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[Danlord]

Following Shenmue 3’s Kickstarter reveal at Sony’s 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 Kotaku’s ridiculous article mocking the placeholder box-art, Polygon’s ‘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 it’s a sad cash-in, It didn’t stop there. Recently, Ben Kuchera releases another article asking why won’t 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 don’t 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?

 

[Acquiescence]

I just posted this in the PayPal thread...

"I think Shenmue 3 has got disaster written all over it."

PS I Love You XOXO Ep. 02
Skip to 19:20.

Even though Yu Suzuki talked about how hard at work he and his team are on the game, it just goes to show how toxic and misleading a clickbait article title can be. I like Colin, but he sure as shit is spreading FUD here.

 

[Off-Kilter]

It's a damn shame.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Don't blame the media for a poorly thought-out Kickstarter campaign. Especially at the beginning it was a mess.

 

[Lunar FC]

Havent been following this. Fill us in with the truth then.

 

[TimmiT]

One of the worst ones is this one by Destructoid, which has a misleading, sensationalistic headline:

$6M isn't enough to make Shenmue 3 'gorgeous visually'

What Yu Suzuki said:

"The game itself doesn't have to be gorgeous visually - a lot of the money these days goes into the graphics. If we perhaps compromise on the graphics and put more into the story, we can make a good game. The most important thing, to me, is that the game's interesting, and that it's something people want to play."

If it isn't clear: he didn't say that 6 million isn't enough to make the game "gorgeous visually", he said that they're prioritizing story over graphics.

The headlines of articles about the interview are sensationalistic in general, focussing on that Yu said that "he could do with a bit more money". Cause, you know, it's such shocking news that a game with a low budget could probably be better if they had some more money to spend.

 

[marrec]

Kickstarter has burned backers in the past + Shenmue's notoriously inflated production budget = people being skeptical.

Nothing shameful about the press being incredulous about a project. Only thing shameful I see is the blind faith some people are putting into this project. :-/

 

[Nibel]

And this (the quote is taken out of context for sensationalist purposes)

People want to see this fail for some reason. Nothing stops this dream though; let them talk.

 

[KZXcellent]

Absolutely agree. Couldn't be more disappointed with how they handled this.

 

[Krejlooc]

Don't blame the media for a poorly thought-out Kickstarter campaign. Especially at the beginning it was a mess.

No it wasn't. Nothing was a mess except the concern trolling from people arguing from their gut about "ethics in game funding (tm)"

 

[pizzacat]

Probably because the initial positive reaction was unwarranted

They literally announced a test to see if fans wanted something or not. I'm still not into it or any other Kickstarter esque payment option.

Also obviously a game like shenmue can't be made with that type of money so them asking for more was obvious but would receive some snark


This is just coming from an observer from afar tho so grains of salt

 

[DangerMouse]

Totally agree with your take OP.

 

[nib95]

Man, that's a pretty sordid collection of articles right there.

 

[ZhugeEX]

The more I read news on gaming websites the more I get put off by individual "Journalists" who don't actually care about games and just want clicks and will do so by any means even if their article is poorly sourced or flat out wrong/bias.

It's why I always go to the source now rather than listen to crappy gaming websites.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Yeah, I got really angry also reading comments on here and those sites. People were awfully unfair to this KS campaign and I still don't understand why.

 

[Aaron D.]

You should see the media coverage of my favorite* modern franchise, Farming Simulator.

It's pretty abysmal.

Spoiler

* I'm not even joking.

 

[Krejlooc]

They literally announced a test to see if fans wanted something or not.

That is literally the purpose of kickstarter

 

[Newtype-001]

Blows my mind that a game which people were begging for for years was handled like click bait fodder by gaming journalists.

 

[BiggNife]

Shameful? Come on dog, you sound like Kojima.

Do I think that journalists have dogpiled on negativity for clicks? Yeah, sure. But having said that, I think it is pretty normal and understandable to people to be skeptical when the campaign wasn't really clear about how it was being budgeted at first and they were intentionally vague about the Sony deal (at first not even really mentioning it at all, IIRC).

