Team Yu

Team Yu works in unison with fan groups around the world to try and #SaveShenmueHD in time for the upcoming release of Shenmue 3. Full campaign details can be found at TeamYu.net

[teamyuneedsyou]

As part of our scaling back operations following the announcement of Shenmue I+II for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, we will no longer be updating our least used outlets, namely our pages on Tumblr and Google+.

We greatly appreciate all Tumblr users who have interacted with the page during its lifetime, and would like to welcome you all to continue participating in our remaining activities via Twitter, Facebook, and our website.

If you’re unable to follow us to any of those platforms, we hope you’ll still share in our excitement upon the release of Sega’s remasters and Yu Suzuki’s Shenmue III.

[teamyuneedsyou]

For nearly 400 years, an improbable cherry tree has stood in Morioka, Japan. Improbable because in order to reach the sunlight and thrive, the delicate young sapling had to gradually break its way through a giant rock which remains cracked around the base of its mighty trunk today. The famous Rock-Splitting Cherry Tree, known as Ishiwari-zakura, is a testament to the timeless beauty that can be achieved through the power of persistance against seemingly immovable odds.

As cherry blossom season came to a close this year, another strikingly hardy perennial was brought to prominence as Sega announced the return of Shenmue 1 & 2 to modern gaming platforms. Due for release in 2018 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, the double pack of Yu Suzuki's original, almost 20-year-old chapters in the saga will be enhanced to include a choice of languages and control systems, and a crisper resolution befitting current hardware.

As coordinators of the #SaveShenmueHD campaign, we cannot begin to thank each and every one of you enough for your tireless support over the last three years, not to mention the #SaveShenmue variant that preceeded the Shenmue III announcement in 2015. Just like Ys Net before them, when Sega confirmed their new project with the hashtag #ShenmueSaved, they acknowledged the dedication you have all shown for this aim with your unwavering chorus of tweets every 3rd of the month. "You've asked, we listened," read their response to your requests:

https://twitter.com/SEGA/status/984974525245747200

What's most remarkable about your latest effort is that most people would have understood if you'd simply put up your feet and called it a day after Shenmue III was successfully crowdfunded. The majority of campaign participants will have already played Shenmue 1 & 2 on Dreamcast/Xbox or through emulation, perhaps even still having the means to do so. And there was always the distinct possibility that new versions were in the bag before Sega even saw records being broken on Kickstarter. A lesser fan base would have congratulated themselves and left the rest to fate.

But you understood the importance of making these games available to a new generation of gamers so that the series, fully restored from its roots, may stand the best chance of blossoming into future sequels that complete the story. Furthermore, you honored the implicit pact we all made with Suzuki-san that if he found a way to take a chance on Shenmue III, we would support him all the way. You didn't down tools and walk away once you got what you wanted most - you continued to do what you could to ensure Ys Net's upcoming sequel has the best circumstances and fairest opportunity to succeed at retail.

And for that you deserve unreserved plaudits and to take deep satisfaction in a job well done. THANK YOU.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So what now? Now that we really do have all we campaigned for?

We celebrate of course! May 3rd marks the 75th consecutive monthly Shenmue Tweetathon, the largest and longest-running social media event in gaming history. And what better way to thank Sega than by spreading the love with the hashtag they've chosen to promote their new release: #ShenmueSaved.

We'll be hoping to see your tweets about what it means to you to have Shenmue 1 & 2 freed from the obscurity of discontinued consoles, and the series as a whole finally back in production.

Throughout the day we will be giving away commemorative pin badges of the concluded campaign's familiar symbol, so look out for numerous contests on Twitter from @TeamYu. In the lead-up to the event we'll also be releasing a sneaky heads-up on our Facebook page on how to gain an advantage in winning those prizes. Preparation's not essential, but it will help...

And after May 3rd? That's when the monthly event will literally be the #Shenmue Tweetathon. With our campaigning done, the long-established tradition of tweeting about Shenmue every 3rd will still prove a useful tool for the community, maintaining momentum leading up to the launch of Shenmue 1 & 2 and subsequently Shenmue III. By keeping the name in the public eye with the most intuitive hashtag possible, fans can keep the hype alive and show all gamers that this is a highly anticipated series going from strength to strength.

