Hi,

If anyone here is from the Shenmue Dojo, You' ll know about a campaign BBC Scotland have started to try and get Shenmue III released:

http://shenmue.planets.gamespy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32193&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

However, today it seems that campaign has come to nothing, if not at least for some comfirmation on just what is going on:

http://shenmue.planets.gamespy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32193&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=725

Don' t get excited, guys. I' m in here to tell all of YOU first, that it isn' t good news.

We got contacted by a member of Sega staff, and we can at least clear some things up.

Despite any rumours, Shenmue III is not at any stage of development, and is not in Sega' s plans.

" This is hardly an official statement, but I can tell you that despite rumours to the contrary, there is nothing in the works for Shenmue III. However, SEGA is aware of Shenmue' s position and the special place it holds for fans, and we would never discount the possibility of doing another one.

There is no Shenmue 3 in the works because Suzuki-san is too busy on Shenmue online and will be for another couple of years at least. There is every possibility that he would want to do a Shenmue 3, but the general feeling is that it won' t happen in the next 3-5 years; or until SEGA reaches it' s current business goals - That is to become a top 3 publisher.

I’d tell our fans not to give up hope – but not to hold their breath either."



That' s it in a nutshell. While the guy says that it' s " not an official statement" this is just to keep him in the clear with his bosses in Japan. Shenmue III isn' t going to happen anytime soon, no matter how much we want it to.

I' m gutted that I can' t come out of this with something more positive for you all. The thing that annoys me most is that Sega seem to be suggesting that the only way it will happen is if Sega' s fortunes really pick up - but in my opinion Sega are producing some poor games these days. The latest Sonic games, for example, are a disgrace. So does Sega DESERVE to have their fortunes improved?

I dunno. Disappointed.

Anyway, at least it clears up any bullshit stories (such as the Kikizo one) about Shenmue III being " out there" somewhere.

Really sorry, guys. Wanted to tell you first, because we never had much time to cover it on the show.

Thanks for all the input. At least now we know where we stand.

Sickened...

The only good to have come out of this is some conclusion, but regrettably Shenmue III seems to be on limbo.

The reason I post in this forum is because I now have to question Adam Doree' s article back in August of last year:

http://games.kikizo.com/news/200508/141_p1.asp

I want some understanding as to what this article was about, because everything has been pretty much rebuffed by the SEGA employee.

First off, welcome to the forums.

I wouldn' t have expected Shenmue 3 anyway. It was one good series that deserved another shot, & like others, just didn' t get one before Sega went down.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
STELLAR! I HATE YOU!

...You ruined my night!!!

...In 2 hours I' m getting on the bus to go to the nearest El Giganten, to que for a Nintendo WII...

... You ruined my WII LAUNCH!

Atleats i know now.

It was the uncertainty that killed.

Why does Sega think that anyone gives a fuck about Shenmue Online? Phantasy Star Online all but ruined that series. Remember when " Phantasy Star" = " good game" ? Now " Phantasy Star" = " extreme ball-licking gayness" . Sega doesn' t like it when fans request or demand things. That' s why they take good intellectual properties and destroy them. They took Phantasy Star and destroyed that. They took Sonic and destroyed that. Now they will do the same for Shenmue. They figure we' d rather have gonorrhea infected stuff like Full Auto 2 or Chromehounds. Yay. I wish Sega would stop licking the crusty flakes off of every other developer' s anus and go back to what they used to do looong ago. Make games that are good instead of ass drippings like Shenmue Online.

I agree,Shenmue online is a game im not gonna even look at.

Itwas the story and the plot and the movie feeling that made me love Shenmue.

A mmorpg?

Lol @ SEGA.

I thought Shenmue Online was canned a long time ago?

And who the heck is the guy you quoted? Why in the world should I believe that guy? And it' s not an official word, merely a member of " Sega' s staff." Like WHO? If you can' t quote the person you talked to, then you talked to no one.

Sounds like bullsh1t to me.

If anything I think someone just wanted to advertise a particular site.....

Sega sucks. They used to be a company with a goal of making great games. Now their only goals are to make money and be come a big publisher.
Sega has become the Japanese EA.

OK, so someone we know well from the Shenmue fan community just emailed me about this. He was quite angry about these guys' throwaway " bullshit" branding of that article we did some time ago. Here is my reply to him.

---

Hi

To be honest I am tired of the Shenmue thing. There' s only so many times I can say to people that our source was totally credible and involved, without revealing who it is or the nature of their role with Shenmue. These campaign guys never contacted us or asked us anything, which was their decision. I doubt whoever anyone else is talking to understands the facts as clearly as the source we had. I doubt it very much because it' s virtually impossible. If someone who' s got a quote off a PR rep (or a " member of Sega staff" , at any rate) thinks they are somehow proving us wrong, then fine - we talk to the same people anyone else does on a PR level regardless, and frankly they have been as interested to hear what we know as the fans. It doesn' t mean it' s false, it means it' s a complex Japanese company with a pile of confidential matters and issues leading up to why this thing cannot be dissected. Really it can' t, people' s jobs are implicated, people we' re actually bothered about.

This statement just means that things, unsurprisingly, have changed since our article. They won' t get a Sega rep anywhere to comment on record about how or why right now. A lot of people seem to have got excited about the fact that this was a " BBC" thing, but now that these guys seem satisfied with their quote from someone at Sega, to brand somebody else' s 16-month old article " bullshit" strikes me as unprofessional and very short-sighted. Where does this leave Shenmue III? Clearly it' s not our place to judge now, even though there are new things we have learned. Rest assured this official statement is the best the fans will get for now and I think the bottom line is fair, although the reality is certainly not as straightforward or as breezy as they try to make out.

