[Team Yu]

"It's the 3rd again already?" we usually hear when the monthly #SaveShenmue Tweetathon arrives, "Doesn't it come around quickly!"

Well, we think we can speak for everybody when we say that last month's event feels like a LIFETIME ago...

How things can change, literally overnight. On June 16th, a Kickstarter was announced to fund Shenmue III, a sequel that had been in limbo (to put it mildly) for fourteen years. Nine hours and seventeen minutes later, its minimum target of two million dollars had been raised.

Shenmue III is actually happening, and as we now welcome the July 3rd Tweetathon, it's all about those stretch goals, striving to make this long awaited experience even better than imagined.

If you've never participated in the #SaveShenmue Tweetathon before, then you've chosen the perfect time to get your first taste of the largest routine social media event in gaming history.

Just take a look at what's in store this Friday:

• Yu Suzuki (@yu_suzuki_jp) will be taking part for the first time, tweeting alongside his fans to spread the word and be heard on the 3rd!
   
• Suzuki-san will also be hosting a live Q&A session using the additional hashtag #YouAskYu, answering questions during the event.
   
• Ys Net has issued a 'Magic Weather Warning', promising a perfect storm of Kickstarter news to coincide with the Tweetathon.
   
• Voice actors Corey Marshall (Ryo), Lisle Wilkerson (Joy, Xiuying, Yuan) and Paul Lucas (Lan Di, Chai) will be guests on the Sega Nerds (@SEGANerds) podcast at 9pm CT.
   
• Before that, Play with Friends (@playwfriends) will be streaming for stretch goals, live at 8pm EST.
   
• Throughout the Tweetathon you can join GBR gamebytesradio (@DjRielru) for a Day in Guilin, playing a variety of tunes from Shenmue non-stop.
   
• Shenmue Dojo (@Shenmue_Dojo) invites you to pledge #30onthe3rd. If you've been holding out on your fellow fans, let 30onthe3rd.com raise you by the ankles and shake you down for loose change.
   
• And of course, the Tweetathon wouldn't be the Tweetathon without a simultaneous mass AutoTweet, exploding with publicity for the Shenmue III Kickstarter. Activate your account at TeamYu.net/AutoTweet and be part of something amazing.

Details on the future direction of the Tweetathon will follow after the July 17th deadline for Kickstarter donations, but there can be no doubting that this Friday's event will be the craziest we've ever seen. Don't miss out on a day you'll remember for the next fourteen years.

Who are we going to rely on to promote Shenmue III?

Those stretch goals won't reach themselves:

Team Yu needs YOU to #SaveShenmue!


TeamYu.net/SaveShenmue/Twitter

[agamil]

Great post!

Let's make this the greatest tweetathon in history!

[Team Yu]

The Shenmue III Kickstarter has already increased its funding total to over $4 million during today's thunderous ‪#‎SaveShenmue‬ Tweetathon, thanks in no small part to a wave of announcements from Ys Net about new Kickstarter rewards.

One of the most requested since the launch of the crowdfunding campaign has been a physical copy of the game for PlayStation 4, and now it's a reality. For the same $60 pledge that could bag you a physical PC edition, you will now have the choice of a boxed PS4 version instead.

Also amongst the new rewards are more dinner parties with Yu Suzuki, and the opportunity to put yourself in the game as a tourist or a Chi You Men fighter!

All this and more in the latest updates which you can read here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/updates

Don't forget to tweet your questions for Yu Suzuki using the additional hashtag ‪#‎YouAskYu‬ - he will begin answering at around 7pm PDT.

The #SaveShenmue Tweetathon lasts all day, so get out there to spread the word and be heard on the 3rd - Team Yu needs YOU to promote Shenmue!

[Team Yu]

What can we say about yesterday's #SaveShenmue Tweetathon that isn't still reverberating through the bones of every person who witnessed, embraced and experienced it?

You were out in force like never before, whipping up a frenzy over Shenmue III that left no leaves uncaught, no books unaired, no planks uncrossed, no crates unmoved, no kittens unfed, no sailors unfound and no mechanized forks unlifted!

New rewards were added on Kickstarter, including putting yourself in the game and the highly demanded physical copy for PlayStation 4.

The $4 million mark was leapt with ease, and the intriguing stretch goal for the Baisha Village Infiltration Mission has been unlocked.

Shenmue III is now the second most funded video game in Kickstarter history, closing in on Bloodstained which took the crown only last month. If we can pass $5,545,991, we'll have broken every record laid before us, and with almost two weeks left to attract those donations it's a very achievable goal.

