Making Sense of Shenmue 3
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- How well Shenmue 3 is or is not doing depends on who you ask, what translation you're reading, which numbers you look at, and what you think the word "production" means. Or something. Here's an attempt to make sense of probably the most multi-faceted controversies going around these days.
Shenmue 3 Kickstarter: www.kickstarte...
Weekly Famitsu scan & tran: www.shenmuedojo...
Engadget w/ Shuhei Yoshida: www.engadget.co...
Twitch Q&A with Yu Suzuki: • Yu Suzuki Twitch Q&A (...
Niconico broadcast w/ Yu Suzuki: • Yu Suzuki Live Niconic...
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Last week on the TOVG podcast, we witheld stories about the ScrewAttack Gaming Crevice: www.thatonevide...
damn look at this....gaming journalism in its finest.... AMAZING.
***** I think he has a degree in journalism so its not surprising
How about we acknowledge that and have an intelligent discussion about the topic in the comments, instead of having the top comment be "that's good gaming journalism" on every video
incrediblejonas That would be quite difficult without some Medieval Neanderthal spouting witchcraft nonsense about femenism and random crap that no one should really care about.
Stupid people spouting crap makes even more stupid people believe so it become a virus of some sorts.
***** journ--nal-isim, I'm unfamiliar with this term.
incrediblejonas Because it is completely fine to complement a video.
I think Shenmue 3 should be a dreamcast exclusive.
U even alive?
Should have put it on the xbox, sega makes games there so it only seems logical
I have to say that this level of journalism is incredible, particularly by an single person. Thank you for the explanation.
he lied throughout
@@rubberchix If you're gonna say that you gotta elaborate. I'd like to know how he lied so I know what you mean.
Rubberchix elaborate or shut the fuck up.
@@GamerZakh he would periodically lie in bed throughout this videos production
Let me get this straight. George managed to do all this journalism that giant games media outlets seemed to never do and instead lapped up the NeoGAF quotes or didn't report it at all? Tell me again how much we need sites like Polygon or Kotaku.
Great video George.
Bozzie Dear Bozzie.
The major concern is that these major publications are sponsored by major console companies. IGN posts ads for Halo and Unchartered, plus the latest Xbox and Playstation deals.
This leads to a conflict of interest for the outlets. They can't investigate anything to do with these brands in case the brands pull funding. Neogaf comments, on the most part, are safe from such concerns and controversies (despite their own leaning agenda).
The reality is, youtube has far more investigative journalism as google can control the ads that appear on your system (up to a point). Unless you personally advertise products, there is no affiliation between the youtube and the advertiser. Hence why youtube journalism can be trusted more than media outlets.
I apologise for the long winded explanation of why I agree with you.
Jonny Melamet While I can see how you've come to your conclusions, I want you to consider the possibility that it might also be laziness, influence from other lazy games journalists, lack of experience with "real" journalism (which is really the fault of their employers), too tight schedules, just, the good old, controversy giving more attention than facts, or some other reason.
Again, you might be right, the facts do back your theory, but all the above examples also have facts backing them, and they might explain it just as well, if you ask me.
I agree with your theory as well.
In all honesty it is probably a combination of the two.
Bozzie That's because most gaming media don't hire people with journalism degrees but hobby bloggers, which is a big shame.
Well the thing is, George actually STUDIED journalism and is somewhat accredited in this field. The guys at those websites...not so much. I mean some are, but plenty of them just have a B.A. in some other writing intensive field that really doesn't prepare you to do the kind of research journalism requires. You need a journalism degree or at the very least a history degree to really know your shit when it comes to evaluating the credibility of sources and synthesizing that information into a logical and ethical argument founded on deduction and reason. George happens to be really good at that because he's trained in that shit.
Hope you do a video like this on Red Ash which is far more suspicious than this kickstarter.
***** Wasn't following that. What happened there?
Well, currently, it was revealed it was gonna get funded by Chinese company FUZE and that the kickstarter is now for extra content. This is days before the campaign ends and also didn't look like it was going to reach its goal.
The company in question is far less reputable than someone like Sony.
