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Yu Suzuki: Shenmue 3 Funding and Budget Statement

benzy

Member
What does knowing how much money Sony is putting in help anyone anyway when Yu specifically said KS is needed to make the game. What are people expecting to do with this info?
 
So basically Sony and that other company are handling the non-development costs such as marketing, production and publishing, while the Kickstarter purely funds the actual development of the game. Sounds fair.
 

Briarios

Member
Just FYI, you'll see a huge uptick in funding at the end of the KS -- it always happens, there is a pretty typical curve for these things. That's not to say there wasn't an impact by the naysayers, I'm just saying there's a more time to get funding.
 

Chaos17

Member
It's almost tragic that fucking Shenmue 3 is having issues with its funding right now on KS. It should be a lot higher than it is.

Yes, it's pretty how being presented by Sony at E3 backfired it and also Sony is not even providing a proper PR person for Yu. He has to manage all of this shit alone with his co-funder.

That's just sad, fortunaly fans are supportig them but they're not enough to make it to 5+ millions.
 
Just one more thing. Let it be known 2015 was the year console war BS got in the way of the funding and/or production of a video game. Embarrassing.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Feel bad for the guy that he's had to spend the first week trying to get the Conspiracy Force to chill its wrong-conclusion jets rather than peeps just, yknow, being happy Shenmue 3 is being made.

This entire debacle just sort of went to show me how deeply rooted console war shit still is though. Even something as fantastical and pure as an E3 Shenmue 3 announcement can be twisted around in the pursuit of that white-knighthood.
 
I don't think this game will live up to fans expectations.
Even a 10mil budget won't be enough to achieve that.
Sony should just step up and drop 20-30mil on the project.
 

jett

D-Member
It's probably too late to get this KS to 10 million but it'll probably reach 5 mill with the usual massive spike at the end...

...unless it ends up like yookalaylee which near-flatlined entirely after the first few days.
 

hawk2025

Member
Just one more thing. Let it be known 2015 was the year console war BS got in the way of the funding and/or production of a video game. Embarrassing.

Extremely embarrassing, and people ought to feel ashamed of themselves for this.

I don't think this game will live up to fans expectations.
Even a 10mil budget won't be enough to achieve that.
Sony should just step up and drop 20-30mil on the project.

I don't have high expectations. I understand that it will be a lower budget, potentially shorter, simpler game with some neat new features Suzuki has thought of. That's not the point of funding this, the point is to see a realization of his vision come to life, flawed as it may be. We understand that the scope and the depth of the gameplay mechanics will depend on the funding and need not necessarily reflect the game length, for example, of Shenmue II.

That's all extremely clear and straightforward.
 

Hex

Banned
I just can't fund this thinking there's still going to be a physical PS4 version of the game announced afterward. I really wish they could offer it straight up and I'd pledge immediately.

They have no reason to do a physical later.
If you do not want to dive in, whatever but you will sit on the sidelines later.
 

ocean

Banned
Sony should at least match fund this! I don't quite understand, are Sony giving them nothing in terms of funding? Just money towards marketing?
Marketing can cost as much or more than development of a modern title. This is hyper niche and will have a lot of media attention around it just because of its name, but if you want it to sell halfway decently you need to spend marketing bills.

The Witcher 3 had a 67 US$ Mision budget. 32 for development and 35 for marketing.
 

brett2

Member
The Kickstarter is doing well but come on gaf community let's all get behind this thing. One of gaming's true pioneers is trying to continue one of the most unique gaming experiences ever and he needs your help after wandering the desert for 10 years. Every gamer should be behind this.
 
Boyes and Gio Corsi really messed up gloating about this after it was funded. They killed it in its tracks. I do not blame people for jumping to conclusions after some of the e3 interviews.

I would bet real money it doesn't cross $8 million.

At this stage I think over 5.5m is a stretch.
 

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
No offense, that didn't clear anything up really that we didn't know.

What's the new feature for $5 million.. explain it. and maybe people will care more. He left it vague again.

He also still left it pretty vague what the difference between the $2 mil, the $5 mil and the $10 mil Shenmue 3's would look and be like.

BTW, anyone who thought Sony or anyone else got the KS money is an idiot.. Ys Net would have just gotten MORE money (and they are) from outside sources on top of the KS money. To make a point of that is dumb.. only a moron thought YS = Sony with the KS money.
 

legacyzero

Banned
Ya fucked it up, internet.

Heaven forbid this game actually happen without some crowd scrutinizing it, attempting to find any and all things that are REMOTELY in the territory of some dishonest business practice.

