Your Daily Programming
Hello to Everyone around the World!
The Shenmue Carnival is in full swing now! Invite your friends to the party and keep sharing the news. Shout it from the streets to the mountains that Shenmue is back!
Today we have an interview from the main programmer of the Shenmue series, Tak Hirai. He was a key member of the team that made the series what it was, and his experience and familiarity with the code from the original series will be an invaluable resource in helping bringing back the world we all know and love. Give a big round of applause for Tak as he talks about the trials and tribulations of programming for Shenmue 1 and 2, and expresses his hopes for where Shenmue 3 will be headed.
Hirai-san hard at work
Later on Today
Suzuki-san will be on Reddit today, so please join him and give him your support to celebrate this momentous occasion! The Reddit AMA will start around 9:30 pm and the link will be posted here on the Update page.
See you there!
Derek on
A lot of people who never heard of Shenmue are now aware of it because of this kickstarter, but the video for Shenmue 3 is off-putting to theses just now hearing about the game causing little interest in the game. A video of Shenmue 1+2 such as this- https://www.youtube.com/watch… would give those new to the series a better understanding of the Shenmue experience and build confidence in investing on the project. Sharing the video with the kickstarter link will get us further in getting the best project possible by attracting more interest into the funding of the game rather then just sharing the kickstarter link. Lets get creative!
THE PROPHET WUDE on
Thank you for your marvelous work, Tak-sama! Your work will live on forever!
Tomi Valkonen on
I just mentioned Shenmue 3 kickstarter campaign to Matt Barton or MattChat as his youtube channel is called. Hopefully he flies with it and makes something magical. Matt Barton is professor of English at St. Cloud State University and he is also author of several books about video games such as Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time; Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games; and Wiki Writing: Collaborative Learning in the College Classroom. For Youtube he does these amazing interviews with video game industry veterans such as John Romero, Brian Fargo, Tim Cain and Chris Avellone and so many other. I don't know if hes able to do interview with Yu Suzuki for his channel (which would be goddamn brilliant!) but if he made normal episode on Shenmue and its history it would at least make more people take notice.
Check his channel if you are interested in gaming, its history and people who are behind these games: https://www.youtube.com/user/blacklily8
varsas on
That was a very interesting video. I'm looking forward to the final game!
シェンムーのアンバサダ Bit.ly/shenmueambofficial on
Hirai-san is definitely one of the most skilled programmers out there, I mean come on, the lead programmer of Shenmue Series. I trust that Shenmue 3 is in the right hands, and it has to become the best game ever made in history of video games. Together we are going to push this campaign further, spread the message in more foreign countries such as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, so hopefully more can be raised at KS for development. Good luck! @NOVINWORKS
AM2Model3 on
Brand new battle system and qte?!! Wow! So cool! I have waited 14years so im ready for anything tak hirai! Thank you for making shenmue3 real!
Vince Vazquez
Superbacker
on
I want it to be real interesting too - I'm totally onboard with whatever new systems, or new iterations of old systems, you guys have up your sleeves! With 15 years of progress to look at, reference, and learn from (like, say, Sleeping Dogs and the Yakuza series), I'm certain that you guys are all going to come up with some awesome contemporary stuff that still feels like Shenmue. It's real exciting to hear what's going on in Mr.Hirai's head and see him hard-at-work in UE4 already :D
Goro on
Thanks!!!
I hope you will keep the feeling of the old shenmue games with no jumping around and so on.
Mikael Ehmer on
As long as it's well done and doesn't feel as lazy as most QTE's in games today i'm all for it, the QTE's in the originals were very well done. I do hope though that you wont scrap the Virtua Fighter combat system. If anything i want more of those kind of fights.
The ratio of QTE's to proper fights in the first game were a bit lopsided. It was a bit more balanced in the sequel. While i want both of them in the game in some form, i do prefer the virtua fighter style fights.
VentNord on
The QTE must be for a reason and with logical as it was done in Shenmue 1 and 2.
Not like now that do they do a QTE to follow the kinematics without any reasons to have him as happens to The Order 1886.
Faisal on
I cannot describe how happy I am that my favorite and the first open world games is coming back.I think in my opinion all consoles should have shenmue because shenmue fans are PC, Xbox, PS,and Nintendo fans, and restricting the game to limited medium won't be for the franchise, shenmue are from the fans to the fans and shenmue fans are basically Yu Suzuki-san fans.
Thanks for being thoughtful and respectful for bring shenmue back to us again.
deleted on
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Rooshdi Ali on
@Joseph Everything is still in the early concept changes. Things should change and improve drastically with time.
Joseph Oct18 Fontanez on
Why is Ryo (or this character) in this video jumping around unrealistically? Did Ryo get super powers or something?
Timmy Han on
Yeah I agree with Andreas O. that the QTE aspect should be turned down a little bit. I hope by 'ground-beraking' Tak doesn't mean keyboard or button smashing, lol, which would be painful by all means. xD Generally speaking, QTEs are commendable if executed well and used for the right moments, mostly dramatic climaxes so to speak. Some mini-games may avail themselves of QTEs well enough, but a certain degree of free controls should be allowed if it befits the scenario better. An example can be the brawling in The Witcher 2 and 3, of which the former uses QTEs all the way while the latter utilizes free controls which are in my opinion much better. Anyway, as long as the proportion of QTEs is well balanced, then innovation in them is definitely welcome. :)
Snakiest on
I would like to see Shenmue-style QTE. They were very well placed before they started to be abused by other developers. There was a sense of coherence to them - punch, kick, grab, or a mix of those to do something special that nevertheless made a lot of sense within the overall control scheme. There were branching paths for QTE, and they could be punishing. I felt a lot of polish went into them - to make them fun and challenging. Last but not least, I felt there was a lot of more meaning to them. They felt organic, they were part of the gameplay, and they diversified it without feeling alien to it. They were its part rather than a clumsy add-on as most of QTE feels now in modern games. Seriously, everyone, go and replay those games. That is where QTE was born and that is where it sort of died. Time to show the industry how it is done, YuTeam
To sum it up, Shenmue without QTE would lose a lot of its personality and quality. QTE is as good or as bad as the developer makes it, and YuTeam should know best how to do it right.