***** I just hope Mighty Number 9 is good and if so does good.
***** Certainly. There are many problems as to why that campaign wasn't doing well and other mix ups. The Fuze announcement is just the most recent thing. Which is why an informed video on it would help a lot of people.
***** I also remember that for the longest time for the Red Ash kickstarter they would not say what console other than PC they would be making it for and that it would be determined AFTER the kickstarter ended, I feel this led a lot of people with myself included to step back and go "That's shady as Hell...."
Being a Shenmue fan for 15 years, really dont get why people complain about Sony making the game...
tltar253 From what I know, they aren't... at least entirely so. Most complaints I've seen, as addressed in this video, are how the money was going to be used. When the Kickstarter was announced, nobody knew that Sony was helping, as the Kickstarter page was poorly translated and purposefully vague regarding home much was needed to make the game a reality. Many were concerned about the small asking price for a historically expensive franchise, and so rumors flew and speculation was abound. At least, that's what I've seen.
tltar253 I don't think its the fact that sony's funding it, its more that Yu Suzuki and crew are being very shady in relation.
ChiefChegwin My only real panic from all of this is someone sabotages the entire thing and makes off with the dough. It's happened before on certain projects, the worst part is the fact that it's not technically "illegal".
Hotsex spy Kickstarter can be awesome some times but scary other times
ChiefChegwin That doesn't really help quell my concerns.
Great video Super Bunnyhop !
Thank you for crediting me in the end title card!
It was a pleasure to help with this!
I'm still fascinated with the game though. Shenmue 3 is one of the holy grails of gaming vaporware. And vaporware itself is fascinating. The idea of a game that was thought to be obliterated from existence only to rise like a phoenix from it's own ashes is something I find quite compelling. I've never played the original Shenmue games but I'm aware of what it is. I'll keep myself updated on it. Who knows, maybe I'll lose interested a few months or years down the line, or I'll want to buy the game anyway. It's all about time.
L Pendergast Or whatabout that PS4 game with the owldog thing?
Kira Reilly Are you talking about Last Guardian?
Shenmue doesn't fit into the definition of vaporware.
Delaney Orange Cup Am I? I think so.
Kira Reilly I believe you are, and that's only been 1 decade of anticipation as opposed to Shenmue's 2
Now THIS is games journalism
Meanwhile Keiji Inafune's Red Ash is failing to meet its kickstarter goal, but gets funded by a shady chinese company. 10:44 onward seems to sum up that situation well.
MrFariator Honestly, I feel like KS funding isn't as great as people seem to think it is and this and BloodStained are definite proof of this.
KS funding can't produce large AAA games, its just never enough money.
Want to know the truth about MN9 KS success? 4 million dollars is small amount of money for games funding nowadays.
Games like Yooka Laylee and Shovel Knight can pull it off because they're smaller games and in Yooka's case a good chunk of the game was probably already done/setup judging by the trailer.
Red Ash was launched too soon and it was gonna need a hell of a lot cash to end up a fully realized product to be honest.
ZeroZXDev BloodStained doesn't look like it's going to be a large AAA game though. It's a 2D action platformer. It was also upfront about using investor money. So I'm not sure why you'd use that as an example of proof that KS funding isn't that great.
Suprentus I'm more on how KS isn't funding enough to make these games, something a lot of people don't understand (both the people funding the games, and the people asking for money). BloodStained was a bad choice admittingly, but I still feel like it illustrates my point well enough. I'll give Koji Igarashi credit for being transparent and honest though.
(Admittingly I am writing this on a Red Ash/MN9 rage-ish emotion from the people throwing around the 4 million dollar joke without understanding the proper context)
Also AAA was a bad choice of words, but I'm referring to a really high quality type of polish here.
MrFariator wait wait wait... inafune is doing ANOTHER kickstarter game? before mighty no 9 is even released?
I find it... odd, that I know I can trust SBH to do quality journalistic work, despite how I know he feels about GG.
Oh, SBH, if every journalist was as suave and good at researching as you.... if only...
Michael Little The funny part is that your sources for GG are probably infinitely more harmful and destructive than GG (either side of the debacle) itself ever could be.
