1up has an interesting article today about how Sega has apparently completed ports of “Shenmue” for both PS3 and 360, but are sitting on them because they’re not sure where to take the franchise.
You can’t blame Sega for waffling. The two “Shenmue” games were revolutionary when they first came out, with their weather systems, quick time events, and open world exploration, but they also set Sega back a fortune, didn’t sell as well as they needed to, and some people think it helped kill the Dreamcast.
At the same time, it’s not like an open-world, heavily detailed game where you go around punching people and asking questions is exactly a hard sell these days; witness “L.A. Noire”. Although considering that killed its developer, maybe that’s not a good example either.
Apparently much depends on whether or not the “Shenmue” ports sell well when they’re released…so if you want a finale, get those credit cards ready.
image courtesy Sega