Snakiest on
Break that god-damn ground!=)
MOE on
@Padraic: "Still hoping for remaster of 1 & 2 as i haven't played them." See the FAQ, that IP still belongs to Sega. Outside the influence of this Kickstarter. You would have to ask Sega directly (many of us already did).
Padraic on
shame that would be 5:30am my time i'll be asleep
looking forward to catching up when i get up though.
Pledges seem to be going pretty well.
i'm just hoping for some in between goals to help the funding along, physical release think more people then we think would change from 29 to 60 just for that. Still hoping for remaster of 1 & 2 as i haven't played them.
Alfonso Franco: VK4 that would be cool but should try and go back to routes from the 1st game which was so sweet.
Andreas O. on
Haha QTE. I wonder how many people thought "Oh no" when he started talking about it. ;)
Personally, while I quite enjoyed QTE in Shenmue, I think it is time to dial it back a bit (but still have some in there, especially for mini games) and take inspiration from great games of recent years. Like maybe the more conscious path choices that Mass Effect offered, often without a time limit.
At the same time, I hope that the old fighting system will be kept to a large extent. While a more "free" fighting system like in Batman or Sleeping Dogs certainly felt fantastic there, I really liked the Virtual Fighter feel of combat in Shenmue. Also, Shenmue seems more like a game where you usually take on small groups of enemies, not whole armies. Which also makes a "closer" view and handling of the action more appropriate, I think.
Serdar Tosunoğlu on
I loved the combat system in the previous games but some QTE's were too difficult especially in Shenmue II. And hopefully Ryo Hazuki will replace that guy in the Trailer :D
Carlos Hernandez on
Did someone make a dummy reddit thread? Timing is different?
Synbios on
Hopefully Ryo won't have jump. I always liked the heavy grounded feel of the previous shenmue's
Ys Net Creator on
PST! Yes! Thank you!
Synbios on
Please don't change the combat systems too much! It is part of what made Shenmue
MOE on
"Reddit tonight is 9:30 pm PMT. There will be another update...." Is PMT a typo? I guess PST?
Ivan Osenkov on
Thanks for the update! I must say I really like the idea of creating an all-new QTE mechanics. That's a relief to know you're not going to cross it out from the game, even though there was a lot of negative around the concept in recent years. Obviously, my feeling is that QTEs are at the very heart of Shenmue experience, and I'm looking forward to see how you're going to approach this gameplay aspect and find an original yet organic way to bring it back.
Tomi Valkonen on
I loved original Shenmue because back then it felt like virtual visit to Japan which is very diffirent of my own country. I hope you are able to achieve that with Shenmue 3 as well.
Ys Net Creator on
The Reddit tonight is 9:30 pm PMT. There will be another update when the link is ready.
Mantis on
9.30PM, but which timezone?
Alfonso Franco on
This announcement was my favorite highlight of E3. Only thing that bugs me is the lack of a physical copy for the PS4. But still it's coming I'm so excited! Other dream games Jak 4 and Valkyria Chronicles 4.
Comrades on
Please do not scrap the old QTE and fighting system. That is part of what made us love the first games so much.
JetStrange on
@Rooshdi about getting Shenmue 1 and 2... go herehttp://forums.sega.com/showthread.php… only sega can make that happen.
Chris on
That came across more ungrateful than i anticipated... I appreciate the video and the update, but this should be the first place i see it, That sound any better?
Chris on
You guys should update this kickstarter a little faster, I watched that video about 2 hours ago.
deleted on
This user's account has been deleted.
Jose Luis Tur on
The most important thing for me in the Shenmue series was the feeling that I was not the center of the world, every single npc seemed to have their own goals in life, everything was so lively... I haven't felt that feeling in any other game since. I hope I will feel the same again playing Shenmue 3 :). Can't wait, 15 years is enough! hehehe.
Guillermo Oseguera on
PS4 PHYSICAL RELEASE!!!!! PLEASE!
Pat Perrotti on
The person translating the video is most definitely the same person who provided the voice of Ryo in the trailer.
mabec on
Great update! Yata
Zzhh on
Great interview. Thanks Tak Hirai!
Ahmed Alsaleh on
New QTE system can wait to experience this
Otoshigami No. 40723
Superbacker
on
@Roderick
pacific time. :)
Save Shenmue on
Thank you!
Alex Spivak on
Shenmuedojo already has a list of questions gathering. Should be interesting!
vgambit on
9:30 pm tonight... what time zone?
Tracey Craig
Superbacker
on
I will be asleep during the AMA got work tomorrow. But good luck.
Vanessa on
GO SHENMUE!
Otoshigami No. 40723
Superbacker
on
Spread the word for AMA REDDIT if you want to question Yu Suzuki. :)