Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
lol, these never get old
lol, these never get old
What I don't understand is why the gaming press is so damn blatantly vindictive over this game and it's creator. Seriously, WTF is wrong with you, press people?
Much love bruh.
Honestly, I do these occasional rants because I care. I care about Shenmue, I care about gamers, and I care about games, and it just seems like gaming culture has slipped into this place of pessimism, suspicion, and anger. We've all become paranoid angry grandpas and the current system is just compounding that.
Ultimately, bashing something popular is a massive source of hits. Many sites nowadays follow the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" philosophy.
They know that by riling people up, they'll hit their daily visits goals easily. It doesn't matter if those people think they're bad, as long as they hit those links.
it's because japanese developers are an easy target, because the narrative in games press have been so skewed against them
they're also an easy target, because journalists don't deal with them directly at press events, just the western rep. this goes for twitter, email, phone etc.
if someone in the press called kein levine a pretentious asshole who hates women, they'd actually have to face ken levine at one point in the year and defend what they said
I really do agree with this. Isnt there some way of properly calling them out on this? It's outrageous that they're persistently doing this and facing no consequences whatsoever.It's getting really old seeing so many huge websites miss informing people.
it's because japanese developers are an easy target, because the narrative in games press have been so skewed against them
they're also an easy target, because journalists don't deal with them directly at press events, just the western rep. this goes for twitter, email, phone etc.
if someone in the press called kein levine a pretentious asshole who hates women, they'd actually have to face ken levine at one point in the year and defend what they said
remember when kamiya called kotaku out for saying disparaging ad hominem shit about him?
heck, i saw in a giant bomb quick look the staff were infantilizing Tomonobu Itagaki, implying that he's not very talented or has a limited understanding of thing because of a lack of intelligence
i'd never hear that shit outta them about anyone who wasn't down the street in their san francisco bubble
which brings us to shenmue. a lot of journalists just simply do not take japanese devs seriously. why?
"when HD came out, they all just forgot how to make video games! yep these developers who have been making games for 20 something years just up and got dumb all a sudden. no they were always dumb,"
also want to quote this because it's kind of funny up against what i just said above.
I really do agree with this. Isnt there some way of properly calling them out on this? It's outrageous that they're persistently doing this and facing no consequences whatsoever.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in anyone getting fired or harassed on social media, it'd just be nice if we could get them to post correction articles or something, and to, you know, stop doing this.
But really, imagine being Yu Suzuki right now. You spend years in a broom closet at SEGA, then languish in Japanese indie dev hell of mobile and browser games. You sell all your cars and motorcycles and pretty much accept the glory days are over.
(minor note: i think the result of the poll is dumb so don't come at me with that "apologist" shit. check my post history, i got the receipts on that one)
lol"Your company does not appear to be an active media outlet with ongoing coverage of the Interactive Entertainment Industry and as a result you do not qualify for a media badge."
I think you're overreacting. The media picks on many western games, mostly ones with bad PR. This one just happens to be a Japanese game with very bad PR.
The same Kotaku guy who attacked Dragon's Crown is constantly speaking in favor of Japanese games.
As for Giant Bomb, they were worse to David Jaffe about Drawn to Death.
From Eurogamer (the problem is the misleading title, the article itself clarifies the issue correctly at the end, though it looks like the comments section missed... all of that):
Considering the strong response from those of you who felt that the Exclusive Rewards should remain exclusive for the Kickstarter, those Exclusive Rewards will not be made available on the PayPal page as originally promised.
"Shenmue 3 PayPal backers denied Kickstarter-exclusive reward options "as originally promised""
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/1457889
what's the problem here?
"Shenmue 3 PayPal backers denied Kickstarter-exclusive reward options "as originally promised""
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/1457889
what's the problem here?
Literally every single one of those questions are answered in the video on the Fig page.Hell, has anyone even asked Schafer why $3.3 million was the goal? How he expects to be profitable, when in his own words, they never have been? How much is external funding, will the game happen either way? All of these questions were CONSTANTLY thrown at the Shenmue 3 KS.
Reminds me of this thread, media is still being wrong and shitty about this Kickstarter for some reason.
The Shameful Media Coverage of Shenmue III
Yep, the whole thing has been incredibly half arsed and embarrassing. The media really has it out for this game, for reasons I can't comprehend. I think Yu Suzuki is owed a suite of apologies for their attempts at sabotaging his attempts to resurrect an obviously much-loved franchise.
Literally every single one of those questions are answered in the video on the Fig page.
I think you're overreacting. The media picks on many western games, mostly ones with bad PR. This one just happens to be a Japanese game with very bad PR.
The same Kotaku guy who attacked Dragon's Crown is constantly speaking in favor of Japanese games.
As for Giant Bomb, they were worse to David Jaffe about Drawn to Death.
Pffffffft ahahahaha.
Yeah, when I made the thread about that I misread it as well. I can't really blame writers for initially misreporting it cause of the weird wording, but they should have corrected their articles by now.Reread that statement. They originally promised that they would not open up the rewards not that they promised to open up the rewards to paypal users. It's awkwardly written but what else could you expect from something that was either written by a non-native English speaker or an obnoxious stoner.
yes, there are many western figures that get ridicule. Peter Moleyneux, David Cage
i was actually thinking about their weird dog piling of david jaffe when i heard about it on that podcast. i'm glad someone else noticed. it's like jaffe slept with all their girlfriends or something.
if i may move my goalposts. if i may clarify: western figures, developers etc, are always even at least a chance. their treatment of the japanese side of things are always sweeping generalizations, cynicism etc. shit is never given a second glance, shit is always snubbed.
i hate that i'm making this east vs. west
but, in my extensive experience in taking in western games journalism: western devs and figures are always given a chance to fuck up. japanese devs are almost always assumed to be fuck ups.