It's only logical, of course, as hundreds of parroting media sewer outlets have a larger crowd than a bunch of idiots in a closed room pretending they're super smart (interpret that as whatever side you want, it hardly matters).
Sapphire Crook This.
Michael Little What does SBH think about GG?
***** He makes a big deal about SBH's opinion on GG. However, this same critique is rarely passed on to the source one hears about GG from.
I've yet to see anyone critique their own first contact-source regarding GG, which just makes this mess... messier.
Michael Little Proper journalism should be unbiased and beyond personal opinion. It never will be completely without opinion or bias, but I'm pretty sure SBH isn't being paid or otherwise coerced by the things he reports on - or gives opinions / critique about. That's what GG claimed to be about: Ethics in journalism. SBH acts ethically when reporting on games.
I don't really care how Shenmue is funded, long as it get's released and it's good. That's what matters most to me. That I get to play a good game.
If you aren't a fan of Shenmue, its understandable that you'd be skeptical about this kind of deal. It is certainly fishy. But, unless they cancel the game, I don't really care. Just make the game, make it good, and make all the back-door deals you need to so it happens.
scyx Do you buy Apple products too?
***** Nope. Never bought an apple product in my life and no plans to do so.
Summed up my thoughts and feelings perfectly
This guy is 100% unbiased but that's why he needs support from us. He doesn't have sponsors and isn't networked with other youtubers he also doesn't cash in controversy which is what I've seen a lot of people do.
I look forward to these every week. Riveting.
Awesome series Mr Suzuki played and completed 1 and 2 of part 3 should be epic with this graphicial power of this console generation.
Nice research as always, I remember thinking how bizarre it was to announce a kickstarter for a game in a huge E3 press conference.
I speculate that the $2 million in public funding was used for an early build of the game that could be presented to publishers and investors, which might be what Suzuki was referring to by 'minimal version.' Sony's involvement in this seems to be purely from a marketing standpoint in that the kick-starter presentation at E3 could have been used to measure audience interest in a product, which they would later publish.
To me it seems like they were pitching the game by appealing to Shenmue's niche fandom : a guaranteed multi-million dollar interest in 24 hours, an established series, licencing from Sega, support from Sony and a functional build to show for the product, sounds like a guaranteed way to get funding from a publisher.
Of course I can't prove any of this. On the surface it seems legitimate enough, it's the many misinterpretations and errors by PR and Awesome Japan that raises some scepticism over the project.
Kranku ♆ If the PR actually disclosed this information it would have avoided that aspect of the controversy, but funding might have also been lower. Fans would not have been as likely to back the project as instantly as they did if they knew from the start that their money was just being used to "gauge interest" and/or make a pre-alpha build for shareholders.
Misinterpretations aside, the shenmue 3 kickstarter was just the sort of thing that would result in controversy in concept alone. Many people don't like the idea of games being held hostage behind a crowdfunding project at e3 of all things, and for good reason, although just as many people are willing to throw thousands at the idea if it's for a sequel to a semi-niche series they miss.
Lobinden Are they obligated to disclose pre-alpha builds?
Kranku ♆
In this case I'm not sure, because it's not for certain that the kickstarter funding was used for an early build. It could have been pissed down the drain for all we know.
Kranku ♆ That is a super cool avatar image. What is it from?
***** it's a picture of Yui Hirasawa that I photoshopped to have aviators and a spliff.
I hope with all my heart that when shenmue 3 comes out there will be capsules
Dude you are such an amazing, non biased, well spoken video maker in all of the gaming side of youtube! It's so hard to find people like you so level headed and well researched. Subbed!
this video almost needs to be redone at this point
I always tough it was clear since the beginning. In fact just hearing that sony will help them in marketting and producing kind of make me happy. Cause that 6 millions and the other source will be solid for game development. They got most of the original team working for the game also.
Also most of shenmue fans really won't care, this is a game we wanted from a long time. I think a fan also suggested to yu suzuki about kickstarter. People really wanted anything to see the story completed, visual novel, a manga, an anime anything. But Yu wanted to continue it with a game. But a lot of fans were already ready for anything.
Is not like we tough about the whole thing too, but they din't care; they just wanted the game to be made somehow. Although i do understand the skepticism of every other person. I'm just happy about it, thats it.
