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[Elios83]

There are still 27 days left. We gotta believe that $10 million is achievable. Keep spreading the word and keep Shenmue 3 in people's minds.

Ummm without Sony helping it's impossible to reach 10m.
But if the Kickstarter ends at 6-7 millions I don't see Sony not wanting to pour in an other 3-4 millions on their own to make a much better product. They invest a lot in tons of things, with that money they usuually buy exclusive DLCs, here we're talking about SHENMUE 3.

 

[Sesha]

After the SteamSpy thread that highlighted the importance of Chinese and Russian translations on Steam sales, I think they should try getting Russian and Chinese subs as stretch goals. It might help push the Kickstarter a little bit, or at least help push the sales a little bit once the game is out.

You know, I was never interested in Shenmue, other than recognizing the series impact, its cult status, how much of a shame it was that the series never finished and the series stopped at two. But I've decided I will back this. Shenmue fans are really lucky they are getting a proper follow-up in the same genre, with the same style, by the series' original creator, with as many of the original team members as possible. And I want them to have the sequel they want and deserve. I know a little of how it feels to languish over certain franchises. I've been dreaming of Suikoden 6, Shadow Hearts 4, Breath of Fire 6, DMC 5 and Alundra 3 for so long. If DMC5 was announced I would want it to be the best game it could possibly be, and I wish for Shenmue fans to have that. You have my axe.

 

[Spaghetti]

After the SteamSpy thread that highlighted the importance of Chinese and Russian translations on Steam sales, I think they should try getting Russian and Chinese subs as stretch goals. It might help push the Kickstarter a little bit, or at least help push the sales a little bit once the game is out.

You know, I was never interested in Shenmue, other than recognizing the series impact, its cult status, how much of a shame it was that the series never finished and the series stopped at two. But I've decided I will back this. Shenmue fans are really lucky they are getting a proper follow-up in the same genre, with the same style, by the series' original creator, with as many of the original team members as possible. And I want them to have the sequel they want and deserve. I know a little of how it feels to languish over certain franchises. I've been dreaming of Suikoden 6, Shadow Hearts 4, Breath of Fire 6, DMC 5 and Alundra 3 for so long. If DMC5 was announced I would want it to be the best game it could possibly be, and I wish for Shenmue fans to have that. You have my axe.

good people award goes to you

 

[Zerojul]

You know, I was never interested in Shenmue, other than recognizing the series impact, its cult status, how much of a shame it was that the series never finished and the series stopped at two. But I've decided I will back this. Shenmue fans are really lucky they are getting a proper follow-up in the same genre, with the same style, by the series' original creator, with as many of the original team members as possible. And I want them to have the sequel they want and deserve. I know a little of how it feels to languish over certain franchises. I've been dreaming of Suikoden 6, Shadow Hearts 4, Breath of Fire 6, DMC 5 and Alundra 3 for so long. If DMC5 was announced I would want it to be the best game it could possibly be, and I wish for Shenmue fans to have that. You have my axe.

You're awesome and you have great taste in games. Thank you.

 

[stn]

I'm kind of pissed. I was under the impression that Sony was providing funding; in fact, I saw videos on Youtube of Gio Corsi, among others, making this statement. So they lied? What's the deal? I dislike shady PR tactics.

Is this correct or have I misinterpreted something?

 

[Spaghetti]

I'm kind of pissed. I was under the impression that Sony was providing funding; in fact, I saw videos on Youtube of Gio Corsi, among others, making this statement. So they lied? What's the deal? I dislike shady PR tactics.

Is this correct or have I misinterpreted something?

sony never said they're fully funding anything

they're providing additional funds after the kickstarter ends, but it will be a figure below the $2 million kickstarter goal.

 

[AliasGreed]

In for the $300 tier. Want the art book and Yu autograph.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

I'd really love to back this but the shady nature of the funding/kickstarter has put me off of it entirely.

Yeah I understand that. I've only backed 2 projects, Shenmue 3 and Amplitude.

Both are coming from experienced teams that I trust and have some level of backing from Sony. If something goes completely wrong and either project gets in trouble, then there's some level assurance that Sony will step in to help out.

