Shenmue III – it’s really happening! Or is it?

The Internet still hasn’t given up pretending there’s going to be a new Shenmue, as photos circulate of a PS4 sequel due spring 2016.

We’re not sure we’d believe there was going to be a new Shenmue until we were sitting on the sofa actually playing it, and even then we’d have to pinch ourselves with a pair of industrial pliers just to make sure we weren’t dreaming.

But if you enjoy setting yourself up for disappointment the following photos have been doing the rounds, and purport to show a teaser trailer for Shenmue III – on what looks like PlayStation 4 and PC.



The obviously faked images first appeared on Japanese website Gamestalk, complete with the red circles and arrows you see here. These are pointing at the patterns on what seem to be a leather jacket, and which match up with those worn by series protagonist Ryo.


Shenmue III – can we interest you in this fine leather jacket?

The petals are also supposed to represent the three games, due to the number of cuts in each – implying that the first two games are going to get HD remasters.

We’ve seen many an unexpected sequel in our time, that we would’ve betted against ever getting made, but the likelihood of a new Shenmue still seems as remote as ever.

Despite being released in 1999 it remains one of the most expensive video games ever made and was never that successful back then, when there was nothing else quite like it.

Surely the Internet wouldn’t lie to us?!

We’d love to be proven wrong, but we also don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Although the implication that Sega and Square Enix are teaming up could be a way to get over the budget problem.

However, the lack of mention of an Xbox One version seems to betray the rumour’s Japanese origins (where the Xbox format is irrelevant). The Xbox version of Shenmue II was the only one on a non-Sega console and Xbox boss Phil Spencer actually mentioned the game by name last year – even if he was probably joking.

That’s a strange use of the word confirmed

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