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Polygon: "Shenmue's 3 budget is a mystery, and why that's a problem."

Simply untrue, and why I used the term "fucking stupid". Nothing in this industry happens in a vacuum - unless you're going to sit here and tell me with a straight face that you think a Shenmue 3 Kickstarter for a Sony-published Shenmue 3 would have happened if not for the influence of the many, many video game Kickstarters that have come before it - and everything from the exact nature and proportion of crowdfunded-to-publisher-funded money, to the overall scope and fidelity of the resulting game, to the audience reception, to the level of transparency offered from Ys Net, Sony, and any other outside investment, is going to have a similar influence on projects that come later, whether I back Shenmue 3 or not, and whether I even play Shenmue or not. To think otherwise is to lack a fundamental understanding of what's even going on here.


Your assuming consequences yet you don't even know what they are yet.

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Okay that's fine that they don't owe me anything. But there is transparency that should be involved when any developer or organization asks for funding for a project. Of course charities or organizations that do fundraisers aren't required to disclose what they spend their donations on, but the expectation is there that they disclose it. I don't see why a kickstarter should be given more leeway in this regard.
No there fucking isn't. That may be your personal standard (Which is fair, it would probably be within my personal standards too), but that transparency isn't needed. 40,000 people just proved to you that it isn't needed. If people trust the company enough to give them this money, it isn't your place to tell any of the people involved what they should be telling anyone. I don't see why you're so concerned about it when it doesn't involve you in the slightest.
 
By making a kickstarter they are literally asking everyone in the entire world to fund their game. Of course only a small section of the world will fund their game, but they are literally asking everyone who watched E3 and everyone with an internet connection to fund their game. It's not like they just asked Shenmue fans, they asked everyone.

No, they are giving people the option to fund a project. You either do or you don't based on the information available.
 
I've gone my entire life without even thinking twice about where the budget for a video game came from. What is really so different about this one? If Sony wanted to gauge interest with a crowd sourcing target so be it. As long as the game shows up on my PS4 I don't care who pays to create it.
 
"As I said above, anybody who does not like Sony's involvement for whatever reason is free to remove anything that they have pledged."

This is a strawman. It is not about liking or disliking Sony's involvement. It is about first not saying they are funding and then not clearifying how far their funding goes.


"There is no attempt to "gotcha" people by hiding it until the Kickstarter ended."

This is an assumption and a strawman, since noone has even suggested it.

"As for exact amounts of funding etc. we don't hear Nintendo or Microsoft speak about exact numbers when they give funds to bring a game to their platforms do we?"

This is a strawman. When Nintendo (as example) funded Bayonetta 2 and a port of Bayonetta 1, it was an issue between Nintendo, Sega and Platinum Games. None of those parties involved, went to Kickstarter. If they went to Kickstarter, the funding, like with every other Kickstarter, would have become a public matter.
 
I've gone my entire life without even thinking twice about where the budget for a video game came from. What is really so different about this one? If Sony wanted to gauge interest with a crowd sourcing target so be it. As long as the game shows up on my PS4 I don't care who pays to create it.

That is the thing. Noone tells who does to what an extent.
 
A charity says what they spend their money on, because that is what gets them donations.
For just one dollar a day, this little girl can have clean water... This is what makes people spend money, that's what they want to see.
For just 30 dollars, Suzuki-san can have a fresh cup of coffee for 30 days... Nobody gives a shit.
Kickstarter is not a charity. It's not donation. If I give 30 bucks to the project, I get the fucking game. If I give 30 bucks to a charity, I get only the knowledge that I helped someone somewhere. It is completely different, and I don't know how you can compare.

Even Charities hide what they do with all the money. Some invest it into huge investment portfolios, there was a big thing about it the UK recently. The charity involved only disclosed the info because they got found out.
 