+MrSoniK Pretty impossible for it to have been clear from the beginning, because no details were disclosed. Which is precisely the problem.
+Robin Mattheussen I can't disagree at technical level. Also there's a general point to be made of how KS is used.
Still, back when this was announced at E3 a lot of us in real life agreed that there was more funding going on, or will be going on, involving sony since it took place on their stage. We thought it was unlikely to be revived as a low cost indie project, and the initial goal seemed too small by any standard.
We thought we were Einsteins for coming up with such conjecture, but later on we were disappointed to find out that many outside observers, who were level-headed the whole way and had a grasp of how real life development occurs, had speculated the same.
I think this is the best video you've made. Many of your videos miss the mark for me, but this was excellent investigative journalism.
Again, a fantastic investigative piece. I'm constantly being blown away by the quality of content coming from your channel!
AWW YEAH SIX MILLION DOLLARS' WORTH OF PAPYRUS FONT MOTHERFUCKERS
Super Bunnyhop Dude, you make some of the best RUclips gaming content on the planet. Don't ever, ever stop. This community needs you now more than ever. Don't ever change my man! Thank You!!!!
The text around 4:00: The translation that says they're the primary financial factor is the correct one in my opinion. A more literal, though awkward-sounding translation looks like this:
About the ones who are kindly investing, people who are individuals are the centre/core, I think/In my opinion; which is why I want everyone, each of them to be happy.
So:
I think/believe/expect that the ones financing this game are mainly individuals, [as opposed to organizations/companies ] so I hope we will be able to make all of them happy. [This actually also sounds like it's just there for politeness' sake, you know, 'We hope you will enjoy this game']
!Note: Even if he says individuals are the 'core' or 'main' investors, I'm not sure whether that means their numbers, or the financing they give.
Explanation:
出資してくれるのは - 'The ones who are investing' This is the topic of the sentence.
個人の方々が中心だ - 'Individuals are the centre/focus/core' This is describing the topic. I.e. As for the investors, they are mainly individuals.
If he meant that they concentrate on the backers, it would look like this:
出資してくれる個人の方々が中心だ - There is no topic specified, so the subject ('Individual people who are investing') is described as being the centre/focus/core. I.e. The individuals investing are the focus.
I might be wrong of course, but this is what it seems like to me.
Many thanks for this one, George. I knew about the day 3 post and left it at that, but the detail you go into with regards to everything prior to that point is amazing; the different articles and interviews and translations and mistranslations, and to think that this all could have been avoided if there was a more capable team behind the Kickstarter campaign itself.
That bit was news to me, the staff's own track record. I had previously thought that - and it's probably still true to some degree - the KS was entirely a marketing stunt and way to lock-in pre-orders without overproduction of collector's editions, but it probably was just that honest, stupid flub on the campaign organiser's part.
Like you showed, say what you will about Bloodstained but they actually knew what they were doing - well-timed, well-co-ordinated campaign plus a stream to squeeze out final hype pledges - but above all they did disclose it right in the text and video openings.
This is fascinating. Very interesting how the relationship between Suzuki and Sony will unravel in the future.
Great work George. Thought provoking questions, good writing and best of all, you did a lot of leg work for this. That kind of due diligence is rare these days. Keep it up, you have a subscriber
Hey, great video. It's great to see your deep dive news videos becoming a semi regular thing. Your reviews are still my favorites, but I love that when a topic strikes your fancy, you throw the same passion into deconstructing that thing from beginning to end. You've got a great sense for interesting topics.
This september I'm starting my journalism career, and you are totally a good example of awesome videogame journalism. Keep it up, George.
George ,my mum has been journalist almost for 30 years now she would probably be proud of your objective judgment
This is a really well researched and informed video! Probably the only one I've seen, sadly. Subscribed!
Well, this made a lot more sense of what was up with the Shemue Kickstarter than any other journalistic site could manage. Mainly cause those sites kept trying to make a "big ol' controversy" out of it, rather than make sense of it. Thanks George.
I don't see what's wrong with it getting money from both public and private sources. It probably wouldn't have got enough of a budget to make a full game without some kickstarter money to top up the company money.
