Let me start by saying that I've played the first game in the series back in the day and I thought it was really good. A Shenmue 3 announcement therefore was a welcome surprise to me. However, I'm a bit bothered by the Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is platform that, in my opinion, should be used as a funding platform. People have this great concept, but lack the money to make it a reality. The way I see it when talking about games, is that it is a way for indie/small developers to gather the funds required to make their game.

Enter Shenmue III. A big megaton sequel to a very expensive game. Obviously backed by gaming giant Sony who most likely have or will pay a large part of the development costs with it being exclusive. And they can easily afford it. So why the kickstarter, if funding won't be the problem? (we all know the game will cost much more then 2 million anyway)

It seems like they are abusing Kickstarter as a marketing tool, and to test public interest. People are not funding a game, it more like they are funding the marketing of a hugely anticipated game supported by one of the biggest gaming companies around, and persuaded into ****** preorders because they want the game to be 'funded'. It seems gaming is moving towards a system of paying up front and hoping for the best when the game releases, some weird market mechanic in which we increasingly buy games based purely on promises instead of results. Somewhat understandable in the case of projects that would have no possibility of being made without those resources, but it worries me that the bigger and bigger players seem to join. What next, kickstarters for God of War and Metroid?  

Maybe you guys think I'm paranoid or maybe you're too just happy about Shenmue III, but I don't see this as a healthy development in the game industry. At least not for gamers.

Tell me a better way to accurately gauge market viability.

And it's not like anyone is losing anything through this.

Maybe Sony remember that the last 6 out of 7 years they have been in the red and don't want to risk losing more money than they have to, so they are doing this to see if it is worth it.

I'm not sure, but where is SEGA in all of this? They own the IP do they not?
It lets people with lots of money put more money into the game, in exchange for memorabilia.

And it's not exclusive is it, PC too?

What's the point of bringing it back without making the media talking and the fans supporting Shenmue? This was for the best for an IP in hibernation for a long time.

I agree with the OP; this could open up the flood gates for other major publishers to try something similar. Sony could EASILY have helped Sega out with this game - like Nintendo did with Bayonetta 2.

We all knew there was a market for this game before this kickstarter announcement; fans have been clamoring for this sequel for YEARS.

This is pretty shady actually.

So you have information that Sony is funding it? no you have no proof.

Its a fact that none of the big 3 wanted to fund this game and Sony gave it the most heartless support but a support none the less debuting it on their press conference.

so why hasnt nintendo funded it if they are so much nicer than Sony? Fact is no one wants to fund shenmue because they see it as a risk

No where did I say that Nintendo was nicer than Sony, all I said is that Sony COULD have done the same thing. Perhaps Sega or Nintendo themselves thought that Wii U has a far too small install base to support this niche game. Just look at Bayonetta 2. It seems to have some legs, but it didn't really fly off the shelves, did it?

Either Sega wants to keep all the potential revenue from this game, but don't wanna pay for it, or no one in the industry understands supply and demand, because there clearly WAS a demand for this game

yeah, this sort of bothered me too. If Sony was possibly in talk of bringing Shenmue 3, why didn't they just fund the rest themselves? 2 mil is not a lot. I'm not so much of favor in to test if people are interested this way.