A charity says what they spend their money on, because that is what gets them donations.
For just one dollar a day, this little girl can have clean water... This is what makes people spend money, that's what they want to see.
For just 30 dollars, Suzuki-san can have a fresh cup of coffee for 30 days... Nobody gives a shit.
Kickstarter is not a charity. It's not donation. If I give 30 bucks to the project, I get the fucking game. If I give 30 bucks to a charity, I get only the knowledge that I helped someone somewhere. It is completely different, and I don't know how you can compare.

I totally understand that, but there are people in this thread that are saying that it is a donation. But there should be some acknowledgement that they have no legal obligation to deliver a product to you. All they have to do is try and for kickstarter that is enough.

No there fucking isn't. That may be your personal standard (Which is fair, it would probably be within my personal standards too), but that transparency isn't needed. 40,000 people just proved to you that it isn't needed. If people trust the company enough to give them this money, it isn't your place to tell any of the people involved what they should be telling anyone. I don't see why you're so concerned about it when it doesn't involve you in the slightest.

Why am I not allowed to provide criticism on something I don't agree with? Why isn't Kuchera allowed to voice his own opinion on the issue?
 
Are you defending shadiness of a company with of those of some charities(which ones?)?

Not defending anything. I would like every company to be more open with the public but it isn't going to happen. If I have a problem with a company not giving enough info to my liking I don't invest in it. I am a neutral on this subject as I can see why people would want more info but I can also see why fans of the game would KS it. The charity involved btw was Children in Need.
 
Not defending anything. I would like every company to be more open with the public but it isn't going to happen. If I have a problem with a company not giving enough info to my liking I don't invest in it. I am a neutral on this subject as I can see it from both sides. The charity involved btw was Children in Need.

There is a second option, which works wonderfully complimentary to not "investing". Asking, pointing out the lack of information. As a " neutral", you surely understand.
 
There is a second option, which works wonderfully complimentary to not "investing". Asking, pointing out the lack of information. As a " neutral", you surely understand.

Just edited my post. But yeah of course I ask for more info if I think I need it, if I don't recieve it I move on. But for some people knowing the info that is already out there about this KS is enough for them.
 
I totally understand that, but there are people in this thread that are saying that it is a donation. But there should be some acknowledgement that they have no legal obligation to deliver a product to you. All they have to do is try and for kickstarter that is enough.



Why am I not allowed to provide criticism on something I don't agree with? Why isn't Kuchera allowed to voice his own opinion on the issue?
Because it's none of your business if you're not involved. Why should anyone care about the opinions of people who have nothing to do with the issue at hand? You're not supporting the project.

You can voice your opinion all you want, so can Kuchera. But when you reveal that you don't actually have any stake in the situation, and are complaining about something just to complain, everyone else also has the right to ask why your opinion on the issue should matter in the first place.
 
Boyes specifically distanced himself, and the Sony brand from the KickStarter on stage. He said they were not affiliated, despite the fact that Sony clearly had existing ties with the project. Boyes and Sony wanted people to believe that this was simply a mutually beneficial situation - Sony gets the positive association of Shenmue, the KickStarter gets the biggest stage in gaming. Then they revealed that was not the case, at all - and the audience is apparently the one who should be ashamed of themselves.



They're providing analysis on a popular topic. You can listen to it, or ignore it. Don't call them "click-bait" just for not hopping on the hype train.

Obviously the KS was just there to measure support, but why not make that more transparent? Be open about intention. Say "If we can raise $X - outside investors will fill in the remaining Y%". Don't let people dream wildly, and throw money at something unattainable.

they are a publicly traded company! you don't announce that you are committed to investing 20, 30, 40 -however many million dollars if a game hits a kickstarter goal just because some moronic entitled gamers feel like your are obligated to. sony has been in the shitter for a while now, but fuck the stock price, Polygon wants answers.

holy shit - i just realized i preordered Street Fighter 5; it is criminal that Shu hasn't called me personally and disclosed sensitive financial arrangements.
 
Because it's none of your business if you're not involved. Why should anyone care about the opinions of people who have nothing to do with the issue at hand? You're not supporting the project.

