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[ZettaiSeigi]

My god, the last few pages of this thread is... something else. What's so difficult to understand about the Kickstarter initiative? This is a serious question, believe it or not.

Publishers/devs need to know that it's worth their time and investment to fund a niche game. They're a business and have stockholders to answer to.

I suppose the people who have issues against this are those who are forgetting an important thing: that Shenmue is a niche game.

I'd really worry about this if Activision uses Kickstarter to fund the next Call of Duty game. But Shenmue does not have the selling power of CoD. If KS is the only way for the next Shenmue game to be made, then so be it. Let the fans who clamored for it for years prove their words and participate in its development.

 

[params7]

Of course Sony was going to fund it if it crossed Kickstarter. You can't create the entire game in 2 million.

Sony has set a very negative precedent though.

 

[ForsakenLotus]

They should have just come out and said this on the show floor. The important thing is we're finally getting Shenmue 3, and if it needs kickstarter funding to happen, so be it.

It's really scummy for sony to outright DENY involvement on the showfloor and then flip-flop as soon as the game hits its funding goals.

Not that bothered tbh, but slightly.

We live in a strange world called the present where we know Shenmue crushed its Kickstarter goals. When Sony an Yu talked about making Shenmue 3, they probably didn't know what the reception would be like. Sure, they knew there was a hardcore cult following, but I doubt they thought people would spend hundreds of dollars on a niche game from 14 years ago. If Sony had announced Shenmue 3 and said they are fully funding it, they ran the risk of the game doing what the first two did, tanking and being a huge money pit. If they announced they were working with Yu to help fund the game alongside the Kickstarter, then they run the risk of Shenmue 3 possibly not meeting it's Kickstarter goals and either pay for a game that didn't meet a very modest Kickstarter goal or cancel the game.

None of those options are very good. What Sony did was smart. It's like telling your girlfriend/wife her butt doesn't look big - it's a lie, but one with good intentions and that, most importantly, doesn't hurt anyone.

Shenmue 3 is happening guys. Let's just be excited?

 

[Sean*O]

What's the problem? They wanted to measure real interest by letting the fans who have been requesting it for years put their money where their mouth is.

Also possible the amount of money that Sony budgets could be relative to how much the fans contribute on KS. The more real interest (money) the fans show the more likely Sony may be to up the budget anticipating a strong return on investment.

 

[vcc]

Holy shit at this thread.

People feeling deceived or whatever because a corporation told a white lie. lol
The game is coming out, some people are already paying to get it, this is really the case where everyone should be happy, although I'm guessing most of the people concerned with the "sanctity" of Sony's act won't even be getting the game.

The amount of negativity aimed towards Sony really surprises me, not only in this thread, but what I learned from GAF is that their entire conference was a way for them to hide the fact that they "don't have any games coming out this Fall". lol

Having the ability of critical thinking doesn't mean you have to be negative about everything, but sometimes i feel people on the Internet force themselves to feel that way and nitpick something absurdily because being negative gives you the upper hand in discussions, puts you above the situation or whatever.

It's the standard KS stuff. Some folks get real sour that their 300k can't make WoW or that inexperience developer #999901 is being overlooked because Bloodstained exists. Even though KS says the donation volume to all projects increase when big Publisher backs KS's occur. It's a weird tangle of entitlement, miss placed paranoia and lack of perspective that create negativity even though something lots of people loved is not on track to be made.

 

[leroidys]

My god, the last few pages of this thread is... something else. What's so difficult to understand about the Kickstarter initiative? This is a serious question, believe it or not.

Publishers/devs need to know that it's worth their time and investment to fund a niche game. They're a business and have stockholders to answer to.

I suppose the people who have issues against this are those who are forgetting an important thing: that Shenmue is a niche game.

I'd really worry about this if Activision uses Kickstarter to fund the next Call of Duty game. But Shenmue does not have the selling power of CoD. If KS is the only way for the next Shenmue game to be made, then so be it. Let the fans who clamored for it for years prove their words and participate in its development.

I agree. I would actually prefer that MORE corporations did this. Being more responsive to your customers is not a bad thing.

My issue was with the dishonest way Sony went about it.

Whatever though. I'm just glad we're getting Shenmue 3. That's the bottom line here.