Sonic never lived on Mobius as far as Sonic Team is concerned, yet that' s what it says in all the English instruction manuals and beyond. Doesn' t mean it was true at Sega Japan where Sonic was always from Earth. This was only cleared up after about 15 years. If the planet where a mascot comes from can cause so much confusion you can understand why Sega would rather tell everyone about its announced games and publicly stated corporate goals than divulge sensitive and potentially embarrassing information about Shenmue.

All our 2005 article did us no favours when it comes down to it and I think that' s a pity in many ways. Next week somewhere on the BBC though, perhaps: " PR person says their game is good."

---

So........ Shenmue is still coming out then?

Dojo? A bloody Dojo? I' ll Karate these fucking midgets, they don' t come from real bloody Dojo!

They believe anything that is said to them as long as the source has an ounce of credibility...

" Oh he' s from the BBC?! He' s from the BBC!!!!!!! Oh the guy from the BBC says it' s not happening?! He says it' s fucking canceled????? Damn it!!!!!!! Damn it, damn it damn it!!!!!!! We need to contact Trisha and get ourselves on her show, ...we can' t let SEGA do this to us, we just can' t."

Then they come here and tell us - like we fucking care! Do we like SEGA games?! Yes, mostly. Do we want Shenmue 3?! Ofcourse. Do we want somebody to come here and tell us that on some forum, somewhere else on the internet, there is a guy who works for the BBC and he called some SEGA PR rep who said something other than " We have not made any announcements at this time..." Erm, no.

The most pathetic thing is that they actually sign up just to tell us. Great, well lets do something productive and ask this guy from the BBC to call al Qaeda and ask them where they are going to attack next, i would like to know where not to be...

What a terrible way to start off the morning.

This guy.... This guy.... THIS GUY!

That post contradicts itself in so many ways, honestly.

" This is hardly an official statement, but I can tell you that despite rumours to the contrary, there is nothing in the works for Shenmue III. However, SEGA is aware of Shenmue' s position and the special place it holds for fans, and we would never discount the possibility of doing another one.

So it' s an uneducated opinion?

Hmm.

I' ll stick with what KikiZO' s interview said. Thank you very much...

What is it with people head-hunting Kikizo as soon as they find out any morsel
of Shenmue information?

Kikizo staff is people i trust,its funny they always happends to land in the shit,once Peter moore said he was missquoted in a kikizo video interview,WHEN HE IN FACT SAID THOSE WORD HE CLAIMED HE WAS MISSQUOTED FOR.

Kikizo just uploaded the video,then other site quoted what PM said,and PM said he was then missqutoted by Kikizo.

LOl.

I feel sorry for this site,but you keep the good fight on.

Anyway,I belive Adam and kikizo staff.

oh now i remember,it was about stop adding xbox games that works for 360,funny since himself said that,we havnt seen any more xbox games working on the 360,wtf!

Where is shenmue2?

i dont to the future of Shenmue....IMO the kikzio article was BS.

I HATE EVERYONE!!

...In 2 hours I' m getting on the bus to go to the nearest El Giganten, to que for a Nintendo WII...

where are you from? Dio?

Why does Sega think that anyone gives a fuck about Shenmue Online? Phantasy Star Online all but ruined that series. Remember when " Phantasy Star" = " good game" ? Now " Phantasy Star" = " extreme ball-licking gayness" . Sega doesn' t like it when fans request or demand things. That' s why they take good intellectual properties and destroy them. They took Phantasy Star and destroyed that. They took Sonic and destroyed that. Now they will do the same for Shenmue.

lol yeah It' s almost as if they like to destroy good franchises just because there are fans out there that like them.

@Majik, it' s a bit more nuanced than what you make it sound like. It' s not as if a member there just happens to do accountancy for the BBC and thought of calling Sega out of boredom ;) They had a show about video games and tried to get an answer as a Shenmue fan. All the guy did was sign up there to let Shenmue fans know how things went.

And it' s not that pathetic if people sign up here to tell this I think. Considering this might be the most Sega-friendly out of the bigger gaming sites. This site had the article mentioned earlier, was one of the first to write about Shenmue Online and seems to have better/closer contact with Sega compared to other gaming sites.

That being said, I don' t question the Kikizo article. What a PR-person says in an unofficial statement probably only hints at how the situation really is.

Yes we are SEGA friendly here, we love SEGA (no matter how many times they mess Sonic up) - but every couple of months somebody comes and calls Kikizo' s article nasty names, causes a huge argument and then disappears. We' re all sick of it.

Please don' t think i have anything against the guys at Shenmue Dojo. I don' t. I was simply being sarcastic. We all want Shenmue 3, but making a fuss about what some guy (and i know all about BBC' s campaign) who claims to work for the BBC said is daft. Has this guy proven beyond a shadow of a doubt who he is and who he works for? because that' s exactly what you guys keep asking of Adam, to prove that the article was genuine.

Y' know people seem to wonder why Kikizo gets exclusive interviews and has close ties with SEGA, but they never talk about Gamerweb. Do they even know?

Sega just seems to be up to it' s eyeballs in shit at the moment. Hopefully someone there will see the light and sanction Shenmue III. Yu come on get it made and you can get another ferrari!

Who ever is in charge at Sega at the moment wants to be instantly dismissed, and whoever was in charge, put back in place. I presume they must also have lost most of their star programmers lately (on evidence of the dross they are producing), sega just give them a call and offer the money and freedom and they' ll come flooding back.

Sega once stood for something, they might just have time left to save the name.

Has this guy proven beyond a shadow of a doubt who he is and who he works for?

Not seen his tv show on the bbc then??

For me the kikizo article should never have been posted unless they had something solid. Which they did not. Its just a ' you should take our word for it' article which is not very professional IMO.

That post contradicts itself in so many ways, honestly.

But then so did the kikizo article...