"I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogamer

(Chapter 7 and beyond)

Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Yokosuka » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:09 pm

KidMarine wrote:
Himuro wrote: You should care because the negative press could impact the game sales.

Honestly, nobody who reads these kinds of things is going to play Shenmue anyway. Next to nobody reads Polygon, and those that do would rather complain about CIS white male privilege in video games on the Internet than actually play a video game.


Don't know about Polygon but I read several times reliable people who finally not backed Shenmue because of this, and even people who initially pledged the Kickstarter before cancel. I remember Cédric saying the Kickstarter lost around 2 million dollars as well. Negative press is a big deal and fortunately some fans react to the disinformation and allow Shenmue III to get new backers thanks their enthusiasm.
Last edited by Yokosuka on Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby shredingskin » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:10 pm

Yokosuka wrote:
KidMarine wrote: I remember Cédric saying the Kickstarter lost around 2 million dollars as well.


WHAT ?????
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Sonoshee » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:12 pm

Ziming wrote: The Shameful Media Coverage of Shenmue 3 (NeoGAF)
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1121020


Spaghetti's post in that thread is incredibly well written and hits the nail completely on the head!
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Yokosuka » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:13 pm

shredingskin wrote:
Yokosuka wrote:
KidMarine wrote: I remember Cédric saying the Kickstarter lost around 2 million dollars as well.


WHAT ?????


Journalist : What was your reaction to the problems embroiling the funding of the project, due to the clumsy statements of Andrew House (chief of Sony Computer Entertainment), and the reaction of certain journalists and players?

Cédric Biscay : It annoyed me because people forget that this game has never been able to be developed in the last 14 years, and so it's clear that the Kickstarter campaign played a vital role in its funding. I think that the media's desire to create buzz around this issue will strain our campaign by at least $2m. I don't have any words for the minority of journalists who seem to sometimes forget their duty to provide information by writing about their interpretations rather than facts. We know that to sell as much as we can we need to create a sensational game. Saying that Shenmue 3 is great and that it should be funded isn't going against the consensus, and so probably not interesting enough for them.
The people who have taken the time to read the statements and the official pages have all the information at their disposal. To put it clearly, without Kickstarter, Shenmue 3 would never have seen the light of day, and so the campaign is exactly what you're entitled to expect from participatory funding. Luckily, the Shenmue community is extraordinary and in the end I'm very happy with the campaign, especially from a human perspective. Most people understand that I committed Shibuya Productions to making Shenmue 3 so that the series could be brought back to life despite the risks that this entails. The thousands of thank-you messages I've received since E3 validate this approach and push us to keep on going.

https://www.reddit.com/r/translator/com ... t_shenmue/

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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby shredingskin » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:16 pm

Well, it's not that it lost, it's what he thinks.

I think I should stop reading this stuff, it affects me more than it should.
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Yokosuka » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:23 pm

shredingskin wrote: Well, it's not that it lost, it's what he thinks.

I think I should stop reading this stuff, it affects me more than it should.


What he thinks according his businessman experience. Of course it's always a matter of estimation in this kind of case but clearly, the media's incompetence hurt us. I don't even want to blame AJ with these circumstances. It's not surprising then if developers have to gather marketing budgets increasingly important nowadays if they want to survive.
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Anonymous81 » Tue Oct 06, 2015 7:03 pm

The only people party to the actual funding of Shenmue 3 that haven't spoken up that I'd really like to see... are Sony. Now don't get me wrong. They have done a lot already. The E3 announcement. The PS4 physical copies (which they are never going to see one cent from, and was done purely to appease US. Lest we forget that.) The promise of advertising and marketing. And whatever as yet undisclosed sum they themselves are going to sink into it.

But what I'd really like to see at this critical juncture, is what was also missing during the KS campaign: a marketing strategy put into place. Nothing expensive. Just have someone extremely familiar with the game and fluent in PR speak sit down with the major gaming sites and counter some of these critical points, while also hammering home the importance of the campaign.