So from June 3rd and every month thereafter, please tweet #Shenmue. But on May 3rd, it's all about #ShenmueSaved.

Our website TeamYu.net will soon be updated to reflect these and other recent developments, including a new default message for AutoTweet users who will be able to edit or deactivate it should they wish to. We'll also be posting reminders of the upcoming Tweetathons during the transition between hashtags, and we look forward to publishing a short video on May 3rd that we've had in mind for some time.

But for the most part, compared with what you may be used to seeing from us since we launched the Team Yu project in January 2012, our role in the Shenmue community will now begin to reduce. Our remit has always been to campaign for the resurrection of Yu Suzuki's magnum opus, and not to duplicate the general Shenmue news-based content ably provided by some excellent resources available to fans at the following links, so please take a moment to follow, subscribe, bookmark, or otherwise attach your eyeballs to these highly recommended outlets:

SHENMUE DOJO - www.shenmuedojo.net - facebook.com/ShenmueDojo - twitter.com/Shenmue_Dojo - instagram.com/shenmue_dojo - twitch.tv/ShenmueDojo - youtube.com/channel/UCjvnGvNdVyOcXkYanOfmRoQ

SHENMUE 500K - www.shenmue500k.net - facebook.com/groups/Shenmue500K - twitter.com/shen500k - youtube.com/c/Shenmue500KdotNet

SHENMUE FOREVER - facebook.com/ShenmueForever - twitter.com/ShenmueForever

PHANTOM RIVER STONE - www.phantomriverstone.com - facebook.com/switchblog - twitter.com/phantom_river - plus.google.com/115746525453313250649

SHENMUE MASTER - www.shenmuemaster.fr - facebook.com/Shenmue.Master - twitter.com/ShenmueMasterFR - youtube.com/channel/UCrB02ZFp7bi6CadqWyWuHPQ

SHENMUE GUIDE - www.shenmueguide.xyz - twitter.com/da34ss

SHENMUE.DE - www.shenmue.de - facebook.com/ShenmueDE - twitter.com/ShenmueDE - twitch.tv/shenmuede

We'll save the teary goodbye speech until we're signing off altogether, which won't be until Shenmue III is on store shelves, so for now we just want to thank you all again for your amazing support over the last six years and we look forward to dishing out prizes and celebrating #ShenmueSaved with you on May 3rd, the seventy-fifth Tweetathon!

For over a decade, Shenmue fans were told by the industry, the media, and by their peers to abandon hope. To let Shenmue die. But together, a determined community helped this promising series crack through every obstacle and earn a chance to flourish, supported by a following that never gave up. May your triumph inspire others and generations to come.

[teamyuneedsyou]

BOOM! And there it is. #ShenmueSaved

Sega has just confirmed a new Shenmue 1 & 2 collection by unveiling a brand new trailer during SEGA PES 2018 in Tokyo:

https://www.twitter.com/SEGA/status/984974525245747200

https://www.twitter.com/SEGA_OFFICIAL/status/984971035354124288

http://shenmue1-2.sega.jp

Updated versions of the first two games in the series will be released by Deep Silver as a single package on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. (Yes, you read that correctly: there will be an Xbox One version, despite the same publisher's Shenmue 3 by Ys Net launching on PS4 and PC only.)

The new collection will allow players to select between Japanese or English audio, as well as between original or new control schemes.

This announcement marks the conclusion of the #SaveShenmueHD campaign, which has been running since 2015 following the successful crowdfunding of Shenmue 3. We will have a lot more to say on this soon, including details of where we go from here as an organized community that congregates on Twitter every 3rd of the month. But for now, we are taking a short break! We'll see you back here in a week or so. Thank you so much for your support on the journey to this long-awaited announcement of Shenmue 1 & 2 on modern platforms.

In our brief absence please be sure to keep up to date with news and developments by following these reliable Facebook pages and Twitter accounts:

https://www.facebook.com/ShenmueForever https://www.facebook.com/switchblog https://www.facebook.com/ShenmueDojo https://www.facebook.com/Shenmue.Master https://www.facebook.com/ShenmueDE

https://www.twitter.com/ShenmueForever https://www.twitter.com/phantom_river https://www.twitter.com/shenmueguide https://www.twitter.com/Shenmue_Dojo https://www.twitter.com/ShenmueMasterFR https://www.twitter.com/shen500k https://www.twitter.com/shenmuede

[teamyuneedsyou]

As we recently mentioned, Sega will be hosting a two-day event this weekend in Tokyo, with fan engagement and special announcements.

