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With less than 4 hours to go on its record breaking Kickstarter; Shenmue III has totalled over $5.9 million in pledges from fans around the world.

It's not too late to help back this project 14 years in the making, simply head over to the site by following the links and help back and/or secure your copy of the game from $5 or $29 respectively.

This is a game that meant a lot to myself and many others and until Yu Suzuki surprised everyone by showing up on stage at Sony's E3 2015 press conference to reveal his Kickstarter plans, many of us had given up hope of seeing the third instalment being realised.

Update: The Kickstarter how now ended.

Shenmue III Kickstarter

 

[Vengenceonu]

I still find it hilarious how they thought they could get 11 million in stretch goals. It's so stupid it borders on extortion.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

I still find it hilarious how they thought they could get 11 million in stretch goals. It's so stupid it borders on extortion.

Mr. Suzuki thought that he could ride the Shenmue train to the $10 million as he wanted, but he should be glad it reached $5m.

I wouldn't be surprised if the backers when they get their own retail copy be like: ''What is this? This isn't the true Shenmue 3 experience I was hoping for!''

 

[Bimmel]

I still find it hilarious how they thought they could get 11 million in stretch goals. It's so stupid it borders on extortion.

Exactly. When I saw this I just laughed.

I don't say it would not have been possible, but the rewards were just to shitty in the beginning. They did start to add things in the middle of the project, but it was too late. Not to talk about the boring stretch goals.

The Bloodstained project on Kickstarter felt for me like an adventure, and the game has not even come out yet.

 

[Varia]

Mehh, I never had a DC, so I don't know what the fuss is all about, but even if it was a series that I love I wouldn't help to fund it.
This whole kickstarter bullshit is going way out of control...

 

[CathyRina]

Mehh, I never had a DC, so I don't know what the fuss is all about, but even if it was a series that I love I wouldn't help to fund it.
This whole kickstarter bullshit is going way out of control...

These games did get ported to Xbox after Sega stopped supporting the DC.

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Maybe People would be more willing to spend money on a funded project if 90% of the stretch goals wouldn't start with "Game mechanic expanded"
When I think of exiting Stretch goals I think of Vita ports, David Hayter as voice actor, coop mode or other entirely new features not expanding pre existing features. This makes it look like the game's gonna suck without these stretch goals. Some of these feature expansions also repeat themselves just in a other location.
2 of the stretch goals are also literally "yay we made a new record"
Also this whole 11M expectation is really contradictory to what Yu Suzuki said during the E3 "With all the big game announcements I was scared people won't care about my game". You simply do not expect people to give 11Mil$ and not care about your game at the same time.
While I'm happy for Shenmue Fans this is seriously one of the most bizarre game history in years.

 

[Arras]

Mr. Suzuki thought that he could ride the Shenmue train to the $10 million as he wanted, but he should be glad it reached $5m.

I wouldn't be surprised if the backers when they get their own retail copy be like: ''What is this? This isn't the true Shenmue 3 experience I was hoping for!''

Well yeah of course. Considering inflated development costs and the budget of Shenmue 1/2, I really doubt 5 million is enough money to make something that would count as "the true Shenmue 3 experience".

These games did get ported to Xbox after Sega stopped supporting the DC.

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Maybe People would be more willing to spend money on a funded project if 90% of the stretch goals wouldn't start with "Game mechanic expanded"
When I think of exiting Stretch goals I think of Vita ports, David Hayter as voice actor, coop mode or other entirely new features not expanding pre existing features. This makes it look like the game's gonna suck without these stretch goals. Some of these feature expansions also repeat themselves just in a other location.
2 of the stretch goals are also literally "yay we made a new record"
Also this whole 11M expectation is really contradictory to what Yu Suzuki said during the E3 "With all the big game announcements I was scared people won't care about my game". You simply do not expect people to give 11Mil$ and not care about your game at the same time.
While I'm happy for Shenmue Fans this is seriously one of the most bizarre game history in years.

Don't forget Vita/whatever platform stretch goals are only exciting if you own the platform in question. If you don't, stretch goals like that might as well not exist, and they generally increase development time as well.