You can voice your opinion all you want, so can Kuchera. But when you reveal that you don't actually have any stake in the situation, and are complaining about something just to complain, everyone else also has the right to ask why your opinion on the issue should matter in the first place.

In which parallel universe does a journalist, or anyone for that matter, have to be financially invested to point out a of lack of information? Are they allowed to be speak if they did invest? And what are they allowed to say? And who decides that besides you?
 
So...there's three scenarios here right?

1) People can choose to fund the Kickstarter if they want to.

2) People can choose not to fund the Kickstarter if they don't want to.

3) Anyone who already funded can still pull their money out if they're unhappy that Sony or other parties may also be contributing money.

Yet people are very angry. What am I missing here?
 
So...there's three scenarios here right?

1) People can choose to fund the Kickstarter if they want to.

2) People can choose not to fund the Kickstarter if they don't want to.

3) Anyone who already funded can still pull their money out if they're unhappy that Sony or other parties may also be contributing money.

Yet people are very angry. What am I missing here?

That it is not coming to the XBox or the Wii U. More so the former I reckon.
 
So...there's three scenarios here right?

1) People can choose to fund the Kickstarter if they want to.

2) People can choose not to fund the Kickstarter if they don't want to.

3) Anyone who already funded can still pull their money out if they're unhappy that Sony or other parties may also be contributing money.

Yet people are very angry. What am I missing here?

Scenario 4) Pointing out the lack of information about the funding. Works with scenario 1, 2 and 3.


And who is very angry?


Why are we complaining? After waiting 14 years, we can all pre-order Shenmue III for $29 right now.

Who is we? Which complaining? And why do some of you guys keep making driveby posts, which add nothing to the discussion?
 
So...there's three scenarios here right?

1) People can choose to fund the Kickstarter if they want to.

2) People can choose not to fund the Kickstarter if they don't want to.

3) Anyone who already funded can still pull their money out if they're unhappy that Sony or other parties may also be contributing money.

Yet people are very angry. What am I missing here?

The only angry people here are those who hate that this article even exists. The rest of us are agreeing that it'd be nice if we had more information about the game's finances so we could make a better decision about which of your scenarios to choose.
 
The only angry people here are those who hate that this article even exists. The rest of us are agreeing that it'd be nice if we had more information about the game's finances so we could make a better decision about which of your scenarios to choose.

You do not have to choose anything. The game is going to be made now.
 
In which parallel universe does a journalist, or anyone for that matter, have to be financially invested to point out a of lack of information? Are they allowed to be speak if they did invest? And what are they allowed to say? And who decides that besides you?
Like I said, you're allowed can say whatever you want. But then everyone else also has the right to go "Who gives a fuck what this guy thinks?", which is exactly what I, and everyone else are doing. It's everyone's job to convince everyone else why what they're saying matters, and Kuchera's point essentially boils down to "Other people spent their money on something I don't like the structure of, and I think that's bad." That's an incredibly dumb point that doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. It's none of your, my, or Ben Kuchera's business what other people spend their money on. If a bunch of people spend their money on something that doesn't effect you in the slightest, why should I care about your opinion on the situation? I haven't said anything about people not being able to speak their opinion, all I've asked is for people to prove why their opinion should matter in regards to the situation.

Why should I care about what someone who has no stake in the project, and no investment in it thinks about how it's structured? Him being a journalist doesn't remove him from criticism of his points. It's not a problem because absolutely nobody was forced to put money into this project. If anyone who donated wants to pull their money out they can for the next month and wait for the final release.

And yeah, I'd take the people who actually put money into the project more seriously if they were complaining, because they're the only ones in this situation with something to lose. But the fact is, I haven't seen ONE person who actually put money towards the project complain about it.
 
You do not have to choose anything. The game is going to be made now.

