Another month, another Shenmue rumour. Following on from the rumours picked up on about Shenmue 1 and 2 coming to the Wii, the Shenmue rumour mill has not died down. A few days ago SEGA announced they had obtained the rights to use Unreal Engine III for an unannounced game. Speculation is rife that the engine is to be used to make a next gen version of Shenmue 3. Internet rumour experts (i.e forum posters) speculate further that the game will be unveiled at this years E3.
VideoGaming 247 asked SEGA for comment on the whole issue and received a response of “No comment”. Interestingly a post on the EuroGamer forums back in February speculated that something had changed at SEGA as rather than giving a no comment reply to a Shenmue Facebook group, SEGA suddenly started sending out a different response, all of which had the same general tone. One of these reads:
“Hello,
Thanks for writing — it seems like Shenmue’s fans are always the most passionate and committed of everyone who writes in! We are well aware of the following these games have. I realize it is frustrating but for now all I can say is: be patient! And keep checking in to www.sega.com for news ….
-Edward
SEGA Support”
The authenticity of the information is obviously not confirmed but was this a hint back in February by SEGA that something Shenmue related is on the way? Probably not, but what could happen is that SEGA see all the speculation around this most likely non existent game and actually decide to make it. Alternatively we will all still be here in a years time jumping on any scrap of news with the slightest suggestion that a new Shenmue game may be in the works.
