Shenmue 3????????

[Msia]

http://shenmueangel.free.fr/

Looks like a few prayers have been answered.

Edit: Nevermind, seems they're fake. Here's the link on GamingAge: http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=44754

[Spoon_si]

Damn... I luv Shenmue too...

As sega quote it was goin to be like up to 10 parts of this game... But I doubt they will ever finish this series...

[Scorch]

One day.. one day.

[kill3r7]

This could be a great game especially on xbox 360.

[epobirs]

I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. Sega cannot afford to indulge Yu Suzuki's money pit any longer.

[Zeo]

God I hated Shenmue. ):

(Sup Msia!!!!)

[gameprozero]

I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole.

[Saucy Jack]

I remember back when Sega was talking of this huge 16-part epic...

Now it seems that we will never get past 2 parts. I still haven't finished part 2, anyway. I rented it, and stopped during the part near the end where Ryo was taking a long walk with the young girl. It was a nice part, having the music play while you look around at the environment... :)

I returned the game, and picked up a new copy at TRU for a few dollars several months later. However, the game is still sealed and sitting on my shelf, along with KOTOR 2 I received last Christmas and Wind Waker from the Christmas before then. The reason they are sealed is because I really want to dedicate some time to those games (Wind Waker especially), since once I start playing, I have to play for a few hours at least.

Back on topic... I searched for this, but came up emptyhanded: Anyone know what happened to that Shenmue Online game that was going to be made for China only?

[CaseyRyback]

I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. Sega cannot afford to indulge Yu Suzuki's money pit any longer.

but he has not done anything since he left to form his new studio, and SEGA is flush with cash after their merger

[Grave_Addiction]

I remember back when Sega was talking of this huge 16-part epic...

Now it seems that we will never get past 2 parts.

Actually, each game contained several chapters, and I believe that about four or five games would have contained all the chapters.

[CaseyRyback]

Actually, each game contained several chapters, and I believe that about four or five games would have contained all the chapters.

the first game was one chapter, the second covered multiple chapters

[epobirs]

but he has not done anything since he left to form his new studio, and SEGA is flush with cash after their merger

No, Sammy is flush with cash. The portion of the merged company that is the old Sega has gone quite a while without a major hit.

The Shenmue concept might have paid off if there had been anything like a real schedule kept that allowed the fans to stay interested and build interest among latecomers. But the grand sweeping epic wasn't planned out very well and used the approach of a conventional game where not a single pixel of the followup is committed before the preceding version is found worthy. One of the huge mistakes was the investment in upgrading the game engine, which lengthened the time between releases. Shenmue II on Dreamcast looked better than the first but was released so much later it failed to deliver its promise for the platform.

For an episodic series the development of each chapter needs to be overlapping. The same day Chapter X appears in stores the design of Chapter Y should be frozen and a playable version in testing. Save technology upgrades for a future version of the entire series if it should prove that popular and a newer platform offers easily obtained improvements.

Episodic game series remain an enticing idea but many of the requirements go against the normal mindset of game developers. They have to overcome that before such a product will take off.