 

[flame1234]

Should the main article read: Last chance to withdraw your pledge! Because you should withdraw your pledge if you pledged.
If you pledged, withdraw your pledge, wait for release and reviews, and if it's good, buy it then. It'll be the same game- the only difference is you won't have to buy it if it sucks.

 

[T-hug]

I would have been happy with a movie or novel or something to end the series. I want to know what happened after the cliffhanger ending of Shenmue II and I want this game to deliver so much but I can't see it happening, it's a huge undertaking.
As for pledges I'm still waiting for A.N.N.E and C-Wars and won't back anything else until they are out.

 

[shaunj66]

Should the main article read: Last chance to withdraw your pledge! Because you should withdraw your pledge if you pledged.
If you pledged, withdraw your pledge, wait for release and reviews, and if it's good, buy it then. It'll be the same game- the only difference is you won't have to buy it if it sucks.

The game could not be made without our funds as it's not a profitable title for a studio to invest in, that's the whole point of the Kickstarter. As for quality; Yu Suzuki's track record is enough for most of us to feel confident and I think everyone is aware this game won't be near the scale of the first two, I'd imagine it will be a much more condensed game. Lastly, it's been mentioned that the chance of a physical copies of the game being made available outside of this Kickstarter are slim to none so it's possibly the only chance for people who want a physical copy to grab one.

Good lord you're a grumpy bunch!

 

[Nathan Drake]

I just find it to be a shame that the Kickstarter wasn't handled on the same level as Bloodstained. Bloodstained is admittedly an extreme example of a Kickstarter gone ridiculously right, but it taught some lessons others should be paying attention to. Constant exposure in multiple social media outlets is important. Finding a way to keep people involved in the campaign is a great way to accomplish that. A well advertised and well organized fundraising event can lead to a huge influx of cash in the last 24 hours.

Shenmue 3's Kickstarter basically did none of that. At all. They just hoped the E3 thing was enough and kind of let the Kickstarter ride things out without much further intervention. Selling something on name alone is great for grabbing fans of the series, but they effectively did very little to convince people like me that never played the first two games that the third was worth funding.

 

[LunaWofl]

Oh... ok...

I'm just ever so glad we managed to reach Portuguese subtitles, certainly best 5.1 million stretch goal ever conceived.
It sure is nice it took 5.1 million to fill that niche.

I sure hope all the stretch goals above 11 million were other miscellaneous subtitles.

 

[The Catboy]

I would spend money on this, if I didn't feel like Sony should have in the first place instead of promoting another fucking Kickstarter.

 

[WiiUBricker]

I was hoping for a Shenmue 1/2 HD remaster or at least run via an emulator on PS4. There is little reason for people like myself who never played Shenmue 1/2 to back Shenmue 3 because there is no legal way to play 1/2 and I don't feel like getting a Dreamcast.

 

[XDel]

Quick, make your pledge to the insanely wealthy today!

 

[shaunj66]

I was hoping for a Shenmue 1/2 HD remaster or at least run via an emulator on PS4. There is little reason for people like myself who never played Shenmue 1/2 to back Shenmue 3 because there is no legal way to play 1/2 and I don't feel like getting a Dreamcast.

I've heard NullDC runs them quite well even on not so powerful hardware. There's a rumour going around that SEGA is going to announce the HD releases at TGS in Sept. but it's probably just wishful thinking.

 

[JazzCat.CL]

What a lame stretch goals! but i hope the game itself rock. I would like to see an hd collection of shenmue 1 and 2 for pc.

 

[chavosaur]

http://m.ign.com/articles/2015/06/22/shenmue-creator-wants-to-make-shenmue-4
Why would I find this one when I'm gonna have to fund 4 later?

 

[KingVamp]

Because you want this game to do well so you can actually get a Shenmue 4? It isn't like he's going to start a Kickstarter for it before even getting anywhere close to finishing this game, if he even does it before the game is even out. Considering how long 3 took to even start to be made, I doubt it. I don't see why devs, like their fans, can't look into the future and hope for the series to continue.

I understand Kickstarter isn't perfect, but now you guys are just looking for something to complain about.

 

[Ryukouki]

I see Shenmue 3 and I see this. Must be a good game...