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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Shenmue fans are so desperate for another game in the long-running action adventure series they bought an advertisement in New York's famous Times Square to campaign for Shenmue 4.

Fan website Shenmue Dojo launched a campaign on June 4, 2024 to "support the continuation of the series and attempt to spread global awareness to find [developer] Ys Net a potential partner for Shenmue 4." Part of this campaign involved renting a 15-second advertisement on Times Square, which can be seen below, that displayed a handful of characters from the series alongside "#LetsGetShenmue4."

"Shenmue fans do some insane things to try and get recognised," an X/Twitter post from Shenmue Dragons said. "Are you watching Sega?" While a 15-second advertisement at Times Square can cost as little as $40, a fanbase paying to promote a series over its developer or publisher is still an unusual move.

The effort paid off too, as Shenmue was trending on X/Twitter around the advertisement and campaign. "Thank you to everyone that helped to show their support with the timed mass tweets/posts today," Shenmue Dojo wrote. "It was very much appreciated and proves that together, as a collective, we can spread the awareness that we are not going to sit back without a fight. We will continue to strive until Shenmue 4 is a reality."

The campaign began after series creator Yu Suzuki told Shenmue Dojo he'd potentially make Shenmue 4 if he found a publishing partner to fund it.

Shenmue follows a teenage martial artist called Ryo Haz as he hunts his father's killer in 1980s Japan and China. Shenmue 1 and 2 were released in 1999 and 2001 respectively but the franchise then went quiet for almost two decades before Shenmue 3 arrived in 2019, partly funded by a Kickstarter campaign.

Shenmue Fans Rented a Times Square Billboard to Campaign for Shenmue 4 - IGN

Shenmue fans are so desperate for another game in the long-running action adventure series they bought an advertisement in New York's famous Times Square to campaign for Shenmue 4.

www.ign.com

 

[simpatico]

Just play Yakuza

 

[FeralEcho]

If that's not the definition of loyalty and determination I don't know what is. Props to them.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Yu Suzuki killed Shenmue by making 3 a piece of shit that doesn't even move the story forward an inch but rather worsens the mythical aspects of it.

Shenmue 3 is a dumpster fire and the one positive thing I can think of is that I stopped caring about Shenmue 4.

 

[Pejo]

There's no way true Shenmue fans want more after the abortion that was 3. This is probably Suzuki's doing.

 

[lh032]

game is trash.

 

[Arsic]

I tried to play 1&2 a few years ago. These games have aged like rotten milk. Play like hot ass and have no semblance of fun.

Figured 3 would help bring it up to speed. Nope. Also played like hot liquid shit.

I forget the Japanese term for “bad games”. The ones that in anime and manga people play on purpose because they are so bad… but this is the definition of that.

 

[ReBurn]

Yu Suzuki should have made a game that just finishes the story.

 

[Puscifer]

Yu Suzuki killed Shenmue by making 3 a piece of shit that doesn't even move the story forward an inch but rather worsens the mythical aspects of it.

Shenmue 3 is a dumpster fire and the one positive thing I can think of is that I stopped caring about Shenmue 4.

I've always felt stupid for kick-starting games but it's crazy to me that he has an outline for all the titles and posted it many times but didn't even bother to follow it. I'm over it honestly, we had a shot and it's gone now. Rather read a novelization of what he wrote personally then play any game.

 

[Little Chicken]

no.

 

[Pejo]

no.

I'm sorry he did this to your brethren.

If you aren't angry enough about chicken catching gameplay, here's 4 minutes of looking through some drawers. Peak Suzuki 2019 gameplay. To be fair, the person making this video made it 1000x worse than it already was by being pretty stupid.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

Is this just the "I can fix her" meme, but with a game?

Shenmue has this down to earth atmosphere to it, and I get the appeal. And it has a cult following, based on some of the unique and even great aspects of Shenmue 1 and 2.

But... After 3?

Do these people think that it will go in the same direction that Devil May Cry went? Where 2 was a humongous piece of trash, and then came 3 afterwards and completely saved the series?

I'm not saying it can't happen, is just a very small possibility. Specially if the same director is involved.

 

[Draugoth]

With the money they could have fundef Shenmue 4 (Shenmue 3 was cheap as fuck anyways)

 

[Syphon Filter]

i didnt know anyone can do that lol

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

They are not very intelligent, you don't ask for a golden egg from a genius but a goose that lays the golden eggs.

 

[Quantum253]

People went wild at E3 2015 when the kick starter was announced on stage. I'm sure people will go for this as well, especially the series die hard fans

 

[A.Romero]

That money would have probably be better spent sending it directly to Yu Suzuki

 

[proandrad]

Shenmue 3 was trash.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Shenmue game indirectly speaks well of China, so Yu should seek financing from the Chinese

 

[EDMIX]

Honestly, I love Shenmue and Yu did an amazing job with those games and brought so many cool features to the gaming world, but with the current Yakuza team taking that concept and running with it, I think its actually best to have that team form a smaller team or something to continue the series in a smaller format, if anything, exactly what was done in the first game could likely be done much cheaper with todays tech.