Say things like, "I know it may come off as a bit contradictory to those on the outside looking in. But the reality is, we all love Shenmue. We want to see it succeed. Yet we have to face real world business realities too. If we always did what our hearts dictated rather than our business principles, Sony Computer Entertainment wouldn't exist.

So, knowing that Shenmue historically has not performed well, we've had to take a very limited approach to our financial commitment, because that's just the reality. it's a risk. I'm being straight with you. That's just the way it is. But we want this game to succeed. We really do. And we're already taking on considerable risk by funding it on a limited basis, putting our name behind it, making physical PS4 copies available that we won't ever see one cent on, and other behind the scenes stuff.

There's a reason this game is being crowdsourced, though. It's up to all of you - if you want it... no one's holding a gun to your head - to choose whether you want to help fund this game or not. The Kickstarter has ended. You have until December 31st to help make this dream a reality. The game is going to get made no matter what. But we live in a real world, and things cost money. That's just the way it is. The fans have really stepped up and everyone is truly grateful. But if you want to see the game get more funding... now is the time."

Then do what they can to make that interview end up on the front page of every site. Cost effective, simple, and gets the job done in my opinion. Even if people criticize it or say they're being two faced or exploitative or whatever else they say... the job of raising visibility will be done.

Some professionally put together retrospectives on the series would be nice, too.
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby punkmanced » Tue Oct 06, 2015 7:58 pm

^ In all fairness, the chances of Sony not getting anything in return are virtually nonexistent. It just means they’ve worked out a deal we aren’t privy to…which actually sums up that partnership quite well.

Re: the need of a “new” PR strategy, I’m just puzzled by the official lack of action, to be honest. Aside from throwing out Paypal as a complete afterthought, they really haven’t done sh*t.

On the one hand, I’m incredibly happy to have the game finally happening. I really am.
On the other, I’m infuriated as to the overall handling of all things marketing; I mean…what the f*ck? They realize there’s still money to be made here…right?
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Anonymous81 » Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:46 pm

punkmanced wrote: ^ In all fairness, the chances of Sony not getting anything in return are virtually nonexistent. It just means they’ve worked out a deal we aren’t privy to…which actually sums up that partnership quite well.


I don't know about that. None of the KS funds are going to Sony, and the physical copies are only going to KS backers. So how does Sony recoup the cost of those units? I would speculate Shibuya or YsNet paid for them... except that YsNet has stated when we were all clamoring for them that it was up to Sony, not them. A greater percentage of digital sales to compensate perhaps? That's the only thing I can think of.

Re: the need of a “new” PR strategy, I’m just puzzled by the official lack of action, to be honest. Aside from throwing out Paypal as a complete afterthought, they really haven’t done sh*t.

On the one hand, I’m incredibly happy to have the game finally happening. I really am.
On the other, I’m infuriated as to the overall handling of all things marketing; I mean…what the f*ck? They realize there’s still money to be made here…right?


I'm certain they do. This is why (and this is ONLY a hypothesis, not an assertion) I suspect three things.

1) The KS campaign was thrown together extremely quickly to capitalize on the E3 timing because the deal they made happened very abruptly, and in close proximity to the event.

2) They have VERY limited funds for marketing in their own budget. They seem to have believed Sony would provide advertising and marketing. I suspect this is why Awesome Japan were chosen, despite their somewhat spotty track record. Price.

3) Sony is taking a very hands-off approach with them, essentially letting them sink or swim apart from whatever financing deal they entered into, and the physical copies. I could be way, way off base, but I sort of get the feeling they expected more marketing support from Sony than they've received. They clearly lack the funds to handle it themselves, or they would have imho.

What do you think?

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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Himuro » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:42 pm

shredingskin wrote:
Yokosuka wrote:
KidMarine wrote: I remember Cédric saying the Kickstarter lost around 2 million dollars as well.


WHAT ?????


I thought you said none of this matters?

I thought you said we can't do shit?

I thought you said negative press doesn't mean jack?

Why the reaction?