Didn't... you literally just make a post above about choosing to back or not? Yeah, it met its goal already. How many people would pull their money out if (hypothetically) they found out the game would be made on say, a meager $10 million total? Probably not enough to put the Kickstarter under the goal again. But maybe those who had an optimistic picture of the quality of the game would have a better idea of what to realistically expect, and either adjust their expectations, or not feel bad about having their money taken for something they'd be disappointed with.
 
The only angry people here are those who hate that this article even exists. The rest of us are agreeing that it'd be nice if we had more information about the game's finances so we could make a better decision about which of your scenarios to choose.

whats fallout 4's budget? whats Halo 5's budget? why do you need to know shenmue 3's budget?

if anything its a case of Bloodstained... get to know how much fans want it and then give them what they need... no one owes it to us to divulge that info....
 
I dont understand, why does the budget matter?

Is it really that hard to understand? Budget will be indicative of the game's scope, size, systems, and production values. The source of funding will be indicative of who is calling the shots about when to ship, how to ship it, what features make it in and what gets cut.

If you don't care about the budget that's fine but the Kickstarter pitch is relatively vague and some people want more information, specifically because the amount of funding they will receive from KS is nowhere near what it will take to make a Shenmue game in the style we have been accustomed to.
 
whats fallout 4's budget? whats Halo 5's budget? why do you need to know shenmue 3's budget?

if anything its a case of Bloodstained... get to know how much fans want it and then give them what they need... no one owes it to use to divulge that info....

This has been answered a number of times in this thread already, but: those other games are not asking for your nonrefundable money before development of the game starts. I can preorder Fallout 4 or Halo 5, but it's risk-free--right up to the game's release, I can take back my money if I don't like what I see. Not so with Shenmue 3. If you're going to commit your cash sight unseen of the final product, wouldn't it be nice to have a better financial picture of what you're going to get?
 
Didn't... you literally just make a post above about choosing to back or not? Yeah, it met its goal already. How many people would pull their money out if (hypothetically) they found out the game would be made on say, a meager $10 million total? Probably not enough to put the Kickstarter under the goal again. But maybe those who had an optimistic picture of the quality of the game would have a better idea of what to realistically expect, and either adjust their expectations, or not feel bad about having their money taken for something they'd be disappointed with.

No one is having their money taken. They are voluntarily giving it away. If the information provided is deemed insufficient then it's probably best to just not get involved. Simple as that, you can just walk away from the project at no loss.
 
Didn't... you literally just make a post above about choosing to back or not? Yeah, it met its goal already. How many people would pull their money out if (hypothetically) they found out the game would be made on say, a meager $10 million total? Probably not enough to put the Kickstarter under the goal again. But maybe those who had an optimistic picture of the quality of the game would have a better idea of what to realistically expect, and either adjust their expectations, or not feel bad about having their money taken for something they'd be disappointed with.

People preorder games ALL THE TIME based on name alone and not knowing shit.

It really is =/=

Like others have sad, most who funded are die hard fans. They are not the one's doing the majority (99% in Polygon pie chart style) complaining. They are content and trust the guy who not only delivered Shenmue, but Outrun, Virtua Fighter, etc, etc.

And really, who cares? It is either the game is being made, or wait another 14 years of petitions and forum begging. I think most are going in at something is better than nothing. The stretch goals definitely give much more of an idea of the game's scope, than half the games announced at E3 that I can guarantee have tons of preorders already.
 
No one is having their money taken. They are voluntarily giving it away. If the information provided is deemed insufficient then it's probably best to just not get involved. Simple as that, you can just walk away from the project at no loss.

I absolutely agree. The article's just saying to the consumer populace, "Hey, this is a big unknown factor. Maybe consider the unknowns and how the project can go south before backing." Then each consumer can make their own decision. Not sure why so many are up in arms about a journalist informing the public about that risk.
 
Didn't... you literally just make a post above about choosing to back or not? Yeah, it met its goal already. How many people would pull their money out if (hypothetically) they found out the game would be made on say, a meager $10 million total? Probably not enough to put the Kickstarter under the goal again. But maybe those who had an optimistic picture of the quality of the game would have a better idea of what to realistically expect, and either adjust their expectations, or not feel bad about having their money taken for something they'd be disappointed with.