Stoking the hype and the inevitable #SaveShenmueHD speculation are today's tweets by Sega themselves and the French arm of Koch Media (which owns Shenmue III publisher Deep Silver).

For more details on the event and how to watch via Twitch or YouTube, check out this blog post.

Of course it could be anything - only time will tell. But if you want to tune in just in case, the link above will help.

[teamyuneedsyou]

This weekend Sega Japan hosts its second annual SEGA FES event in Tokyo, promising "surprise announcements" amongst the two-day festivities, which are free to attend and will be streamed on YouTube and Twitch.

As usual, the Shenmue rumor mill is creaking into motion, and as usual, Phantom River Stone has fans covered with local insight and full English translations.

Will Sega use the occasion to finally #SaveShenmueHD? If not, the next Tweetathon will remind them on May 3rd. Campaign details at TeamYu.net

[teamyuneedsyou]

Our friends at Shenmue Master have now published their interview with Shenmue III director Yu Suzuki, conducted at MAGIC Monaco at the end of February. The twelve-minute video presentation is transcribed in both English and French.

You can catch up on other fan community interviews from the event below, with another coming soon from SEGASaturno:

TeamYu.net/Shenmue.III?action=yu_suzuki_interview_magic_2018

Shenmue500K.net/interview-with-yu-suzuki-magic-monaco-2018/

[teamyuneedsyou]

Apr 2018: #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon

Excerpts from the April 3rd, 2018 edition of the monthly #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon. For campaign details please visit TeamYu.net

[teamyuneedsyou]

For over a decade, many Shenmue fans around the gaming universe were isolated voices. Individual requests for Shenmue 3 or new versions of the original games would be discreetly swept under the rug by Sega, or drowned out by the wisdom of crowds insisting it was foolish to hope, laughable to dream, and a waste of time to ask.

But then you organized, and you mobilized. Coordinated on a single day each month, on the same public platform, you began to spread the word and be heard on the 3rd. And by repeatedly combining those isolated voices in a collective, concentrated demonstration of demand, you could no longer be ignored or undermined. Together you seized every opportunity and where none were offered, you created them.

Now that Shenmue III is being made, the push for remasters continues. And far from the drip, drip, drop of the distant past, yesterday's April shower was more like a hailstorm as you once again flooded Twitter with the campaign hashtag in a trademark display of synergy. Enormous thanks to all who play your equal part in making the #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon the largest routine social media event in all of gaming.

The next gathering is due, of course, on May 3rd, and you can pre-load your contribution right now with the AutoTweet feature at TeamYu.net. We look forward to seeing the hype for HD build into the summer season of game shows as you openly and directly press the issue with Sega while putting the unity in the incomparable Shenmue community.

In the meantime we'll be sharing with you more interviews with Yu Suzuki conducted by fans, and all the news of note around the series whose future is still very much in your hands.

[teamyuneedsyou]

A new fan site hopes to unite and expand Shenmue's Italian-speaking fan base, and includes information on the #SaveShenmueHD campaign that continues this Tuesday, April 3rd, with the monthly Tweetathon.

To customize a pre-loaded AutoTweet and never miss the event, visit TeamYu.net

[ubastax]

[dubindoreart]

tom from shenmue bc that game rocks

[teamyuneedsyou]

Alongside Shenmue Forever, we had the honor of interviewing Yu Suzuki at MAGIC 2018 about Shenmue III, and also met a number of supporters of the #SaveShenmueHD campaign!

Check out our report on this collaboration and find out what Suzuki-san had to say about Deep Silver's contribution, Shenmue IV, and a range of other topics relating to the upcoming game.

[teamyuneedsyou]

On the 6th anniversary of the first ever Shenmue Tweetathon, fans were once again out in force yesterday in the ongoing effort to #SaveShenmueHD in time for the launch of Shenmue III. Massive thanks to everyone who turned out with your tweets, pictures, videos, and all around community spirit to spread the word and be heard on the 3rd. Your undying support for this campaign is what makes Shenmue fans the greatest, most extraordinary fan base in all of gaming.