Spoiler

As long as it doesn't fall into TLG development hell.

They have nothing to do with game in acutally developing the game they are just giving support.

That's not how development works. They're not going to be writing blank checks.

 

[prwxv3]

In retrospect, Adam's little spiel about this being completely their thing and having nothing to do with it feels a bit disingenuous.

They have nothing to do with game in acutally developing the game they are just giving support.

 

[staticneuron]

Of course Sony was going to fund it if it crossed Kickstarter. You can't create the entire game in 2 million.

Sony has set a very negative precedent though.

This really isn't Sony's starting this. It has been happening for a while if people paid attention to titles funded through kickstarter. Alot of them have extremely low goals that were obviously used to gauge interest. Companies like doublefine, obsidian and others have been using KS the same way. SE has been sending multiple emails about games on Kickstarter that needed to be funded which brings to mind those projects were used to gauge interest and the emails were used to gain awareness. I imagine if a company assist with gaining awareness and the project fails to meet its goal it will never get funded from that company.

 

[GutZ31]

In retrospect, Adam's little spiel about this being completely their thing and having nothing to do with it feels a bit disingenuous.

And technically they didn't, until a funding goal was reached.
They never fully backed them, or put Sony exclusive on it.
This could have been a much bigger thing, but at worst, it was a white lie.

The fact that they even came out and said they are supporting them financially shows they want people to know its being taken seriously.

 

[Jabba]

Yeah you only spend your money if the project gets funded. But I just don't understand why Sony couldn't have just funded the project entirely by themselves because the $2m won't make a dent in that game's budget. For the record, I have the same issues with Bloodstained and I'm worried that this sort of thing is becoming a trend. I'd rather these publishers/developers open the game for preorder before development because that way you can cancel at any time and you get your money back if the project fails. My main issue is that why is Sony forcing Shenmue fans to become investors into the game when the money received from the kickstarter is hardly enough to make a dent in the development costs of the games. It seems really unnecessary to me.

I'm ecstatic it's getting made. That said.

Whatever indicators Sony have, probably told them, it's a high risk project and we're pretty damn sure we'll make zilch. Would you really risk 2 million dollars based on Shenmue's financial history? Really ask yourself this. You'd be willing to put up all 2 million and then more, based on the above and "I'll buy it" hear say on the internet?

It seems you want to spend Sony's money how you see fit. Do you know why possibly? There's no risk to you, that's why. Put yourself into any corporations shoes here. Four bigtime corporations have not funded Shenmue 3. Sega, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. In this situation, there's no way you'd piss away 2 million, that's just unrealistic.

Sega and Microsoft, have actually invested millions in the franchise. Both companies knew the story wans't done and Suzuki wanted to more games in the franchise. Microsoft and Nintendo have a ton of cash, money to burn. Sega/Sony doesn't have Microsoft cash but they could have funded it. Yu may have tried private investment. Still didn't happen.

I backed PCars and will back Shenmue when my money is straight. It'd be a lie if I said, there was no feelings of risk for PCars when I put $100 in. It wasn't that it wasn't affordable, you just worry about what could go wrong, and all the while, you just want the game more than anything. Take those 4 corps and ask yourself why none why none funded Shenmue 3. You're not being fair as to how much risk is there.

Would you fund a sequel to the Order 1886 after what happened to it commercially or would you find other ways to gauge interest and minimize the risk?

 

[Disgraced]

Is it a white lie if millions of dollars are involved?

 

[Ishida]

Shenmue III is actually happening and people find new ways to bitch, like about how it is being funded.

The Last Guardian gets a release window and people bitch that it "looks like a PS3 game"

Final Fantasy VII remake gets announced and people are bitching that "it may deviate from the original story" and going through massive slippery slopes.

Simply incredible.

I can't wait for Half-Life 3 to be announced and see in which ways people will complain.

 

[leroidys]

This really isn't Sony's starting this. It has been happening for a while if people paid attention to titles funded through kickstarter. Alot of them have extremely low goals that were obviously used to gauge interest. Companies like doublefine, obsidian and others have been using KS the same way. SE has been sending multiple emails about games on Kickstarter that needed to be funded which brings to mind those projects were used to gauge interest and the emails were used to gain awareness. I imagine if a company assist with gaining awareness and the project fails to meet its goal it will never get funded from that company.

