Development Update + First Gamplay glimpse

Looks pretty good so far, the jumping is a little too ventricle but this is pre-alpha footage. Other than the jump it looks fantastic thus far.

I'll drink to that!

Seriously.  They've pretty much set the bar for how to run a kickstarter and how to get your backers to advertise for you.  I loved it!

So true. The way they listened to their fanbase and really connected with them was really something special. Something I feel is lacking in Shenmue 3's KS which to them seems to feel like "business as usual". And most of the current stretch goals has to do with adding subtitles for different languages, instead of adding new modes, voice actors, etc. Of course, there was Ben Judd which made everything more interesting.

That's the beauty of kickstarter. It's only recently where big names like Koji Igarashi are actually using it to make a game we all wanted. So there is going to be a lot of hype. 

<rant>

interesting... i got a completely different vibe. i felt he was watching the $$$. showed his face to look like he cared, but sat back and counted how much ¥ the campaign would make.

In almost every other KS i've been a part of, the comment section was actually actively participated in by the group making the game, not some 3rd party 1) responsible for the merchandise 2) who often didn't have the answers and 3) couldn't really influence anything.

did we really influence any of the stretch goals? we _maybe_ had a hand in Miriam's PURE costume. The only thing that comes to mind that we directly influenced were the add-ons, but even then it wasn't individual add-ons but add-on tiers. there really wasn't much of a cost savings. which just goes back to the $$$ counting. add-ons made good "business sense" since they'd rake in more moola.

I think the KS, itself, was run ok. the achievement system and the stretch goals motivated people to really help spread the word to reach those goals, but something inside of me really doesn't feel like the campaign was _personal_. Granted, it's more personal, than, say, the Shenmue 3 KS currently, where i haven't seen the owner comment at all. especially for the most requested feature (HD remake of Shenmue 1 & 2). Stretch goals 1-4 have been reached, but no further goals have been revealed. At least the BS campaign was relatively quick to update those to keep us engaged.

</rant>

The way I see it, either he cared or he didn't.  If he cared, awesome!  If he didn't, he's still making a point of catering to fans, answering questions, putting in appearances, etc., which is more than most do.  Even if it's all an act, the effort alone is something I appreciate.

I remember there were some heated discussions over whether the stretch goals were improvised or planned from the start.  Some people felt that they had been planned and that we were being "cheated" because not all of the goals were revealed from the start, and some felt the goals were, in part, a result of fan requests during the campaign.  Again, either way, I don't see it as a bad thing.  Planned?  They kept us in the dark to get more funding, which is a good thing, as more funding (in theory) leads to a better product.  Improvised?  They're taking fan input and using it to create goals we want and hopefully gaining more funding as a result, and more funding means.... yup.

Could be, but what's wrong with that?

Also, yeah, his AMA on Reddit could've been done better.  He only has about two pages of replies, which sounds like a lot, but it isn't.  

Out of curiosity, what were your questions?

Yikes.  I'm sorry to hear that.  I know some of those mightv'e been somewhat difficult to give up-to-the-minute answers on (for example, pictures and comics, as I think they had to show a certain amount of effort to count, so you couldn't just write a program to check # of unique pictures submitted to hashtagIgawhatever and update every 10 minutes),  but it still sucks wanting to contribute but knowing there's a chance your contribution only helps if you do it a certain way, but you don't know which way that is...

That problem probably could've been fixed with more staffing, but I think the community support and output was much greater than anyone really anticipated.

Still, thanks for helping.  Any chance I can see some of those comics?