We all hope that Sega has things under control behind the scenes, with remasters of the original chapters primed and ready for release at whatever they deem the most opportune time. But given their track record with this franchise and many others, it behooves them to put fans' mind at ease and publicly commit to a sensible course of action that is no longer taken for granted. Tireless supporters of the series need assurance from the brand that neglected the saga for so long, that bringing the first two games onto modern platforms is one thing we can all check off the list of requirements for the much desired success of this resurrected IP.

After all, without newcomers gaining an interest in the story by playing it from the beginning, Ys Net's crowdfunded sequel is disadvantaged in its goal to sell enough copies at retail to warrant a deal for Shenmue IV. Sega would have first dibs on profiting from any future entries in Yu Suzuki's epic, so it's in their best interests to support its revival by satisfying the demand for Shenmue 1 & 2 HD. But the good will of the fans can only last so long if the company is not open about its intentions and sympathetic towards the time and energy being put into campaigning for this confirmation month after month.

The next event, as six years of Tweetathons may have taught you, is of course on April 3rd. If you're new to the routine and think you might forget to tweet on that day, simply pre-load a customized AutoTweet at TeamYu.net and that'll be one less thing to worry about.

Do keep an eye on this page in the coming days however, as we'll have several community interviews with Yu Suzuki to share with you, from Shenmue 500K, French website Shenmue Master, Spanish website Sega Saturno, and from ourselves and Shenmue Forever. We look forward to bringing you all of Suzuki's answers to the questions posed to him last weekend at MAGIC Monaco.

[teamyuneedsyou]

The 24-hour #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon is underway! It's time to get on Twitter (it's free and easy to create an account just for this purpose if you don't have one) and add your voice to the global campaign. Here's a sample tweet you can use, or create your own that includes the hashtag.

This event happens every month on the 3rd, keeping the public pressure on Sega to confirm there'll be remasters of Shenmue 1 & 2 in time for the release of Shenmue III. More information can be found at TeamYu.net, where you can also pre-load a customized AutoTweet to never miss a single Tweetathon!

Visit our Twitter page for a selection of retweetable posts throughout the day and do your bit to spread the word and be heard on the 3rd!

[teamyuneedsyou]

We've just got back from MAGIC, so we've finally time to talk about Saturday's event in Monaco and the various reactions we've seen online to some of its Shenmue-related content.

Before anything else we'd like to thank all the other fans we met throughout the day. Possibly as a result of the attention that 2016's conference attracted with its exclusive preview footage of Shenhua's house amongst other material, the venue was teeming with Shenmue supporters, and all those we had the chance and the honor to speak with were great people and a credit to the community.

We'll be able to showcase the passion of these fans very soon in conjunction with the interview we conducted alongside Shenmue Forever with Yu Suzuki, whose presence had drawn so many gamers to Monte Carlo from across the globe.

The first order of the day for Suzuki-san was a one-hour conference that revisited his epic career in video games, from his many arcade hits through to the home console Shenmue series. Parts of the discussion closely echoed previous occasions that hardcore fans may recall watching online, such as the Shenmue Postmortem at GDC 2014, but the highlight of the morning was an unveiling of four new Shenmue III screenshots, which audience members initially shared via off-screen photos before higher quality versions were published via Kickstarter and the official website. The image of an expressive young girl seemingly filled with wonder impressed the most, and immediately spawned fan art from a Twitter user in Japan.

The entirely free event later hosted a 90-minute autograph session with Suzuki-san, with the line of fans snaking around the walls of the vicinity as Yu greeted person after person, posed for photos, and signed multiple items (until the half-hour advantage given to his fans over other autograph hunters threatened to prove insufficient still, forcing an eventual limit of one item per visitor to ensure everyone got their turn). Our hearts well and truly went out to the fan who patiently waited to get his Dreamcast game signed, only to then drop it and watch in horror as the brittle case smashed on the floor. Thank goodness they don't make 'em like they used to!

Closing out Suzuki's schedule at MAGIC was an appearance during Shibuya Productions' Crazy Time, a brief presentation hosted by event organizer and Shenmue III co-producer Cédric Biscay. This featured an extended version of the Gamescom teaser trailer, previously only seen by journalists. In addition to the content released publicly last year, this footage contained further characters and several QTE sequences. Amongst them, the comical screenshot released during Gamescom of a surprised older gentleman (attached to this post) is given context, as swinging wild punches at a dodging Ryo leads the elderly assailant to almost lose his balance, until Ryo helpfully pulls him back by the collar - before bopping him on the nose with the back of his fist.

