Shenmue III Set for Xbox 2 Launch

"In a recent developer interview, Sega revealed that they were working on a true follow-up to the famous Shenmue series. More surprisingly, they told our sources that the game was slated for Xbox 2 launch. Details were very minimal, but our sources report that Shenmue III includes both Shenmue and Shenmue II, so that the player may play through a continual epic, as it was first envisioned on the ill-fated Dreamcast. We will have more on Shenmue III as development progresses. "

Holy shit, yes! Sweetness--and both previous games too! Xbox 2 launch here I come! :drinkers:

 

I'm not going to believe this on April 1st. Especially without a source

 

well i don't believe it either just because sega would never give part one and two away that easily. Unless it was a collector DVD box set. Didn't they relase a movie in japan that was all the cut scenes off the game?

 

this is a sad joke...

 

Damn, you guys are good.

But it would be sweet if they re-released Shenmue 1/2 with part 3, no?

 

oh yeah it would be great, but sadly it wont happen for various reasons. Not only does sega probably not have resources to do it now, but sales were just bad to justify doing it probably.

although we can dream...

 

It's a shame that sales were so low. The two games are quite good, though I preferred the first installment more.
Still...I'd like to see the story wrapped up at some point and wish that Microsoft would pick up the tab to allow Yu Suzuki to develop the final chapter.

 

Didn't Yu Suzuki quit?

 

Not that I recall. He's still with Sega in some capacity, working for one of their many weird branch companies.

 

Lending a hand to Shenmue Online as it were.

 

Hopefully, we will eventually get Shenmue III. It's not like anything else Sega has produced lately was any good...

 

Only the Benjamins matter.

 

He isn't that usefull anymore since he has 'burnt up' some while ago. Shin Ishikawa had a major influence over the production of Shenmue II, Yu Suzuki was more like watching from the sidelines.

 

I seem to recall hearing something about that. Shenmue 1 seemed more focused anyway...Shenmue 2 was a large game compared to the first, but seemed to lack direction compared to the first. Case in point, all those unused rooms in the many floors of the various Kowloon apartments, etc.

 

Shenmue was a prologue, Shenmue II was were the story really took off.

The 'lack of direction' might have been a result of splitting 'Shenmue' up in two parts, with the first one being quite small because of time pressure.

I liked Shenmue II better than Shenmue I, although some things should've been different.

 

I stil find it very strange that Shenmue II was made before Shenmue 1.

Yakumo

 

eh? where did that come from?

 

The original Saturn Shenmue and later the first 'version' of Dreamcast Shenmue was meant to include all chapters of the Shenmue I & Shenmue II games. Beta footage shows this very well for instance.

But Shenmue II being made before Shenmue I? I recall Saturn Shenmue having different scenes which would later be used in Shenmue I, but I could always be wrong... Would you care to explain Yakumo?

 

Yeah i meant yakumos post not yours

 

I thought this was turning in to a Shenmue thread

Anyway, yes, if you look at any and I mean any early Shenmue footage from before the Dreamcast was released you'll notice that it's all from Shenmue 2. The first Shenmue 1 shots started to appear a good few months after the Shenmue 2 ones. Sega even did a press conference and showed Shenmue II saying it was just Shenmue. Then Shenmue was finally released. Nothing of Shenmue II was included. I just couldn't understand what had happened to all the footage I'd seen before hand. Of course it finally appeared in Shenmue II. Also there was a female character that was meant to be in Shenmue II but never did make it in to the game. She is not set for part III.

The way I see it is that the Dreamcast was going to carry on the Saga from the Saturn. This is why part II was worked on first. Then the Saturn version was canned so Sega had to make part 1 for the Dreamcast as well. This still doesn't explain why Shenmue on the Saturn features footage from both chapters but it may explain why Shenmue 1 looks more rushed than part 2 since part 2 would have been in development since the beginning. Also remember the Dreamcast Tech demo called the tower of babble by Yuu Suzuki's team? Well the Chinese city in Shenmue II was based on that model which is another link to why it was in production before Shenmue 1.

Yakumo