I'm fucking embarrassed.
 
There was some FUD spread by a Polygon (?) article that was really damaging to the KS campaign. Its sad to see how something like that could kill momentum with no facts or logic behind it. Did they ever issue a retraction or an update with corrections?

I know it'll cross 5M but I can only pray it crosses $10M
 
What does knowing how much money Sony is putting in help anyone anyway when Yu specifically said KS is needed to make the game. What are people expecting to do with this info?
People just want their drama and to feel intellectually superior for not falling to the hype I guess.

One good thing is that even if we don't hit 10 million, we're still getting a proper ShenmueIII. Open world like GTA and oblivion is great but it's not absolutely necessary. If we get even the baseline interactive environment and NPCs as the original games, I'm going to be very satisfied as a Shenmue fan.

While I'd love to see new fans to the series, I'm even more interested in just being able to re enter the world of Shenmue.
 

trOOly

Neo Member
The campaign will probably hit $5 million, but $10 million is a huge stretch mark at the moment. I still think they should handle the campaign the way IGA and his team did for Bloodstained: engage the community, offer them some tidbits in exchange for art and sharing and such and you can dream of reaching $10 million.

Also, enable PayPal donations for once and for all!
 
This is the most disappointed I have ever been as a gamer, maybe outside of gamergate but I tried to stay out of that. This outrage and FUD spread about this KS is a new low.
 

jett

D-Member
Even 5m might not happen.

Shenmue-lite it is :/

They should probably be more clear as to what getting less than five million entails, or what a "full open world" means to the game.

I've played both Shenmues I really don't know what to expect out of this game.
 

Ishida

Banned
It's almost tragic that fucking Shenmue 3 is having issues with its funding right now on KS. It should be a lot higher than it is.

Isn't Shenmue an extremely niche franchise? I mean, they are great games and its fans are VERY vocal, but I believe the original games did not sell very well?
 
I mean, I kinda get it. Tale of Tales' had a kickstarter for Sunset, and they blew money on a PR firm to get the word out, a bad games journalist "creative consulting agency" boringly called "Agency," and a bunch of other bullshit instead of all of that money going straight to developing the game - and they've gone under.

Having Sony foot the bill for advertising and what not for Yu so all of the crowdfunded money can go straight to making the game is probably a good thing? I'm open to being corrected, though.
 
img_1550313527861176vupe.jpeg

Just saw this on fb and thought it was fitting :)


It's as it has always been known, external support is provided so the KS funds go directly into development, instead of marketing for instance


Thanks to the gaming media throwing a stink when it didn't need to, this guy in pic will be pretty common unless word of mouth is strong about the facts.
 

thiscoldblack

Unconfirmed Member
There was some FUD spread by a Polygon (?) article that was really damaging to the KS campaign. Its sad to see how something like that could kill momentum with no facts or logic behind it. Did they ever issue a retraction or an update with corrections?

They won't. They don't have any integrity or actual journalism for that matter.
 

master15

Member
I wish people would better understand the issues involved instead of the typical complaints which clog up he various thread on this issue.

Anyway enough chatter those that haven't pledged please contribute
 

Hex

Banned
No offense, that didn't clear anything up really that we didn't know.

What's the new feature for $5 million.. explain it. and maybe people will care more. He left it vague again.

He also still left it pretty vague what the difference between the $2 mil, the $5 mil and the $10 mil Shenmue 3's would look and be like.

BTW, anyone who thought Sony or anyone else got the KS money is an idiot.. Ys Net would have just gotten MORE money (and they are) from outside sources on top of the KS money. To make a point of that is dumb.. only a moron thought YS = Sony with the KS money.

There has been a recent outbreak of morons recently.
Must be global warming.
 
They have no reason to do a physical later.
If you do not want to dive in, whatever but you will sit on the sidelines later.

If the physical version is in Sony's hands, I don't want to double dip. I'll get the physical version when it comes out. If it doesn't ever come out, I can then fall back on digital. I'm just anti digital copies if there's a physical version available. So it's a shame they didn't work this out to offer PS4 physical copies as I'm sure I'm not the only one holding out for a physical release.
 

MouldyK

Member
They should probably be more clear as to what getting less than five million entails, or what a "full open world" means to the game.

I've played both Shenmues I really don't know what to expect out of this game.

$2 mill: Continue the story (I heard he still wnats to make more games after).

$5 mill: Include feature he really wants to add.

$10 mill: Shenmue 1 Size.
 

Chaos17

Member
What does knowing how much money Sony is putting in help anyone anyway when Yu specifically said KS is needed to make the game. What are people expecting to do with this info?