There have been other games on Kickstarter that I like the look of and will buy once they're available. But I wont actually back them ahead of time unless I'm really invested. So far those have been the only two games I wanted to see become a reality badly enough to pay up front. $29 is a small price to pay to help make a legendary game like this a reality.

 

[Loudninja]

sony never said they're fully funding anything

they're providing additional funds after the kickstarter ends, but it will be a figure below the $2 million kickstarter goal.

Nah you cant keep saying this when they have not decided how much they will give.

 

[Krejlooc]

Nah you cant keep saying this when they have not decided how much they will give.

We can say this when Yu Suzuki has said as much.

 

[jetsetmario]

There is nothing shady about it.

what's the problem?

The problem with this kickstarter is that it has been managed with a clear lack of transparency in regards to the funding of this project, a lack of transparency which may have crossed the line from failing to provide clarity into pure deceitfulness.

The simple fact is that we don’t know what the true funding amount of this project is because the producers of it don’t want us to know what it is for fear that is will hamper their current fundraising goals. In a sense they are not showing us existing high value “pledges” as a means of extracting larger amounts out of the good nature of fans who believe that their dollars are essential to this project. This is an entirely shady and abusive practice that disrespects the fans of this series.

A simple solution would be to either disclose the nature of this outside funding or to add it into the pledge amount so that backers could have a full understanding of their investment in this project.

 

[Krejlooc]

The problem with this kickstarter is that it has been managed with a clear lack of transparency in regards to the funding of this project, a lack of transparency which may have crossed the line from failing to provide clarity into pure deceitfulness.

You are imagining reasons to not fund this. Do some research.

Have you considered that the things you are demanding they disclose might actually not exist? How can they disclose funding that isn't actually there?

Further, this bullcrap about "they are deceitful about their funding" is grade A bullcrap. Why do you care about their funding? The only question you should ask yourself is: "Do I want shenmue 3 to be made badly enough to give money to the project?" If they have other funding, then who cares?

 

[Kaako]

$10 mil? Hmm, doing my part and I hope for the best. I hope it gets the funding it needs.

 

[M.Steiner]

You know, I was never interested in Shenmue, other than recognizing the series impact, its cult status, how much of a shame it was that the series never finished and the series stopped at two. But I've decided I will back this. Shenmue fans are really lucky they are getting a proper follow-up in the same genre, with the same style, by the series' original creator, with as many of the original team members as possible. And I want them to have the sequel they want and deserve. I know a little of how it feels to languish over certain franchises. I've been dreaming of Suikoden 6, Shadow Hearts 4, Breath of Fire 6, DMC 5 and Alundra 3 for so long. If DMC5 was announced I would want it to be the best game it could possibly be, and I wish for Shenmue fans to have that. You have my axe.

We need more people like you. Thanks for supporting!

 

[Elfforkusu]

I really like the idea of stretch goals for chinese and russian subtitles. Somebody call it in!

I'm kind of pissed. I was under the impression that Sony was providing funding; in fact, I saw videos on Youtube of Gio Corsi, among others, making this statement. So they lied? What's the deal? I dislike shady PR tactics.

Is this correct or have I misinterpreted something?

Sony is seemingly providing some funding. But they aren't the primary source of financing. The funding also may still be being negotiated. (a lack of final agreement might explain the lack of PS4 physical copies)

I'd expect some cash and some marketing support from Sony. But the real fate of the project lies in the kickstarter campaign.

Nah you cant keep saying this when they have not decided how much they will give.

Yu and Sony would have to have a common understanding about the kind of range they're talking about. So while it may be that Sony hasn't decided how much to chip in, it'll be a case of "$1m or $2m", not "$1m or $100m".

"primary funding will be individual backers" == the range is on the low end.

It could still be something like $4m from publishers/etc. That would be great. But it's clear we can't count on it.

 

[NeOak]

The problem with this kickstarter is that it has been managed with a clear lack of transparency in regards to the funding of this project, a lack of transparency which may have crossed the line from failing to provide clarity into pure deceitfulness.