And technically they didn't, until a funding goal was reached.
They never fully backed them, or put Sony exclusive on it.
This could have been a much bigger thing, but at worst, it was a white lie.

The fact that they even came out and said they are supporting them financially shows they want people to know its being taken seriously.

Huh? Sony obviously made a deal with Yu Suzuki/Ys before today, conditional or not. Your rhetoric isn't very convincing here.

Shenmue III is actually happening and people find new ways to bitch, like about how it is being funded.

The Last Guardian gets a release window and people bitch that it "looks like a PS3 game"

Final Fantasy VII remake gets announced and people are bitching that "it may deviate from the original story" and going through massive slippery slopes.

Simply incredible.

I can't wait for Half-Life 3 to be announced and see in which ways people will complain.

Hey, I (almost) totally agree with you. "Entitled gamers" is a real and obnoxious phenomenon. The conversation in here is (like usual) "YER EITHER WITH US OR AGIN US" though. One can be excited for Shenmue 3 and thankful to Sony for funding it whilst having legitimate concerns about the way this was conducted.

 

[Gamespawn]

How much good will do you guys think Sony just got with this announcement? Even if the game sucks, gamers will remember Sony got it done when no one else would. I bet someone that hated them in the past is at Walmart right now buying a console plus a few games because of this.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

How much good will do you guys think Sony just got with this announcement? Even if the game sucks, gamers will remember Sony got it done when no one else would. I bet someone that hated them in the past is at Walmart right now buying a console plus a few games because of this.

They've got the good will of Shenmue fans forever. That's a small but loyal group, so that's worth something. The good will and word of mouth will be important.

 

[CDX]

This seemed somewhat obvious. A Shenmue game for only 2 million dollars? With the PS4 being the only console version listed on Kickstarter. C'mon with such low budget dollars and only PS4 listed everyone had to at least suspect some kind of arrangement with Sony.


But anyways. THANKS for the PC version Sony!

Personally I think if Sony just funded this outright without the Kickstarter I doubt we would've got the PC version. So I'm actually very happy things happened the way they did.

Hope Shenmue 1 & 2 HD remasters are on both PC & PS4 too.




But to everyone upset about Sony using Kickstarter this way. All I can say is, Sega left Shenmue for dead for well over a decade and now we are actually getting Shenmue III presumably with a proper budget thanks to Sony. And a PC version too! I can only be happy about that.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Shenmue III is actually happening and people find new ways to bitch, like about how it is being funded.

The Last Guardian gets a release window and people bitch that it "looks like a PS3 game"

Final Fantasy VII remake gets announced and people are bitching that "it may deviate from the original story" and going through massive slippery slopes.

Simply incredible.

I can't wait for Half-Life 3 to be announced and see in which ways people will complain.

Just ignore the whiners. It's probably not even Shenmue fans that are complaining - I highly doubt Shenmue fans care at all...

Honestly, Sony could kick me in the nuts and then punch me in the face and I'd still happily throw money at them all day long.

 

[Trojan X]

This seemed somewhat obvious. A Shenmue game for only 2 million dollars? With the PS4 being the only console version listed on Kickstarter. C'mon with such low budget dollars and only PS4 listed everyone had to at least suspect some kind of arrangement with Sony.


But anyways. THANKS for the PC version Sony!

Personally I think if Sony just funded this outright without the Kickstarter I doubt we would've got the PC version. So I'm actually very happy things happened the way they did.

Hope Shenmue 1 & 2 HD remasters are on both PC & PS4 too.


But to everyone upset about Sony using Kickstarter this way. All I can say is, Sega left Shenmue for dead for well over a decade and now we are actually getting Shenmue III presumably with a proper budget thanks to Sony. And a PC version too! I can only be happy about that.

Exactly.

Now, let me stress out that point. Thinking about it, people. A a PC version of Shenmue? A PC VERSION of SHENMUE!? That:s OVERCLOCK 4K GAMING BABY!!! Fantastic!

We really should be thankful for Sony to allow this, really!