Nothing really, it's just an excuse for them to be against or with the project.
Many other kickstarters projects before Shenmue did had some parthenership and the last popular one was Bloodstained.

All this drama is because internet jumped to conclusion.
 
Hoping the 5 mil new feature goal will be something awesome, reading Yu write about it sounds like it'll be fun. Also doubt it gets to 10 mil now, hoping for as big as it'll get.
 

Bio-Frost

Member
Isn't Shenmue an extremely niche franchise? I mean, they are great games and its fans are VERY vocal, but I believe the original games did not sell very well?

Has absolutely nothing to do with the game. Shenmue was on the Dreamcast and a early original xbox title for Shenmue 2. There was never enough people to play it in the first place.

I remember reading something along the lines of"Every dreamcast ower would of needed to buy the game twice to break even" There was just never enough consoles out there...
 
Question, and this is total speculation/hypothetical....but would Phil Spencer or anyone from Xbox or even Nintendo help with their port of the game decrease all this nonsense? The KS doesn't outright rule out ports but I'd assume they would need to be funded by the console maker themselves.
 

MouldyK

Member
What's the new feature for $5 million.. explain it. and maybe people will care more. He left it vague again.

From Yu's AMA: said:
"They are new systems, so naturally they need new names. The Rapport System will govern changes in Shenhua's actions depending on your conversations with or actions towards her. The "Character Perspective System" will highlight different characters personalities as they go through the story."

There you go.
 
I don't understand why people conflate valid criticisms of the rollout of the Kickstarter with just hating on it and tearing it down. I don't think they've done a good job on laying out what the game is at this point and what people should expect. People act that there is this campaign against the KS and I just don't see it. I think people just want more info, and while this is more info, it doesn't seem to give any more on what the game will be like at say, under 10 mil. Will it have a world like the prior games? Will it be just linear? What gameplay can we expect? What scale?
 

Jinfash

needs 2 extra inches
They should probably be more clear as to what getting less than five million entails, or what a "full open world" means to the game.

I've played both Shenmues I really don't know what to expect out of this game.
I have a feeling that Yu and co. don't know for sure either at this point, to be honest.
 

lupinko

Member
Ys Net, Sony, et al. can not be anymore transparent about the funding for Shenmue III unless they released confidential documents detailing specific budgets; the fuss some people created was just wholly unnecessary and hopefully, this puts to rest any more talk about it.

Nah, I'm sure Polygon or other hacks and console warriors will find something to use still.
 
Sad, just sad.

How many wish lists of impossible games that would NEVER be made was Shenmue III? And now this ridiculousness...the man deserves better than this, truly.
 
Extremely embarrassing, and people ought to feel ashamed of themselves for this.



I don't have high expectations. I understand that it will be a lower budget, potentially shorter, simpler game with some neat new features Suzuki has thought of. That's not the point of funding this, the point is to see a realization of his vision come to life, flawed as it may be. We understand that the scope and the depth of the gameplay mechanics will depend on the funding and need not necessarily reflect the game length, for example, of Shenmue II.

That's all extremely clear and straightforward.

You would think so, yes.
But I read a lot of stuff in recent days from people who basically thought Sony would fund the game and just started the Kickstarter to get another couple of millions from gamers.
People somehow didn't realise that the Kickstarter was the main source of funding for the project and Sony just promoted it.

I think this misconception mainly occured because people thought Shenmue 3 would cost at least 20-30mil $, which would be the case if they realised a Shenmue3 comparable in scope to Shenmue 2, but apparantly Yu Suzukis plan isn't that ambitious.


On the one hand I can't blame people for expecting Shenmue 3 to be a fully fledge out realisation of Shenmue, therefore expecting a budget of at least 20mil and therefore expecting that the Kickstarter is just a bit of additional funding.

On the other hand its was hard for Yu Suzuki to anticipate such a misunderstanding.
 
Don't know what people are crying about in here, blaming others for the project runner's own missteps. If they truly need more to deliver a bonafide Shenmue sequel that is worthy of the hype and prequels, they should have made the goal higher. I did my part and backed, but the series is niche material for a shrinking and older fanbase. Let's remember that it did manage to blow past almost anything else in a record time to reach its current amount, so there's nothing tragic about its performance so far.

As a side thought, as fantastic an opportunity as it was for Sony to step in and help make it happen, keeping this to just one console hurts its appeal, I think, when the older games represent something a sore spot for longtime fans who saw Shenmue as a victim of Sony's own success against a weakened Sega. Shit like that lives on like the 16-bit console wars does for many.
 
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