Danlord
Member
Following Shenmue 3s Kickstarter reveal at Sonys E3, coverage of the Kickstarter during and after has been terrible.
Just want to start of by sharing a small collection of articles that I find to be of poor quality. Some of them are plain stupid.
Links ::
[GamesRadar] - Now Sony's admitted to partnering Shenmue 3, that Kickstarter is a big problem - (Note the variation of URL to Article title)
[GamesRadar] - Shenmue 3, most funded game on Kickstarter, would like more money please/
[Kotaku] - Shenmue III's Placeholder Box Art Is Hilarious
[Kotaku] - Yu Suzuki Still Wants Your Shenmue 3 Money
[Polygon] - Why won't the fans support Shenmue 3?
[Polygon] - Shenmue's 3 budget is a mystery, Yu Suzuki isn't talking, and why that's a problem
[ExtremeTech] - The Kickstarter for Shenmue 3 broke records because Sony lied to backers
[Polygon] - Sony contributing to Shenmue 3 development (1 day after the Kickstarter launched, just for reference)
[Gizmodo] - Shenmue 3 is a Sad Cash-in on Gaming's Pioneering Past/
[Gamespot] - Shenmue 3's Kickstarter Is Over, But Its Dev Will Still Take Your Money
EDIT - Additional Links from posts referencing them
[Game Informer] - Opinion Sony And Suzuki Need To Come Clean On Shenmue Budget And Funding (Adam Boyes noted in an interview they were so shocked to get funded they hadn't planned on getting the funds so quickly they didn't have time to respond. But a day later they opened up about their own involvement, and even in this article they reference the participation of Sony when asked directly. Shibuya Productions has also tweeted they have more investment than Sony.)
[Eurogamer] - "I could do with a bit more money!": Yu Suzuki on the return of Shenmue (Click-bait Article focusing on the money aspect which spawned articles furthering the click-bait - GAF Post of why this was a bad thing)
[Gamespot] - Shenmue 3 Creator Says He "Could Do With a Bit More Money" (Derived from the Eurogamer interview)
[The Escapist] - "I Could do With a Bit More Money!" Says Shenmue 3 Creator (Derived from Eurogamer interview)
EDIT: I could list a lot more articles that have continued to push almost the same story based from Eurogamer's click-bait heading, but you get the idea.
EDIT 3: Additional Articles - This will become an updated thing I foresee in the coming years to release.
[MCV] - Shenmue 3 can't promise 60fps but can promise 'cute' and 'sexy' girls
EDIT 4: January 2016 Update
NeoGAF User 'Spaghetti' points out that Polygon, Eurogamer and Engadget have mis-reported Shenmue III and it's PayPal/Kickstarter rewards.
Thread by Spaghetti pointing it out is here
[Eurogamer] - Shenmue 3 PayPal backers denied Kickstarter-exclusive reward options "as originally promised" (This is a mis-leading title, however the correct information is buried at the bottom)
[Polygon] - Shenmue 3 Kickstarter rewards won't be available to PayPal backers
[Engadget] - Some 'Shenmue III' backers won't get their rewards after all
I understand concern over the cost to develop Shenmue III given the infamous costs of the first two games and the debate about how much they really cost to make, but many of these pieces are poorly constructed. The general attitude to the coverage of this Kickstarter is really negative throughout. The press were jumping on the project for not revealing instantly that Sony were partially funding it. Bear in mind, we rarely hear about these deals fully regardless, save for Bloodstained explicitly confirming publisher-deal and court documents with Activision/Bungie over Destiny, but the general attitude from the press I found was appalling. From Kotakus ridiculous article mocking the placeholder box-art, Polygons opinion piece by Ben Kuchera being problematic because of the budget, to ExtremeTech suggesting Sony outright lied to backers; the press has been so poor covering this Kickstarter. Articles suggesting its a sad cash-in, It didnt stop there. Recently, Ben Kuchera releases another article asking why wont fans support Shenmue and it's just poor form throughout the entirety of the article and sums up what the press have been like with regards to the project entirely.
Take a look at all the links above that covered the Kickstarter during and after. I dont get why this Kickstarter got so much negative treatment.
EDIT2 - Spaghetti's excellent post is a must read, please take the time to read it!
Just want to start of by sharing a small collection of articles that I find to be of poor quality. Some of them are plain stupid.
Links ::
[GamesRadar] - Now Sony's admitted to partnering Shenmue 3, that Kickstarter is a big problem - (Note the variation of URL to Article title)
[GamesRadar] - Shenmue 3, most funded game on Kickstarter, would like more money please/
[Kotaku] - Shenmue III's Placeholder Box Art Is Hilarious
[Kotaku] - Yu Suzuki Still Wants Your Shenmue 3 Money
[Polygon] - Why won't the fans support Shenmue 3?
[Polygon] - Shenmue's 3 budget is a mystery, Yu Suzuki isn't talking, and why that's a problem
[ExtremeTech] - The Kickstarter for Shenmue 3 broke records because Sony lied to backers
[Polygon] - Sony contributing to Shenmue 3 development (1 day after the Kickstarter launched, just for reference)
[Gizmodo] - Shenmue 3 is a Sad Cash-in on Gaming's Pioneering Past/
[Gamespot] - Shenmue 3's Kickstarter Is Over, But Its Dev Will Still Take Your Money
EDIT - Additional Links from posts referencing them
[Game Informer] - Opinion Sony And Suzuki Need To Come Clean On Shenmue Budget And Funding (Adam Boyes noted in an interview they were so shocked to get funded they hadn't planned on getting the funds so quickly they didn't have time to respond. But a day later they opened up about their own involvement, and even in this article they reference the participation of Sony when asked directly. Shibuya Productions has also tweeted they have more investment than Sony.)
