Beyond Shenmue

[SMDzero]

So Shenmue 3 will set the world on fire, Yu Suzuki will once again become a game developer with the professional and financial cache on par with Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima and the Shenmue series will be concluded with Shenmue 5 in 2020.

What will be next for Yu Suzuki?

There was an interview I cannot find anymore but Suzuki said he wanted to do an RPG based on Sarah and Jackie Bryant from Virtua Fighter (or inspired by them) and the game would take place in Chicago.

Will or should this happen?

[JaySw34]

I'd love for him to make a spin off that focuses on another character from the Shenmue Universe. Could either be a prequel or sequel. Maybe Gui Zhang and Master Chen's back story. Zimings journey after he left XiuYing. Ren growing up in Hong Kong. Iwao's trips to China. Maybe when all is said and done after Shenmue it'd be best to leave the series alone but it's still cool to think of the possibilities.

[rome]

I'd love for him to make a spin off that focuses on another character from the Shenmue Universe. Could either be a prequel or sequel. Maybe Gui Zhang and Master Chen's back story. Zimings journey after hGuie left XiuYing. Ren growing up in Hong Kong. Iwao's trips to China. Maybe when all is said and done after Shenmue it'd be best to leave the series alone but it's still cool to think of the possibilities.

If Yu is able to finish this amazing story, it needs to be left there. As much as I would love more Shenmue on top of more Shenmue, it should end with the last game.

A spin-off of Ren or Guizhang would be the characters that would make the most sense to me.

[manuel tripero]

Yu still likes arcades, sadly I don't think there's a market for his ideas in that market. He had ideas of psy phy, and other holographic games in arcade.

He said stuff about a lizard taxi, some miyazaki style games or something.

[Chaikilla]

Chai: The untold story.

The game takes place just after Ryo booted him off the boat to Hong Kong. The main objective will be to climb roofs and stalk Ryo, causing minor inconveniences for him throughout his journey through China. All the while without getting caught.

Slightly alter Ryo's teacups while he sleeps during waiting period of making the Chawan sign! Steal the key for the ghost hall building elevator or even make Ryo's search for firewood slightly more inconvenient by placing most of the twigs towards the far end of the cave! A life of stalking and pettiness awaits! Buy now!

[Sonoshee]

Once the Shenmue legacy is absolute, I wouldn't be surprised to see him retire. He's 57 now, he's had an illustrious career in the gaming industry and he'd be able to leave at a point where he finally had his vision for Shenmue, a project so dear to his heart, finally realized. It could take up to 10 years to see the saga finished. He has a family and hobbies - I'm sure he'd like to spend more time with them. Of course, that said, I'd love to see him continue at some capacity, maybe with smaller projects he still wants to do.

[Riku Rose]

Yu Suzuki hasn't been able to ship a game outside of some F2P mobile stuff since Shenmue II. Every interview he did he mentioned how he was trying to find funding for ideas he had but could never find it. If Sega had told him he couldn't use the Shenmue III license I doubt we would have ever seen a game from him again, the only reason we're seeing Shenmue III is because it already has a fanbase. Yu was in the right place at the right time in the 80's and 90's where he had tons of money to do what he wanted. Now we live in a world where you actually have to budget he seems to struggle.

I imagine after Shenmue III or IV he will go back to how he was the last 14 years just doing an interview once every 2 years and that'll be it. I can't see Shenmue being the next Uncharted and suddenly Sony, Microsoft and EA all fight over the exclusive rights to his next game.

[shredingskin]

Now we live in a world where you actually have to budget he seems to struggle.

Actually is more like "shenmue project tanked and SEGA didn't let him create anything and kept him in an office looking through the window".

We still don't know what he can ship with a reduced budget, he just only made a couple of really little mobile games (seems like a cash cow, but it's really hit or miss).

[Sonoshee]

Now we live in a world where you actually have to budget he seems to struggle.

Actually is more like "shenmue project tanked and SEGA didn't let him create anything and kept him in an office looking through the window".

Considering what the man did for that company, you'd think they'd have let him carry on developing in some capacity rather than having him sat behind a desk in a completely diminished role as an ambassador/adviser. I know he had worked on some smaller titles, but none that really saw the light of day. Nothing Yu did was wrong, but he was made to suffer for it. The reason the Dreamcast and Shenmue tanked was due to Sega's crappy promotion and business sense.
All I can say is thank God there was enough of an understanding left to grant him the Shenmue license.

[BlueMue]

It would be sad to see him retire after the Shenmue saga is done. But it would be logical looking at what he has done in the past 10 years and what perspective he has for the future. I mean he can't deliver the next big thing after Shenmue, can he?

You have to give the man unlimited credit for not giving up in the recent years. I mean everyone else would've in that situation, right?

I hope he at least gets some involvement at Sega for a new Virtua Fighter or something.

[Yokosuka]

If there is one area where the world of gaming needs Yu Suzuki's brillance : virtual reality. They're born to fit together.

[Wude-Tang Clan]

I'd rather not envision the gaming world without him. His games have had such a profound influence on my life. It wasn't until I joined forums like these in the early 2000's that I finally learned that they were all created by the same man.

Hopefully he sees Shenmue to it's end, and retirement sucks anyway.

[Supa]

Hopefully he gets to finish Shenmue in its entirety, with his full vision.

To be fair, we don't really know what happened with Yu after Shenmue II. He got Digitalrex, which was folded in SEGA Sammy before putting anything out, but was very clearly teasing Shenmue something. Then came Shenmue Online, with a massive budget and a pretty big team. Next, he did SEGA Race TV and Psy Phi, one being cancelled after location testing, and one just not being a hit. That was 2007-2008. Then he did Shenmue Gai and Virtua Fighter Fever Combo after that, both of which were just average mobile games from what I hear. And now...Shenmue III.

We just don't truly know that SEGA "shelved" him after Shenmue II. We can obviously guess that they didn't want to invest in Shenmue anymore based off of Shenmue II and Shenmue Online, but aside from that, nobody can truly say what he has been up to while still full time at SEGA. It could've been that he just had a ton of prototypes and ideas that just didn't take off, rather than literally being paid to sit in a room and do absolutely nothing like some seem to think.

[NeoShredder]

FYI, it was actually stated in the countdown twitch by Yu that the spin-off game he'd like to do the most is involving Ren and the Heavens in Hong Kong.

Anyway, I'd be fine if he dropped the mic on the full and finished Shenmue saga. Nonetheless, yes he'll be in his 60's by the time that happens, but if you watch his latest interviews etc., he's still on about the cutting edge of that things that barely exist like VR Tech, holographic game play in arcade cabinets...he's a guy of vision no doubt.

Psy Phi, a dud

Not true, great concept but the simple problem was people got repetitive strain from touching the screen constantly. Shame really, nothing about the quality or design.

[Yokosuka]

FYI, it was actually stated in the countdown twitch by Yu that the spin-off game he'd like to do the most is involving Ren and the Heavens in Hong Kong.

That would be awesome ! No more need a Shenmue II remake, I'm already hyped.