of the event's Business Days: Yu Suzuki Tells Arino-Kacho About Shenmue 3 at the Tokyo Game Show

Kicking off the talk segment is a showing of the latest Shenmue III trailer, "The Prophecy," with its announcement of the release date of 27th August 2019, giving it some additional exposure to the Japanese domestic audience.

Apparently Takeuchi had been invited casually by Yu to join him for the stage session without knowing details of what it would be about, and he does a good job of heightening the sense of excitement for the game's upcoming release.

Partway through, Takeuchi switches to the growling voice of "Mr. X", a fictional masked character that he used to play in the 1980s, appearing in Young Jump magazine and the video game magazine GTV. (Alas, these efforts are largely ignored by the announcer!).

Yu touches on the current activities of the game's development, indicating that the battles are being fine-tuned. He also states that he won't be travelling to China as wants to "avoid being beaten up" - a reference to his 1994 research trip for the original Shenmue games where he was famously dealt an accidental blow from his friend Master Wu Lian Zhi during a martial arts demonstration.

Something that leaves a deep impression is the extent of the dedication that Yu has to the development of Shenmue III. He reveals that he often works through the nights and catches up with naps during the daytime. Takeuchi even cracks a joke about his reduced alcohol intake compared to the days of Shenmue I & II!

One of the highlights of the talk for me is when Yu Suzuki expresses the joy he gets from being able to create Shenmue III: "After it's over, I want to go back and start creating another, as soon as I can."

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Result Announcement: Shenmue I & II Guide Map Give-Away

Congratulations to the winner of Phantom River Stone's Shenmue Guide Map give-away draw, for which all patrons were automatically entered:

The lucky winner is Irfaan (FlagshipFighter)!

We will be in touch soon to collect delivery details.

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Yu Suzuki Tells Arino-Kacho About Shenmue 3 at the Tokyo Game Show | Subtitled Video

At the recent Tokyo Game Show held in September, Yu Suzuki appeared on the stage of VR company JPPVR, chiefly to introduce a new game for which he is general producer (see our earlier post for more information). Yu was present at the stage presentation on consecutive days, with the first being on September 20th.

However this didn't mean that the topic of Shenmue III was ignored; on the contrary, while on stage Yu took the opportunity to play the latest trailer, "The Prophecy", from Gamescom in September which had until now not been officially shown in Japan.

He is asked by comedian Shinya Arino, representing his TV show GameCenter CX, a leading question about what has become of Shenmue. Yu smiles and replies, "I'm making it now!" and plays the trailer.

Here is the video clip, with our English subtitles added:

This video was available early to Phantom River Stone's early-access patrons. If you'd like to support more content like this, click the button below. Plus, join this month at any tier and  you'll be automatically entered into the draw to win a Shenmue Sacred Spot Guide Map.

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Shenmue Sacred Spot Guide Map Give-Away

It's a prize give-away! All our patrons have an equal shot at winning a shiny new Shenmue Sacred Spot Guide Map, fresh from the 2018 Tokyo Game Show. There's no better time to become a Phantom River Stone supporter ($1 at the lowest tier). The entry period closes at the end of this month on October 31st.

Join us here: https://www.patreon.com/phantomriverstone

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Sacred Spot Guide Map (Shenmue I & II Version): The Differences

The Shenmue "Sacred Spot" Guide Map is a multi-page tourist pamphlet highlighting locations of interest to Shenmue fans around Yokosuka and is a collaborative effort between Yokosuka City and SEGA. It was originally released at the end of 2017 in both English and Japanese versions (see our video about the map with links to their pdf downloads).

A new edition of the map has made an appearance at SEGA's booth at the 2018 recent Tokyo Game Show in September.

Shenhua shows off the new edition of the map at TGS 2018.

In this post we compare the new version directly with the original, page by page, to see what differences there are.

The language of the new version is Japanese (whereas the original map also had an English version). This is understandable, given its purpose as a promotional item for the release Shenmue I & II in Japan, as we shall see.

Note: an official pdf of the new map is not available, so photos have been used which may introduce some color variation.

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Shenmue at TGS 2018 | Event Visit Report

On Saturday, September 22nd, I joined the flood of eager game fans attending the first Public Day of the 2018 Tokyo Game Show. Information about the event in the days leading up to it indicated an exciting amount of Shenmue-related content, including a panel discussion, SEGA merchandise including a new official Shenmue T-shirt, and a hands-on play area at the SEGA booth for Shenmue I & II. Yu Suzuki himself had even made a surprise on-stage appearance during the Business Days.