Keep in mind most of the vocal minority have an intelligence level of zero when it comes to how to run a business and how to manage money. Either because they are very young or have absolutely appalling management skills. That and people always go nuts when someone makes truckloads of money (look up "gold fever").
In regards to Sony working with a Kickstarter, the main thing I'm worried about is whether other Triple A publishers are going to exploit it either as a risk-free focus group at best or an additional source of revenue on top of preorders and DLC.
Imagine Valve presenting a Kickstarter for Half-Life 3. Or worse, a Kickstarter backed by EA or Warner Bros.
***** Oh yea. Despite what several social media chains have tried to do with the whole "we won't preorder" campaign, it has barely done anything. The reason: most of the mainstream audience and business side of things doesn't care about the same things the hardcore audience cares about.
The main thing I'm worried about is that Triple A will bastardize Kickstarter campaigns the same way they've bastardized the alpha and beta phases of game development. They basically made them bullshit PR buzzwords.
I hope this channel explodes and you can do your thing fulltime. 👍
Super interesting watching this in 2019
Thanks for bringing some clarity on what has otherwise been an utterly convoluted mess. The road to videogame marketing hell can be paved with good intentions.
As a Shenmue fan I have to say that it was a shame that there couldn't have been a more experienced organisation in charge of the campaign to avoid all the controversy which may have prevented the game being funded even more than it was. Very good video, I'm glad that the video's journalist has done his research on this matter and actually knows what he's talking about unlike others (i.e ReviewTechUSA and Forbes).
"Controversy"?
Some people really will make a mountain out of any molehill won't they
Bobfish Almighty I have yet to hear this Kickstarter being mentioned in an uncritical way but maybe I'm subscribed to too many mountaineers and to too few moles.
Pixel Judge (whom I write for) have had nothing but praise. And there's a difference between criticism and controversy
Bobfish Almighty The difference between criticism and controversy is that it's only controversy when it's not _unanimous_ criticism. I would have counted the point of view of the people behind the Kickstarter as the non-criticism part of the controversy but you just basically made the point that it's even a controversy among critics ;)
Keep up the great work! Your videos are the best in the industry. You shed light on these things where as others just speculate without doing real research.
That $47,000,000 used to make the original shenmue also funded shenmue 2, and an unreleased game for the sega saturn, and spanned a development time of 7 years, and covered the marketing of the games. Take into account that 3D game engine development in the late 90s was more expensive than it is now, and that Shenmue 3 will use a modified Unreal 4 engine, $2 million-$5 million isn't that unrealistic.
Yet another great, well produced and well researched piece of actual game journalism, solid work as always!
I consider SB the best gaming investigative journalist ever. And this simple but very much effective combination of investigative journalism and RUclips channel is what works for me 100%. Thank you SB!
This was a really interesting watch, I didn't know that there was such conspiracy regarding this game's development, although the Kickstarter page did seem very fishy to me what with the poor English and grammar used and the strange, hard to follow wording for the Kickstarter rewards.
I'm certain that Ys Net will be receiving more funding, $6.3 million just seems too small to make a game of Shenmue's scale.
amazing, i really like how much effort you put into your videos.
Keep up the good work please
The whole time I was watching this, all I could think about was how incredible it was that you had gone and done that much research into this topic, and how truly informative and unbiased this video was. If people want to see how games journalism via RUclips can be legitimate, this is a quintessential video.
Good video, you obviously put time in on the research. Its defiantly not 100% transparent but I dont think Shenmue 3 would happen without this Kickstarter. I was happy to give $60 (£45 ish) to get a physical release on PS4.
Shhhhh....**looks around nervously**...don't criticize Shenmue 3...They'll come for you! I've gotten a lot of hate on my own video criticizing the Kickstarter, and one particular user was so angry about my opinions that he left over 100 comments in a two hour period, and was stalking my comments all over RUclips. I was literally harassed because I was critical of the project.
Excellent work as always sir. Thank you
This is some proper fucking journalism. I love your channel for stuff like this.
