I kinda figured with them showing Shenmue at E3 at Sony's conference that they were going to fund it to some degree. So it's not a total shocker, if anything I'm glad, it means it'll be more fleshed out. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've played/seen the other Kickstarter games that have done well, some are good, but they really need more content sometimes. With Sony stepping in, I think that allays my fears on that front.
Oh and I never played either Shenmue, only my friend did. I had a Dreamcast and never did for some reason or another, don't know why at the time. But my friend was/is a huge fan of Shenmue, so for him, I just backed it. It's already funded, and Sony is helping, but damned if I don't support this kind of endeavor.