The "Team Yu" Campaign

[ShenmueAddict]

Our very own forum member "letsgetsweaty" is heading up a new campaign called "Team Yu"

Where other fan initiatives have been based on the general desire to see Shenmue III come to fruition some way, some how, Team Yu seeks only to highlight and focus people's attention on what may be the pivotal issue for this game to ever be made: Yu Suzuki's desire to acquire the rights from Sega. The aim is to encourage both sides to go through with this transaction.

Shenmue-UK is fully behind this great campaign. Although i am a huge Sega fan, when it comes to Shenmue III, i couldent care a less who releases it, as long as it gets released in some way or another!

Please join the fight on the campaigns Twitter & Facebook pages!

Team Yu Twitter: twitter.com/TeamYu

Team Yu Facebook: www.facebook.com/TeamYu

[Chris]

Sounds like a good basis for a campaign.

Although Sega said a while back they would make Shenmue III if Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft pony up the cash, there is no real chance of that happening, especially since Peter Moore left Microsoft.

The best possible endgame of this campaign is Sega putting a price on the Shenmue IP for either licencing or selling altogether (first option more likely). After that it'll be a case of Yu Suzuki raising the money through fan donations and getting investors involved, then moving onto actual development which require even more investment.

It's an uphill struggle, and a little impossible at certain points, but at the very least we can expect progression on the future of the series.

As for Yu Suzuki himself, I have a theory that he left Sega (more or less) to shop himself around to development studios on a contractor basis in order to try building funds for future game development (e.g Shenmue). I'm not sure what he's worked on so far outside of in-house Sega arcade development, but we should keep an ear to the ground on what he's doing in order to support what he's working on.

[GinfnersAddict]

Sweaty is the finest member the forum has had. If anyone can do it, it's Sweaty.

[mue26]

It is a great campaign to be sure. Though, I think any Shenmue game that comes out will still be published by Sega, however they may just let Yu's team do all the development themselves, much like Gai. Still, I think this sort of campaign is a great way to help convince Sega to just let Yu do what he wants with his franchise.

Expect a tweet from me soon, Sweaty!

[Let's Get Sweaty!]

Still waiting on that tweet, mue26!

The Team Yu campaign will be a month old tomorrow, and allowing for some overlap between Facebook and Twitter, there are currently around 100 members. Hopefully that will continue growing - exponentially would be nice - so that our message to Sega gets some noticeable weight behind it. Obviously, accelerated growth requires people to share and retweet so that their friends, and friends of their friends, become aware of the campaign and join in (if it interests them).

In addition to retweets, here are some of the individual tweets people have been sending that agree with Team Yu's specific cause: twitter.com/#!/TeamYu/favorites

All this talk of tweeting and facebooking must sound quite lame to people who do their best to avoid social networking, but in this day and age it's the most collaborative and direct way of communicating with corporate entities like Sega. Someone in their company is paid to monitor this method of fan feedback, and if a particular issue is drawing enough heat so to speak, it must be that person's contractual obligation to report the matter up the chain - otherwise their position is a waste of a salary. So our aim must be to make enough noise for as long and as often as possible, until the right people at Sega get the message that this is an important issue to the fanbase. Because when important issues go ignored, customers' brand loyalty begins to fade, and that affects the only issue important to Sega: their bottom line.

If Sega doesn't wish to take a gamble on making Shenmue III, no one should judge them for that - it's their cash on the line, not ours. But if they also refuse to allow Yu Suzuki to take that risk on his own, then they can only be seen as the villain of the piece. That's not a good look for a company that wants those same disenchanted fans to buy their other games. But Sega won't be confronted by this self imposed threat to their own image if most fans aren't aware of the exact situation and don't voice their opinion. That's why Team Yu intends to focus that collective voice on this key part of the Shenmue III issue.

It's about pushing the right buttons.

If you agree then please do lend your voice to the campaign and get the word out there, even if Facebook and Twitter aren't normally your cup of tea. Team Yu needs you.

