110 Industries & Yu Suzuki

Gevaudian said:
do we know for sure that Yu is actively seeking out companies to make shenmue 4? isnt it possible that hes taking a break to work on other projects and taking time for research of other games etc? i do remember reading after Shenmue 3 that he said that he wished that he'd have played more modern games before making S3 (although i can't find this article now)
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I believe Cedric said in his Dojo interview that they were actively shopping Shenmue IV to publishers. This was in 2020, I believe.
 
Yeah that's basically correct.

As for Yu taking a break, that's not really possible when you have a studio to run and staff reliant on new business to keep the lights on, but he's still playing other games for research purposes when he can according to an interview a while back. Little Nightmares 2 was mentioned, I think. Make of that what you will.
 
So what I'm wondering is, why can no one say clearly "Yes Shenmue IV is in development but we aren't able to say anything more at this time" or "Shenmue IV is not currently in active development." Does it really all come down to PR and managing expectations/hype? Would a publishing deal somehow be so fragile that no one can utter a clear response about it? I mean, to me the unwillingness to say clearly "yes it's happening" or "no it's not happening" would lead me to believe that it's not currently active, unfortunately. But maybe I'm just in a pessimistic mood due to my own work frustrations today! :LOL:
 
Spaghetti said:
Yeah that's basically correct.

As for Yu taking a break, that's not really possible when you have a studio to run and staff reliant on new business to keep the lights on, but he's still playing other games for research purposes when he can according to an interview a while back. Little Nightmares 2 was mentioned, I think. Make of that what you will.
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It sounds totally logical that Yu has interest in Little Nightmares.

Zoyous said:
So what I'm wondering is, why can no one say clearly "Yes Shenmue IV is in development but we aren't able to say anything more at this time" or "Shenmue IV is not currently in active development." Does it really all come down to PR and managing expectations/hype? Would a publishing deal somehow be so fragile that no one can utter a clear response about it? I mean, to me the unwillingness to say clearly "yes it's happening" or "no it's not happening" would lead me to believe that it's not currently active, unfortunately. But maybe I'm just in a pessimistic mood due to my own work frustrations today! :LOL:
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You just answered yourself already and all options were correct.
It comes down with PR and management of expectations.
The publishing deals are secretive indeed. Also avoiding guide attacks from certain media.
This has been the norm for life until devlogs btw. Showcasing w.i.p. has been a fair recent trend imo.
Cheer up, TGS stands for To Get Shenmu
 
Zoyous said:
So what I'm wondering is, why can no one say clearly "Yes Shenmue IV is in development but we aren't able to say anything more at this time" or "Shenmue IV is not currently in active development." Does it really all come down to PR and managing expectations/hype? Would a publishing deal somehow be so fragile that no one can utter a clear response about it? I mean, to me the unwillingness to say clearly "yes it's happening" or "no it's not happening" would lead me to believe that it's not currently active, unfortunately. But maybe I'm just in a pessimistic mood due to my own work frustrations today! :LOL:
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It's a tough one, but it could easily be a combination of not wanting to spoil the surprise, and not wanting fans breathing down their neck for progress updates like with the third game.

The best we can do is keep making the demand known, for both the fourth game and a second season of the anime.
 
Shenmue hit the worst time to get back into the industry. Game budgets skyrocketed. Even the richest companies are greedy as hell and do not take any risks. If they don't make a lot of money, it's not worth even trying... even for prestige. Every game company is afraid to try something different than the others. Especially when the budget is bigger.

Just the worst time! :D A miracle must happen, but I'm a believer. Next stop TGS (To Get Shenmu), then we'll see...
 
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Sonoshee said:
It's been barely 3 years since Shenmue 3 released. We've had a successful anime since then. It was near 20 years to reach this point. There's still plenty of time for Shenmue 4 to get announced. I hate that people are giving up hope because they haven't heard anything yet. It's crazy. We've been through much worse times.
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Yes, we just need to wait another 17 years lol
 
TGS-2022-Timetable_08-31-22.jpg


18/09 will our prayers be answered?
 