The simple fact is that we don’t know what the true funding amount of this project is because the producers of it don’t want us to know what it is for fear that is will hamper their current fundraising goals. In a sense they are not showing us existing high value “pledges” as a means of extracting larger amounts out of the good nature of fans who believe that their dollars are essential to this project. This is an entirely shady and abusive practice that disrespects the fans of this series.

A simple solution would be to either disclose the nature of this outside funding or to add it into the pledge amount so that backers could have a full understanding of their investment in this project.

And we never will know. It's called NDAs and if you break those you can have legal consequences.

Stop spreading FUD. The funding can never be truly revealed because of contracts and Yu Suzuki already said the bulk of the money will come from KS.

 

[Spaghetti]

Nah you cant keep saying this when they have not decided how much they will give.

We can say this when Yu Suzuki has said as much.

^what he said.

The problem with this kickstarter is that it has been managed with a clear lack of transparency in regards to the funding of this project, a lack of transparency which may have crossed the line from failing to provide clarity into pure deceitfulness.

The simple fact is that we don’t know what the true funding amount of this project is because the producers of it don’t want us to know what it is for fear that is will hamper their current fundraising goals. In a sense they are not showing us existing high value “pledges” as a means of extracting larger amounts out of the good nature of fans who believe that their dollars are essential to this project. This is an entirely shady and abusive practice that disrespects the fans of this series.

A simple solution would be to either disclose the nature of this outside funding or to add it into the pledge amount so that backers could have a full understanding of their investment in this project.

the kickstarter needs to be successful to gain access to the additional funding sources. they cannot add money to the kickstarter that they do not have. the kickstarter is over the goal now, but what if half the backers pulled out the money tomorrow? until the kickstarter is over and has reached the goal, they do not have the additional funding.

as for the nature of the funding: they're investors. they could be a company, or they could be a group of dentists. it is fairly normal for investors to remain anonymous regardless of the venture.

 

[Aki-at]

Honestly the lack of transparency has never been from this Kickstarter. What happened was Shenmue 3 was announced for Playstation 4 and PC and some people naturally assumed because it was in Sony's presser they had a hand in it. Then a few Sony chaps were seen saying they are supportive of the Kickstarter and I'd imagine some people saw "Sony offers full backing" as "Sony is funding the project."

But like I said, the Kickstarter and Suzuki himself has been very transparent about all this. He's said all along that he is looking for further funding, that the success of this campaign depends on the fans etc people saying the Kickstarter hasn't been transparent have just been ignoring whatever Suzuki or Shibuya Productions have been saying.

 

[Blue_Moon]

i'm gonna do my part soon and put down $30 or $60 for this game to get what it needs to be perfect. Never have participated in a KS before, but this is different.

 

[JTran2003]

i'm gonna do my part soon and put down $30 or $60 for this game to get what it needs to be perfect. Never have participated in a KS before, but this is different.

This is my first kickstarter and most anticipated game! I'm so excited about this opportunity of getting another shenmue. I feel the same way with you in a sense that this is different. I really hope this gets the funding it needs.

 

[jetsetmario]

You are imagining reasons to not fund this. Do some research.

Have you considered that the things you are demanding they disclose might actually not exist? How can they disclose funding that isn't actually there?

Further, this bullcrap about "they are deceitful about their funding" is grade A bullcrap. Why do you care about their funding? The only question you should ask yourself is: "Do I want shenmue 3 to be made badly enough to give money to the project?" If they have other funding, then who cares?

I am uncertain as to where you are coming from with these comments as it has been widely disclosed that there are outside funding sources for this project. They are mentioned in the FAQ on the Kickstarter page with the caveat that the amount will not be disclosed to backers. There really is no argument here.

As to why it matters: The whole campaign is based off of the notion that fans making pledges of up to $10,000 is the only way to fund this project. The official campaign is #SaveShenmue after all. No information about outside funding was provided to backers until after the campaign had already met its initial goal. This is by all measures shady and disingenuous.

I am a huge Shenmue fan and it absolutely guts me their handling of this campaign has removed my ability to believe in the integrity of this project. I wish it well and hope it turns out great, I just won't be backing it up front.

