Steph
13 Feb 07, 19:40
There's been tons of campaigns, petitions, etc by fans to get this game made, and yet, those that started the playing the series on Xbox have been waiting for this sequel for over three years; those that Dreamcast started on the Dreamcast have been waiting over five years.
We've heard things from Sega, mainly from Yu Suzuki, that the game's been close to completion for a while, but when asked if there will ever be an announcement regarding Shenmue III all he said was "we'll see". There's a photograph showing that they were planning to make more than three Shenmue games, but the question remains: where is Shenmue III?
There have been possible rumours that Sega have been holding out until the release of all the next-gen consoles. But with Shenmue II released on the Xbox, you'd think it would be logical to continue the series on the Xbox 360. Many fans have been hoping for this, but in the Xbox 360's first year there has been no such announcement, so this is still wishful thinking. It is quite possible that the announcement could be made for the Shenmue series to continue on the PS3. The PS3 has only been here for three months, and is due for release across Europe next month so Sega could actually be making preparations for a PS3 release. This could also be true for the Wii. The Wii has been out for 2-3 months depending on the region, but its list of games for 2007 is looking quite sparse. If Shenmue III were to appear on the Wii (which certainly is possible given how Sega and Nintendo have been on good terms since the demise of the Dreamcast) you could guarantee that the Shenmue fans that haven't yet bought a Wii will of course be rushing out to buy one in anticipation of its release. And it goes without saying that it could be one of the few killer apps for the console that isn't a first-party game like Mario or Zelda.
So why the delay? Why is Sega holding out on us like this? Looking at the status of Sega's other popular series may hold some clue. Take Sonic The Hedgehog. While everyone loves Sonic and are willing to rush out and whatever Sonic game Sega can churn out, going by reviews from popular sites the past few have been fairly average, with the odd one or two, Sonic Rush for example, going slightly above. The most recent Sonic game, Sonic the Hedgehog received a lot of hype, but when it was released fans couldn't hide their disappointment. Outrun doesn't quite gain the same respect it used to, and Super Monkey Ball's outings have started to become more of the same. So for Sega to release such a highly-awaited game like Shenmue III has to meet, and go beyond, the expectations of their fanbase, and in order to do that they will need to pay the price to turn it into a triple A title. Spending that sort of money to create such a title is a risk for any company, not just Sega, but they have the ideas and the ability to make Shenmue III succeed. And it's not like they're a fairly new company that's taking a risk to get in with the pros: their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, has been around for 15 years. They have a reputation for making quality games that are ahead of their time to help make this game sell well, but it's as though they're missing their spine, their strength, to take this chance.
Apart from it being stated some years ago now that the game is near completion, it has never been said if Shenmue III is still in development or that it has been cancelled, so fans have been left hanging for years on end without any hint of closure. It hasn't even been said if they are considering bringing the game to a next generation console. But the demand for it is there: it is up to Sega whether they want to supply, and come out of this slump they seem to be in.
We've heard things from Sega, mainly from Yu Suzuki, that the game's been close to completion for a while, but when asked if there will ever be an announcement regarding Shenmue III all he said was "we'll see". There's a photograph showing that they were planning to make more than three Shenmue games, but the question remains: where is Shenmue III?
There have been possible rumours that Sega have been holding out until the release of all the next-gen consoles. But with Shenmue II released on the Xbox, you'd think it would be logical to continue the series on the Xbox 360. Many fans have been hoping for this, but in the Xbox 360's first year there has been no such announcement, so this is still wishful thinking. It is quite possible that the announcement could be made for the Shenmue series to continue on the PS3. The PS3 has only been here for three months, and is due for release across Europe next month so Sega could actually be making preparations for a PS3 release. This could also be true for the Wii. The Wii has been out for 2-3 months depending on the region, but its list of games for 2007 is looking quite sparse. If Shenmue III were to appear on the Wii (which certainly is possible given how Sega and Nintendo have been on good terms since the demise of the Dreamcast) you could guarantee that the Shenmue fans that haven't yet bought a Wii will of course be rushing out to buy one in anticipation of its release. And it goes without saying that it could be one of the few killer apps for the console that isn't a first-party game like Mario or Zelda.
So why the delay? Why is Sega holding out on us like this? Looking at the status of Sega's other popular series may hold some clue. Take Sonic The Hedgehog. While everyone loves Sonic and are willing to rush out and whatever Sonic game Sega can churn out, going by reviews from popular sites the past few have been fairly average, with the odd one or two, Sonic Rush for example, going slightly above. The most recent Sonic game, Sonic the Hedgehog received a lot of hype, but when it was released fans couldn't hide their disappointment. Outrun doesn't quite gain the same respect it used to, and Super Monkey Ball's outings have started to become more of the same. So for Sega to release such a highly-awaited game like Shenmue III has to meet, and go beyond, the expectations of their fanbase, and in order to do that they will need to pay the price to turn it into a triple A title. Spending that sort of money to create such a title is a risk for any company, not just Sega, but they have the ideas and the ability to make Shenmue III succeed. And it's not like they're a fairly new company that's taking a risk to get in with the pros: their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, has been around for 15 years. They have a reputation for making quality games that are ahead of their time to help make this game sell well, but it's as though they're missing their spine, their strength, to take this chance.
Apart from it being stated some years ago now that the game is near completion, it has never been said if Shenmue III is still in development or that it has been cancelled, so fans have been left hanging for years on end without any hint of closure. It hasn't even been said if they are considering bringing the game to a next generation console. But the demand for it is there: it is up to Sega whether they want to supply, and come out of this slump they seem to be in.