Is Shenmue finally about to make a comeback?

A number of new Japanese trademarks have been registered ahead of E3, with what could be the first signs of a Shenmue HD remake.

After all this timeyou’d think the idea of a new Shenmue game would be on par with finding proof of the Loch Ness Monster. But against all the odds a remake or sequel has never seemed closer, thanks to comments from both Xbox boss Phil Spencer and series creator Yu Suzuki.

The fact that Sega has just trademarked the name could simply be a legally formality, in fact it’s probably safest to assume that’s exactly what it is. But the timing is suggestive.



Other trademarks discovered at the same time, and posted on NeoGAF, include Bloodborne and Otoiine from Sony Japan. Otoiine translates as something like ‘sound nice’ and is speculated to be some kind of music streaming service.


Bloodborne has already been trademarked by Sony America and seems very likely to be a new PlayStation 4 game at E3, possibly leaked From Software game Project Beast.

Square Enix has trademarked Run! Yankee-Spirt, which we’re assuming is a baseball game, and Bandai Namco something called Xuccess Heaven.

There’s also Monster Hunter 4 G from Capcom, which is the updated version that will become Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in the West – when it’s released on 3DS here next spring.

A separate discovery by website Gematsu includes Gods War Frontier and The Lost Child from Kadokawa Games, who recently acquired From Software.

Meanwhile, Square Enix has also registered Mechanical Apartheid and Journey Of The Cursed King, with the latter being the subtitle to Dragon Quest VIII and probably something to do with the smartphone version released last December in Japan.

The most intriguing new trademark though is Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. Strike Team Eliminating The Alien Menace from Nintendo.

Whatever it is it’s something that has never been hinted at before and could relate to a new IP. Although there’s no telling what scale it is or one what format, so it could easily turn out to be a minor eShop download, rather than a big budget Wii U game.

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