 

[zeopower6]

I am uncertain as to where you are coming from with these comments as it has been widely disclosed that there are outside funding sources for this project. They are mentioned in the FAQ on the Kickstarter page with the caveat that the amount will not be disclosed to backers. There really is no argument here.

As to why it matters: The whole campaign is based off of the notion that fans making pledges of up to $10,000 is the only way to fund this project. The official campaign is #SaveShenmue after all. No information about outside funding was provided to backers until after the campaign had already met its initial goal. This is by all measures shady and disingenuous.

I am a huge Shenmue fan and it absolutely guts me their handling of this campaign has removed my ability to believe in the integrity of this project. I wish it well and hope it turns out great, I just won't be backing it up front.

tbh, I don't think you understand how things work.

 

[Spaghetti]

I am uncertain as to where you are coming from with these comments as it has been widely disclosed that there are outside funding sources for this project. They are mentioned in the FAQ on the Kickstarter page with the caveat that the amount will not be disclosed to backers. There really is no argument here.

As to why it matters: The whole campaign is based off of the notion that fans making pledges of up to $10,000 is the only way to fund this project. The official campaign is #SaveShenmue after all. No information about outside funding was provided to backers until after the campaign had already met its initial goal. This is by all measures shady and disingenuous.

I am a huge Shenmue fan and it absolutely guts me their handling of this campaign has removed my ability to believe in the integrity of this project. I wish it well and hope it turns out great, I just won't be backing it up front.

because it fucking is. the kickstarter doesn't reach the goal, ys.net does not get the other funding. period. end of story. that is how these additional investments work.

it doesn't matter if that part wasn't added to the faq on day one. the kickstarter is not over! nothing is a done deal. stop acting like it is and jumping at shadows. there's no conspiracy. it's shenmue 3, it's here, but it needs funding. that's it. all or nothing.

 

[maquiladora]

This is an entirely shady and abusive practice that disrespects the fans of this series.

Absolute bullshit. Fans of the series have been begging for Shenmue III for over a decade. Not a single publisher or producer has touched it with a barge pole over all those years, not even the IP owner, why? Because it's a niche third chapter to a financially unsuccessful Japanese Dreamcast franchise which last had a instalment 14 years ago.

Sony is the only company after all these years who is helping to make Shemue III a reality, even if its only a modest addition, its more than any of the others have done. To call this somehow abusive and a disrespect just because you do not know the exact dollar amount of their contribution is absurd.

After all these years Yu Suzuki has reached out to the fans to try to crowdfund the cost of making the game. He has clearly stated the minimum and desired budgets for the game. He has clearly said that the majority of the funding will come from the Kickstarter.

Unless you are calling Yu Suzuki a liar then it becomes obvious that any additional funding from outside sources is not major and certainly not more than the amount pledged through Kickstarter.

After 14 years of dreaming, a fan of the series can pledge €29 right now for a copy of Shenmue III on PS4 or PC and also know that their contribution went towards the making of the game. If someone feels disrespected and abused by that and does not have faith in Yu Suzuki's words, well.... I have to wonder how much of a fan they are.

 

[Spaghetti]

After 14 years of dreaming, a fan of the series can pledge €29 right now for a copy of Shenmue III on PS4 or PC and also know that their contribution went towards the making of the game. If someone feels disrespected and abused by that and does not have faith in Yu Suzuki's words, well.... I have to wonder how much of a fan they are.

fucking nailed it

 

[Krejlooc]

I am uncertain as to where you are coming from with these comments as it has been widely disclosed that there are outside funding sources for this project. They are mentioned in the FAQ on the Kickstarter page with the caveat that the amount will not be disclosed to backers. There really is no argument here.

So where is the deceit? You just claimed that this is a deceitful KS campaign, yet you seem to know just about everything regarding the funding.

As to why it matters: The whole campaign is based off of the notion that fans making pledges of up to $10,000 is the only way to fund this project. The official campaign is #SaveShenmue after all. No information about outside funding was provided to backers until after the campaign had already met its initial goal. This is by all measures shady and disingenuous.

