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[Doctor_Thomas]

I think people need to remember that there's a reason Shenmue III is on Kickstarter in the first place. This wasn't an IP that over stayed its welcome and is getting a reboot years later so a publisher takes a new approach to it and changes a lot of what made the game a hit, it was an IP that, across the two consoles it was on, lost a lot of money and no one ever saw the need to invest in a third attempt at it.

Sony are absolutely right not to invest millions in it because it will NEVER make the money back but getting the name out there, providng assitance and doing marketing is a much more sensible approach financially, even if it doesn't really help get the game made. The harsh reality is Shenmue is not a big game. Sony's impact seems to have been a few dealings with Sega to help licence the IP, some PS4 dev assistance and a small amount of money to fund it.

This is, absolutely, a case of "back it or it's not happening". You don't get another chance at this. It's as simple as that. The game will be made depending on whatever amount of money is there, if you want the best possible Shenmue III, then it needs more backers.

 

[Theonik]

To be fair, we don't know how a Shenmue game will sell on a successful platform. There were only a few million Dreamcasts out there by the time Shenmue was released worldwide. Shenmue II didn't even get a worldwide release on Dreamcast, and the console was on its last legs at that point anyways. And there were only about 5 million Xboxes sold by the time Shenmue II released on that console.

In contrast, there could be as many as 50 million PS4s sold by winter 2017.

I reckon, Shenmue on the PS2 could have broken 5m units. They managed to get 20% of DC owners to buy the first game which is quite massive, at the time, warts aside it definitely had the ingredients to be a big success.

Today though? Well if Shenmue III got an AAA treatment, it can sell pretty well. But being a sequel to a 14 year old game probably limits its appeal even then. But this won't really be given the marketing push it needs to be a huge success and a lack of an HD remake would also hurt Shenmue III commercially at this point. (though again, that alone wouldn't be enough to sell it. I'm not sure how a new audience might react to a game like Shenmue I+II)

 

[Spottiettiedop]

I think people need to remember that there's a reason Shenmue III is on Kickstarter in the first place. This wasn't an IP that over stayed its welcome and is getting a reboot years later so a publisher takes a new approach to it and changes a lot of what made the game a hit, it was an IP that, across the two consoles it was on, lost a lot of money and no one ever saw the need to invest in a third attempt at it.

Sony are absolutely right not to invest millions in it because it will NEVER make the money back but getting the name out there, providng assitance and doing marketing is a much more sensible approach financially, even if it doesn't really help get the game made. The harsh reality is Shenmue is not a big game. Sony's impact seems to have been a few dealings with Sega to help licence the IP, some PS4 dev assistance and a small amount of money to fund it.

This is, absolutely, a case of "back it or it's not happening". You don't get another chance at this. It's as simple as that. The game will be made depending on whatever amount of money is there, if you want the best possible Shenmue III, then it needs more backers.

Then why announce it on a grand stage such as E3 if there is a remote possibility the game does not reach the desired funding?

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Then why announce it on a grand stage such as E3 if there is a remote possibility the game does not reach the desired funding?

Presenting it at E3 gives it the best possible shot at funding by getting the campaign out there. The fact it got its target so quickly shows that this was a good idea.

 

[Corto]

Then why announce it on a grand stage such as E3 if there is a remote possibility the game does not reach the desired funding?

To increase its odds. E3 exposition it's marketing.

 

[Theonik]

Then why announce it on a grand stage such as E3 if there is a remote possibility the game does not reach the desired funding?

Because it's the sort of thing that will get people to talk about Sony's E3 2015 conference for the rest of the year and probably years to come.
Because it meant that hudreards of thousand of people saw the announcement live. It's a huge amount of exposure.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

Some people are acting like Sony is a charity and got nothing out of announcing this at E3. It was far more important for them than Shenmue.

The PS4 exclusivity is going to prevent money going to developing the game from backers without a PS4 or PC. Stupid, stupid decision.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Some people are acting like Sony is a charity and got nothing out of announcing this at E3. It was far more important for them than Shenmue.

The PS4 exclusivity is going to prevent money going to developing the game from backers without a PS4 or PC. Stupid, stupid decision.

