Earlier this week, Masaya Matsukaze tweeted a photo of himself with Yu Suzuki at the YS Net development studio, where he caught up on the latest state of Shenmue III.
Masaya Matsukaze is of course the original voice & motion-capture actor for the character of Ryo Hazuki in the first two Shenmue games, and it was confirmed early on that he will be reprising his role as the voice of Ryo for Shenmue III.
Back in July Famitsu held an online poll for the Best Game of All Time. Although the poll was in Japanese, it was open to global participation and we put up a brief guide to filling it in for English speakers.
As a reminder, the main rules for this poll were:
Vote for up to 3 games, with weightings being 3 points for your first choice, 2 points for your second and 1 point for your third.
Announcement of the results to be published in the printed edition of the Weekly Famicom magazine's September (and 1500th) edition.
Cover of this month's Weekly Famicom magazine, the 1500th edition.
Kickstarter Update #74 has just been released for the end of August.
In addition to some photos of the recent Gamescom event and a message of thanks to Shenmue fans for their support, of particular interest are these three new images of Ryo which were not released at Gamescom.
For the first time, we get to see Ryo standing on the main street of Choubu.
Check out the images below (high-res versions; click to enlarge).
The Shenmue III teaser video that was unveiled at Gamescom contains several scenes and images, many of which flash pass by in an instant.
In this post we'll pause and take a closer look at seven points within the teaser which hint at promising depths beneath the surface of the game.
1. Masks on Display
Shortly before the camera sweeps down through the main road of the riverside town of Choubu, a line of colorful and distinctive masks is shown - presumably merchandise for sale at one of the shops Ryo will be able to visit. Masks of other designs can be observed in the background.
Masks on display in Choubu.
It turns out that the design of these particular masks, which are carved from wood, originates from the Indonesian island of Bali.
Interview in progress (via Cédric Biscay on Twitter)
While in Cologne for Gamescom last week, Team Yu spoke with Cédric Biscay, President and CEO of Shibuya Productions and co-producer of Shenmue 3.
In the interview, Cédric talks about topics such as Shibuya Productions' role, the new Shenmue III teaser video and why Shenmue I and II remasters need to be released by SEGA ahead of Shenmue III.
Watch the 10-minute interview video below, or read Team Yu's summary write-up on Facebook here.
For information on how to participate in the #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon on the 3rd of every month, head over to the Team Yu website.
We're pleased to present another fresh interview with Yu Suzuki from the Gamescom event, this one by the Japanese site 4Gamer. The interview translation begins below.
Release Date Extension For a "Pretty Positive Reason"
Q: Thank you for your time today. To get started right away, there was a teaser trailer released to the public for Gamescom. Why Gamescom and not E3? YS: If the contract with Deep Silver had been completed prior to E3 2017, that might have been an option.
Time was needed for the final signing, so the trailer's release timing ended up being Gamescom.
This is a full translation of an interview that was held with Yu Suzuki by Dengeki Online at the Gamescom event. The interview begins below. Q: How is the current state of development?
YS: Progress on the environments and stages is very good. I would say overall they're at around 70%. Lighting settings are also in good shape, and we're now adjusting the indoor lighting. We're still at the stage of fine-tuning for dealing with changes over time.