You are tilting at windmills. What has been clarified is that the kickstarter backing is making up the majority of the funding. Hence, without the kickstarter backing, this shit is never happening, period. You are feigning moral outrage because... why? If all you honestly cared about was getting the game, why do you care that it's getting additional, not primary mind you, backing beyond your own?

I am a huge Shenmue fan

I don't believe you.

 

[Chaos17]

Nah you cant keep saying this when they have not decided how much they will give.

Where were you today ?!
Sony clarrified its part by saying they're only giving it a push

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dL198n2d0o
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=169187813&postcount=818

Please go to Polygon if you want to live in a world of conspiracy. Shenmue doesn't need this!

For god sake it's Shenmue and not the next COD! It has been 14 years, 14years!! It needs our help!

 

[xenorevlis]

I am uncertain as to where you are coming from with these comments as it has been widely disclosed that there are outside funding sources for this project. They are mentioned in the FAQ on the Kickstarter page with the caveat that the amount will not be disclosed to backers. There really is no argument here.

As to why it matters: The whole campaign is based off of the notion that fans making pledges of up to $10,000 is the only way to fund this project. The official campaign is #SaveShenmue after all. No information about outside funding was provided to backers until after the campaign had already met its initial goal. This is by all measures shady and disingenuous.

I am a huge Shenmue fan and it absolutely guts me their handling of this campaign has removed my ability to believe in the integrity of this project. I wish it well and hope it turns out great, I just won't be backing it up front.

This is total BS if you are spreading FUD and making absurd claims when all the information available tells us Sony is only helping spread word and actual employees are putting their own money in. No "huge fan of Shenmue" would be this disrespectful.

 

[brett2]

If you can't be bothered to put down even $29 for the kickstarter then you lose your right to call yourself a fan. Some of you are so full of it.

 

[morningbus]

Sony is phrasing it nicely, but don't be confused: they're only contributing as much as necessary to keep Shenmue 3 exclusive to its console.

But they can't say that for image issues.

 

[anexanhume]

I am uncertain as to where you are coming from with these comments as it has been widely disclosed that there are outside funding sources for this project. They are mentioned in the FAQ on the Kickstarter page with the caveat that the amount will not be disclosed to backers. There really is no argument here.

As to why it matters: The whole campaign is based off of the notion that fans making pledges of up to $10,000 is the only way to fund this project. The official campaign is #SaveShenmue after all. No information about outside funding was provided to backers until after the campaign had already met its initial goal. This is by all measures shady and disingenuous.

I am a huge Shenmue fan and it absolutely guts me their handling of this campaign has removed my ability to believe in the integrity of this project. I wish it well and hope it turns out great, I just won't be backing it up front.

Good. It needs to do well at retail too to ensure Shenmue 4 happens. Let us worry about whether we're being cheated out of our dollars.

 

[Outtrigger888]

So did sega give yu Suzuki the rights to the game?

 

[Spaghetti]

no idea if anybody has linked it here, but adam koralik posted a great mythbusting shenmue 3 video

 

[ChaosXVI]

So did sega give yu Suzuki the rights to the game?

Pretty much, but SEGA still owns the IP as a whole, so it is on them to re-release Shenmue I and II...which to me, I don't see why they wouldn't at this point while everyone is talking about it, just seems like a no brainer.

 

[Doosi]

So did sega give yu Suzuki the rights to the game?

yes

 

[VibratingDonkey]

Don't know the relationship between Yu Suzuki and today's Sega, hopefully Sega was happy to help out here, but regardless, I'm glad they granted him access to the Shenmue IP and assets. Which, you know, it's Yu Suzuki, they god damn better.

 

[Night Hunter]

I'm kind of pissed. I was under the impression that Sony was providing funding; in fact, I saw videos on Youtube of Gio Corsi, among others, making this statement. So they lied? What's the deal? I dislike shady PR tactics.

Is this correct or have I misinterpreted something?

You have not misinterpreted anything. Gio Corsi actually said those things. But Gio Corsi is Third Party Relations and they fund a lot of things, but they are just not in the same league money wise as where people probably imagine they are.

