E3 2015: You Won't Be Receiving a Retail Release of Shenmue III PS4

I wouldn't be so sure, it's got a whole month to go, and Kickstarter projects are all about listening to what the fans want, they often change things like this when enough people demand it as it means even more funding. Or it might be a stretch goal that's not been revealed yet.

I'm pretty sure we will. This kickstarter is to just see the interest the game generates and Sony will find the rest. 2 million dollars isn't nearly enough to develop a big triple A like Shenmue 3. If Sony does fund it I don don't understand why put it on PC. Screw those elitist guys.

Don't do digital, so won't be doing this game

Haha, pretty bad...

Yeah, there's a contradiction at the heart of this. If the reason no one would fund a third game was that it'd cost too much, that the first two were very expensive games, then how the hell does it roll out on Kickstarter with a $2 million target? That's about 1% of the budget of Dragon Age Inquisition.

If that's really all it'd take then Sony or MS would be insane to not have put the money up themselves for an exclusive. Even if it didn't sell all that much, it would certain make a profit and generate enormous buzz around the console, and goodwill towards the company that funded it that would last for years.

@SeahorseLegs I'm right there with you. No retail copy, no purchase. If its about the added cost of a retail product, I would easily pay $60 for a retail copy of a game that costs $30 digitally.

I understand someone preferring retail over digital but passing on a game you are interested in because it's only digital doesn't make sense to me.

@Matroska apparently though they had tons of stuff ready made for shenmue III but Dreamcast was dead and sega flushed it.

I could see it being released as a retail version later on, or as a trilogy pack with all three of them together. At least, this is what I'd like to see, as I've never played part 2 and I loved part one, but my dreamcast broke many years ago.

@thedevilsjester why not back the $30 pledge? At least you won't miss out on playing it.

Have I missed part of gaming history? Not owning a Dreamcast I must ask some questions. Shenmue? What is it? Why is it so.important to have a third one?

Sorry if this angers anyone. I have only heard the name around the net but have never looked deeper into it.

@ZeD one can open sock draws, buy capsule toys, drink 'ahhh' cola, punch stuff, be in the 80's, be awkward in romantic situations, catch leaves, carry books, drive a fork lift truck, look for sailors with tattoos in late night jazz bars 'wink wink'

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi That sounds... different

@ZeD it was just an RPG well ahead of its time and had an amazing story.

@AXEL314 I would rather never play it than get it digital. Other than small indie games (which are really in a category of their own) my rule is: no retail, no sale, no exceptions.

To clarify, I would stand in line for hours to get the FFVII remake day one, thats how much I want that game, but if it was digital only, I would never buy it, at any price.

@Matroska

Agree with you. Guess the game will finish the story but a lot of what made Shenmue special may be missing due to a "low" budget.

Downloadable only makes one even think it will be a very small game or even be an episodic release.

I don't understand why anyone wants a physical copy anymore. When I run out of space, I delete it. When I want to play it, I download it again. Big deal. Unless you're stuck with a slow internet connection or you enjoy loading and ejecting discs, what's the benefit of a physical copy? Is it that you're wanting to trade it in at Gamestop for pennies on the dollar? Pfft. Is it that you're wanting to save hard drive space? Ha. Most games install nearly the whole dang thing, anyway.

Anyway, I'm not condemning or mocking. Do what you want. Ultimately, it doesn't affect my spending habits regardless of whether you buy a blu-ray or download the game on PSN. I'll wait until it comes down on a PSN flash sale and pick it up later on. Or, if a GameStop deal can't be beat, I'll do that. I've got one heck of a backlog, and not enough gaming time to catch up as it is.

BTW, if you don't have a Dreamcast, you can still get Shenmue II on PS2--the local pawn shop had it for $2.99 a couple of months ago but I wasn't interested since I've got 'em on Dreamcast. I still have my DC connected, if you can believe that! Ha.

@sinalefa - That $2mil is nothing, it's start up money. Youka Layle did what, $4.5m? Plus I'm sure the story is long written, the assets are made, their engine is well established. And Yu Suzuki could probably get volunteers to help make the game for free. But I'm not expecting much, just a quick 6 hour game to wrap it up. But still, Shenmue 3.

@jgrangervikings1 - Do you have Ooga Booga? That's why we keep ours hooked up.

@rjejr

I feel most of the assets need to be remade, if that terrible looking new Ryo is any indication. As has been said, the KS is like Sony needing a deposit from gamers in order to embark on this, imagine if Nintendo did that for Bayo 2?

But I will still wait and see how it ends.

@sinalefa - "imagine if Nintendo did that for Bayo 2?"

I don't know about Bayo2, but if Nitnedo would have done it yesterday for Shenmue 3 instead of Sony it would have been the highlight of the NDE, no joke.

And you know what, since Shenmue 1 was on the Dreamcast and 2 on the Xbox I think it would have made more sense for Wii U to get 3 rather than PS4. Or it would have made a really nice launch game for NX.

So I understand your disappointment, confusion, hesitation, whatever it is, but Shenmue 3 on kickstarter is better than no Shenmue 3 at all. And Shemue 3 on kcikstarter was better than the entire Ntinedo DE.