Here's the deal, there is a lot of concern going about, but honesty, Shenmue fans simply don't care, they can pull their pledge if they want, they won't, why?

Because they waited 14 years while everyone essentially said no it's not happening, no one's going to fund it, it was a complete commercial failure. Die hard fans have been given a chance and they took it and it's now being made, and they don't care.
 
Is it really that hard to understand? Budget will be indicative of the game's scope, size, systems, and production values. The source of funding will be indicative of who is calling the shots about when to ship, how to ship it, what features make it in and what gets cut.

If you don't care about the budget that's fine but the Kickstarter pitch is relatively vague and some people want more information, specifically because the amount of funding they will receive from KS is nowhere near what it will take to make a Shenmue game in the style we have been accustomed to.

What will the scope, size, systems, production values, creative control, ship date, ship method and features of Shenmue 3 be if it gets a $40M budget and funded by Sony?

I absolutely agree. The article's just saying to the consumer populace, "Hey, this is a big unknown factor. Maybe consider the unknowns and how the project can go south before backing." Then each consumer can make their own decision. Not sure why so many are up in arms about a journalist informing the public about that risk.

Kickstarter has been operating like this for the last few years.
Where total investments, chance of success or even if a project is real or not has always been "vague" to the backers. Why is this all of a sudden an issue?
 
This has been answered a number of times in this thread already, but: those other games are not asking for your nonrefundable money before development of the game starts. I can preorder Fallout 4 or Halo 5, but it's risk-free--right up to the game's release, I can take back my money if I don't like what I see. Not so with Shenmue 3. If you're going to commit your cash sight unseen of the final product, wouldn't it be nice to have a better financial picture of what you're going to get?

you have 30 days.. if you dont like what you see then dont kickstart it or get your money back before its over.
 
People preorder games ALL THE TIME based on name alone and not knowing shit.

It really is =/=

Like others have sad, most who funded are die hard fans. They are not the one's doing the majority (99% in Polygon pie chart style) complaining. They are content and trust the guy who not only delivered Shenmue, but Outrun, Virtua Fighter, etc, etc.

And really, who cares? It is either the game is being made, or wait another 14 years of petitions and forum begging. I think most are going in at something is better than nothing. The stretch goals definitely give much more of an idea of the game's scope, than half the games announced at E3 that I can guarantee have tons of preorders already.

And see that is totally fine for people to do. But it is still important (especially for a journalism site) to question what is going behind the scenes of any project when the situation is not transparent. It's important to question things what motivates a publisher to prevent reviews from being published before a game is released. And yes it is important to question why a kickstarter does not disclose what the estimated budget is for a game that they are asking consumers to fund. And this extends beyond Shenmue and can be targeted at kickstarter projects as a whole. Bloodstained also had backlash so this isn't unique to Shenmue, but Bloodstained ended up answering questions about outside funding where Shenmue has just acknowledged its existence.
 
Is it not clear to people that the article is saying "Just think about this big factor before backing," and not "DON'T BACK THIS IT'S A TRAP"?

I keep seeing the same posts saying "don't back it if you don't like it." Yes, that's the whole point. If you can stomach the risk profile, then go for it! But maybe you're under the impression this will definitely be a AAA, top-quality open world game. If you'd only back if that were the case, it might be wise to hold back.
 
What will the scope, size, systems, production values, creative control, ship date, ship method and features of Shenmue 3 be if it gets a $40M budget and funded by Sony?

Budget affects the size of the world, voice acting, animations, unique NPCs, number of quests, variety of environments, etc.

Kickstarter has been operating like this for the last few years.
Where total investments, chance of success or even if a project is real or not has always been "vague" to the backers. Why is this all of a sudden an issue?

This isn't exactly the first Kickstarter where people are skeptical or inquisitive about what exactly is being promised. Why are people acting like this is "all of a sudden" an issue?
 
