Yu Suzuki thinks he can obtain the rights to Shenmue

Hey everybody! It’s that time again! It’s time to GET! YOUR! HOPES UP!!!  *Thunderous applause*

In a really interesting interview with the folks over at Shenmue Master, series creator Yu Suzuki dangled that tantalizing ol’ Shenmue III carrot yet again. This time around, Suzuki is saying that he thinks he can negotiate with Sega to obtain Shenmue’s rights, allowing him to finally move forward with the long-awaited third chapter in the beloved series.

Surprisingly, despite how excited I am, I do find this news to be just a little bittersweet. Suzuki is the only man I’d want in control of the final chapter of this beloved saga, but I count Shenmue as one of Sega’s aces in the hole–a series that has yet to be equaled in style. Losing the franchise certainly wouldn’t be a devastating blow to the company’s identity or reputation, but the concept of a Shenmue game without Sega’s electric blue letters attached to it does sting a bit. Eh, I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too. What do you guys think?

[Source: Shenmue Master via Destructoid]

Readers Comments (3)

  1. Interesting news, but it makes sense. At this point in SEGA’s career they can’t afford to take the risks that they could back in 2000. Suzuki’s still passionate about it, so it should be in his hands. Perhaps SEGA can do what they did for Naka’s early Prope stuff and serve as a distributor but leave the rest to the master. Here’s hoping it actually works out!

  2. He absolutely deserves to finish his opus. As your previous sega article showed, sega sits on there franchises and doesn’t do jack. I hope sega does the right thing and GIVES it to him as a thank you, belated severance package, whatever you want to call it

  3. Damn typo….>:( their

Comments are closed.