 

[Dabanton]

It was pretty obvious Sony had something to do with the game in the background. Hence it only being announced for PS4 and PC. It was very shady of Boyes to basically lie on stage though.

The game still would have had goodwill from gamers if Sony said they'd be helping from the outset.

 

[Littlefang]

My god, the last few pages of this thread is... something else. What's so difficult to understand about the Kickstarter initiative? This is a serious question, believe it or not.

Publishers/devs need to know that it's worth their time and investment to fund a niche game. They're a business and have stockholders to answer to.

I suppose the people who have issues against this are those who are forgetting an important thing: that Shenmue is a niche game.

I'd really worry about this if Activision uses Kickstarter to fund the next Call of Duty game. But Shenmue does not have the selling power of CoD. If KS is the only way for the next Shenmue game to be made, then so be it. Let the fans who clamored for it for years prove their words and participate in its development.

I mean the problem isn't Activision putting CoD on kickstarter since obviously that would never happen, but Activision really shouldn't use kickstarter to fund anything because they have the resources to fund their own games. Because honestly where does it stop? EA using kickstarter to fund the next Spore? Fuck it maybe Sony'll choose to fund a new Deadly Premonition game but only if it makes 10 million on kickstarter first. I mean obviously I'm overreacting but this is clearly just the beginning to something.

They have nothing to do with game in acutally developing the game they are just giving support.

It kind of says in the title of the thread that they are helping with the development.

But the real question is why wasn't Sony upfront with their involvement when they announced it?

 

[Felessan]

I guess I would just rather the trend be to open up pre-orders before development rather than using Kickstarter to fund every game within existence. I mean I know I'm probably overreacting to this becoming commonplace, but first Bloodstained and now Shenmue indicates that this kind of thing is becoming a trend that I think has the potential to really hurt the consumer.

How it is hurting consumer? It's a thing for everyone's benefit:
- Consumers get their copy cheap and feel involved
- Developers get some extra money upfront to fund their game
- Publishers get to know the real interest (with real money commitment) about particular franchise
The only downside there is that consumer ego about "it's our and only our game" might be hurt.

I don't think kickstarter should be used as a tool to eliminate all the risk for developers and publishers when they make a game. I just don't understand how this is good in the long term.

KS does not eliminate risks for publishers in any way, only reduce them, as it's not given that gauged on KS interest will translate into real world interest and release game will sell tens/hundreds times the KS numbers (which will be required to cover extra funding/marketing cost).

 

[vcc]

Think about it, a PC version of Shenmue? A PC version of SHENMUE!? OVERCLOCK 4K GAMING BABY!!!

mmmmm 4k forklifts.

 

[photogaz]

It's a game lots of people want. I have no problems with the way it's been handled. Thinking of it as pledging to Yu Susuki and the game rather than Sony. Just enjoy the fact it's now happening.

 

[Two Words]

If this bothers you, why not just cancel your pledge?

 

[Trojan X]

mmmmm 4k forklifts.

lol. That's Shenmue 1, my friend.

 

[hateradio]

I wonder if this means there will be a Shenmue IV on the PS4.

 

[Spoo]

If this bothers you, why not just cancel your pledge?

This.

I can't be the only one who thought this was the case as soon as I saw the words "Shenmue III" on Sony's stage. Like, just out of the goodness of their hearts, Sony is gonna dedicate 10 minutes for someone elses Kickstarter? A Kickstarter only asking for 2 million for a sequel to a game that cost at least tens time that to make? Seemed obvious.

That said, it's still a Kickstarter. People get to make their informed decision right now about it -- you can cancel your pledge, and the only bad thing that will happen is the gaming community at large will consider you an enemy of the state. (Jk, but seriously, it's Shenmue III, don't cancel your pledge )

 

[wachie]

They should have just come out and said this on the show floor. The important thing is we're finally getting Shenmue 3, and if it needs kickstarter funding to happen, so be it.

It's really scummy for sony to outright DENY involvement on the showfloor and then flip-flop as soon as the game hits its funding goals.

Not that bothered tbh, but slightly.

Elaborate please? I remember Boyes saying something to the effect that they wanted to get involved and couldnt let this opportunity pass by.

