Realistically, do you think Shenmue 3 will happen?

[Stocke]

Once upon a time i would of said no. Ten years of waiting has changed that.

I'll never give up hope though. That's why i post here.

[badamn]

I think a cheap IP cash in would have already happened were in not for Yu.He won't settle for less..thus the wait.

[Snake Tortoise]

I don't think so. It would be cool as hell if it does though. Remakes of the first two games and... finally... Shenmue 3.

It would be funny if they remade the first two games as a build up to 3, then cancelled it again. I think I would capture Yu Suzuki and torture him until he tells me what happens next

[Jesse]

I do believe it will at some point be made. I just don't see Yu not making it down the line. Granted; he doesn't own the IP so SEGA could just have some other team make it. I don't think they would be that mean to Yu (even after the way they've treated him over the past decade plus.) considering as much as he's done for them over the years.

[RyoHazuki84]

I can come to terms that Firefly ain't coming back, but not Shenmue.

[BigTuna]

I have hopes for it to eventually be released. Yu's still talking about it, so that should tell us all something..
I just finished Shenmue for the first time yesterday and I enjoyed it immensely! I'm already dying for 3 to come out. I feel awful for the people that have been waiting over 10 years for it.. You guys are troopers. More power to all of you! Let's keep Shenmue III in our Dojo prayers.

[Wolfgame]

Of course it will happen, if only because I would rather continue to believe that it could happen then read a press release or announcement that they would never pursue it. While it's left up in the air to possibility, I will choose to believe that one day it will be released. It's just a matter of when.

[Mr.Din]

After seeing the whole issue with Yakuza 5 I have to wonder if the real question is rather shenmue 3 would be released anywhere other than japan. :/

[Giorgio]

After seeing the whole issue with Yakuza 5 I have to wonder if the real question is rather shenmue 3 would be released anywhere other than japan. :/

Yakuza sell more in Japan than in the West. Shenmue sell more in the West than in Japan. Therefore, if a Shenmue 3 being released only in Japan, then that would be a ridiculosity from SEGA's marketing et cetera team.

[Mr.Din]

Shenmue sell more in the West than in Japan.

It did? That actually surprises me, it didn't seem to well received out here on my end but if it did well in the past then I'm a little more hopeful.

[BlueMue]

It did indeed. Yeah, strange with such a japan-centric game but that's the way it is. Shenmue has a massively bigger cult going on in the west then it has in japan.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

The novelty of immersing oneself in a small Japanese community with Japanese cultures must have been lost on Japanese natives. They missed out on the virtual tourism aspect of Shenmue, and what might enchant foreigners about the game's atmosphere seemed ordinary to them, despite the impressive technical achievement.

It's hard to imagine, though, that Grand Theft Auto would ever suffer the same indifference in its real life setting, even if you made the gameplay more like Shenmue. In 1999 Western gamers would still have appreciated the opportunity to explore a realistic recreation of an American city and interact with its citizens. Not in the same droves as they flocked to GTA III and Vice City with their wanton violence and mayhem, but I think they'd still take to it with greater interest than Japanese gamers took to Shenmue.

that would be a ridiculosity from SEGA's marketing et cetera team.

Which unfortunately makes it a strong possibility...

[mue 26]

Do we actually have any hard data on what Shenmue sold in Japan? I know that the Japanese Shenmue fanbase is now practically just Kiyuu, but I'm curious as to the extent of it when it was at it's peak. Was Shenmue just always much more appealing to the west as whole, or is it just that the western fanbase had more staying power in the long run? Although I guess the latter would imply the former anyway.

[south carmain]

Do we actually have any hard data on what Shenmue sold in Japan? I know that the Japanese Shenmue fanbase is now practically just Kiyuu, but I'm curious as to the extent of it when it was at it's peak. Was Shenmue just always much more appealing to the west as whole, or is it just that the western fanbase had more staying power in the long run? Although I guess the latter would imply the former anyway.

I remember reading somewhere that shenmue 1 sold about a million in Japan, however shenmue 2 sold maybe 200k

[mue 26]

A million? Err, that's like really a lot, isn't it? It surely didn't sell that much over here, right?