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[Jcgamer60]

Source: http://www.eurogamer.pt/articles/sega-fala-sobre-shenmue-iii

Translation:

"As it happens every year, the Xbox 360 dedicated edition of the Japanese magazine Famitsu interviewed some Japanese developers to know more about their future plans for the 360. These developers always end up saying something about other consoles as well.

In this year's edition, SEGA has stood themselves out by talking about the much requested sequel to Shenmue 2. SEGA still thinks a lot in making the game, however there exists the selling and profitability factors.

None of the previous games sold really well for the investment made, and SEGA is in doubt as to if it will resurrect the series. However SEGA assured the fans that if there is some opportunity to revisit the series, they'll love to do it.

SEGA also mentioned the chance of one of the three hardware makers financing the game's production in exchange for an exclusivity deal. Let's see if Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony are interested."

This is interesting as we usually don't see Sega say something other then their usual company line about the Shenmue series.

Translation provided by: Shenmuedojo.net Admin
http://www.youtube.com/Ziming

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Iwata, get on the phone.

If you want hardcore games to embrace the Wii, be remembered as "the man who saved Shenmue".

 

[AwesomeSyrup]

Shenmue III at TGS plz

 

[pje122]

Quit playing games with my heart... With my heart.... With my heart...

 

[Gravijah]

Sega are like the best trolls ever.

 

[Drkirby]

I can see why this is in the 360 version of Famitsu.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Fuuuu

Just say it won't ever, ever happen and let my hopes die.

 

[Ziming]

It's nice to see Sega finally address the future of the Shenmue series. Shows that they still care.

 

[ethelred]

Cool. It'd be neat to have a Shenmue 3 made by someone other than Yu Suzuki so that it diverges from the earlier games so drastically that series fans drown on their own tears. I bet it'll be Sonic Team taking over.

 

[grandjedi6]

Old: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386125

and I find it hilarious that someone managed to write a large news article over such a small blurb from sega.

 

[Keyser Soze]

That's just crate

 

[Suzzopher]

No Yu Suzuki to write and direct? No deal.

 

[Xanafalgue]

They mention profitability factors but have decided to drop Yakuza 3 onto the Western Hemisphere? lol.

The part about MS/Sony/Nintendo funding it was interesting. No offence, but immersion was a big part of this games charm back in the day so I would be annoyed to see it on the Wii. I'd love to see it on an HD console *ducks*.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

I see.

 

[nilbog21]

shenmue 3 on iphone!!

 

[nilbog21]

It's nice to see Sega finally address the future of the Shenmue series. Shows that they still care.

of course they stil care about it. its just a sour subject for them becasue it put them out of the console business LOL

 

[Jcgamer60]

Old: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386125

and I find it hilarious that someone managed to write a large news article over such a small blurb from sega.

A blurb of hope.

It just seems like a matter of when, in my opinion.

 

[BlackNMild2k1]

I don't see this game succeeding regardless of what system it is on.
But I would see it selling best on either the 360 or Wii.

Might help if they made a Shenmue I & II remake out first.

 

[Scribble]

Ugh, this is not funny ARGH LEAVE it, LEAVE me alone!

I did the whole 'refresh Shenmue Dojo a hundred times a day for any semblance of news' thing early in the decade, and I'd like to think I've moved on and accepted the fact that the series is dead.

'We'll make it if you give us the money' is interesting, at least.

 

[Ten-Song]

No hardware manufacturer is going to want to buy up Shenmue as an exclusive title once Heavy Rain comes out soon and bombs. They'll see what type of game it is, and then run away from it screaming.

Iwata, get on the phone.

If you want hardcore games to embrace the Wii, be remembered as "the man who saved Shenmue".

Iwata: *laughs*

 

[cvxfreak]

I just want to see how it all ends at this point.

