Shenmue Kickstarts for 2 Million on Day Two

"I'm looking for Sailors."

The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter, revealed only yesterday, June 15, met its funding goal of $2 million dollars. This promises the long-awaited third installment of the Shenmue series will find its home on the Playstation 4 and PC around December 2017.

But even though the Kickstarter is a success, Suzuki and his team have laid out stretch goals extending beyond the initial $2 million dollars to create a bigger game. If the Kickstarter is able to fund $3.2 million dollars, the development team will provide subtitles in several languages and include a brand new rapport system. Reaching the stretch goal of $4 million dollars, the developers will include a skill tree system, 5 mini games and expand the first of three explorable areas, Baisha Village.

Shenmue director and producer Yu Suziki expresses Kickstarter is the perfect platform to usher the return of the cult series. "I can finally bring you the continuation for Shenmue 2, " Suzuki added. "Shenmue 3 will be the story you have waited for."

Niao Sun of the Chi You Men

The Kickstarter states Shenmue 3 will follow Ryo and Shenhua as they travel China, specifically through three areas: Baisha Village, Chiba and Bailu Village. Shenmue 3 will run using the Unreal 4 engine.

One of the newest features, Suzuki states, are "technique scrolls, which will connect to the different aspects of the game. [They'll] allow you to use the new skills right away in battle . . . making it all the more exciting to get a hold of one."

Shenmue 3, according to the Kickstarter website, will also incorporate "new fight mechanics to achieve a new level of interactive storytelling," while keeping familiar elements from the previous games.

Many of the project members for Shenmue 3 have worked on the first two games, including Shenmue's main character design artist, Kenji Miyawaki, and the Japanese voice actor for Ryo, Masaya Matsukaze.

Shenhua in Unreal 4

Upon the publishing of this article, the Shenmue Kickstarter campaign is at $2.7 million dollars. The Shenmue team updated their Kickstarter, thanking all those who have donated and for fans to continue asking questions and voicing comments about their latest project.

Shenmue 3 is 14 years in the making and through the passion of its cult following, Suzuki and his team have managed to reach its funding goal within two days and aim to make Shenmue an even bigger game.

As Suzuki says at the end of the Kickstarter video, "The fate of Shenmue is in your hands now!"

And if you missed the hyperlink above, you may find the official Shenmue Kickstarter here: http://tinyurl.com/olf4sdl

Check back often to see how the Shenmue 3 campaigns unfolds and, of course ...

Stay tuned for Subculture! 

Fallout 4 Trailer Released

The Fallout 4 official website is up with a first-look trailer at Bethesda's latest game in the works.

Mixing what looks like a pre-rendered cutscene with a few shots of new broken towns, an abandoned grocery market raptured with ghouls and pieces of the desolate wasteland, Fallout 4 is looking like a sequel worthy of the retro-apocalypse.

Previous entries in the Fallout series allowed players to roam the remnants of Washington D.C, Southern California and the Nevada deserts. Fallout 4 appears to take place in Boston. Hints, such as the Paul Revere statue and the Massachusetts State House, are embedded throughout the trailer.

Unlike the usual Bethesda protagonist, the trailer's final moments speak some volumes. The Vault 111 inhabitant reunites with his faithful Dogmeat and says, "Let's go, pal." Whether or not Fallout 4 will have a voiced male and female protagonist, however, has yet to be confirmed.

(Oh, and Subculture Times is calling it now, Troy Baker is totally the voice actor for the male protagonist.) 

Check out the trailer below!

Fallout 4 is set to hit Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PCs. In the meantime, fans of the series can look forward to Bethesda's E3 showcase on June 14 at 7 P.M. PST via their Twitch channel.

What do you Subculture'd folk think about the latest trailer?

Let us know and Stay Tuned for Subculture!