Your argument holds very little water when we look at the number of games announced as PC only that have flourished in Kickstarter. Shenmue 3 has the backing of PC and PS4 gamers, sure, XB1 gamers might have added something to the pot, but I seriously doubt it would move the needle much if they suddenly came out and announced some XB1 stretch goal.

This being a stupid decision isn't contingent on it being on 2 platforms or 3, if someone cares enough about Shenmue as a franchise to Kickstart it, they're going to do it regardless of platform.

 

[Uno Venova]

Does 'being transparent' in this case just mean showing the exact documents and numbers of the agreement? Because I don't know much less about this games situation compared to most unreleased games.

 

[Chaos17]

THESE ARE THE TRUE ANTI-CLICKBAIT FACTS! PLEASE SPREAD THE TRUTH EVERYWHERE YOU CAN!

On what should be the happiest week that Shenmue fans could imagine (and it is), there are nonetheless people out there intent on raining on our parade with misinformed and misreported claims.

Since the beginning of our campaign to revive the Shenmue series, we've had to untangle web after web of misinformation propagated by lazy journalists. So it's almost fitting that on the week Shenmue III is finally announced, we're doing more of the same.

We wouldn't mind, but the irresponsible clickbait polluting the Internet over this issue could easily harm the continued success of the Kickstarter we've all waited so long to embrace, and without more stretch goals being reached there will be noticeable limitations on what can be achieved in developing Shenmue III.

Sony are not the Fairy Godmother waving their magic wand to fully fund this game. They are providing some financial assistance to get it onto PS4 and helping a lot with marketing, as it's phenomenal PR for their brand to do so. But this is Yu Suzuki's independently owned project and crowdfunding is critical in deciding the scope of its actual development.

By this stage we expect no better from the media, but we implore all fans to arm themselves with the facts and spread the truth to combat any negativity being falsely aimed at this Kickstarter.

We still need YOU to ‪#‎SaveShenmue‬.

Thank you, I will tweet it

 

[Corto]

Some people are acting like Sony is a charity and got nothing out of announcing this at E3. It was far more important for them than Shenmue.

The PS4 exclusivity is going to prevent money going to developing the game from backers without a PS4 or PC. Stupid, stupid decision.

you're wrong. An exclusivity deal (partial) is the best option for Shenmue 3. And being the lead console in terms of audience/sales it's even better. It increassd enthusiasm around the campaign and endurece its success. PC version is there to any fan that wants an option outside PS4. All the bases are covered.

 

[SerTapTap]

Some people are acting like Sony is a charity and got nothing out of announcing this at E3. It was far more important for them than Shenmue.

The PS4 exclusivity is going to prevent money going to developing the game from backers without a PS4 or PC. Stupid, stupid decision.

I really, really doubt there's enough Xbox only shemue fans to make up for not being at e3, plus sony had stated they're doing at least some form of support to get it on PlayStation.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

Your argument holds very little water when we look at the number of games announced as PC only that have flourished in Kickstarter. Shenmue 3 has the backing of PC and PS4 gamers, sure, XB1 gamers might have added something to the pot, but I seriously doubt it would move the needle much if they suddenly came out and announced some XB1 stretch goal.

This being a stupid decision isn't contingent on it being on 2 platforms or 3, if someone cares enough about Shenmue as a franchise to Kickstart it, they're going to do it regardless of platform.

They could have left it open and put it on everything. By the time this comes out it mobile phones would likely be able to run it. The new Nintendo, someone else might have entered the market.

It needs all the money to get, every penny they lose will hurt the game. I think they're crazy to limit themselves.

 

[Theonik]

Some people are acting like Sony is a charity and got nothing out of announcing this at E3. It was far more important for them than Shenmue.

The PS4 exclusivity is going to prevent money going to developing the game from backers without a PS4 or PC. Stupid, stupid decision.

On one hand more versions attract more users, you can clearly see this in other KS. Bloodstained would have made 10-15% less without the ports. Just look at the KS pledges.
On the other hand, without major publisher backing, Shenmue III benefits in a huge way from Sony's marketing and E3 exposure which I doubt they'd have gotten otherwise. It's probably an overall win. Especially since the Xbone is being outsold 2:1 by the PS4 and will be even worse by the time this game is out.

