Newbie here. I have been reading this forum for over 10 years but I never joined, and I'm heavily involved in the Shenmue tweetathon, letter writing (pen to paper) to Sega, Sony etc... I am one of you.

I joined today because while I think this is a great plan, and I will back it to the fullest, I wish to reiterate what the mods of Shenmue 500k have been saying for the last 48 hours.

The way to raise capital is by raising awareness. That will do far more than us opening our wallets more. We need to get our of our circle, and onto other forums. If I may, my suggestion is we comment bomb as many gaming / tech forums as possible. Bring in images from the campaign. Catch peoples' eyes, get them to read.

I dropped links in:
overclock.net
Guru3D
Beyond3D

And I suggest you all do the same!

Another thing to consider. What matters more to Sony, # of backers, or $$$ raised? My experience in marketing tells me the numbers of backers is far more important. Sony will assume every backer is a guaranteed sale (even if they donate less than $29). They will also assume that for everyone who pledges, there are more people interested in buying who simply don't do kickstarter, especially after idiots like @DaveThier (I think he deleted the Tweet) on Twitter, ignorant of Sony's cash problems and budget shortfalls have basically tried to defund the kickstarter. Sony is aware of this and may assume it held back $$$ donations. The most impressive thing to show them is a huge number of backers.

While I love this forum and will support ay plan you decide is your ultimate strategy, I implore you to above all else - get out there and raise awareness. get on forums that have never heard of Shenmue. Use the promo imagery from the Kickstarter page. Show people the stretch goals.