[Team Yu]

Amidst all the talk of a New Year, don't forget that this Sunday is also the third day of a new month. And that can only mean one thing!

The first #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon of 2016 will continue the pressure on Sega to make the first two games available on modern formats, ideally in time for Shenmue 3's scheduled release next year.

It's also an opportunity to remind your fellow fans and potential converts that Shenmue 3's PayPal crowdfunding campaign has been extended beyond its original December 31st deadline, so they can still pre-order the game and grab Slacker Backer rewards at shenmue.link/order (or shenmue.link/order_jp for Japanese speakers).

In response to this extension, the Winning Can Raffle also remains in play, allowing new backers to win ultra rare Shenmue prizes at TeamYu.net/raffle - share the news with the click of a button!

Let's make this Sunday's Tweetathon a statement of intent for the year ahead. The confirmation of Shenmue 3 six months ago makes re-releases of Shenmue 1 & 2 all the more urgent, meaning Sega will not hear the last of this fanbase until the founding chapters of the series have been aired like the books at the Man Mo Temple.

Now's not the time to stumble. Spread the word and be heard on the 3rd - Team Yu needs YOU to restore 1 & 2!

[Team Yu]

A big, big thank you to everybody who took part in yesterday's #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon! Seeing so many fans, who already know Shenmue and Shenmue 2 inside out, continuing to fight hard to let other players enjoy them is food for the soul.

The monthly Tweetathon hasn't yet reached the levels of pre-E3 participation, when the explicit goal was to enable Shenmue 3. But if ongoing campaigners succeed in enabling a conclusion to the series by growing the fanbase with re-releases of 1 & 2, then we're sure those currently resting on their laurels will be only too happy to reap the rewards when Shenmue 4 is confirmed.

We bring this up because the same applies to the recent poll for Kickstarter backers, asking whether PayPal backers should be entitled to equal treatment with the same rewards on offer. Despite the majority of respondants with an opinion voting Yes, the minority No vote was still large enough to make the crowdfunding organizers think twice about implementing the proposed change.

This discouraging outcome follows just days after the accomplishment of a new stretch goal by PayPal backers, from which Kickstarter backers will also benefit with the same new features added to the game for all. We doubt there'll be many who backed through Kickstarter requesting that only their PayPal counterparts be allowed to enjoy what comes from this and all future stretch goals. These heights were reached together, by all backers collectively, regardless of payment platform. But because some consider themselves more entitled than others, those who contributed equally will not be rewarded equally.

That's not what we find the most disappointing, however. It can be argued that people who have backed through PayPal have done so with their eyes open, aware of the rewards they will and won't be receiving. It's unfortunate that they've missed out on certain rewards through what may have been no fault of their own, but they've made their choice to donate anyway. What concerns us the most is how much higher their donations might be if the missing reward options were available to them. With the Slacker Backer period recently extended, there was a real opportunity here to maximize its earning potential going forward, by enticing new backers to spring for the $80 World Telecom reward instead of settling for just the $60 physical copy, for example. But being able to look at these fellow supporters - fans willing to pay just as much towards Shenmue 3's development - and say "I've got something you haven't" is apparently more important to some than attracting higher donations and making the game better for themselves as well as everyone else.

Still, if we haven't already (okay, we have), we don't want to dwell on this here. With few exceptions, we expect that anybody following this site and taking part in Tweetathons will be the kind of fan who'll have been in the majority voting Yes for the good of the game, and we're proud of each and every one of you who represents what we feel is the true spirit of Shenmue with that approach. We hope that you'll continue to set your positive example in the next #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon scheduled for February 3rd, for which you can already load an automatic tweet in advance at TeamYu.net/HD. Yesterday was a blast and if the event continues to grow towards previous levels, the future of Shenmue will be assured for ALL fans. Imagine that.

[agamil]

I voted yes in the poll and was shocked by the no vote. Don't mean to start a debate.