A New Work-In-Progress Shenmue III Screenshot Emerges

[The Wooster]

A New Work-In-Progress Shenmue III Screenshot Emerges

Here's an early look at what those 6,333,295 Kickstarter bucks are paying for.

So there's a new screenshot of Shenmue III floating around the internet and, well... it's certainly faithful to the graphical fidelity of the Dreamcast originals. Yuk yuk yuk.



Okay, that was mean. This latest screenshot of Shenmue III is definitely a work-in-progress shot. It was shown at the Magic Monaco press conference today and ended up on the event's official feed. That being said, Shenmue's cult hit popularity and a growing distrust of gargantuan Kickstarter has backers and fans clamoring for any tangible evidence of the project's progress. What we've seen so far has been underwhelming. A series of shots of clunky character models looking out of place against realistic natural backdrops. Considering the game is being made in the Unreal 4 engine, which has a load of tools designed specifically for producing said realistic environments quickly and painlessly, the shots we're seeing right now aren't particularly impressive. Then again, while the original Shenmue had one of the largest budgets in gaming history, Shenmue III's budget is tiny by comparison, even more so in the context of modern blockbusters. However good Shenmue III may be, I doubt it's going to be a graphical powerhouse.

We're still nearly two full years away from Shenmue III's projected release date. That's December, 2017, assuming the infamous Kickstarter delay gremlins don't get their hands on the game between now and then. But with fifteen years of fan expectations and $6 million in consumer cash on the line, you can bet we'll be following the development of Shenmue III every step of the way.

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Shenmue III is currently slated for release on PC and PS4.

Source: <url=https://twitter.com/MagicMonaco/status/689855032762748928>Magic Monaco

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[Chaosian]

I didn't contribute to the kickstarter, but I'm honestly not too bothered.
If you're buying games for the graphics, I think you're making a miscalculation.

 

[Covarr]

The average kickstarter backer has a backwards idea of how development works. They think of it in much the same order they play a game; the whole thing might not be complete, but if they're even ten percent done, then obviously that means the first 30-60 minutes of the game are 100% complete and polished. In reality, game development isn't nearly so linear, but a lot of people don't really get it.

P.S. Thanks

 

[The Wooster]

The average kickstarter backer has a backwards idea of how development works. They think of it in much the same order they play a game; the whole thing might not be complete, but if they're even ten percent done, then obviously that means the first 30-60 minutes of the game are 100% complete and polished. In reality, game development isn't nearly so linear, but a lot of people don't really get it.

P.S. Thanks

That's why it's almost always better to release rough in-motion videos than "screenshots." The indie scene is very good at using short gifs and webms to show off short bursts of mechanics. It's something bigger studios could stand to learn from.

 

[hentropy]

Personally I couldn't care less about graphics, I was actually kind of hoping they would simply use DC-era style graphics in HD. I played the old games recently and (most of) the graphics still hold up very well, and it actually shocked me in points about how beautiful it still is. With a projected release of Q4 2017, I'm not too bothered by simple screenshots at this stage.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I don't care if it is Dreamcast era graphics. If they make it as good as the Dreamcast games I'll be perfectly happy. Graphics < quality gameplay and story. If it does well and isn't AAA budget graphics, maybe the industry would get wise. But probably not.

 

[Chriss_m]

I guess it's just me, but I think the screenshots look lovely.

 

[SupahEwok]

I guess I'm getting old, cuz I can't tell how those screenshots are supposed to represent bad graphics. Looks modern to me. Either we've hit the graphics plateau long hypothesized, or my eyesight/judgement is going in my senility. Either way, fun times ahead.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Nothing at all wrong with the graphics, why so glum, escapist chum? In the days of indie pixle art and ps2 rereleases, it confuddles me to think that this would be a problem for Shenmue of all games. Two years be plenty of time and i think i can survive that long (fingers crossed). Fallout 4 doesn't have bad graphics either. What in the world? Am i just easy to please then?