Recent content by iknifaugood

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    Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

    I totally agree and it's crazy to think that S3 was made without somehow securing the future of the series, at least some kind of "plan B". It's been 4 years, I highly doubt he's just going to decide to be forthcoming all of a sudden. At the end of the day, none of this matters in terms of...
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    Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

    Alan Wake 2 sold ~850k units on console as of November. https://www.ign.com/articles/alan-wake-2s-seemingly-dire-sales-dont-paint-the-full-picture The fact that it likely sold ~1M units in one month on a 70M Euro budget and is considered a flop should tell you everything you need to know about...
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    Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

    As far as KS goes, there's really no disputing those numbers as they're publicly available: 81,087 Kickstarter and Slacker backers totaling $7,179,510. Though we don't have information on refunds. I've released games on Steam before and this site is pretty accurate, if anything it overestimates...
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    Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

    Where are you getting these numbers from?
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    Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

    100% this. The only thing that I can figure is that Suzuki was reckless with the budget in the hopes that S3 would see the kind of success that he always hoped for the series. S3 contains expensive luxuries that no indie dev would ever dream of putting in their game and it cost them big time. I...
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    Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

    These two thoughts are in direct opposition. The only chance Sega (or any other publisher, for that matter) had to take another look at Shenmue was with Shenmue 3. Surely Suzuki knew that he wasn't just taking a risk on one sequel, but the future of the series. Its failure cannot be overstated...
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    Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

    We got Shenmue 3 before a new Streets of Rage game. Fortunately Streets of Rage 4 was a good game that sold well, which is why it's getting a sequel. They chose Yakuza over Shenmue, they seem to be sticking to that... There are a lot of ways to make Shenmue lower budget and from everything...
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    There is a way for this to work but it needs to be more all encompassing and dare I say "FREE" than it's been in any of the Shenmue games thus far. Imagine if Ryo were able to choose where he sleeps and that could come with a stamina cost or bonus. You could have options between free places...
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    I understand what you mean about how games are becoming more homogenous and I think a lot of that has to do with increased development budget (the original RE2 cost approx $1M to develop +$5M in marketing and the remake is around $100M), the rise of indie games which fill the niche of more...
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    Looks like Shenmue 4 found its angel investor! lol Sounds like the perfect segue for a follow up interview.
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    Nice interview. Would be very interested in a follow-up. It's funny how it kind of sounds like I think Yu Suzuki was in the right headspace at the beginning of development (making sacrifices, focusing on story) but I agree with Ryan's feedback as development progressed (eliminating intrusive...
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    Your examples are all from over a quarter century ago and were mostly born of technical limitations. Games aren't made with fixed camera angles anymore for a variety of reasons not the least of which is that you still need to create those 3D environments; with more capable 3D engines, plus the...
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    If Shenmue had a crafting system you could literally lump it in with that description. Games are either third person or first person, that has nothing to do with its genre or gameplay. They have similar controls perhaps, but then most games do. They are as different as The Walking Dead, Indiana...
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    It is the direct precursor to these types of games, much more so than it is to "open world" games. I share this concern but I think at this point it will be for the better to help maintain a consistent authorial "voice" across the entire story. As it stands, clearly much has changed in 20 years...
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    IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

    This always becomes circular logic. If S3 intended for the player to feel frustrated at the absurd cost of the wine and book, then it is meant to be a roadblock (which makes sense given Ryo's reaction). If however, you've been playing S3 "properly" and "taking your time", then Ryo's reaction...
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