by Lan Di-sama » Sat Dec 01, 2012 1:25 pm
I'm feeling more confident than ever that we may hear good news in the not too distant future. Not very confident, but much more than I was in 2006-2009 when things looked completely hopeless. Even around 2004, things seemed bleak because it was almost "too soon" after Shenmue II to re-boot the series, which is what Shenmue needed after the Dreamcast failing/Shenmue 2 cancellation/xbox disaster.
There was hardly a peep about Shenmue for years, then around 2010 and 2011 the pot was stirred up a little. Suzuki said he thinks Sega will let him make the game, and he said it more than once, around March 2011. He was also more candid than ever about plot points and game concept than he had been in almost a decade. Ryo appeared in Sega Racing, and his lack of appearance in the sequel turned out to be a blessing in disguise - this little campaign is a big victory for us. Even if it has little impact on our ultimate goal, it's still a self-esteem booster for those of us who feared Shenmue was forgotten.
I think the perfect amount of time has passed. However, if 2013 comes and goes with no news, this surge of hope will certainly fizzle out. Now is the time for Sega to take action...the Wii U will likely pick up steam in a year or two, as the Wii and 3DS did (Nintendo fans aren't going anywhere, and they'd appreciate Shenmue); they could even make Shenmue a launch or early post-launch title for next Xbox and PS4.