Hello all,
We all have our stories of how we got the news that Shenmue III is in fact happening. All of us cheered as Yu Suzuki took the stage this last E3. Many on here participated in the Kickstarter and/or Paypal fund raisers. With the $6.5 million stretch goal finally having been met near the end of 2015 and YS Net already hard at work on continuing the Shenmue legacy, it's merely a matter of waiting until it is completed in a couple years for us to continue Ryo's story.
Now for the question given in my subject line of this thread. With all of the above happening, and that I've seen some of you post articles that the plan for Suzuki at this point with the Shenmue series is to have Shenmue IV be the final installment (thank God), which obviously could change with time; what is the real world expectation that we should have that Shenmue IV will actually happen?
Obviously there is a lot to consider, such as how well Shenmue III sells, that will determine if Suzuki gets to finish his legacy of Shenmue. It seems to me that shortly after Shenmue III is released would be the best time to start up Shenmue IV and complete the series. Any profits from the third game could go to start the funding for Shenmue IV and I'm sure that all of us would be willing to support the game with another Kickstarter or Paypal fundraiser; especially if it was the ending to the series.
Why should YS Net start on Shenmue IV so quickly?
1. Shenmue will still be fresh in the minds of gamers.
2. Assuming Sega gets off their butt and announces an HD remaster of the first two, there is the potential to have the entire series on PS4/PC. That would personally lock PS4 as my favorite system of all time.
3. Just get it done. Complete this long wait for all the fans.
As it stands, unless one imported or pirated Shenmue II on Dreamcast, then every Shenmue game to date will have been on a separate console in N. America. First on Dreamcast, Second on Xbox, Third on PS4/PC. Wouldn't it be nice to play the entire series from start to finish without hooking up other systems?
So fellow Shenmue fans... what are your thoughts on this? Does it make sense to expect the fourth and potentially final installment in the series to start production for PS4/PC in 2018, maybe a 2020 release, or is that expecting too much at this juncture? Don't get me wrong, I'm very appreciative that Shenmue III is being created, but I really want an end so I can see Ryo finally get the revenge he seeks for his father's death.