I find it too coincidental that Mark Cerny has been publicly seen with Suzuki-san several times within the last year or so. Cerny has strong ties with Sony since he was essentially the architect of the PS4. It is also common knowledge that Adam Boyes is now heading third party relations for Sony and that Shenmue is on his radar. See article here: http://kotaku.com/sonys-giant-list-of-video-games-1463345943

Furthermore, I do not know how much leverage Sega still has over the series, as it has lost the trademark in the US: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/19/shenmue-trademark-canceled-in-us-due-to-inactivity

It does seem like now would be the best time to reboot the franchise, as production costs would be considerably lower than it would have been years ago. Public interest has not waned and it seems like some corporate maneuvering may be at play.

Anyway, that is my two cents. I have been lurking on this board for the better part of a decade, but I felt like finally opening my mouth. Heck... I may have even registered an old user name, but I can't even remember if I did.