Put Ryu in a small town (Or even a completely different character), allow him or her to look at shit up close, collect random items from vending machines, play in arcades and solve some fucking mystery.

I think it can be done, but I think fans need to let go of that original story and allow for a new story and new team to just take over the IP.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

give shenmue 4 to kojima

 

[adamsapple]

Shenmue 3 had the GOAT reveal and fan reaction, but the end game was disappointing as fuck. I think it's time to let the franchise go.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Honestly, I love Shenmue and Yu did an amazing job with those games and brought so many cool features to the gaming world, but with the current Yakuza team taking that concept and running with it, I think its actually best to have that team form a smaller team or something to continue the series in a smaller format, if anything, exactly what was done in the first game could likely be done much cheaper with todays tech.

Put Ryu in a small town (Or even a completely different character), allow him or her to look at shit up close, collect random items from vending machines, play in arcades and solve some fucking mystery.

I think it can be done, but I think fans need to let go of that original story and allow for a new story and new team to just take over the IP.

Sega owns the IP they can just leave Yu Suzuki with these games and fund a complete reboot of Shenmue 1 , Shenmue 2
So there will be 2 shenmue 3, definitely Yu's Shenmue 3 is not Shenmue 3..

my hope is Sega saves their IP. Shenmue has reached a dead end. Either it disappears as a relevant IP or Sega reboots

 

[Sonik]

Shenmue was never a good game, for the first 2 games the main gimmick was the graphics but the gameplay was still boring af, the third didn't even have that

 

[rkofan87]

Yu Suzuki killed Shenmue by making 3 a piece of shit that doesn't even move the story forward an inch but rather worsens the mythical aspects of it.

Shenmue 3 is a dumpster fire and the one positive thing I can think of is that I stopped caring about Shenmue 4.

this sadly.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

give shenmue 4 to kojima

Kojima has become a brand. If Sega gives Shenmue 4 to Kojima to develop, he will save the franchise at least in terms of sales (hype) 2M is a conservative number but it would be the franchise's best seller.

 

[IAmRei]

I remember shen mue, havent play the remaster or 3. But i watched YT play few weeks ago. Reminds me, how great the game at the time. I remember the time i saw shen mue was blown my mind. The graphic was realistic at the time. The game flow was out of the box back then. And the game feel was very immersive. Again, all these greatness are at the time. For today, it might turn off lot of people. Well, aged not so well.

But still, Shen mue is one of the most influencial game for me. Inspired me to many things in my game development, especially interaction and in game social aspect.

 

[Loomy]

They did this after playing Shenmue 3?

 

[stn]

Still holding out hope for 4! I've yet to beat 3 but 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games ever. 2 especially.

 

[StueyDuck]

As a disgusting die hard mega fan of shenmue (yes I even enjoyed 3 for what it was and helped fund it)

It's painfully clear that this a series that needs a huge budget much like the originals did if it was to connect with modern audiences.

Shenmue 3 really was the "we have shenmue at home" of sequels. Budget from start to finish.

These fans are being silly thinking this is ever going to happen and anyone would fund it.

You'd have to spend Rockstar levels of money to have the product be where it should mechanically/visually and with such production values

 

[The Cockatrice]

I'd rather watch paint dry.

 

[Lambogenie]

They should probably just have the RGG team make it or even remake 1 and 2. I just don't see this being successful any other way, even if you had a Chinese publisher like tencent.

I would like to branch off from Yakuza and bloody Kamurocho but that's "the chacater". So of that's the case, Shenmue could fill a different gap for a similar style from the team that can do slightly different things. Your Persona to your SMT.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Why? They begged for 3 and look what they got.

 

[Crew511A]

Shenmue was never a good game, for the first 2 games the main gimmick was the graphics but the gameplay was still boring af, the third didn't even have that

This was my opinion also. I thought the game was pretty boring in 2000. When GTA 3 came our and completely changed the way we thought about open world games, that was Sega's cue to make some changes to the franchise, but they didn't, so...

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

It's actually kind of hilarious how unreal it was the existence of 3 in 2015 and how this pointed to good things for the future, then the game disappointed (I personally haven't played it yet) and Yu somehow, someway, didn't think it was time to wrap the story up with this absurdly rare opportunity.

Just insane.

Shenmue has this down to earth atmosphere to it

This was always the appeal, Shenmue payed attention to little details most games don't like the fact that you actually had to stop and sleep.

Rarely did a game make me feel like I was visiting an actual place like Hong Kong in 2, it was all so lived in and detailed I could (and did) just wander for hours.

 

[HAYA8U5A]

Shenmue 3 announcement was one of the most hyped moments in my gaming life just for it to turn into the biggest fuck you ever. Greed had to take over to try and milk more money out of it instead of just finishing what was started and we just ended up back in the same position thanks to it. If the story finished I could have accepted it being an inferior game but that just made made it even worse. So whereas I once wanted nothing more it left me now not caring if it is ever finished.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

and Yu somehow, someway, didn't think it was time to wrap the story up with this absurdly rare opportunity.

