Sega's Shenmue 3 Could Be Coming Eventually

For the gaming community, it's easy to fall in love with one particular title, and get attached to not only the characters, but also the story. For fans of the series Shenmue, which debuted for the Sega Dreamcast years ago, it was easy to become immediately enthralled with the life of Ryo Hazuki, and the search for his father's killer. The original title was a hit on the Dreamcast, but its sequel, Shenmue II, didn't see as much success on Microsoft's original Xbox, so Sega pulled development on the title. But, it looks like the third installment could be a real possibility.

Speaking with CVG, President of Sega West Mike Hayes said that while the company is not planning on releasing anything on the current generation of consoles available now, that doesn't mean that the company has completely forgotten about the franchise. "While at present we have no plans for the franchise [on next-gen consoles], the Shenmue legacy ignites a lot of passion among fans. Never say never."

So, we can't expect it to hit any time soon, but at least we know that Sega isn't sitting there, listening to all of the fans cry out for a game and completely ignoring them. With petitions floating around the Internet, all of which asking Sega to bring back Hazuki to consoles, it's no surprise that Sega wouldn't want to miss the chance of raking in the money from a high-profile release as Shenmue. And, for gaming enthusiasts who are still waiting to end the conflict between the main character and Lan Di, the man who killed Hazuki's father, it looks like the resolution of the series is still coming soon. Of course, soon is a relative term.

[via CVG]