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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby SledgeNE » Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:52 am

For me it's more important that Yu Suzuki can continue the Story of Shenmue and graphics are a another thing. When the final Game have the same graphics like we could see in the first Teaser it would be great. I will be very disappointed when he says after releasing Shenmue III "that's it". Money is not everything. A Game is better than to read a book.

Btw: Is Shenmue II - The Movie on Youtube?
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Kiske » Wed Oct 07, 2015 4:22 am

Yokosuka wrote:
shredingskin wrote:
Yokosuka wrote:
KidMarine wrote: I remember Cédric saying the Kickstarter lost around 2 million dollars as well.


WHAT ?????


Journalist : What was your reaction to the problems embroiling the funding of the project, due to the clumsy statements of Andrew House (chief of Sony Computer Entertainment), and the reaction of certain journalists and players?

Cédric Biscay : It annoyed me because people forget that this game has never been able to be developed in the last 14 years, and so it's clear that the Kickstarter campaign played a vital role in its funding. I think that the media's desire to create buzz around this issue will strain our campaign by at least $2m. I don't have any words for the minority of journalists who seem to sometimes forget their duty to provide information by writing about their interpretations rather than facts. We know that to sell as much as we can we need to create a sensational game. Saying that Shenmue 3 is great and that it should be funded isn't going against the consensus, and so probably not interesting enough for them.
The people who have taken the time to read the statements and the official pages have all the information at their disposal. To put it clearly, without Kickstarter, Shenmue 3 would never have seen the light of day, and so the campaign is exactly what you're entitled to expect from participatory funding. Luckily, the Shenmue community is extraordinary and in the end I'm very happy with the campaign, especially from a human perspective. Most people understand that I committed Shibuya Productions to making Shenmue 3 so that the series could be brought back to life despite the risks that this entails. The thousands of thank-you messages I've received since E3 validate this approach and push us to keep on going.

https://www.reddit.com/r/translator/com ... t_shenmue/


I've read this Cédric Biscay interview during the last days of the Kickstarter.
The original french article can be found here:
http://www.gameblog.fr/interview_891_ce ... -vu-/page2

In Cédric's mind, pledges could have been 2M$ higher if there wasn't for this buzz around Sony's real involvment in Shenmue 3 funding. It's a shame but what is done is done.

As for the Eurogamer title, I don't understand why people are shocked by Yu Suzuki statement.
No mentally sane game developer would say he has too much money for his project.
Beside that, EVERYBODY knows that the real Kickstarter goal was more than what we got from the campaign. I don't know if it's just bad journalism or Sony bashing love or just this infamous misunderstanding of Shenmue as a major milestone in gaming industry...
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Monkei » Wed Oct 07, 2015 5:56 am

^ Those missing 2 million dollars are pure speculation though. The bad press was bound to happen with the way they handled it, but it was the only or best way to handle it I guess. You can't really forbid people to have a negative opinion of something.
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby fittersau » Wed Oct 07, 2015 6:16 am

Monkei wrote: ^ Those missing 2 million dollars are pure speculation though. The bad press was bound to happen with the way they handled it, but it was the only or best way to handle it I guess. You can't really forbid people to have a negative opinion of something.


Yeah agreed. There will always be negative opinions and you can't do anything about that.

However, there's reasoned opinions and there's click bait.
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Re: "I Could Do With A Bit More Money" Yu Interview @Eurogam

Postby Kiske » Wed Oct 07, 2015 6:22 am

Monkei wrote: ^ Those missing 2 million dollars are pure speculation though. The bad press was bound to happen with the way they handled it, but it was the only or best way to handle it I guess. You can't really forbid people to have a negative opinion of something.


You are correct. Talking about 2M$... don't you think they would have gathered more funds by asking for more than 2M$ from the start?

I too have the feeling we HAVE to care about the bad press.
I'm trying to explain the real situation and restore the truth about rumors as best as I can on french and italian gaming forums... that's the least I can do but unfortunately, it's far from beeing enough.
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