I replayed the first game up to Disc 3, which my Dreamcast wouldn't read. Granted I wasn't so fond of the gameplay as I was 10 years ago, but it was the first time I went through the game after I began learning Japanese and moved to Japan, so it was so interesting seeing the game in that light.

 

[That Singer Guy...]

Iwata, get on the phone.

If you want hardcore games to embrace the Wii, be remembered as "the man who saved Shenmue".

I totally agree, but its probally my inner Shenmue fanboy who has wanted to beat Lan Di's ass over the last decade and never got the chance.

 

[KamenSenshi]

would love for them to finish this. i think it was said before that the story/scenario is done and that they just need to do models, so if thats the case go for it. it will have the intended conclusion and not be like too hard for sega to follow.

 

[cryptic]

Here to say yes before I read it.

Sounds plausible great.

 

[BurritoBushido]

It's nice to see Sega finally address the future of the Shenmue series. Shows that they still care.

Finally? More like "again." It seems to happen every few years someone at Sega says "woooh Shenmue!" and then someone in charge reminds them that no one actually cares (save a niche cult following). No offense to fans, I never played it myself, but the game doesn't exactly have wide appeal.

 

[Xanafalgue]

'We'll make it if you give us the money' is interesting, at least.

I like how Sega is literally for sale one IP at a time. Someone drop some money so they can do an SP Phantasy Star, Comix Zone, Shining Force game and put a Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap HD Remix on Arcade, stat.

 

[Mama Robotnik]

In terms of financing, could Sega not make "Shenmue III" using the Megaman IX approach, having the game made for a Dreamcast-esque engine with less expensive assets?

I know people want a 1080p surround sound internet-co-op behemoth, but in terms of funding and audience, this may not be feasable.

 

[Gilgamesh]

*grasps at straws with the rest of Shenmue-GAF*

 

[Nolan.]

No Yu Suzuki to write and direct? No deal.

Beggars can't be choosers and besides which the story for the rest of the series has already been done. As long as shin and kenji ishikawa and ikeda are on board i'd be happy. Anyway Sega are such teases I really hope if anyone picked it up it's Sony though, so many possibilities.

 

[Y2Kev]

*phone ringing*

*answer*

"Hello?"

"Hello, Microsoft, how would you like an exclusive?"

"Who is this?"

"It's SEGA."

*phone hangs up*

 

[grandjedi6]

A blurb of hope.

It just seems like a matter of when, in my opinion.

"If someone gives us a lot of money to make it, we'll make it"

Yep, sure sounds hopefully to me! Sadly, I doubt any console manufacture will fall for it a second time.*

*and buy it I mean "paying money for exclusivity rights to Shenmue", nothing to say of paying for an entirely new game itself!

 

[FrankT]

Someone break out the old moneyhat pic.

*phone ringing*

*answer*

"Hello?"

"Hello, Microsoft, how would you like an exclusive?"

"Who is this?"

"It's SEGA."

*phone hangs up*

lulz

Except maybe there is no cash in it this time. :lol

 

[wrowa]

I think it's time to finally say "It's not coming" and closing the book instead of giving people wrong hopes.

In terms of financing, could Sega not make "Shenmue III" using the Megaman IX approach, having the game made for a Dreamcast-esque engine with less expensive assets?

I know people want a 1080p surround sound internet-co-op behemoth, but in terms of funding and audience, this may not be feasable.

I don't think that would work. Most people simply don't have nostalgic feelings for Dreamcast graphics, it probably would even bomb more horribly that way.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Translation:You fuckers won't buy it so we're not making it.

 

[Ten-Song]

In terms of financing, could Sega not make "Shenmue III" using the Megaman IX approach, having the game made for a Dreamcast-esque engine with less expensive assets?

I know people want a 1080p surround sound internet-co-op behemoth, but in terms of funding and audience, this may not be feasable.

The game could be made with a N64 quality engine with zero voice acting and be two hours long made by two people that were locked in a basement for a month, and still not be a financially viable title.

