Shenmue 3: Why being stuck in a cave is a lot like being shivved by ten of your so-called brothers

After Shenmue 3 was officially announced on Monday night, I wanted to take a little while to compose my thoughts regarding the subject I haven't really had time for that however so what the hell, I'm just going to dive right in and ramble on as I was formerly accustomed.

I was told a few weeks back to expect something at E3, but brushed it off with my tried and tested line, "I'll believe it when I see it" as I had the previous ten plus years. That possibly contributed to me not utterly losing my shit the way everyone else has seemed to over the past few days but I appreciate their enthusiasm, it is not misplaced. My reaction was far more simple. It was I thought, to quote Colin Cowherd's handy new catchphrase, 'BOUT TIME! #BoutTime
 
Perhaps I will go deeper into my more muted reaction another time but a larger part of it is just that there had been so much ridiculous nonsense going on over the weekend that the absurdity of the Shenmue III being realized has still yet to really register. Just since Friday we had:

• Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe accidentally spoiling the winner of her show via Snapchat video
• Rachel Dolezal scandal
• Two horrible murderers STILL on the loose
• The hilariously bad football quality of the Women's World Cup and the hilariously bad picture quality of the Copa America
• FFVII remake
• Plus of course, the capper of all cappers being the Game of Thrones finale

Now, I only began reading the books in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series in 2012 but had devoured all of them by summer's end and prior to starting on the television show. It goes without saying that the source material far outshines the adaptation but that became starkly (no pun intended) clear with the latest season just concluded where the show began spoiling future book events, yet to be written.

I was about to say, "Let's not dwell on the 'yet to be written' aspect of this" but in fact, that is the whole point. I am already deathly anxious for the next book in the series, the Winds of Winters to be published. I am desperate for it to arrive before Season Six begins airing but have no faith that it ever actually will and at this point am fairly confident that George R.R. Martin will die before finishing his works. If I was already this agitated about it, I began to imagine, what would it feel like if I had been in on this thing from the ground floor? What if had been waiting four years for A Feast For Crows to drop? Another six for A Dance With Dragons? But of course, I already knew. I'd been waiting longer for Shenmue III.

Over the years I hypothesized that projects such as Shenmue Gaiden and the Shenmue MMO were good ideas to keep interest alive, but just as I know that The World of Ice and Fire holds little to no interest for me, the adventures of a random blond guy with anime hair hurling a fireball could never hold a candle to the real thing. Yet I also know that the lengthened hiatus has dampened my passion for the project, just as I know that regardless of what happens in episode one of season six of Game of Thrones, the longer I have to live without a book, the less I'll care about the true fate of Jon Snow. At least until I actually have the finished product in my hand.

I have no idea what, if anything, this post has solved but it has gotten me thinking and I'm sure I will have more musings soon. Hopefully I will be back soon with a more reflective column regarding the wait and the mantra of "Keep Those You Love", some thoughts on what has been released so far and a few remarks on the community at large. If I have time, I make no promises but I want to work on refurbishing the main site.

In the meantime, check out our Forums to add your two cents and tweet at me if you want to go back and forth a little.

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