Still Some Life In Shenmue? Don’t Get Too Excited…

The Shenmue series may not have seen an official release since the Xbox conversion of Shenmue II in 2002, but with fans still clamouring for a third title to wrap up the epic saga penned by Outrun and Virtua Fighter supremo Yu Suzuki, SEGA has revealed plans to release a new title – Shenmue City – Via the new Yahoo! Mobage service. The game will be situated alongside other videogame adaptations, such as Shin Megami Tensei spin-off Persona Social, from Atlus.

SEGA announced the game’s development in Japan alongside the official launch of Yahoo! Japan and DeNA’s Mobage service, which is a PC-based social games platform in Japan. In a joint press release, the companies stated that Shenmue City is due to be released this Winter. Both games in the Shenmue series were originally released on the SEGA Dreamcast console, and they were intended to make up a trilogy, but a third and final chapter has never materialised – largely due to the huge costs incurred making the first two, and the relatively low sales ratio. The announcement of Shenmue City refers to the game as the third installment in the series, but it would be very unlikely that it carries on the same story Yu Suzuki envisaged.

The release of Sonic Adventures and Crazy Taxi on Xbox Live arcade and the PlayStation Network helped to fuel the rumours that Shenmue may soon be receiving a High-def facelift – and the inclusion of the hero of the series, Ryo Hazuki in Sonic and SEGA All-Star Racing further whet the appetite of those who have been waiting for a true sequel for a decade. We can only wait to see if the current Dreamcast game re-releases are successful enough to warrant a port of this love it or hate it game.

Yahoo! Mobage has been in beta testing since September 21, and officially launched on October 7th.