Could be, sure. But with Wanted Dead coming out in February 2023
and that being the game they had up in their sleeve for Gamescom 2022 ...
i think the most realistic scenario is that its just about Wanted Dead.

A lot of times, pretty much always, TGS is 'just' a continuation of presenting games
that already popped up at E3 or Gamescom. These three events are so close together,
that it probably doesnt make a lot of sense to wait until TGS for any ultra big surprises.
There are some exceptions of course but those are mostly super niche games
like some japanese idol dance games or some new Jrpg from a series that nobody knows in the west.
But TGS is not really a big surprise event like 2015 E3 or the Game Awards.

I think it would have been a more likely scenario if we didnt hear anything about 110 Industries at all
until this point. But we know that they were present at Gamescom with a playable Wanted Dead demo.
So its more likely that its just a live gameplay demo stream or something like that.
 
If or when they are working on something, the first reveal will need to be properly polished. Even if a game is 18-24 months from release, there’s no question they will need to show this is a clear visual step up from Shenmue 3, just to quieten the haters who were unforgiving of the Kickstarter games’ shortcomings. It doesn’t necessarily need to look AAA, but first impressions count, and it needs to look competitive with other games. Of course, there will be lower detailed character models for npc’s but I hope they keep them out of any trailers. A nice little touch to get fans hyped would be if they could reveal a Guizhang, Joy or Xiuying. Or, gameplay segments where you control Shenhua or Ren. All hypothetical, of course, but if we’re to get something (whenever that may be) I really hope they get that first impression right and answer some of the naysayers.
 
It's kind of worth noting that 2022 has been a decent year, but the vast majority of reveals and even releases are into 2023 now. It seems almost every day we read about another title that's slid into next year.

Could be a combo of COVID and altered workplace environments, but I think the disastrous releases of Cyberpunk and Batttlefield 2042(the most prominent) have made folks think twice before both revealing and giving a real, concrete date for their products.

2023 seems to be the year that the new generation will totally kick off, so a reveal in 2023 as a polished late 2023 release or a 2024 release is more likely than TGS this year.

After TGS, there's only Sony's event and The Game Awards, the latter of which usually just ends up being overhyped nonsense by Keighley.
 
I've checked out of anything regarding Shenmue 4 at this point.

But from what I've seen of 110 Industries, their promotion and pre-release trailers / hype around Wanted: Dead has been a million times better than what Deep Silver's promotion of Shenmue 3 looked like.

So if 110 is involved, I have peace of mind that they will handle the pre-release promotion way better than how Shenmue 3 was.
 
Tosh said:
Could be, sure. But with Wanted Dead coming out in February 2023
and that being the game they had up in their sleeve for Gamescom 2022 ...
i think the most realistic scenario is that its just about Wanted Dead.
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You are probably right..... but it's a long hour to fill with just one game.
 
Down by Law said:
You are probably right..... but it's a long hour to fill with just one game.
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I'm not sure if this is the case for 110 Industries TGS showcase
but a lot of times TGS is way more about the developers / someone talking about the game
than in any other gaming event. If we keep in mind that the Wanted Dead devs are japanese,
i wouldnt be surprised if a large portion of the segment is a dev simply talking about the game
or the hosts talking about the devs and what the game is about and so on.
TGS streaming hosts always treat each game like the viewer doesnt know anything about it at all,
like the stuff before didnt exist. So they basically have to repeat every single detail again,
even tho none of these details are new.That why these japanese showcases take so long for each game.

So for example if Koei Tecmo has a 60 minute Nioh, Dynasty Warrior or now Wo Long showcase,
that doesnt mean that they are going to show trailers or gameplay for 60 minutes in fullscreen.
A big segment of the 60 minutes will be the hosts talking about the game,
the hosts welcoming someone from the dev or publisher team, answering questions
and then after 30, 40 minutes they will start the game.

Again, i dont know if thats going to happen in 110 Industries showcase
but its a very common process at TGS streams.
TGS isnt about showing off trailer after trailer after trailer after trailer
like E3, Summer Game Fest, Gamescom Opening Night or Game Awards.
 
Yu Suzuki is assisting to TGS? Imagine everyone agrees in not mention him Shenmue 4 at all. I bet he would act funny.
 
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