Now what Adam Boyes said is much less confusing. He said they are providing some funding. Which, of course is right, just through the Third Party Relations arm of their company.

So for a lot of people this is pretty much a case of really bad wording mixed with some ignorance.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

So.....

it's been 15 years and i've just seen a cutscene in shenmue i've never seen before

the game that keeps on giving

.....what scene was it?

 

[Spaghetti]

So.....



.....what scene was it?

just a short one with the cat. two kids were coming down from the shrine and said the cat's leg was better before they got called home by their brother.

then later there was a nice conversation with megumi about how cats are nocturnal. never seen either of those things, it was a real pleasant surprise.

 

[digitaldevmike]

Man. I just doubled my pledge to $120 (best I can do right now), but a part of me wishes that they had taken a little more care with PR and added a little more polish to the kickstarter page itself before springing it like they did. If it doesn't hit 10 million now, it will always be in the back of my mind that we'll have an incomplete game. I guess it's still early though.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

After being in business for years and knowing the difficulty of securing funding for projects which should be no brainers, the amount of ignorance and salt and manufactured controversy coming out of this project is just baffling.

When someone begins to pay you to do something for them, they become your boss. That means they get to make demands, change aspects of the project and push for things that maximize their ROI. That's not the kind of thing you want connected to a project like Shenmue, and good on Suzuki for foregoing previous funding attempts by publishers who wanted to change his vision. Frankly, the fact that the fans are going to have input is much more reassuring than any alternative.

This is a great move and anyone who doesn't see that simply doesn't understand how the real world works.

 

[Boke1879]

Man. I just doubled my pledge to $120 (best I can do right now), but a part of me wishes that they had taken a little more care with PR and added a little more polish to the kickstarter page itself before springing it like they did. If it doesn't hit 10 million now, it will always be in the back of my mind that we'll have an incomplete game. I guess it's still early though.

It was never going to reach 10 million no matter imo. That's just too much to ask. I can see this topping out at 5-5.5 million. Maybe a bit more if the put in some nice rewards.

 

[Spaghetti]

here's a really cool shenmue medley if anybody wants something to listen to

 

[Night Hunter]

It was never going to reach 10 million no matter imo. That's just too much to ask. I can see this topping out at 5-5.5 million. Maybe a bit more if the put in some nice rewards.

This is almost going to reach 5 million if it's just 50k per day until the end, which is much less than what it seems to be doing now and with no ending push and nothing.

 

[Spaced Harrier]

I am a huge Shenmue fan and it absolutely guts me their handling of this campaign has removed my ability to believe in the integrity of this project. I wish it well and hope it turns out great, I just won't be backing it up front.

As if.

You have the opportunity to buy a third game from its creator, one the greatest the industry has ever known, for 29 measly dollars.

I'm pissed off that they don't have a physical Tier at $60 so that I could give them more (well standard game price really). You're just engaging in standard GAF concern trolling.

 

[Spaghetti]

43,000 backers ladies and gentlemen.

 

[LelouchViBritannia]

Any chance we could get the thread title changed to "needs 10 million for full experience" or something like that

 

[Shadow2222]

Any chance we could get the thread title changed to "needs 10 million for full experience" or something like that

Please, this would be great. Hopefully it doesn't bring a rush of people saying "hah, ten million? They already gouged the fans at 2!"

 

[Spaghetti]

Any chance we could get the thread title changed to "needs 10 million for full experience" or something like that

it may incite more concern trolls into the thread.

ideally it'd be nice if this was the positive one, and the other thread to be flak for FUD

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

It was never going to reach 10 million no matter imo. That's just too much to ask. I can see this topping out at 5-5.5 million. Maybe a bit more if the put in some nice rewards.

At this point Bloodstained, in its kickstarter, which ended up with $5.545.992, was around $2 million, about $1.4 million below where Shenmue III is. Shenmue has a lot of leeway to fall off Bloodstained's pace and still come out ahead. Bloodstained would have to outpace Shenmue by just under $52k a day to close that gap, before the end.