Fans in attendance had instinctively filmed and uploaded off-screen copies of this three-minute video, until fully noticing a request made at the beginning: "The following footage was prepared for Gamescom 2017. It was shown to limited press and it is unreleased. Please do not record as it does not represent the latest of the game in development." It's for this reason you'll no longer see footage of this part of the show on the YouTube channels of sites that respect the team's wishes.

As for when we'll see video content that represents the latest build of the game, numerous events on the gaming calendar stretch out before us. GDC in March, E3 in June, Gamescom in August... any one of them could be chosen for the next big showcase of the game in motion, unless something randomly drops into backers' inboxes through a Kickstarter update first.

QTEs notwithstanding, on this occasion MAGIC Monaco was not the venue for what fans had in mind in terms of up-to-date gameplay content. That may be due in part to the hype levels encouraged by the promoters, but it's impossible to know what kind of communication behind the scenes led to such confidence being expressed in the reception that this extended teaser, so long after its creation, did not widely achieve. However, despite MAGIC's announced expansion into an autumn event in Kyoto, Japan, few would dispute that a more significant step change in Shenmue III preview content would better reach the general audience it needs and deserves at any of the larger events mentioned above. By comparison, MAGIC is proudly a more niche, intimate setting and while perfect for the fan community to meet up and enjoy some exclusive treats and the company of Yu Suzuki, anything that might truly generate new interest in the game will surely be reserved for a larger, more mainstream platform.

So we ask that anyone hoping to be blown away by more revelatory content this past weekend not be disheartened or feel too disappointed. Shibuya Productions, whose private funding made Shenmue III a viable possibility, continues to put the fans first by accommodating numerous interviews with Suzuki-san, which you'll hear more about in the coming days, and provides free registered access to genuine bucket list experiences in Monaco and soon also in Kyoto. We're very glad they're a part of the Shenmue III project and appreciate all that they do, along with Ys Net and Deep Silver, on this long and complex road to the validation of a shared dream.

A dream that might still be "impossible" were it not for the magic weaved by Cédric Biscay just a few short years ago.

[teamyuneedsyou]

Two new interviews with contributors to the Shenmue games have been recently published, offering insight into the creation of the original Dreamcast titles.

French fan site Shenmue Master has spoken with three composers of the series' much celebrated soundtrack: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, and Ryuji Iuchi. One of their favorite tunes to record? The Tomato Convenience Store jingle, of course! You can read this interview in both French and English.

Meanwhile, the Phantom River Stone blog has partly translated into English a Sega Interactive interview with Norikazu Hirai, formerly a designer on Shenmue II. Amongst the topics discussed, it's revealed that when designing the Sword of Seven Stars (seen briefly in the game's cliffhanger ending), he got away with straying from Yu Suzuki's original intention of a dagger.

Expect more interviews to emerge with Suzuki-san himself following his trip to Monaco next weekend for MAGIC 2018. For more details on the event, check out recent posts on our Facebook page.

[teamyuneedsyou]

If you've been sick of us yammering on about pre-registrations for Sega's upcoming mobile game Kotodaman, we can at least say that it was worth it. Because thanks to your efforts and those of gamers around the world (particularly, we must imagine, in Japan), the developer's target of 55,000 pre-registrations has been surpassed, meaning Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki now joins the roster of characters in this word puzzle game.

Congratulations to Shenmue fans everywhere, whose willingness to participate in this incentive now ensures more players will become familiar with Shenmue's lead protagonist and therefore, we hope, become more likely to take an interest in Shenmue III and the need to #SaveShenmueHD.

If you're still feeling productive and want to help the cause further, then be sure to activate your customized AutoTweet at TeamYu.net for the monthly Tweetathon. This allows peace of mind that you'll never miss the event on the 3rd of each month.

The next Sega character being dangled in front of gamers for Kotodaman is another Yu Suzuki creation familiar to all Shenmue fans: the jetpack wearing hero of Space Harrier. If the pre-registration tally reaches 60,000, he'll join Ryo in the mobile game.