I think this chain of comments refers to the Eurogamer article which did report correctly (and buried the parts that would throw water on this fire at the bottom of the article), but used an alarmist title which most of their comments section seem to have only read.Yeah, when I made the thread about that I misread it as well. I can't really blame writers for initially misreporting it cause of the weird wording, but they should have corrected their articles by now.
Oh believe me, I made it clear in the post that there being a lot of bad reporting around Shenmue III was just the catalyst for noticing how fucking lazy games journalism can get.There are a lot of problems with gaming journalism in general, but I'm not sure that poor reporting on Shenmue III is the hill to die on regarding this issue considering how poorly run the customer facing communication has been for this campaign from the start. Could outlets do a much better job researching facts before reporting? Absolutely. Is the communication from the Shenmue III camp to the media and fans alike confusing and poorly planned? Without a doubt. So while supporters of the project are understandably frustrated when the media misrepresents stuff and creates negativity for the campaign, maybe they should also be far more critical of the poor PR handling from the developers themselves. It's certainly not doing anyone any favors.
Oh believe me, I made it clear in the post that there being a lot of bad reporting around Shenmue III was just the catalyst for noticing how fucking lazy games journalism can get.
While the poll result was confusing (and again, a majority of the Shenmue community would very much agree), the problem is now that a story has been manufactured or inferred that PayPal backers will not get the items they paid for, which is false, and as I showed could easily have been dismissed with about a minute of research from games journos.
Even worse in the case of Eurogamer where they did know the truth of the matter, buried it in the article, and opted for an alarmist title. How could anybody trust Eurogamer again with such obvious manipulation of its audience? This isn't the first time they've done something like this either - see my example from their great Yu Suzuki interview.
But really, imagine being Yu Suzuki right now. You spend years in a broom closet at SEGA, then languish in Japanese indie dev hell of mobile and browser games. You sell all your cars and motorcycles and pretty much accept the glory days are over.
Then you find some French dude who helps you negotiate the rights to your great unfinished work from your former employer, and then you manage to get a major player like Sony to help you promote it in return for console exclusivity. You try getting 8-4 or Ryan Payton to run your upcoming Kickstarter campaign, but they can't do it, so you turn to some promising young upstarts called Awesome Japan.
Then you got to E3 and unveil your Kickstarter to a screaming crowd, get funded in less than a day, break two world records, and basically make a crazy amount of fucking money. Things couldn't be better.
Flash forward six months. The game is going great, you had an amazing research trip in China, and fans seem to be reacting positively to the prototype materials you've shown. You're working with a lot of old friends again who are employees of Neilo or are external contractors working on the game. You've also hired a fan you met in a restaurant who happens to be appropriately qualified, and some Korean kid who remade areas from your old game in the same engine you happen to be using to make the new game.
You've had a few bumps in the press recently by selectively quoting you, and you don't really have time for any hobbies anymore, but you're enjoying yourself because you're doing what you love for the people who appreciate you. Then you get a Twitter notification. And another, and another. It's a bunch of angry English speaking people saying something about PayPal rewards.
It turns out Awesome Japan bungled something as simple as a poll, and people got the wrong end of the stick about what the poll actually meant, and now news sites are reporting on it incorrectly and there's calls of fraud despite there not being any-
- but you're happy, because you're doing what you love, with people you like, for those who want what you're creating.
But you're middle aged so your dick doesn't work and it's hurting to pee, so fuck everything.
Shenmue III cancelled.
People still upset that something that was labeled as
Kickstarter exclusive
Still being Kickstarter exclusive? smh
Nah, people are upset because the Shenmue PR people ran a poll asking "should we let Paypal funders get kickstarter rewards?", most people said yes or didn't care, and then they basically said "well it wasn't unanimous so let's be jerks to the Paypal funders."
I think their rationale makes sense, it was just very poorly communicated. The poll should have been very clear that they were asking "Would you as a backer be upset if Kickstarter exclusive rewards were extended to Paypal contributors as well?" and it should just be two options - Yes or No. That way as long as there is a decent level of response for Yes, even if it is not the majority, they can explain the situation better.
Whilst clearly these publications are at fault for their inaccuracies, much of the communication from the SM3 team has been confused or unclear.
The haven't misled anyone, but they are not really doing a good job with their messaging across the board.
They should hire some PR staff with knowledge of the Western games industry.
It's hard to be effective with you messaging when the media apparatus you are counting on to amplify your voice is inexplicitly peopled with individuals who've decided to deliberately misrepresent your words.
The point is, really, is that (again, completely ignoring the poll results) certain aspects of the media ran away with a story that takes less than a minute to discover isn't true. That's not okay at all.And yet many many other studios/publishers manage to communicate far more effectively.
Edit: And it is not the job of games media to "amplify your voice". That is the job of marketing/PR.
And yet many many other studios/publishers manage to communicate far more effectively.
Edit: And it is not the job of games media to "amplify your voice". That is the job of marketing/PR.