Sega has said it is internally discussing remakes of the first Shenmue and Shenmue 2, and explained why the project is proving difficult to get off the ground. Speaking to MCV, European exec Jurgen Post said there's "definitely a desire" to remake the first two games.

"Even online, people are constantly talking about products they would like to see come back, and Shenmue 1 and 2 are probably in the top two places. We are looking into it. It is an old IP, it is a beloved IP--and not just by consumers, but also within Sega, we have people saying that if we could do Shenmue 1 and 2 all over again, we'd definitely go for it."

However, remaking the Dreamcast classic and its sequel would require a considerable development effort, Post said, and this is one of the major hurdles Sega is facing.

"The issue is that it is a big game. It is a project from many years ago," he added. "If we are to do it, we'd want to do a fantastic conversion to the current platforms, and there are a lot of licences in the game, which were cleared many years ago, so we will need to renegotiate those contracts. We are looking into it. We haven't given it a green light, but it has our full attention."

Shenmue 3 was one of the biggest announcements of E3 2015 and, following a successful Kickstarter campaign, went into full development. Shenmue 3 generated $6.3 million on Kickstarter, the most any video game has ever earned on the crowdfunding platform.

In July, it was announced that Keiji Okayasu, who served as game and program director on the first game, was returning for Shenmue 3.