Personally I don't understand nor like how people try to shit all over Sony's E3 by saying "Why give them credit just for featuring a kickstarter?" Usually I would agree that showcasing a kickstarter at E3 is nothing to be glad about, but the fact of the matter is that Sony is marketing the entire thing, making the physical copies, funding the porting of it from PC to PS4, and they basically advertised the game at their E3.
People don't realize that that could potentially be more expensive than the game's actual development. So why not give them development money? Because they probably would have had to fund development *and* publish it. They had to choose how to spend their money. Also, they could easily publish the project if it raised it's kickstarter, but also easily go out of the deal if the kickstarter wasn't a success. With development money, they would have lost money into the game if the kickstarter wasn't a success, they wouldn't have been able to back out. So why not just fund the whole project? Because Shenmue 3 is a financial risk. Even Sega and Microsoft shot Shenmue down,despite the fact that Microsoft literally announced back in I believe 2010 that it was there more requested game, they still shot it down. It's a financial risk.
I don't like to randomly give big companies credit,but I'm giving credit to Sony on this one.
Go look at Adam Koralik's videos on it. They're very good...very very good...
Lol nice rant but it still doesn't justify showing a kickstarter at a event that's supposed to show what they're bringing to the table to compete with the other big two. They failed.
ANewEvilRising
So...this is the game that is most asked for by the Microsoft community...and you don't think it's showcasing something off? Also, they would have made less money if they didn't reveal it at a hyped event.
*****
No he's not. He doesn't even like Playstation that much.
The Angry Little Alchemist Sony is a big company. They can afford this by themselves without the help of kickstarter. Meanwhile everyone had been fooled into believing that the project wouldn't happen without this money. If sony opened up from the start about their relationship with the studio, they would have probably gotten less than they did. Essentially what they got is free marketing and extra development money. You may find that important, but I don't feel that giving money to a large corporation is particularly wise when that money could go to an indie developer that actually needs it.
Amit Stein
No offense, but what you're saying is completely in-factual, and if you actually read my comment and looked at the facts, I wouldn't even need to respond, because you wouldn't have formed this conclusion in the first place.
Ok, sure, Sony could afford it by themselves...by why would they want to pay for the development and publishment to begin with? Shenmue has always been a financial risk, so much so that Sega turned the game down, and even Microsoft, despite reporting that Shenmue 3 was there most requested game( metro.co.uk/2014/04/01/phil-spencer-is-new-xbox-boss-says-shenmue-iii-is-most-requested-game-4684870/ ), didn't back the game when the Shenmue creator asked them to. Sony, the company losing the most money out of the big 3, aren't going to be able to fund that project without huge financial risk. Hell, Sega even advertised the huge(I'll be it inaccurate) budget of the game when it came out to drive console sales. Come on man.
The project *wouldn't* happen without this money. Did you see the actual video? It wouldn't have happened. Sony was going to publish the game....but if it didn't have kickstarter money, they wouldn't have published it, marketed it, or ported it at all. The game NEEDED the kickstarter money, because that's all their development money.
Yes, they would have gotten the same amount of money, if not *more*, from the kickstarter had people like you not been spreading false rumors. Look I'm not trying to be rude, but it's people like you, the skeptics who didn't do their research, who stopped the kickstarter from going past 8 million. Sony's relationship didn't go beyond marketing,publishing, and porting the entire game *if* the kickstarter was successful. That's *IT*.
That's not true, you're spreading false claims. All the kickstarter money is the only development the game has.
Ya, because it's not like the Shenmue studio is small or anything(P.S. it is). Besides, indie devs have been screwing over fans a lot recently.
Man, I love your investigative work. Keep it up
I think you found your niche, Super Bunnyhop. In this industry devoid of proper journalistic investigations, you're the voice of hope for disgruntled gamers!
Heh, did it sound too pompous?
And I will remind everybody this is actually Shenmue 2.25 because it's only a QUARTER of what S3 should be
I enjoy and appreciate your videos, opinions and insight. Please keep doing the good work that you do.
That was fantastic. You are quite the journalist.
i love your videos. they are so well made and informative
i hope shenmue 3 is a success and hopefully someone will pick up and help finance the series.