What is wasteful and I would blame Sony in part for, is skipping physical PS4 versions given the audience that would hit the conference. There is 30k people on $29 digital and I bet a lot of them would go with $60 PS4 physical when given the choice. They came from Sony's conference after all. Now I know console physical copies have costs associated with them and it's not easy, but I think Sony should have waived those costs for KS copies. It makes perfect sense to do so.

 

[GavinGT]

I really don't think the lack of an Xbox One version is hurting things much at all. I bet the average Shenmue fan is about 25-35 years old, and can afford more than one console, or a gaming PC.

 

[beril]

I reckon, Shenmue on the PS2 could have broken 5m units. They managed to get 20% of DC owners to buy the first game which is quite massive, at the time, warts aside it definitely had the ingredients to be a big success.

Today though? Well if Shenmue III got an AAA treatment, it can sell pretty well. But being a sequel to a 14 year old game probably limits its appeal even then. But this won't really be given the marketing push it needs to be a huge success and a lack of an HD remake would also hurt Shenmue III commercially at this point. (though again, that alone wouldn't be enough to sell it. I'm not sure how a new audience might react to a game like Shenmue I+II)

Yea no. You also have to take into account the different software situations and first party hype. Shenmue was a big deal for Dreamcast owners, and they were starving for games in general. It's not as if Segas other games suddenly became megahits when they went cross platform.

Also where did you get that 20% number? Shemmue 1 sold 1.2 million, and Dreamcast sold 10 million. It was released in the west in late 2000 and the console was discontinued in januari 2001. Was the console really only at 6 million at that time and sold an additional 4 million afterwards?

 

[GavinGT]

Yea no. You also have to take into account the different software situations and first party hype. Shenmue was a big deal for Dreamcast owners, and they were starving for games in general. It's not as if Segas other games suddenly became megahits when they went cross platform.

Also where did you get that 20% number? Shemmue 1 sold 1.2 million, and Dreamcast sold 10 million. It was released in the west in late 2000 and the console was discontinued in januari 2001. Was the console really only at 6 million at that time and sold an additional 4 million afterwards?

Yes, that's about right. In fact, it was 5.9 million.

 

[Krev]

They could have left it open and put it on everything. By the time this comes out it mobile phones would likely be able to run it. The new Nintendo, someone else might have entered the market.

It needs all the money to get, every penny they lose will hurt the game. I think they're crazy to limit themselves.

How many people do you think are big enough fans of Shenmue or the gaming industry to know about, let alone want to back this Kickstarter who own an Xbox One and not a PS4 or a gaming PC?

 

[Mikey Jr.]

If you don't contribute to kickstarter because you feel Sony will just foot the bill in the end, then you deserve to get whatever shenmue becomes in the end.

This is your last chance to get a great shenmue game. You want to fuck with that, be my guest.

 

[Jill Sandwich]

It's really disheartening seeing this smear campaign, and so-called fans backing out because of misreporting. No matter how much evidence there is from the developers including Yu himself saying the scope of the game rests on the Kickstarter, people are still holding back.

If you don't contribute to kickstarter because you feel Sony will just foot the bill in the end, then you deserve to get whatever shenmue becomes in the end.

This is your last chance to get a great shenmue game. You want to fuck with that, be my guest.

Exactly. I don't care if there's a hidden pot of gold with a mystery amount backing the project. You will get more game out depending on how much is funded by KS.

 

[Percy]

Your argument holds very little water when we look at the number of games announced as PC only that have flourished in Kickstarter. Shenmue 3 has the backing of PC and PS4 gamers, sure, XB1 gamers might have added something to the pot, but I seriously doubt it would move the needle much if they suddenly came out and announced some XB1 stretch goal.

Probably correct, but if nothing else, announcing it for Xbox One would have stopped Microsoft fans from actively attempting to sabotage the Kickstarter.

 

[Theonik]

Yea no. You also have to take into account the different software situations and first party hype. Shenmue was a big deal for Dreamcast owners, and they were starving for games in general. It's not as if Segas other games suddenly became megahits when they went cross platform.

