I think this is the disconnect.Feels like this was backed by a hype train rather than fans. Shenmue fans have always been so humble and passionate and now we're finally seeing the third game and it looks like an amazing evolution of what Shenmue 1 and 2 were and all these threads end up with is bitching and moaning. Refunds? We're getting Shenmue 3 after over 15 god damn years. We dreamed and we begged for 15 years and thanks to the passion of the fans and Yu Suzuki it finally got made. They could switch my copy to a hypothetical 3DS version and I'd still be positively thrilled to play this. It's like people don't even care about the game. I genuinely do not get the pettiness.
Deep Silver? Amazing! More funds to make the game. Epic Games? Maybe this deal can help bring in some millions for Shenmue 4 too?! Keep bringing in the funds, YS. For the sake of Shenmue 3 and Shenmue 4. That's the way I see it. It's a franchise that has struggled immensely to get funded and people whine about how they go about it. Money does not grow on trees.
It is terrible to be fucked around with by a corporation, but some of us are so blinded by our devotion and interest in the third game we don't really care or can accept this trade-off because we're getting something we desire. I guess that reflects poorly on many of us, but we all make ethical sacrifices living in this horrible society we have to be a part of, and I just can't turn my back on a game I've wanted desperately for over half of my life. Many of us here support games that were developed by companies that force crunch culture on their developers, etc...
I can totally understand why Yu Suzuki/Ys Net inked the deals they did. They clearly thought they could make a fuller game than they could've with the money they raised on Kickstarter. They claim they were able to really strengthen the scope of the game thanks to these investments and showed us some tangible proof in the last Kickstarter update.
All bets were off when they debuted their Kickstarter on Sony's stage anyway. The stories surrounding the Kickstarter were already very negative and critical of Ys Net/Sony when that happened; many suggested Sony was just using Kickstarter to test the waters for Shenmue 3. Looks like those stories were fairly correct, except it was more of a weather balloon for other investors and publishers to step in. I'm still not sure what Sony got from that E3 presentation. B