

The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter has drawn controversy from two groups of people: people who know little about game publishing (and even less about Kickstarter), and those who want to cash in on ignorance to get easy clicks. I concede that some members of the former might be members of the latter, because being a member of the games press requires regrettably minimal qualification .

Meanwhile, genuine confusion has arisen for actual potential Shenmue 3 customers, who aren't sure what defines Yu Suzuki's exact "open world," and don't have a strong grasp on what certain stretch goals mean.

Check out the podcast with the streaming link above (via GameRevolution's YouTube Channel), or download the MP3 right here .

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Episode 5: 10 Million Dollars 00:00 – Intro

02:04 – Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Close-up

02:44 – Defining stretch goals before development is hard

04:33 – Fan-centered language in Kickstarters

08:03 – The ambiguity of "True Open World"

12:07 – Shenmue 3 PR gaffes and Hanlon's Razor

14:42 – Awesome Japan's Kickstarter management history

22:09 – Awesome Japan lacks the native English speakers to handle a project this size

25:26 – Initial Kickstarter Goals: Large vs small

27:53 – School For Babies Who Don't Read Things: Kickstarter Edition

29:55 – Kickstarter is not always the only source of funding, and that's OK!

33:20 – The Oxford dictionary defines "kickstart" as…

35:57 – Game companies are not swimming in money

38:56 – The staving artist/sellout false dichotomy

41:30 – Writers fanning controversy

44:10 – The dangerous precedent of demanding financial details

47:46 – Hopes for Shenmue 3

Thanks as always for listening. If you have any comments or questions, I invite you to keep them to yourself because I don't give a shit.

But if we all want to pretend I do, you can leave a comment here or tweet @TheHeathHindman on Twitter. Maybe we'll do something where we read shit during one of the podcasts or something. I dunno. I haven't thought that far ahead.