Also where did you get that 20% number? Shemmue 1 sold 1.2 million, and Dreamcast sold 10 million. It was released in the west in late 2000 and the console was discontinued in januari 2001. Was the console really only at 6 million at that time and sold an additional 4 million afterwards?

Sure, it wouldn't really sell 20% attachment rate numbers on the PS2 but it would definitely hold its own against several big PS2 titles. Wrt DC sales you may look at this:

Yes, that's about right. In fact, it was 5.9 million.

 

[Grady]

If this game does ever come out it sounds like it wont be for another 3 years or so. Have they even started development, or are they waiting for full funding?

 

[Theonik]

If this game does ever come out it sounds like it wont be for another 3 years or so. Have they even started development, or are they waiting for full funding?

Kickstarter has a Dec 2017 release. Typically you can expect projects to take somewhat longer than their estimates. They have prototypes of the game which they've been showing but of course they haven't started development. That's why you do a Kickstarter, hell, many Kickstarter game projects don't even have a prototype or completed concept art.

 

[BokehKing]

I really don't think the lack of an Xbox One version is hurting things much at all. I bet the average Shenmue fan is about 25-35 years old, and can afford more than one console, or a gaming PC.

This, by the time the game comes out you can buy a ps4 for cheap, I feel like 'Consolewarz' people are just being annoying with this stuff. Isn't this the game we wanted?

 

[Panajev2001a]

It's really disheartening seeing this smear campaign, and so-called fans backing out because of misreporting. No matter how much evidence there is from the developers including Yu himself saying the scope of the game rests on the Kickstarter, people are still holding back.


Exactly. I don't care if there's a hidden pot of gold with a mystery amount backing the project. You will get more game out depending on how much is funded by KS.

Hopefully it is not an astroturfed smear campaign fuelled by console wars feelings, but it is upsetting... I really want to hope the kickstarter goes past this and we can get the greatest Shenmue III possible.

 

[beril]

Sure, it wouldn't really sell 20% attachment rate numbers on the PS2 but it would definitely hold its own against several big PS2 titles. Wrt DC sales you may look at this:

5 million would have made it the 9th best selling PS2 title, ahead of Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest VIII, I just don't see it getting close to that in any theoretical scenario. The game is really not very accessible.

 

[Withnail]

What a mess! I feel like the Kickstarter would have been a huge success if they didn't have anything to do with Sony whatsoever.

Misinformation got people confused and killed the hype, what a waste.

There hasn't been any misinformation. They just assumed that gamers understood the business side of game development and what self-publishing actually means, when in reality most gamers (and journalists, unfortunately) have no clue about these subjects.

 

[Panajev2001a]

No. There was no clear message to begin with.

I am concerned no other KS here might have been subjected to the same amount of scrutiny Shenmue 3 has. It seems that unless they give people a breakdown of how they spent their days, what they eat, who they call, etc... Guilty of something until proven innocent.

 

[loaf of bread]

Waiting for my new credit card to come in so I can donate.

 

[Theonik]

5 million would have made it the 9th best selling PS2 title, ahead of Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest VIII, I just don't see it getting close to that in any theoretical scenario. The game is really not very accessible.

I think it could, doesn't mean it realistically would. It would still be able to be a much more successful game in a situation where it wasn't on a DoA platform.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

$30 on the 3rd - our friends over at the dojo are spreading this:

Let's help them out and spread it too! Get to it troops! GOOO!

 

[Crema]

There hasn't been any misinformation. They just assumed that gamers understood the business side of game development and what self-publishing actually means, when in reality most gamers (and journalists, unfortunately) have no clue about these subjects.

They needed to be clearer from the start if they wanted to avoid this situation. No point blaming consumers for not understanding the confidential agreement made between the two parties and approaching with cynicism. If you're asking for charity, transparency is important.

Luckily it doesn't matter anyway. They've raised a tonne of money and should be able to make a pretty good product with ~5 million plus what ever Sony contribute.

 

[Soi-Fong]

Man, there really is a bunch of butthurt Xbox fans that are trying to sabotage a game we've been wanting for 14 fucking years... Seriously? WTF???

