Exclusive: Shenmue 3 Ready for Next-Gen

Amazing revelations as Sega's mythical sequel prepares for reality on next-gen platforms. It's nothing to do with the newly announced Ryu ga Goto Ku from Toshihiro Nagoshi. It's AM2 - and it's back, with Shenmue 3.

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If Microsoft recognises and accepts that an all-new, sequel-based Shenmue consisting of original content could, quite inevitably, perform better than a rehashed Shenmue 2, then combined with the imminency of the platform, and the global appeal of the franchise (as opposed to certain other Japanese signings which focus on the local market), it's surely a question of when, not if, Shenmue 3 turns up exclusively on Xbox 360. Of course, console exclusivity these days can mean for a period as brief as six months, so when PS3 is released next year maybe it will also see its share of Shenmue; it certainly makes sense for the title to reach as broad an audience as possible.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. All that has yet to be determined. But what is "extremely unlikely", according to the source, is that the project could surface on current-gen consoles: "it would be too much work", cites the source. Interestingly, the source explained that it is cheaper to finalise production for next-gen machines than for current-gen, because of the nature of development work that is already complete. "It would be a struggle to get everything in [on current-gen]." It seems to make sense. Our source offered, "360 looks most likely, but we shall see what the future brings."

It's probably worth re-clarifying that Shenmue 3 has nothing to do with Ryu ga Goto Ku, announced earlier today by much-loved Sega development guru Toshihiro Nagoshi. The game looks and feels similar to Shenmue in many respects, and looks absolutely incredible for a PS2 title (for the record, you can learn loads more about it in our upcoming first-hand impressions). And just to be sure, it should also be made clear that the Shenmue 3 project is, and always has been, absolutely separate from the recently canned PC project, Shenmue Online.

While the bloated, initial costs of Shenmue were offset by former Sega President Isao Okawa and parent company CSK, the project now seems to exist as a more manageable, practical and affordable entity, for which most of the background work has always been complete since the original games. And while the future of many previously unprofitable Sega franchises remains uncertain, Shenmue - the title most frequently associated with big Sega losses - is getting another chance.

Unfortunately, we can't elaborate on the sources of this information, to protect certain people close to the project. And let's face it, if their jobs were risked, we could end up back at square one in the seemingly endless drama that is Shenmue 3. Nobody can say for sure that Shenmue 3 will 100% definitely see the light of day, but Kikizo can guarantee the integrity of the source; this is the current status of Shenmue 3, plain and simple. Which means it's likely you'll be seeing off Lan Di once and for all sometime soon. Now, we just have to hope it doesn't turn out to be disappointing. After all, the rest of the RPG genre has done quite a lot of innovating in the last five years.

Of course, the official Sega line on Shenmue 3 is "no comment". But when this story is dissected all over the web and quite possibly ruled "bogus" from certain quarters, all that means is that the official Sega line is "no comment". If you push Sega a little harder, it will possibly even make official noises about how it all seems "unlikely" - but nonetheless, this is factual information.

With titles like Virtua Fighter 5, Afterburner III and now Shenmue 3 to look forward to, it seems difficult to remember why we were all so worried after last year's Sammy takeover. And from what we hear, there's more to look forward to just on the horizon.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com

For detailed information about the Shenmue series, Kikizo recommends you check out Shenmue Dojo.

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