[Eurogamer] - "I could do with a bit more money!": Yu Suzuki on the return of Shenmue (Click-bait Article focusing on the money aspect which spawned articles furthering the click-bait - GAF Post of why this was a bad thing)
[Gamespot] - Shenmue 3 Creator Says He "Could Do With a Bit More Money" (Derived from the Eurogamer interview)
[The Escapist] - "I Could do With a Bit More Money!" Says Shenmue 3 Creator (Derived from Eurogamer interview)
EDIT: I could list a lot more articles that have continued to push almost the same story based from Eurogamer's click-bait heading, but you get the idea.
EDIT 3: Additional Articles - This will become an updated thing I foresee in the coming years to release.
[MCV] - Shenmue 3 can't promise 60fps but can promise 'cute' and 'sexy' girls
EDIT 4: January 2016 Update
NeoGAF User 'Spaghetti' points out that Polygon, Eurogamer and Engadget have mis-reported Shenmue III and it's PayPal/Kickstarter rewards.
Thread by Spaghetti pointing it out is here
[Eurogamer] - Shenmue 3 PayPal backers denied Kickstarter-exclusive reward options "as originally promised" (This is a mis-leading title, however the correct information is buried at the bottom)
[Polygon] - Shenmue 3 Kickstarter rewards won't be available to PayPal backers
[Engadget] - Some 'Shenmue III' backers won't get their rewards after all
I understand concern over the cost to develop Shenmue III given the infamous costs of the first two games and the debate about how much they really cost to make, but many of these pieces are poorly constructed. The general attitude to the coverage of this Kickstarter is really negative throughout. The press were jumping on the project for not revealing instantly that Sony were partially funding it. Bear in mind, we rarely hear about these deals fully regardless, save for Bloodstained explicitly confirming publisher-deal and court documents with Activision/Bungie over Destiny, but the general attitude from the press I found was appalling. From Kotakus ridiculous article mocking the placeholder box-art, Polygons opinion piece by Ben Kuchera being problematic because of the budget, to ExtremeTech suggesting Sony outright lied to backers; the press has been so poor covering this Kickstarter. Articles suggesting its a sad cash-in, It didnt stop there. Recently, Ben Kuchera releases another article asking why wont fans support Shenmue and it's just poor form throughout the entirety of the article and sums up what the press have been like with regards to the project entirely.
Take a look at all the links above that covered the Kickstarter during and after. I dont get why this Kickstarter got so much negative treatment.
EDIT2 - Spaghetti's excellent post is a must read, please take the time to read it!
I'm going to write using proper punctuation for once, to show you that I mean it.
What Shenmue 3 has shown me, is that the dividing line between message board poster and video game journalist is a lot narrower than anybody ever thought.
Eurogamer's recent article is really great. It is. It tells the story of a game developer icon emerging from a decade in the background. Revitalised by his fans, a creative given back his medium to work in. Someone who has recovered their purpose in life.
But the headline is of course "I could do with a bit more money!"
A single quote, from a very small part of the article. There's a great story in the article as a whole, there truly is. Sadly, that story has been sacrificed for clicks.
They don't want you to read about a man who is enriched by the support of fans and looking to pay them back with something they've wanted for so long. They want you to read about this imaginary greedy man rubbing his hands to get your money.
Because outrage gets page views. Even if there's nothing there to be outraged about. And so the headline gets passed around, and people think that's the whole story. Then you get awful opinion pieces like Ben Kuchera's. His baffling, weird, confusing opinion piece where you can't figure out what the point is, besides a character assassination on Yu Suzuki for purposes unknown.
Some information about Shenmue 3 has been confusing. Some quotes taken out of context, some information that wasn't immediately clarified. The campaign wasn't perfect, the fans know that better than anybody.
What's awful is that the misinformation continues to spread, even after issues have been clarified. Despite best efforts of fans who have been following Shenmue 3's development closer than pretty much anybody in the games media. When we get annoyed or angry that a journalist has cited their own opinions about it as fact, or just disappointed us with a poor title choice like Eurogamer did, suddenly we're 'outraged fanboys' and Twitter post fodder for some game journalists to sneer at.
I've seen Shenmue called a sacred cow. It's anything but. Shenmue has been openly ridiculed for years and years. Sometimes for valid reasons, and sometimes just because. It's only in the last couple of years we've seen articles like the great Guardian piece where the writer looked past the meme-bait voice acting and reputation for being 'boring walking simulator' to find a game they really liked, even without any nostalgic factor on their part.
People like Colin Moriarty writing the game off three months into development is just dumb. Nobody doubts making Shenmue 3 is a monumental task, but Yu Suzuki is a video game icon that this industry owes huge amounts to. Just as much as Miyamoto and others.
Yu Suzuki seems revitalised, energised, and creatively refreshed. That's something to be excited about. An industry great, stripped of his old superstar status, but given new purpose by his fans. It's a lot of pressure, but I definitely think he can handle it.
But nobody wants to read about that, right?