 

[Ushay]

Your argument holds very little water when we look at the number of games announced as PC only that have flourished in Kickstarter. Shenmue 3 has the backing of PC and PS4 gamers, sure, XB1 gamers might have added something to the pot, but I seriously doubt it would move the needle much if they suddenly came out and announced some XB1 stretch goal.

This being a stupid decision isn't contingent on it being on 2 platforms or 3, if someone cares enough about Shenmue as a franchise to Kickstart it, they're going to do it regardless of platform.

Shenmue started on the XB/Dreamcast. I think including the XB1 crowd would move the needle a good bit, myself included. Shenmue should never be an exclusive property, it simply won't succeed like that without full funding from a publisher.

Man, there really is a bunch of butthurt Xbox fans that are trying to sabotage a game we've been wanting for 14 fucking years... Seriously? WTF???

Am I a little annoyed this is not coming to XB1, yes. Will that stop me from supporting Shenmue? No. I'll fully support it and buy it when it releases. I'm entitled to an opinion. Shenmue is coming, that's what matters, how good it will be is another matter.

 

[HighResTomato]

Probably correct, but if nothing else, announcing it for Xbox One would have stopped Microsoft fans from actively attempting to sabotage the Kickstarter.

How more ridiculous can it get, it's embarrassing.

 

[Soi-Fong]

Shenmue started on the XB/Dreamcast. I think including the XB1 crowd would move the needle a good bit, myself included. Shenmue should never be an exclusive property, it simply won't succeed like that without full funding from a publisher.



Am I a little annoyed this is not coming to XB1, yes. Will that stop me from supporting Shenmue? No. I'll fully support it and buy it when it releases. I'm entitled to an opinion. Shenmue is coming, that's what matters, how good it will be is another matter.

Know what, fuck ALL THE HATERS. Seriously pissing me off. I can't believe the media and such just shitting on this game.

There's no two ways about it, since it's not coming to Xbox all the die hard fan boys are trying to screw over the campaign now.

As a big fuck you to those people, I've just raised my pledge to $500 from the $300 I originally pledged.

 

[Dr. Kaos]

You're going to fault a 15 year old game running 17 year old hardware to its absolute limits for loading screens? Ok...

First of all, yes to your question. Remember that I did this "faulting" back when the game was brand new and the console was 2 years old (by your own math).

Second, I didn't fault it for having loading screens. I faulted it for having outrageously, excessively, horribly, torturingly long loading screens. Way too long for me to take.

The only other occasion where load screens were an issue was with the first NeoGeo CD. Loading times were just too long to be acceptable. In fighting games, you spent a third of the time loading.

 

[Ushay]

Know what, fuck ALL THE HATERS. Seriously pissing me off. I can't believe the media and such just shitting on this game.

There's no two ways about it, since it's not coming to Xbox all the die hard fan boys are trying to screw over the campaign now.

As a big fuck you to those people, I've just raised my pledge to $500 from the $300 I originally pledged.

Read my post. I am fully supporting this campaign and will be picking this game up too. Shit , even my avatar is of Ryo..

Calm down.

 

[Lynn616]

No money from Sony to develop the game? That cant be right. Can they make this game with less than $10 Million?

 

[Hotsuma]

My question is this, if someone ask Phil Spencer to provide development support for a Xbox One version, will that be enough to get YS to their 10 million dollar goal? They would then be getting financial support from another fan base that would contribute for the game since it is coming to their platform. I highly doubt the MS fanbase is trying to sabotage anything so people really need to chill with that system wars shit and start looking at ways to make sure to get the game made the way it should be. I swear, some of the idiots on this forum....

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

Shenmue started on the XB/Dreamcast. I think including the XB1 crowd would move the needle a good bit, myself included. Shenmue should never be an exclusive property, it simply won't succeed like that without full funding from a publisher.

If it weren't exclusive, it wouldn't be getting any Sony money, and likely wouldn't even be getting made, because why would/should Sony pay to have a game ported to a competitor? Including the Xbone crowd in the KS campaign might move the needle a tiny bit, but nowhere near enough to make up for Sony dropping support.