Just insane.

Famous people (and devs too) think that the world is how their mind wants it, believe me at no point did he imagine that Shenmue 3 would be a failure, he thought it would sell 2.5M on 3 platforms and from there continue his saga with Shenmue annual but maybe, maybe Shenmue 3 project made a small profit and so Yu Suzuki himself feels confident in working with Shenmue 4.

The graphics are good but he couldn't model Ryo Hakuzi correctly, the character looked very bad and made the game poorer, the character's movement is Dreamcast standard.

Yu Suzuki should have made a Shenmue 1 remake not Shenmue 3 after all there was a 15 year hiatus.

 

[Meicyn]

Footage from the ”good” Shenmue game:



Truly mindblowing how this IP didn’t conquer the gaming world.

 

[Jesb]

I never understood why this never got the same treatment as the yakuza games did.

 

[Chechack]

Ku

I tried to play 1&2 a few years ago. These games have aged like rotten milk. Play like hot ass and have no semblance of fun.

Figured 3 would help bring it up to speed. Nope. Also played like hot liquid shit.

I forget the Japanese term for “bad games”. The ones that in anime and manga people play on purpose because they are so bad… but this is the definition of that.

Kusoge

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

I never understood why this never got the same treatment as the yakuza games did.

simple Like a Dragon was born because Shenmue died, like the grain of wheat in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Shenmue for Sega was synonymous with failure, they wanted to forget it.

after the Dreamcast Sega sold a lot of Shenmue-themed mugs and t-shirts over the years parallel to this, Shenmue fans were unhappy with the abrupt end of the Dreamcast, thinking that Dreamcast flop buried Shenmue (when in fact it's the opposite). So Nagoshi-san took on the responsibility of making a ''shenmue'' game that was commercially viable- Ryu Ga Gotoku (Like a Dragon ).

Shenmue 3 was a reactionary act by die-hard fans. Congratulations, they got Shenmue 3 only to find out it was better not to have it.

 

[Moridianae]

Welp--didn't have to scroll very far in a Shenmue thread to find everyone shitting on it as usual.

Series is nothing if not divisive, but I'll be damned if the haters of Shenmue aren't some of the most vocal out there.

It's a nice gesture for a fanbase that's actually a lot larger than the bubble of NeoGAF seems to think it is.

I enjoyed the first two, but felt three fell a little flat considering the journey it took to get it made. It is what it is.

Yu Suzuki made some amazing games in his career. If he gets an opportunity to finish the series for the fans, good. I hope an opportunity comes along, whatever format it may be.

Lot of hate out there these days and honestly, if the choice was Shenmue IV or the latest androgynous, woke-Hero F2P GAAS garbage that's infested gaming for the last year, I'd pick Shenmue IV(provided it's own story doesn't fall victim to that stuff)

And lastly,



I hear sailors hang out in bars at night. I have not seen any sailors. Also, years ago I was Chinese.

 

[Švejk]

 

[Puscifer]

Footage from the ”good” Shenmue game:



Truly mindblowing how this IP didn’t conquer the gaming world.

Fwiw it was groundbreaking at the time that there were hundreds of NPCs operating on a schedule and a building with literally hundreds of rooms. Say what you want but to deny it's influence is just trolling

 

[PrefectAboro]

• Shenmue 3 was unfortunately a filler episode in terms of advancing the plot and the fighting engine was lackluster and disappointing.
• It's been planned to be at least 5 games to cover the entire story.
• SEGA needs to give Suzuki back the rights to use the Virtua Fighter engine
• The budget has to be scaled back.....why can't they just use the Shenmue 1/2 HD collection engine and just ADVANCE the story?!

 

[Jesb]

Time to just say goodbye for good to this.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Shenmue Fans Rented a Times Square Billboard to Campaign for Shenmue 4 - IGN

Shenmue fans are so desperate for another game in the long-running action adventure series they bought an advertisement in New York's famous Times Square to campaign for Shenmue 4.

www.ign.com

I want to doubt this, but people are fucking stupid. Did they forget what happened last time? Shit, man.. some people don't learn. Regardless of what their malfunction is.

 

[chromatic9]

Would be nice to have Yu Suzuki finish the story while he's still here, he can oversee some story book type game.

Up to the fans to suggest and fund this, there isn't enough time or money for multiple games and don't think I'd want some other group to pick up the scripts without him around.

Maybe Sega can finish it with Yu as a side passion project with help from Yakuza team, nothing large scale but utilize some existing good framework for combat and let them handle the character animations, make a streamlined game to progress the Ryo Lan Di story.

 

[Hudo]

Footage from the ”good” Shenmue game:



Truly mindblowing how this IP didn’t conquer the gaming world.

It was pretty dope for 2001.

 

[newtypepilot]

i never get the appeal for shenmue. Yakuza series is better in pretty much every way.