The incredibly lucky “Yama” from Shenmue Dojo recently sat down for an interview with the legendary Yu Suzuki and Shenmue was very much the hot topic of discussion.
Possibly the most interesting comments come when Yu Suzuki speaks about the future of the franchise. He talks about how he would like Shenmue III to start, that he would expect Shenmue’s story to last at least another two or three games and that SEGA is willing to make Shenmue III with Yu Suzuki, if enough money is raised:
Yu Suzuki : Fans from all around the world have kept providing me support and I can’t thank them enough. About Shenmue, Sega is not a problem at all. For Shenmue III, we need to define a specific budget and if I can gather enough for it, Sega will allow me to do it.
I am pretty sure that Sega doesn’t want to take any financial risks regarding Shenmue. That’s why I have to gather the necessary budget for it. Anyway, even if I would like to work on other projects beside Shenmue, if I ever get the opportunity to work on the 3rd part, I will do it. And to be honest, I do not think that anyone else can properly accomplish Shenmue III the way I’d like to do it.
If Shenmue III’s budget isn’t sufficent, quality will suffer from it.
So, straight from the horse’s mouth. It appears that SEGA isn’t holding back the development of Shenmue III entirely and Yu Suzuki is still on board to finish Ryu’s adventure – they just need the money to do it!
And that’s not the only interesting thing to come from the interview. Suzuki also spoke about the development of Shenmue, from its initial development on the Saturn to content removed from the final Dreamcast game. He also goes on to explain how difficult it was to program the 450-odd NPCs who populate the word, because (if you didn’t know) each character had a name, back story and work schedule.
It’s definitely worth a read, so go check out the full interview over at Shenmue Dojo.
what kind of budget is he looking for ? if it’s within reason, i bet it could be crowdfunded, with a little help from SEGA.
Wow. This is honestly surprising to hear. But I’m glad he finally shared the information. It shows that he’s aware of the fan cries.
This is a double-edged sword though. I can already hear the internet screaming that Suzuki has zero excuses to initiate a Kickstarter.
My opinion? Do the research, Suzuki San. That’s assuming he has the time to commit to that. Then tell Sega, and then open a Kickstarter. At this point, most Shenmue fans may have the disposable income to anihilate a Kickstarter.
Regardless, “I should be greatful.”
“most Shenmue fans may have the disposable income to anihilate a Kickstarter.”
That’s true. I’m willing to donate 2 or 3 times the cost of a new AAA retail release… and that’s just for starters
Totally. I honestly believe if he did a Kickstarter just to see what people would donate that it would succeed.
ASK NINTENDO
Hi and thanks for sharing my interview !
However,
“The incredibly lucky “Yama” from Shenmue Dojo recently sat down for an interview with the legendary Yu Suzuki and Shenmue was very much the hot topic of discussion.”
Yama is not behind this interview as i’ve done it on my own while i was in Japan this year. My nick name is “aizen59” on Shenmue Dojo or my real name is David De ville.
Just wanted to clear this out as people tend to think that it was done by an official website.
Thanks and best regards,
David