[ShenmueAddict]

Cheers for the update letsgetsweaty, ive stickied this topic for now aswell

did anyone see Sega's reply to Team Yu's following tweet;

Team Yu
Here's the thing about Shenmue III. It's not your average videogame sequel. It's not just a case of people enjoying the first two games and wanting more of the same. It's about an engaging storyline which, following hours of gameplay and investing emotionally in the characters, was left on a cliffhanger. All people want is a conclusion to that story. This is not the same as Sonic fans calling for ...another set of zones and more emeralds to collect. It's not even the same as Yakuza fans demanding more of the great writing that Kazuma's adventures are known for. To disregard Shenmue III as just another in an ever growing line of requested sequels is to overlook the key fact that the game, in its intended form, was never completed. Sonic Adventure was self contained. Yakuza 2 left no unanswered questions. Fans of these games will always want more, but they won't feel cheated if they don't get it. Shenmue fans, on the other hand, will never be satisfied until we're given the closure that only a sequel to this series can bring. Sega is doing this fanbase a cruel and personal disservice if they don't allow Yu Suzuki to deliver his final chapter.

Sega's professional response to this status: "Yes, because sequel implies that it was made." twitter.com/#!/SEGA/status/167048345917980672

[Chris]

Absolutely expected arsey reply from SEGA reps.

Unsurprised.

[GinfnersAddict]

Am I reading things wrong, or did Sega respond to a tweet not directed at them, with an answer to a question that wasnt really asked, just to be dicks?

[JoePesciAddict]

Chris's avatar says all that needs to be said about Sega. I will refuse to buy any of there games from here on out. What fucking cunts.

[ShenmueAddict]

In fairness to Sega as a company, we should not hate the whole company because of what some idiot representative said on a tweet

Sure, whoever made that reply is a little cock muncher, but he does not speak for the entire company

[JoePesciAddict]

I have to disagree. Even if it was one individual, he did speak for the WHOLE company of SEGA. He officially represents them via twitter, and they as a company are held accountable by what their employees do.

[ShenmueAddict]

Ok got it, fuck them, im gonna bomb there middlesex headquarters now! get ready to feel my wrath SEGA! ARRRRGGHHH!!!! IM COMING!!!

[JoePesciAddict]

Is the "IM COMING" at the end of your post sexual or a terrorist threat? Or both?

[ShenmueAddict]

I'd say its both

[mue26]

I love you sweaty!!! I'mma tweet lil B (Can we use that lil B vid with Shenmue to support the campaign?) and get his CLASSIC arse on board!

[Let's Get Sweaty!]

Thanks for your Twitter activity mue26. I woke up this morning to find the "mentions" tally had suddenly rocketed, wondered who the heck was tweeting left and right about Team Yu, then scrolled down to the first one and it all made sense.

The medium-term plan right now is to keep gathering like-minded tweets in the Team Yu "favorites" list and then re-retweet them all at once, making it hard for Sega to ignore or be so rudely dismissive about. For a tweet to be included in this barrage it needs to explicitly call for the Shenmue license to be given to Yu Suzuki, as that's the specific intent en route to Shenmue 3 becoming even a possibility.

[mue26]

No probs. We go hard in the paint, out here!

Also, that's a great plan Sweaty. What can I do to help, exactly?

[Let's Get Sweaty!]

If you're able to help promote the campaign on relevant forums and websites then that would be a huge help. Retweeting is also what it's all about, to try and spark the enthusiasm of your followers, who in turn might retweet the one message that captures the imagination of someone else.

This morning's letter drop was a nice surprise, but to avoid anyone feeling like they're being spammed with multiple '@' requests for daring to mention Shenmue, it's probably best if just one of us handles the "search and reply to people's tweets" approach. I'm happy to keep doing that as I quite enjoy the challenge of tailoring my reply to the content of their message.

One thing that puzzles me is that the Facebook page still has more members than on Twitter, where most of the activity takes place. It's hard to reach out to strangers on Facebook so it's felt like there's little I can do on there, but somehow that's where the most growth has been taking place so far. Odd.

[mue26]

lool, fair enough, though I was having a good time spamming celebrities!!

I think with Facebook it's just easier to get people to sign up, also I think in general more people just use Facebook, maybe.

[mue26]

I currently have two followers on Twitter. One is a Shenmue dude, the other seems to be a twitter porn bot, that uses the tag line "Who knows more about love than an orge?".....