I don't think that would work. Most people simply don't have nostalgic feelings for Dreamcast graphics, it probably would even bomb more horribly that way.

Also, this as well.

 

[consoul]

The reality is that more people are familiar with Shamwow than Shenmue.

The budget required to do Shenmue III justice could not be recouped given the miniscule target audience. Making it exclusive to one platform would be a great way of making the audience even smaller.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

In terms of financing, could Sega not make "Shenmue III" using the Megaman IX approach, having the game made for a Dreamcast-esque engine with less expensive assets?

I know people want a 1080p surround sound internet-co-op behemoth, but in terms of funding and audience, this may not be feasable.

Would a modern take on Shenmue really be a behemoth? By modern standards the scale of Shenmue is tiny, and I find it hard to fathom how it would be this mega project when Sega seem to be quite happy to sell 500k copies of Yakuza3, which seems to my untrained eye to be roughly similar in scope.

 

[Upsidedown Fuji]

Even though I own a Wii, I'd much prefer Microsoft or Sony grabbed the exclusivity rights. I want to see Shenmue graduate to a higher generation of graphics.

Plus think of the extra content you can have on PSN/live. 100 man battles, sparring, co-op (REN/RYO), capsule exchange, etc.

 

[MikeE21286]

Iwata, get on the phone.

If you want hardcore games to embrace the Wii, be remembered as "the man who saved Shenmue".

we definitely do not need to hang this game on the Wii, especially given the 3rd party bitching going on.

 

[Totobeni]

SEGA also mentioned the chance of one of the three hardware makers financing the game's production in exchange for an exclusivity deal. Let's see if Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony are interested."

:/

unlike Microsoft , Sony don't fund projects unless they own the IP ( See Heavy Rain for an example ) and I don't think SEGA will sell the IP to them.

Microsoft tried with the game before ( original Xbox ) it wasn't big for them iirc ,and now they are like " fuck the Japanese market we gave them JRPGs and they still don't like us ", so I doubt they will put money on Shenmue.

I guess Nintendo is the only one who can do it ( Wii also is close to Original Xbox hardware-wise so they can use upgraded version of the old engine to lower the costs ).

 

[InfiniteNine]

I don't think that would work. Most people simply don't have nostalgic feelings for Dreamcast graphics, it probably would even bomb more horribly that way.

They could always redo the engine, and then release the game as a complete trilogy on one disc.

 

[Earl Cazone]

please! HD version of 1 and 2 on the marketplace andthen retail Shenmue 3, it could use Yakuza's engine!

 

[Guy Legend]

Shenmue III would be a true megaton. Will buy whatever is required to play it if it sees the light of day.

 

[wrowa]

They could always redo the engine, and then release the game as a complete trilogy on one disc.

Well, I don't think they have another choice than releasing the game as a trilogy. Shenmue 3 would be the continuation of a 10 year old story. Anyone who isn't a die hard fan of the series has it long forgotten. So who is supposed to buy a naked episode 3?

 

[StealthGoblin]

It would be awesome if Sony and Microsoft thought about the gamers, and both offered to subsidise the game equally. Never going to happen though.

 

[Jcgamer60]

Even if no one wants it as an exclusive Sega has stated previously that they are waiting for the market to change.

It may take 10-15 years but Sega has stated they are still interested in the franchise. That is what is important. That is what you should take away from this article.

 

[Dabanton]

Oh Sega you are cruel.

Teasing us so.

MS won't fund it Sony would never fund it.

Nintendo? :lol Not a chance.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

**sigh** STFU SEGA and just make it happen already!

Seriously if/when it's announced I’ll be beyond ecstatic.

 

[RurouniZel]

If one of the 3 hardware makers were to help fund Shenmue III, they would earn my eternal loyalty and support.

Spoiler

Though Sega should just do it themselves anyway.

 

[Luckydude23]

So what they're really saying is they want a moneyhat to finance the game? I'm really dying for a Shenmue III.