I Doubt Shenmue III will ever see the light of day

[Sut]

Yup that's sealed the deal for me. I've now pledged the $60 for a PS4 physical copy.

[Tron]

I'm confused. Is this coming to retail or not? Are the physical copies only for those that contributed to the kickstarter?

[Rev]

I'm confused. Is this coming to retail or not? Are the physical copies only for those that contributed to the kickstarter?

The item is listed on the kickstarter as "Special Backer's Edition Physical Copy- PS4". This seems to imply (at least to me) that it is meant to be a special edition of the physical copy of the game. Right now this has been on the only confirmed physical copy of the game but that doesn't mean much. It will probably get a physical edition anyway but so far there has been no news.

[Tron]

Thank you for clearing that up for me Rev.

[JWK]

@Banjo - Sony has CONFIRMED that they are funding the rest of Shenmue 3. They used Kickstarter to gauge interest. And since it's one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever, I assume Sony is happy with the result. The Sony backing is why this won't come to the Xbox. Anyway, you're right to be suspicious about whether or not this project could actually happen on 5 million or so, but Sony's funding the rest.

[Atariboy]

I hope they have a heck of a virtual arcade included, since that's going to be the only reason why I purchase this. I bought Shenmue 2 for the Xbox used for $10 or $15 a few years back just to play Hang-On. The main game itself didn't do much for me.

It just dawned on me that my favorite part of this franchise is essentially an impossibility for Shenmue III.

They can't very well have an arcade stocked with Sega coinops, when Sega isn't even involved with this project.

[Shapur]

@Banjo - Sony has CONFIRMED that they are funding the rest of Shenmue 3. They used Kickstarter to gauge interest. And since it's one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever, I assume Sony is happy with the result. The Sony backing is why this won't come to the Xbox. Anyway, you're right to be suspicious about whether or not this project could actually happen on 5 million or so, but Sony's funding the rest.

Just wanted to clarify it has never been confirmed hat Sony is funding the production of Shenmue 3. Ys Net confirmed that their are other funding sources and Sony is providing some funding for the PS4 version, but no one has ever said Sony is funding the whole game(or even the whole game minus kickstarter funding) It's unfortunate that so many people got the impression because it really seemed to stall the kickstarter funding once that rumor began spreading. For a while it looked like the 10 million stretch goals could have actually happened. I think it was obvious that the game wasn't going to be made for $2 million but I think so many websites overestimated the cost of making a game. I think the best example that a major release can be made cheaply was Gears of War. According to Epic the 1st game cost $10 million and the sequel $12 million. If Ys Net had, say, $18 million in funding from other sources on the condition that they could prove interest with a $2 million Kickstarter that would be more than enough. Not the 50-100 million gaming websites would often cite.

@Atariboy - Yeah, it pretty much sucks that Sega didn't actually get involved. I suppose it's possible to still see classic arcade game if they can strike a deal with Sega(unlikely though) or if Yu Suzuki holds the rights to any of them(even more doubtful). If Sega does decide to cash in with Shenmue 1&11 HD digital release maybe they'll actually add some extra arcade games? That seems more possible at this point.