 

[Escalario]

I don't see where's the problem. The gaming media don't have to be positive about everything. In fact, that's what a lot of people didn't liked in the last 8 or so years about them: the gaming media was too positive about almost everything and barely (if ever) were mentioning something negative about anything related to the videogames industry. Sure some of those articles border on concern trolling, but the handling of Shenmue 3 kickstarter is a valid concern.

 

[de1irium]

I don’t get why this Kickstarter got so much negative treatment.

Because they came in with a $2mil goal, but then said "Well, we have some nebulous 3rd party backing, oh and also need $10mil on the Kickstarter to do it right."

Frankly I think the Kuchera's piece nails it, albeit somewhat snarkily.

 

[LewieP]

Heaven forbid games media pressure them to give straight answers.

It was a badly managed campaign that was intentionally vague for bad reasons.

There's no vendetta from the games media here, and I'd say I saw as much unbridled enthusiasm as I saw criticism. You've cherry picked.

I for one would bloody love to see a Shenmue 3 that was a fitting successor for the first two games, but on paper I can't see that happening any time soon.

 

[Omega]

Take a look at all the links above that covered the Kickstarter during and after. I don’t get why this Kickstarter got so much negative treatment.

because Nintendo and Microsoft aren't Kickstarting games for a reason.

 

[marrec]

Blows my mind that a game which people begging for for years was handled like click bait fodder by gaming journalists.

The game was announced and funded in completely non-traditional ways, it makes sense for people to be skeptical.

Getting a quirky 2D RPG via Kickstarter is completely expected, getting Shenmue 3 via Kickstarter had me wondering what the hell was exactly going on. Makes sense.

 

[Krejlooc]

but then said "Well, we have some nebulous 3rd party backing, oh and also need $10mil on the Kickstarter to do it right."

No they didn't.

 

[Famassu]

Kickstarter has burned backers in the past + Shenmue's notoriously inflated production budget = people being skeptical.

Nothing shameful about the press being incredulous about a project. Only thing shameful I see is the blind faith some people are putting into this project. :-/

Nothing shameful to be a bit careful with any Kickstarter project, sure, but this goes beyond being careful and into straight out stupidity. It's nothing but idiotic fear-mongering and false reporting and twisting facts and just being a sad, pathetic negative nancies who just put the most negative twist to anything they can, taking things completely out of context and making stuff seem bad that have already been explained perfectly adequately. I.e. there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with them trying to get a bit more money even though the KS campaign ended for a few extra months. A lot of people like me didn't have the money to pledge for the KS campaign when it was still going on so this continued PayPal campaign is a great thing so that we can still get in on the funding action.

 

[Kama_1082]

Sounds like the die hard fans are the only ones hurt by this "shameful" news. Others who aren't die hard can see how this can be a huge disaster. Rose tinted glasses can be fashionable.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

because Nintendo and Microsoft aren't Kickstarting games for a reason.

Microsoft did a Kickstarter afaik for a Halo collectors edition in China.

And this is not a Sony KS ffs.

 

[flkraven]

Jesus people, they are journalists. They don't give a fuck about how well they present a game to the public, they are looking for news. Sorry that the most recent news hasn't been entirely unicorns and rainbows, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Every journalist on a stream collectively jizzed in their pants the second the KS was revealed, and there were tons of positive media attention thrown at Shenmue 3 during the life of the kickstarter. Just because journos aren't sucking off Yu Suzuki every chance they get doesn't mean they are being shameful (or at the very least, it doesn't mean that Shenmue is the sole target of the bad reporting).

 

[Machina]

Gaming journalists continue to regard Kickstarter with a healthy amount of skepticism

 

[GavinGT]

All the hubub about Sony contributing to the project and it turns out this tiny no-name studio is actually providing more money (Shibuya Productions):

 

[Ray Down]

because Nintendo and Microsoft aren't Kickstarting games for a reason.

But its not a Sony Kickstarter?

 

[farisr]

because Nintendo and Microsoft aren't Kickstarting games for a reason.

and neither is Sony.