I would adore a Shenmue manga
You're the only game journalist I follow right now. I really wish that other journalists put even half the effort you put into these videos. Have you considered a pattern page? It doesn't even need incentives; I think people would still donate to you.
What you said towards the end about the idea of kickstarters being more of a way to secure budgets is exactly how I felt about shovel knight. "Why would an 8-bit game need so much money?" I was a foolish teen
Really concise, liked it man! Helped me make sense of all I've been hearing.
Good stuff as always, genuinely interesting and well presented
I thought the concept of journalists actually doing actual journalistic work had gone completely extinct by now but this channel just proved me wrong. Subbed.
Thanks for the awesome video Super Bunnyhop :)
You are the best video game journalist on Earth. Love your channel!
I'm back here to reassess Shenmue 3's funding situation after recent news that Epic Games has claimed exclusivity on the PC release.
A brilliant video on a topic I know nothing about nor have much interest in.
And yet I loved it, such is the talent behind this channel.
I actually had never heard of shenmue before this kick starter, and still don't know anything about the games.
I'm glad Sony are involved. I think its petty of people to hate on Shenmue because Sony are involved. I would have been just as happy if Nintendo partnered for a switch exclusive, I would have been again just as happy if Microsoft had partnered for an Xb1 exclusive.
But imo Sony have the best track record when it comes to hands off management. Even Hideo Kojima says this.
I don't even understand why pc gamers would bitch about this. Having a big partner like Sony just adds to the chances of success for shenmue going forward.
I'm one of the few who bought shenmue originally and I'm now also replaying the re releases. If the sales of the hd re releases (they have sold more than the original releases did) are anything to go by, then shenmue 3 will be a success. Which is all any of us surely wants. Unless your a fanboy then failure is the desired outcome.
All I can say is... how about a game of Lucky Hit?
Corey Carnes
Darts!
Gargenville So, how about a game of lucky hit?
Interesting to rewatch this in retrospect
Excellent work. I wish more people knew about what transpires with japanese kickstarters nowadays.
Good digging, George.
Thanks, great work as always.
Jesus George how many takes did it take you to pull off that last sentence?
Great video as always man.
AAAAAAAANNNNDDDDD no show at this years E3. Hmm, I can't help but think this is not gonna be released with a pending date of late 2017. Or if they do that'll be one hell of a crunch to get it finished!
KS creators aren't even subtle about it anymore. Schafer said right off the bat Psychonauts would take 3 entire years to make. Shenmue 3 with the comparative level of detail the first 2 had for their eras... I can't help but wonder if Suzuki-san hasn't realized the full scope of this.
10:23
It was the arcade version of Space Harrier that Yu Suzuki created, not the Sega Master System version shown here. Also, Yu Suzuki was even bigger in the '90s, so it's a bit strange how this part mentions the '80s but forgets to mention the '90s.
Other than that, it's a good video overall.
Idealism - you hit it right on. People want to believe Kickstarter games are completely separate from the traditional publisher system, but they never have been, never will be.
I am only 5:30 in so if you bring this up, I apologise.
Kickstarter. It's in the name. I don't have any problems with other companies funding game projects externally to the kickstarter. In fact, I'm surprised less do.
Update: 8:40 yep you anticipated this.
I look forward for shenmue. #ShenmueIII
Great video as always for a strange (to say the least situation). Was wondering though if your gonna do something on Red Ash?
Love Shenmue !!
Another piece of info that no one seem to know about, or mention concerning why 2 million was the chosen budget at the start of this.
I recall maybe 5 or 6 years ago, reading an article online about Shenmue 3. Yes, because I'm a huge fan of the series, and was soaking up any info on a possible release of part 3 every year since part 2. I was reading this article and while I'm not sure if Yu Suzuki made this comment, or a team member from SEGA's AM2 department, but this person specifically had mentioned that Shenmue 3 technically was already completed. The only thing needed was porting it to a console and language translations. The game was done (I'll assume maybe 80-100%) since the Dreamcast days. And when I actually think about it, I recall way back in the original announcement of Shenmue 1, seeing clips of parts 2 and presumably part 3 during all that initial marketing/ interviews/ and other media before the release of part 1. Scenes from Kowloon with specific characters that was nowhere within the first game. Meaning they were so deep into developing part 2 and/or maybe 3 at least a year before part 1 was released into the wild.
