Thoughts on Kickstarter Update #63 [Campaign and Progress Update]

Kickstarter Update #63 has been released, and includes some astonishing new images. Here are my thoughts on this latest update.

Game Development Status

A direct comment from Yu Suzuki reveals that he living and breathing Shenmue, and has been staying overnight at the offices more and more. His dedication to the project is evident.

New Work-In-Progress Images

Three new images are presented in the update, with the first showing an intricate temple gate illuminated by the glow of red hanging lanterns. Further in, a set of stairs leads up towards the dark interior of the temple and above, the moon casts a silvery light over the rocky mountains from a star-studded night sky.

Of the three this first image, entitled "Rising moon over the temple gate", is the one that captivated me most with its evocative atmosphere and lighting. It feels reassuringly "Shenmue" to me.

What intrigue lurks beyond the temple gate... [Click to enlarge]

The distinctive silhouette on the mountain peak is a clear tease to the return of a certain creepy villain!

If you feel as if you've seen this outline somewhere before...

... then you would be right: in the concept art for Chai.

Image detail: a wooden bench sits under the temple gate.

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Shenmue III "Pre-Orders" for PC Start Tomorrow (Dec 15, 2016)

The weekly Famitsu magazine in Japan has released a few preview pages of their upcoming feature on expectations in the game industry for 2017 which goes on sale tomorrow (Dec 15).

One of the games picked up is Shenmue III, and includes a short message from Yu Suzuki.

A short description of Shenmue III is featured

The message from Yu Suzuki reads as follows (my translation, Japanese source text courtesy of Hachima Kikou):

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"Let's Get Sweaty" | Translation Analysis

We join Ryo one cool but fine day in Dobuita, as he scouts around for a place to put in a spot of martial arts practice.

Finding an empty parking lot, Ryo enters it cautiously and stops in the middle, looking around him at the available space. "Maybe I can practice here," he muses. "Think I'll warm up a bit".

After a slight pause, almost as if to confirm the decision with some higher power, Ryo says with determination: "Let's get sweaty."

Ryo manages to keep a straight face as he delivers the English line.

It's another slightly off-beat line from the English version of Shenmue which has charmed fans far and wide. The (presumably) unintentional element of humor comes from a combination of Ryo's dead-serious tone coupled with the choice of words themselves - although the sentence can't be faulted for grammar.

Examining the equivalent phrase in Japanese reveals why the translation ended up the way it did.

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Yu Suzuki Currently In California

Yu Suzuki has met earlier today with Gio Corsi, Director of Third Party Productions & Developer Relations. The PlayStation Offices are located south of San Francisco in California.

Gio tweeted the photo below of the occasion, mentioning that Yu even put his signature to a Ryo Hazuki forklift model. (Hopefully Yu's wrist is holding up from his daily signing of the many pieces of Kickstarter reward art!)

The smile of someone who has been treated to a preview of the latest Shenmue 3 progress?

The L.A. Kickstarter Dinner

While information has been scarce regarding the timing of the Los Angeles Kickstarter dinner reward, it is believed to have been rescheduled to some time this month, from the original tentative June timeframe,

If this is the case, with Yu in California everything seems aligned for the dinner to take place this week.

Let's see what is revealed later in this month's Kickstarter update.

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Shenmue Campaign Timeline

Team Yu has added a fantastic new resource to their website in the form of an extensive Campaign Timeline for Shenmue.

The timeline documents significant events that have occurred during the journey of the collective Shenmue fan community, starting from the early Shenmue development work and the mysterious Project Berkley through to its revival and current day events. Entries in the timeline contain links as appropriate to relevant historical posts, articles and videos.

The timeline is attractively laid out and easy-to-read.

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Shenmue's Absence From PSX 2016

The two-day PlayStation Experience (PSX) 2016 event took place over the weekend, and while there had been some anticipation among the Shenmue community for something new on Shenmue III to be revealed, in the end this turned out not to be the case.

I was among those who been hoping that Shenmue III would get a mention. There was the tweet from Cedric Biscay suggesting the possibility of something being shown in December, together with various other factors in the weeks and days before the event that all appeared to point to a reveal at PSX (confirmation bias!).

Furthermore, PSX seemed to "make sense" as it would have provided a high level of public exposure for the game, and timing-wise would have slotted in nicely ahead of the release of the trial version due some time in 2017.

However while the outcome is somewhat disappointing, the absence of Shenmue III from PSX was always within the realm of possibility.

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Yu Suzuki Interview Video (Subtitled) - Retro Games Expo 2016

A couple of months back, I posted up my English translation of an interview held with Yu Suzuki in August 2016 in which he speaks about his childhood and his time at SEGA as well as stories about several of the arcade games he designed during his time there.

Working together with Ziming from the Shenmue Dojo, we have put together a version of the video overlayed with English captions.

As usual, Yu comes across as relaxed and humble about his many achievements. Video form is particularly helpful when he is describing Space Harrier using various gestures and sweeps of his arm!

View the video below (running time: approximately 16 mins).

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Thoughts on Kickstarter Update #62 [Yu Suzuki on the Music of Shenmue]

In this month's Kickstarter update, we have a video interview with Yu Suzuki on the topic of music.

Yu relaxes at the end of the interview

The questions cover the following areas:

• The Music Yu-san Loves: his membership in a rock band growing up, and bands that have influenced him.
• Approaching Music in Games: his changing role with respect to music.
• Shenmue and Music - Atmosphere: evoking the atmosphere of China in 1987, with a frequent use of the erhu (Chinese fiddle).
• Shenmue and Music - Sound Design: how music selection varies for battles, quests and events.
• What Music Means to Games: music as one of the three key elements of a game.

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