And see that is totally fine for people to do. But it is still important (especially for a journalism site) to question what is going behind the scenes of any project when the situation is not transparent. It's important to question things what motivates a site to prevent reviews from being published before a game is released. And yes it is important to question why a kickstarter does not disclose what the estimated budget is for a game that they are asking consumers to fund. And this extends beyond Shenmue and can be targeted at kickstarter projects as a whole. Bloodstained also had backlash so this isn't unique to Shenmue, but Bloodstained ended up answering questions about outside funding where Shenmue has just acknowledged its existence.[/QUOTE]

Bloodstained never answered what their total budget was or who is funding them.
We didn't find out about Deep Silver till the trademark was found. They didn't even say anything themselves.
 
I dont understand, why does the budget matter?

Once Sony confirmed they were funding, some people lost their shit.

No one really cares about game budgets in reality except when they want it to because it matters some how.

I think only super hardcore Shenmue fans may be interested because they may feel the Shenmue story shouldnt end on Shenmue 3 and possibly would rather have 2 games to fully end the series. Maybe they want a good scope for this 3rd game and maybe the rest on the other possible next game.

That's not whats going on in here. Fans just want to unload money and happy to this is a thing. Everyone else concerned is just doing it because they have other agendas.
 
And see that is totally fine for people to do. But it is still important (especially for a journalism site) to question what is going behind the scenes of any project when the situation is not transparent. It's important to question things what motivates a site to prevent reviews from being published before a game is released. And yes it is important to question why a kickstarter does not disclose what the estimated budget is for a game that they are asking consumers to fund. And this extends beyond Shenmue and can be targeted at kickstarter projects as a whole. Bloodstained also had backlash so this isn't unique to Shenmue, but Bloodstained ended up answering questions about outside funding where Shenmue has just acknowledged its existence.

If this was important to them, and they didn't have some bias angle, this article would have popped up a year ago, especially when one of their staff members has a stake in a KSer game.

It is a mere piece to generate clicks for ad revenue (cashing in) and create a false narrative of controversy. I do not for one second see this as a noble piece written for the sake of us the consumer. It is a cash in for their site probably being pounded by others clicking on sites providing better E3 coverage.

I give their article a Polygon score of 3.0, and will revisit it and adjust my review based on the game's outcome.
 
I absolutely agree. The article's just saying to the consumer populace, "Hey, this is a big unknown factor. Maybe consider the unknowns and how the project can go south before backing." Then each consumer can make their own decision. Not sure why so many are up in arms about a journalist informing the public about that risk.

When the title includes the phrase "why that's a problem", it stops being journalism and becomes an editorial. The article was written to generate controversy and drama. Now there are posters here acting as though it's their right to review the game's budget and that there is something menacing going on because it hasn't been released.
 
And see that is totally fine for people to do. But it is still important (especially for a journalism site) to question what is going behind the scenes of any project when the situation is not transparent. It's important to question things what motivates a publisher to prevent reviews from being published before a game is released. And yes it is important to question why a kickstarter does not disclose what the estimated budget is for a game that they are asking consumers to fund. And this extends beyond Shenmue and can be targeted at kickstarter projects as a whole. Bloodstained also had backlash so this isn't unique to Shenmue, but Bloodstained ended up answering questions about outside funding where Shenmue has just acknowledged its existence.

The transparency is in the FAQ

No, we cannot make an open world game for $2 million. Shenmue will be produced using both the funds raised from the Kickstarter and through other funding sources already secured by Ys Net Inc. We are very sorry, but due to contractual obligations, details of outside investments will not be disclosed.
 
Bloodstained never answered what their total budget was or who is funding them.
We didn't find out about Deep Silver till the trademark was found. They didn't even say anything themselves.

My apologies I thought the ratio had been disclosed about the publisher funding vs. kickstarter funding but I was just going off what other people were saying. If they haven't disclosed this information than I do have the same qualms with this.
 
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