 

[Littlefang]

How it is hurting consumer? It's a thing for everyone's benefit:
- Consumers get their copy cheap and feel involved
- Developers get some extra money upfront to fund their game
- Publishers get to know the real interest (with real money commitment) about particular franchise
The only downside there is that consumer ego about "it's our and only our game" might be hurt.

The main issue I have with the whole thing is that consumers are not guaranteed to get the end product. What happens if Sony and the Shenmue development team have a falling out and Sony decides to pull out of the project? These things can't be predicted.

 

[vcc]

This.

I can't be the only one who thought this was the case as soon as I saw the words "Shenmue III" on Sony's stage. Like, just out of the goodness of their hearts, Sony is gonna dedicate 10 minutes for someone elses Kickstarter? A Kickstarter only asking for 2 million for a sequel to a game that cost at least tens time that to make? Seemed obvious.

That said, it's still a Kickstarter. People get to make their informed decision right now about it -- you can cancel your pledge, and the only bad thing that will happen is the gaming community at large will consider you an enemy of the state. (Jk, but seriously, it's Shenmue III, don't cancel your pledge )

Or think about it as Sony kicking in 20m to your KS.

 

[KOMANI]

Shenmue III is actually happening and people find new ways to bitch, like about how it is being funded.

The Last Guardian gets a release window and people bitch that it "looks like a PS3 game"

Final Fantasy VII remake gets announced and people are bitching that "it may deviate from the original story" and going through massive slippery slopes.

Simply incredible.

I can't wait for Half-Life 3 to be announced and see in which ways people will complain.

Exactly dude, I can't understand why gamers can't be happy for other gamers.

 

[Freshmaker]

What's the problem? Early fans get the game for cheaper and feel like they supported it's development.

It's like a pre order with no actual defined product. People should think of it like a season pass.

 

[kuroshiki]

But the real question is why wasn't Sony upfront with their involvement when they announced it?

Why the fuck do you CARE.

Sony financially backing 14 year dead franchise that NO one, even parent company Sega, was willing to pick and they wanted to test the market with kickstarter - aka, put your money where your mouth is -, and game is finally being made.

For PS4

and PC

Sony didn't have to back shenmue 3. Sony didn't even have to put yu suzuki on their prime conference call time. Hell Sony could just outright say FUCK YOU YU SUZUKI YOU FROM SEGA WE HATE YOU LOL

But they listened to their fans, they ACTUALLY looked at the request of the fans and noticed Shenmue 3 in the high list of games that gamers want.

So they contacted Yu, decided the plan, and if there is viable market for this, let's do it.

AND YOU FUCKING COMPLAIN ABOUT WHY SONY ON THE STAGE DIDN'T SAY 'OH BTW WE ARE SUPPORTING THIS YO LOL BUT HEY IF YOU REALLY CARE WHY NOT DONATE THE MONEY'

You can't be serious.

 

[vcc]

The main issue I have with the whole thing is that consumers are not guaranteed to get the end product. What happens if Sony and the Shenmue development team have a falling out and Sony decides to pull out of the project? These things can't be predicted.

There is every chance that any KS fails. That's the risk of the donation.

The only guarantee in life is that one day you will die. So that means everything we ever do is worthless right?

 

[Shaneus]

You can't be serious.

Yes, they can be. Because people are bitter about it not getting on their chosen console, or Sony chose the wrong franchise to bring back... or something.

 

[alexandros]

Using Kickstarter as a means of gauging gamers' interest in a title has been going on for quite a while. It's not an ideal situation, given that the service's point is to help people who have no other means of funding, but I honestly can't complain since we end up getting more games. I do have to wonder though, don't these companies have an army of PR, marketing and market reasearch people? Do they really need to resort to a Kickstarter?

 

[Disgraced]

Exactly dude, I can't understand why gamers can't be happy for other gamers.

It's not entirely that I don't think. I for one am just becoming a little concerned that Sony may have established a bad precedent.

There is every chance that any KS fails. That's the risk of the donation.

Sure, there's a chance of any KS failing. But you know what, I bet you there's also a pretty high chance of success with a corporation backing it before it launches.