My question is this, if someone ask Phil Spencer to provide development support for a Xbox One version, will that be enough to get YS to their 10 million dollar goal? They would then be getting financial support from another fan base that would contribute for the game since it is coming to their platform. I highly doubt the MS fanbase is trying to sabotage anything so people really need to chill with that system wars shit and start looking at ways to make sure to get the game made the way it should be. I swear, some of the idiots on this forum....

Two things:

1) I have little doubt Suzuki approached MS for backing (since there is a brief history of Shenmue on their hardware). Obviously MS wasn't interested. Do I know this for sure? Nope. But if you're interested in getting a game made and your options are limited to PC and three major hardware makers, why wouldn't you approach all three?

2) People have posted tweets from Xbox fanboys who were actively seeking to sabotage the KS campaign. Beyond that, there are examples on other message boards of people trying to get the word out not to support this KS for a myriad of reasons, including the fact that's it's not on Xbone.

Before calling people idiots, you may want to make sure you've got your facts straight so you don't come out looking foolish.

 

[WavyStretch]

starving for games in general.

Lol?

MSR, JSR, Skies, Street Fighter A3, Test Drive Le Man's, Tony Hawks PS2, Sega GT, Samba de Amigo, Power Stone 2, PSO, Marvel vs Capcom 2, F355, Virtua Tennis all came out within 6 months of Shenmue. Take it from me, I was there, DC owners were not "starving for games", we were drowning in quality titles in that particular period between mid 2000 and mid 2001, many of them exlcusive or enhanced.

 

[Fox_Mulder]

I'll pledge 30$. I need to recharge my credit card first

 

[2+2=5]

As every Kickstarter ever. At the first goalpost you will get a lesser experience than you could have beyond that. And the higher amount you'll get the better, bigger game you can have. Simple as that.

And as the Kickstarter for Shenmu2 3 is at 3,5 M at this point you can expect the 5M goal to be reached. Historically that's a sure thing. So we'll get the real deal (in your words). No need for worries then.

The funding goal means that all the basic elements of the game should be there, my impression is that with the first goal you get less of what makes Shenmue 3 a real Shenmue game.

Maybe i'm wrong, maybe it's poorly written but that's how i read it.

given that you just jump into the thread and ignore the conversation around you to provoke people, i don't think you're as knowledgeable about this as you think you are

you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how kickstarters work, how investment works, and how video game development works.

you're just making a very cheap trolling effort. it's not going to stop shenmue 3. the fans win.

Lol yeah you are totally right.

The fact that you are putting me against Shenmue fans or this campaign is a clear sign you didn't even read what i say.

And what would be my reason to see Shenmue 3 failing? I didn't play Shenmue 1 & 2 because i don't have the consoles where they were released but i have always wanted to try them, i also have a ps3 a vita, a pc and maybe in the future i'll buy a ps4, so i'm not a pissed xb1 fan for example.

I really have no reason to hate this game or the campaign itself but if i see something that i think is wrong i point it exactly like i always do for any game.

You on the other hand try to defend at all costs this by defining me a troll without even taking into consideration what i say, you are the troll, not me since i was civilly discussing with others without calling them trolls and blindly dismissing what they were saying.

You will get a Shenmue III, add more money and you get a better Shenmue III, exactly like other Kickstarters. If anything the Shenmue III KS is more honest about what it is.
Also trust me, there are a lot of Shenmue fans that were prepared to accept a novel or comicbook adaptation to finish the story. Getting just that is enough for a lot of them, that's why the focus is to provide a solid skeleton of the game's plot as the baseline and then flesh out the open world depending on the budget with $10m allowing the devs to really do the things they wanted to do with pushing the game's open world. They are being realistic. The alternative is the game doesn't exist at all and that's something fans wouldn't want either.

That makes sense i guess, i understand that fans just want Shenmue 3 whateer the form and it's fair, but as a non-fan(not because i don't like the series, but because i didn't have the occasion to play it) if someone says that with 2m + other funds they'll make Shenmue 3 i expect nothing less than something comparable to Shenmue 2, i would do the same reasoning for every game, not just Shenmue 3.