 

[CambriaRising]

Shenmue 3 is completely unproven and it is totally natural to be skeptical of it due to its flimsy way of funding itself and the seemingly incomplete vision Sazuki has of the game's scope at this time.

The writers of this article would do a disservice to everyone if they painted the situation as normal.

 

[The Jackdog]

Sounds like the die hard fans are the only ones hurt by this "shameful" news. Others who aren't die hard can see how this can be a huge disaster. Rose tinted glasses can be fashionable.

my thoughts exactly.

"i want to see this succeed and these people are saying it might not" is not the same as "shameful media coverage"

 

[Kama_1082]

Microsoft did a Kickstarter afaik for a Halo collectors edition in China.

And this is not a Sony KS ffs.

It's a Kickstarter that is partially funded with Sony's money. Not that it means anything, but people have an issue with it.

 

[Krejlooc]

It's a Kickstarter that is partially funding with Sony's money.

Citation needed

 

[marrec]

Sounds like the die hard fans are the only ones hurt by this "shameful" news. Others who aren't die hard can see how this can be a huge disaster. Rose tinted glasses can be fashionable.

I threw down 120 bucks on this potential disaster

Nothing shameful to be a bit careful with any Kickstarter project, sure, but this goes beyond being careful and into straight out stupidity. It's nothing but idiotic fear-mongering and false reporting and twisting facts and just being a sad, pathetic negative nancies just put the most negative twist to anything they can, taking things completely out of context and making stuff seem bad that have already been explained. I.e. there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with them trying to get a bit more money even though the KS campaign ended. A lot of people like me didn't have the money to pledge for the KS campaign when it was still going on so this continued PayPal campaign is a great thing so that we can still get in on the funding action.

I want my games media to be negative nancies for once. Too much positive coverage out there for shit that will be shit when it releases. Mostly though, if the game is good when it comes out, who gives a shit if some journalists were skeptical a year+ out?

 

[TRI Mike]

My only concern with the project is that I'm 100% sure we're not gonna play it by the end of 2017. I'm expecting it at least one full year later, so it's either a Q4 2018 or a Q1 2019 game.

 

[Newtype-001]

The game was announced and funded in completely non-traditional ways, it makes sense for people to be skeptical.

Getting a quirky 2D RPG via Kickstarter is completely expected, getting Shenmue 3 via Kickstarter had me wondering what the hell was exactly going on. Makes sense.

Being skeptical makes sense, even though since the kickstarter boom people have kept asking Suzuki about going to kickstarter.

But the way media handled "the hard pressed question" which was basically the same thing being recycled with different words was abysmall.

 

[Xpliskin]

Yeah screw 'em.


Polygon takes the cake with 3 clickbait articles though.

 

[Kama_1082]

All the hubub about Sony contributing to the project and it turns out this tiny no-name studio is actually providing more money (Shibuya Productions):

Citation needed

.

 

[KTallguy]

Excited to play this eventually, the reality is that the dream and the fans are stronger

 

[Qwark]

And you didn't even link any of the many negative Game Informer articles, I swear Mike Futter is on a crusade to destroy Kickstarter in general.

It really is a shame, I think Shenmue could've earned more if it wasn't for the backlash.

 

[DangerMouse]

Being skeptical makes sense, even though since the kickstarter boom people have kept asking Suzuki about going to kickstarter.

But the way media handled "the hard pressed question" which was basically the same thing being recycled with different words was abysmall.

Bingo.

 

[GavinGT]

Yeah screw 'em.


Polygon takes the cake with 3 clickbait articles though.

Nah, Eurogamer has been the worst about this.

 

[Krejlooc]

.

$1 is more than $0

 

[marrec]

And you didn't even link any of the many negative Game Informer articles, I swear Mike Futter is on a crusade to destroy Kickstarter in general.

It really is a shame, I think Shenmue could've earned more if it wasn't for the backlash.

I... don't think so no, we'll never know I guess, but that's a pretty wild assertion.

 

[moltonasty]

And it still ended up being the most successful video game kickstarter in history, so booyah haters!

 

[GavinGT]

.

The citation is that he's the head of the studio.