 

[leroidys]

Elaborate please? I remember Boyes saying something to the effect that they wanted to get involved and couldnt let this opportunity pass by.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDS2SYm5-hg

"Devoted fans have funded some amazing games for PS4 via kickstarter, Octodad, Broken Age, Amplitude, and Sportsfriends to name a few. Now recently, a developer told us that they're bringing back a fan favorite to kickstarter for PC and PS4. Now this is very much their project, but we wanted to celebrate their announcement on our stage, as this is a game that playstation fans have been very, very, very vocal about."

 

[kuroshiki]

Using Kickstarter as a means of gauging gamers' interest in a title has been going on for quite a while. It's not an ideal situation, given that the service's point is to help people who have no other means of funding, but I honestly can't complain since we end up getting more games. I do have to wonder though, don't these companies have an army of PR, marketing and market reasearch people? Do they really need to resort to a Kickstarter?

army of PR, marketing, market research people are not FREE. They require MONEY. TONS OF MONEY.

Why the hell sony should spend their own money, which could be spend on actual game development, on research like this? When kickstarter can actually show valuable data - that # of ppl are actually willing to pay MONEY for it - and give developer funding they need at the same time?

 

[SomewhatGroovy]

Shenmue III is actually happening and people find new ways to bitch, like about how it is being funded.

The Last Guardian gets a release window and people bitch that it "looks like a PS3 game"

Final Fantasy VII remake gets announced and people are bitching that "it may deviate from the original story" and going through massive slippery slopes.

Simply incredible.

I can't wait for Half-Life 3 to be announced and see in which ways people will complain.

You have a game. Its fans have been begging for it for, what, 14 years. You say okay, to do this, you, you and you, we need your money. You? We dont need yours, even if you were as passsionate about seeing the series return as the rest of them. Why? Because we made a deal with a single publisher who , by the way, dont give a shit about whether this game returns unless you own their console and pony up the cash up front to ensure they get a return.

It is hilarious to me that Sony are being held up as heroes of the hardcore gaming community or, better yet, champions of the hardcore Shenmue fans. This is just good old fashioned dirty business. As usual.

Me? I'm no longer a diehard shenmue fan per this community because i wont play ball, pay for a ps4, and turn around and hand money over to reward shady behind the curtain deals

 

[Felessan]

The main issue I have with the whole thing is that consumers are not guaranteed to get the end product. What happens if Sony and the Shenmue development team have a falling out and Sony decides to pull out of the project? These things can't be predicted.

What the difference with any other KS project? Will you be happier if KS project fails and this project have no publisher involvement?
Actually chances that publisher backed project will fail are lower that those of independent project as publisher might provide additional funds in case of something goes wrong.

For some reason I think that you are trying to compare publisher backed KS project to fully funded publisher project and not just any other KS project. And it was pretty clear stated that franchise is not strong enough (from commercial perspective, not emotional one) to be in fully funded category. Publishers (Sony included) have no problem with funding projects if they feel that it's viable and profitable.

 

[vcc]

It's not entirely that I don't think. I for one am just becoming a little concerned that Sony may have established a bad precedent.Sure, there's a chance of any KS failing. But you know what, I bet you there's also a pretty high chance of success with a corporation backing it before it launches.

Sony didn't establish it, Deep silver did it as well. Also many successful KS indies have signed onto publishers.

There really isn't any significant meaning except we're getting shenmue 3. probably.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Why the fuck do you CARE.

Sony financially backing 14 year dead franchise that NO one, even parent company Sega, was willing to pick and they wanted to test the market with kickstarter - aka, put your money where your mouth is -, and game is finally being made.

For PS4

and PC

Sony didn't have to back shenmue 3. Sony didn't even have to put yu suzuki on their prime conference call time. Hell Sony could just outright say FUCK YOU YU SUZUKI YOU FROM SEGA WE HATE YOU LOL

But they listened to their fans, they ACTUALLY looked at the request of the fans and noticed Shenmue 3 in the high list of games that gamers want.

So they contacted Yu, decided the plan, and if there is viable market for this, let's do it.

AND YOU FUCKING COMPLAIN ABOUT WHY SONY ON THE STAGE DIDN'T SAY 'OH BTW WE ARE SUPPORTING THIS YO LOL BUT HEY IF YOU REALLY CARE WHY NOT DONATE THE MONEY'

You can't be serious.

Good guy Phil would be harrowed as a genius if it was the other way around buy most negatives in here.