Again(copy paste) The funding goal means that all the basic elements of the game should be there, my impression is that with the first goal you get less of what makes Shenmue 3 a real Shenmue game.

Maybe i'm wrong, maybe it's poorly written but that's how i read it.

 

[Hotsuma]

If it weren't exclusive, it wouldn't be getting any Sony money, and likely wouldn't even be getting made, because why would/should Sony pay to have a game ported to a competitor? Including the Xbone crowd in the KS campaign might move the needle a tiny bit, but nowhere near enough to make up for Sony dropping support.

But Sony is generally interested in saving Shenmue, right? They should put up or shut up! If they're generally interested in the fate of Shenmue, they wouldn't care if the game was just on their console. That's the beauty of Kickstarter and self publishing. Shenmue should not be held hostage. Now if Sony were to yank their funds if MS were to pledge support for the game, that would go a long way towards seeing just how behind Shenmue 3 being made they really are.

 

[Hotsuma]

If it weren't exclusive, it wouldn't be getting any Sony money, and likely wouldn't even be getting made, because why would/should Sony pay to have a game ported to a competitor? Including the Xbone crowd in the KS campaign might move the needle a tiny bit, but nowhere near enough to make up for Sony dropping support.



Two things:

1) I have little doubt Suzuki approached MS for backing (since there is a brief history of Shenmue on their hardware). Obviously MS wasn't interested. Do I know this for sure? Nope. But if you're interested in getting a game made and your options are limited to PC and three major hardware makers, why wouldn't you approach all three?

2) People have posted tweets from Xbox fanboys who were actively seeking to sabotage the KS campaign. Beyond that, there are examples on other message boards of people trying to get the word out not to support this KS for a myriad of reasons, including the fact that's it's not on Xbone.

Before calling people idiots, you may want to make sure you've got your facts straight so you don't come out looking foolish.

Tweets from a few people do not encompass an entire fan base. That's like saying everyone who had a Dreamcast will not support the game due to it now being made for a Sony platform.

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

But Sony is generally interested in saving Shenmue, right? They should put up or shut up! If they're generally interested in the fate of Shenmue, they wouldn't care if the game was just on their console. That's the beauty of Kickstarter and self publishing. Shenmue should not be held hostage. Now if Sony were to yank their funds if MS were to pledge support for the game, that would go a long way towards seeing just how behind Shenmue 3 being made they really are.

Sony isn't some altruistic source of all that is good and right in the world. They're a business. Just like MS. Just like Nintendo. What you're asking them to do is act against their own self interest in order to get a game released. That's just nonsense. If they're going to back it, they're going to back it on their terms. Just like any other business would do.

Now, if MS were to jump in the fray and Sony backed out, that would be different. However, I find that unlikely because if MS gave a shit, they would've backed the game in the beginning. Beyond that, contracts have surely been drawn up by now, considering these are million dollar businesses involving a billion dollar company. CEOs don't take a dump without a contract being drawn up first.

Tweets from a few people do not encompass an entire fan base. That's like saying everyone who had a Dreamcast will not support the game due to it now being made for a Sony platform.

You didn't originally stipulate the entire fanbase. So I mentioned the fact that some parts of it are, in fact, actively seeking to sabotage. Obviously it's not a concerted effort of the entire fanbase, as that would be literally impossible without the group being some kind of hive mind.

 

[Xpliskin]

Guys don't give attention to the trolls.

Some people in this thread are here just for that sake.



We live in a world where fanboys are actually trying to sabotage a kickstarter campaign.

 

[sturgboski]

Hopefully it is not an astroturfed smear campaign fuelled by console wars feelings, but it is upsetting... I really want to hope the kickstarter goes past this and we can get the greatest Shenmue III possible.

Polygon astroturfing because of the console war? Never. /s

I can't think a time this generation when they haven't smeared for Xbox. Launch E3 they factually lied about features of each system to downplay PS4 and then you have Kuchera's article last year on how it is great for everyone that Rise of the Tomb Raider is exclusive to Xbox One, including PS4 owners who bought more of the current gen rerelease than Xbox One owners. Truly a site that needs no coverage here on this forum. I believe other sites have been banned for less.