Here is a report on everything Shenmue I encountered on my visit.

Getting to the Event

The day that dawned was gray and drab, with the smell of possible rain in the air. The event venue, as usual, was in Chiba prefecture at the sprawling Makuhari Messe convention center, so my alarm clock was set even earlier than Ryo's usual waking time for departing on the hour-and-a-half train journey.

Upon arrival at the convention center's train station, kitted out in my vintage Shenmue T-shirt I joined the flow of passengers heading in a single direction - no need to consult a map!

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Yu Suzuki to Produce New VR Battle Game "VRSUS" | Tokyo Game Show

Today Yu Suzuki made an appearance on the stage at the 2018 Tokyo Game Show -- not in this case for Shenmue (although he did take the opportunity to play the recent Shenmue III trailer), but rather as part of a presentation to announce a new virtual reality arcade game.

Yu was approached to participate in the project, and has taken up the role of General Producer for its development. He will be working on the game together with virtual reality company JPPVR Corporation, a company that sell VR rigs for arcades, and their software development subsidiary company VRes.

Yu explained that some of the reasons for his involvement include his extensive background in developing arcade games at SEGA since the early 1980s, as well as his interest and experience in Virtual Reality (he made reference to some involvement in VR around 1991 - perhaps not coincidentally this was the period when the Sega VR headset was under development, although it didn't make it to market).

Yu also mentioned that one of the reasons he agreed to become a part of this project was because he wants to help "liven up" the arcades.

The working title for the new game is VRSUS (pronounced "versus"), a play on the nature of the game being a one-on-one battle in a virtual reality space, and a prototype has already been developed.

A demonstration of an actual battle was also given using the prototype. The two players were equipped with a VR headset suspended from overhead arms, and held position-sensing controllers in their hands that allowed them to fire a stream of ball-like missiles.

Here is a short clip of the prototype of the game:

Commented Yu: "In its current state it is a true prototype, and I'm still feeling out which aspects will make for an interesting game. Going forward I'd like to work with things like 'bullet time' (which slows down time) and the concept of dodging through a slew of balls within a 3D confined space".

Video

Video of the presentation (mainly in Japanese) can be viewed on Niconico.

Shenmue III

Regarding any potential effect on Shenmue III, the short answer is that there will be none. Shenmue III remains Yu Suzuki's priority and focus, as succinctly stated here by Ali on the official Shenmue III Ambassador account:

This new Esports VR game is just a PROTOTYPE with no final name, release date, etc as of now. Shenmue III is priority. With release date set for 27th August 2019 already: https://t.co/d8wCY1ZzEB

— Shenmue Ambassador Official (Nov)🌐 (@novinworksplus) September 20, 2018

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Shenmue I & II at TGS 2018 | Tokyo Game Show

The annual Tokyo Game Show (TGS) opens on Thursday September 20th, at its usual venue of Makuhari Messe in Chiba prefecture. The first two days are Business Days, with the Public Days being on the weekend: Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd.

Entry to the show is 1,000 yen if bought prior, or 1,200 yen if bought on the day.

Entry is from 10 am, although there is a note on the official site that there is a possibility that doors may open earlier at 9:30 am "depending on the situation".

SEGA will of course be present, and what's more will be promoting Shenmue! Here is an overview of what they have in store.

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New Shenmue T-Shirt at TGS 2018

SEGA has prepared a new piece of Shenmue merchandise for sale at the Tokyo Game Show later this month in the form of a T-shirt!

The front has an image of Ryo driving a forklift truck, with a crate that says "Shenmue" on the side. The rear has a small image of the tiger motif from the back of Ryo's jacket in the game. And, in a nice additional touch, the sleeve has a directional sign "No.1-17" that echoes the markings that can be seen at harbor in Shenmue I.

The price of the T-shirt is 3000 yen including tax (sizes: M / L / XL).

As well as the T-shirt, a Shenmue-themed pin badge will be available from the capsule toy machines - and as usual, you will need to try your luck to get hold of it. The design is the same as the one seen at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show & SEGA Fes earlier in the year, with the Dreamcast logo at the bottom.

The Shenmue pin badge will be available from the capsule toy machines

The full line-up of SEGA merchandise at TGS 2018 can be viewed on the official site (Japanese).

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