And the the negatives would probability be bitter fans of the other console. So in essence, nothing would change with this thread. I wager the KS would have taken much longer though.

 

[wachie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDS2SYm5-hg

"Devoted fans have funded some amazing games for PS4 via kickstarter, Octodad, Broken Age, Amplitude, and Sportsfriends to name a few. Now recently, a developer told us that they're bringing back a fan favorite to kickstarter for PC and PS4. Now this is very much their project, but we wanted to celebrate their announcement on our stage, as this is a game that playstation fans have been very, very, very vocal about."

So by "their project" you mean Sony had zero involvement? Ok.

So if you want believe that and ignore the part where he said "the developer is bringing it to kickstarter"?

Hypocritical.

 

[vcc]

So the Kickstarter is basically a preorder, uhu?

Did you think it was ever anything else? It's a way for people to get something made which interests them which otherwise wouldn't have been made.

 

[kuroshiki]

Good guy Phil would be harrowed as a genius if it was the other way around buy most negatives in here.

And the the negatives would probability be bitter fans of the other console. So in essence, nothing would change with this thread. I wager the KS would have taken much longer though.

Even MS abandoned shenmue for 14 years. They could have picked up Shenmue 3 during their 360 era when they spent endless money into japanese developers.

And now sony picked it up after looking at the request of gamers. Sony deserve credit here.

 

[ZettaiSeigi]

I mean the problem isn't Activision putting CoD on kickstarter since obviously that would never happen, but Activision really shouldn't use kickstarter to fund anything because they have the resources to fund their own games. Because honestly where does it stop? EA using kickstarter to fund the next Spore? Fuck it maybe Sony'll choose to fund a new Deadly Premonition game but only if it makes 10 million on kickstarter first. I mean obviously I'm overreacting but this is clearly just the beginning to something.

You said it yourself. A kickstarter for a game that sells as much as CoD would never happen. So why worry that it will set an unstoppable precedent?

The only way for Shenmue to be made is through Kickstarter, with its fans backing it in order to prove a publisher (Sony) that there is an audience for it. Shenmue III would have been made years ago if it made money for the publisher/devs, but they obviously didn't, which brings us to where we are now. SEGA had no intentions of making the game. Fans saw an opportunity with Sony's Third Party Relations' "Building The List" campaign, and for some amazing reason, it worked.

The Kickstarter has been funded, the game will be made, and those who wanted the game are happy. If you're not a fan and don't like it, ignore it and stop overreacting (as you say so yourself). They're not forcing you to donate. If for some reason the game fails to be made, you lose nothing. The fans who participated in the Kickstarter knew the risk when they pledged. At least they had a chance to do something about it than not at all.

 

[vcc]

You have a game. Its fans have been begging for it for, what, 14 years. You say okay, to do this, you, you and you, we need your money. You? We dont need yours, even if you were as passsionate about seeing the series return as the rest of them. Why? Because we made a deal with a single publisher who , by the way, dont give a shit about whether this game returns unless you own their console and pony up the cash up front to ensure they get a return.

It is hilarious to me that Sony are being held up as heroes of the hardcore gaming community or, better yet, champions of the hardcore Shenmue fans. This is just good old fashioned dirty business. As usual.

Me? I'm no longer a diehard shenmue fan per this community because i wont play ball, pay for a ps4, and turn around and hand money over to reward shady behind the curtain deals

So your feeling are hurt that your funds alone couldn't make the game? I mean seriously? You know there is a PC version coming? Man.

 

[alexandros]

army of PR, marketing, market research people are not FREE. They require MONEY. TONS OF MONEY.

Why the hell sony should spend their own money, which could be spend on actual game development, on research like this? When kickstarter can actually show valuable data - that # of ppl are actually willing to pay MONEY for it - and give developer funding they need at the same time?

I'm sorry but this is completely and utterly unacceptable. Instead of Sony taking the risk you want to pass on that risk to the gamers?

 

[leroidys]

So by "their project" you mean Sony had zero involvement? Ok.

So if you want believe that and ignore the part where he said "the developer is bringing it to kickstarter"?

Hypocritical.

Can you go into more detail? I don't understand what you're trying to say in this post.