Look at what you've accomplished. Look at what you did when the world and it's dog told you you couldn't. If you'd told people even a month ago, let alone a year, two years, three years ago, that one day Yu Suzuki would be tweeting along with you on the 3rd to #SaveShenmue, and that the hashtag would be on the pages of PlayStation and Sony itself to celebrate its arrival on PS4, they'd have said you were out of your freaking mind. And they did. Over and over again. Often with disturbing glee. But you held firm to your belief in Suzuki and your fellow fans, and now here we are. Breaking records and shattering misconceptions.

No one is more inspired by your efforts than Suzuki-san, who shared insight and laughter in his live Q&A session during Friday's festivities. Siliconera has a recap here: tinyurl.com/YouAskYu

The future of the Tweetathon has been the subject of speculation since the announcement of Shenmue III, and we want to be clear that it will continue in some form. Make no mistake, our primary objective has been accomplished in a big way and we will forever be grateful for that, but there is more to be achieved to fully secure Shenmue's future. What exactly will take priority on the road ahead will be determined after the Kickstarter deadline of July 17th, so please stay tuned for more details between then and August 3rd. In the meantime, we urge you to activate your AutoTweet to ensure you're on the front line wherever you're needed.

Yesterday, you made history. Tomorrow, we'll protect the future. But today, let's continue to #SaveShenmue.

[jameswalker85]

Amazing. Truly amazing. I'm so proud to be a part of this community.

[agamil]

Snap dude

[Team Yu]

Announced on Kickstarter today were two new reward tiers for backers of Shenmue III. Want to call up Nozomi in Canada? How about Ine-san back home, or Joy in Hong Kong? This ability is exclusively yours when you pledge $80 or more. Meanwhile the new $800 tier allows you to find your own name in a Choubu temple, written in Chinese characters and hiding a special Technique Scroll to enhance Ryo's martial arts skills.

Check out the full details in the relevant update here:

kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/1286688

Another update released through Kickstarter today focuses on various components of the fan community, which has been instrumental in transforming Shenmue III from a wistful pipe dream into a living, breathing reality. From Shenmue 500K to Shenmue Dojo and beyond, all types of fan are catered for across different corners of the Internet, yet united in our efforts to #SaveShenmue.

kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/1286474

Which brings us to the attached picture from the update.

Want to know what's in that very book, presented to Yu Suzuki before Shenmue III was announced?

You are.

Suzuki-san's holding a specially printed and bound volume of your tweets from one of the monthly #SaveShenmue Tweetathons. It was the clearest way we could think of to illustrate the meaning and the power of this social media pilgrimage every 3rd, demonstrating the passion and devotion of fans worldwide to his unfinished work.

So your words of encouragement and determination in 140 characters or less, and your vibrant artwork, and your thunderous use of that hashtag, are now sitting in Yu Suzuki's bookcase.

Perhaps in pride of place beside the Ultimate Hamtaro Manga Compendium.

Thank you once again for your relentless support throughout the campaign, which faces new challenges when the Kickstarter concludes. The next #SaveShenmue Tweetathon is set in stone for August 3rd, on which we will have more details after July 17th. Until then, take a closer look at those new reward tiers and keep pushing towards those stretch goals.

Team Yu needs YOU... you know the rest.

bit.ly/saveshenmue
TeamYu.net/AutoTweet

[agamil]

This

is

HUGE!!!

WOW!!  What a GREAT idea!!!  I love it!  I thought it was a card that he made or something.  But this is even better!  The first question that comes to mind is... am I in it? 

Would actually love to see a copy of this book.  Even as a soft copy.

Once again.  Just makes me so proud to be part of the community.  We did it.  Together.  It's a piece of history

[jameswalker85]

That is so awesome. A PDF version for us to see would be sweet, just so we can see which of our tweets made it.

[James]

I kind of think it's better left a mystery. Like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, if people don't know exactly who's in there then it equally represents everybody who ever could have been.

[xiuying hong is brill]

^This is really cool.

Perhaps in pride of place beside the Ultimate Hamtaro Manga Compendium.

 

[agamil]

I kind of think it's better left a mystery. Like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, if people don't know exactly who's in there then it equally represents everybody who ever could have been.

Can't argue with that

[jameswalker85]

I kind of think it's better left a mystery. Like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, if people don't know exactly who's in there then it equally represents everybody who ever could have been.

I see your point. Fair enough.