So that article I read said that Shenmue 3 was technically done. I'm no programmer, so I'll assume a 2 million budget is really meant to tie up loose ends, and push the game out the door.
So why an extended goal? well....Shenmue 3 was created for the Dreamcast. Updating visuals and the game engine for modern day might be the reasoning for needing more than 2 million. Plus they'll need to advertise and market the game.
All and all....I can guarantee you Shenmue 3 is NOT a game being developed from scratch. It's really a game being ported and visually updated.
Gaming matures and the journalism part along with it, keep up the good work.
This Kickstarter is the biggest large scale clusterfuck I've ever seen.
Dragonbrad So just don't know of Red Ash yet? Okay.
Darkaran1 FUZE is located in the Cayman Islands, just like that one Simpsons clip
You are by far, the best video game journalist ...greetings from Perú , I really like your videos, i hope you can upload more!! one question: have un ever play Undiying?? i wish there could be a second part ( before the events of the first one ) One of my favorite games of all time...do you have any blog or webpage i can visit? thanxs a lot for your time George!!!
You deserve so many more subscribers, you should get a patreon page man you've actually earn one by now.
I thought the opening sequence was a sponsor ad at first...
I don't even care about shenmue but this video is so well researched & presented
thank you for clearing everything up, the kickstarter is already ended and people still thinks sony is funding for the game, its like everybody is against this game
Thanks for looking into this I suppose but it was a storm in a teacup created by a poorly worded kickstarter page. If you weren't on some parts of Twitter and NeoGaf for a a few days you'd never know it happened. And since the conclusion seems to be that it's all fine, if came off like an expose into a pricing error in the cereal isle of your local major supermarket.
The controversy I picked up is that those companies maybe taking advantages in not having to invest too much because most of the money could come from kickstarter, and because they supply the marketing mechanisms for distributing the game, they'll could get profit from that. In other words Sony trough Shibuya could help the making of the game, the markenting and soo, taking advantage of the most money kickstarter could sum up, and because people think that the game is something sure that is going to happen for real, they will continously donate and donate money to get it done.
I just want the game :(
I so glad I found Super Bunnyhop because I wholeheartedly trust your videos now and am so glad their are people like you working in this industry which is full of man babies pretending to be journalists. You and Jim Sterling are two people I genuinely respect. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Shenmue is an experience, and I think it is one of the most captivating games, Yu Suzuki is a very ambitious designer unfortunately I don't think he has been treated with the respect he deserves, I have belief in him.
If we get away from the idea that KS itself has integrity, which it doesn't, I think it really comes down to whether or not the people who chipped in money get what they want from it, and I think they will. So that's good, as long as people have figured out the former fact.
Anyway great video, it's nice how good reporting is just showing facts and analysis instead of vomiting opinions. George da best.
You're missing 1 piece of info that's pretty important. Two days after the kickstarter launched, Awesome Japan released an update in the FAQ regarding the $2 million dollar goal:
Q:Can you make an open world game for just $2 million?
A: 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.
They were pretty open about mentioning other private investors even in the beginning of the campaign, though you could argue it should have been mentioned day 1. The big controversy was people wanting to know how much money the game was actually getting outside of kickstarter, in which case these types of info are usually always behind an NDA. Shenmue ended up getting all of the concern regarding this outside funding amount but other games like Bloodstained managed to avoid it altogether.
I got really mad about the E3 video bunnyhop made, specially about the Shenmue stuff. Yes, it's nice to be skeptic but for something I've been waiting 14 years (and one of the games I can really count as being "game changing"), it drove me mad.
Thanks to Bunnyhop for making this video, it was well researched. KS (or any other crowdfunding sites) can be a tricky deal, and it's interesting to see how these things can turn out, specially for big projects that actually have big teams behind it (payroll won't be the same).
Thanks Super Bunnyhop!
Love this, only one thing I didn't know and would like clarification on: 10:17 Is SCE really the friendliest to third-party indie titles? I'm not harping on it, just curious for facts