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
 

Shenmue III *Not* announced at GDC

Well, when I first noticed the quote on Kotaku, I got all excited but then I actually though about it. Said Yu Suzuki of Shenmue III, "Probably Sega will let me make it. I think. It's simply a problem of budget." That's the thing. It's always a problem of budget. I'm not sure how well Sega is doing financially these days but the economy is tough and it will have to be proven to be a viable proposition first. It starts with the forthcoming Smartphone game and I would expect that the original two games would have to be released over either PSN or XBOX Live to gauge interest and well, remind people that it exists, it has been eight years since Shenmue II's release for XBOX. It would likely only be single platform because it won't be profitable enough for both the PS3 and 360.

In conclusion, I'm downplaying this because I think he was just trying to throw a bone for all us loyal fans. Of course he wants to make it - it's his dream, his grand vision. Market realities tell a different story. Also, I don't want to get my hopes up, especially after the failure of Shenmue Online. Let's see if the Gaiden game even makes it to the west first. I think we who have been riding this horse all along are jaded enough by now to view this for what it probably is; a mirage.

Gamasutra article on Yu Suzuki's comments at GDC 2011.