You're fixated on the money amount, but it isn't about the money amount. Once a developer backs the project, as has been stated, whatever the project got from the Kickstarter will be a drop in the bucket. There is literally not a more reliable way of gauging consumer interest than by having them prove it with their wallets. I don't think it was possible to know just how much people wanted Shenmue 3, for instance, until the Kickstarter. I mean, I barely even see the series get mentioned, and then suddenly the Kickstarter comes up and people are willing to pour millions in. That beats any estimates a research team would have come up with, I can guarantee, in terms of consumer response to the project.

Shenmue is a unique beast, and honestly speaking I don't know how to feel about it. Given I don't know the details of the partnership or Sega and Sony involvement. 

Also I said two things, the money is the second. Even if you were to just have kickstarted goal of $1, and just to gage interest (which would be the way I would go about if I was large company and I truly had to do a kickstarter). 

Large companies if they are truly successful ones, do usually have a division designed on knowning demand and the cost of filling out that demand. This is exactly why you have yet to see a large company use a funding website yet. 

It isn't like the fans are getting nothing for the money they put in.  They usually get a copy of the game for less then it would cost them to buy it normally.  It is essentially a preorder.  There is nothing wrong with using kickstarter to jumpstart old franchises.  

I agree with what you are saying, but tomb raider is a bad example as it was never a dormant franchise...

Hmm, you do have a point there. Though I am not very fond of the idea of using kickstarter to gauge interest in reviving old IPs. Kickstarter looks like a way for small teams to raise funds for a game they would otherwise would not be able to, and not for companies to test the waters....

it not being used for the intended purpose doesn't mean then end result can't still be amazing.  If kickstarter is going to maintain and thrive, then it will need to grow and adapt.  Big companies testing the waters like this will make it even easier for small studios to find funding as more people will be drawn to using kickstarter and funding projects.  There is literally no downside to big companies using kickstarter like this, only positives.

The thing is though, games like yookah-laylee and Mighty No.9 were not games tied to any sort of marketing, but games that the creators just wanted to make, but didn't have a publisher, or didn't want one with risks of altering their vision. Bloodstained was one of them to do this, which sort of cast some suspision with me, but I heard that was mostly for distributing purposes, or something of the sort. Kickstarter as a means to gauge interest is something I don't think I would want to get behind...

Its nonsesne like this that we don't need!

SO how come non of the BIG budget companies didn't fund Shenmue? They've had 15 years. Why didn't Microsoft or Nintendo?

It seems like a good move for companies, but not for consumers. This seems as if consumers will have to back money into new games or reviving old IPs just for a shot for those games to be made, and with little idea if that game will turn out well or not. It feels more consumers would have to pitch in and hope for the best. I don't really like that idea...

Sorry? I was talking about Legend of Dragoon not Shenmue. One is a Sony IP and the other isn't.