Development Cost for Shenmue

Some of us were having a discussion about game development costs, and Shenmue's came up. Anyway I happened on a link that basically says the game has been cited to cost $20 mm to $70 mm.

I'm more likely to go with the $20 mm number cited in the Guinnes Book of Records: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=53483 This seems like a high enough number (astronomical for 1999 actually) but still plausible.

I don't know where the $70 mm number came from, but I assume if true the $50 mm difference was primarily for creating the Shenmue engine, setting up office, etc.

Shenmue shouldn't be the most expensive game any more though--speculation has it that Halo costed $40-60 mm to develop. Pretty amazing though what AM2 spent on that game. What were they thinking?!?

 

It was Yu Suzuki's vanity project. He cashed in all the favors owed to him by Sega - at least that is what I would guess.

 

I've just always thought that Suzuki really thought he was creating something truly revolutionary...and I guess with that in mind AM2 thought, "money be damned!" I think Shenmue (and to a lesser extent, Shenmue 2) was an amazing game...but I have really warped tastes...plus I think I let my Sega bias get to me back when I first picked it up.

I bet most of the cost went to developing all those stupid tricks they pulled in the game...like that "Magic Weather" system that wasn't even needed, really.

 

I'm not a Sega fan,but I consider Shemnue to be the best game I' ve ever played.