Spoil sport

Some stories are best left unfinished, but we’ve been waiting almost 13 years to find out what happened in that cave at the end of Shenmue II. Only one man knows the answer to that question, and it’s creator Yu Suzuki, who’s been lobbying for the sequel to get funded for over a decade now. Fortunately, the former SEGA man is well aware of Kickstarter.

Speaking during a panel at the Game Developers Conference overnight, the legendary developer reiterated that he’d like to make Shenmue III given the “right opportunity”. And in an interview with Eurogamer.net, he stressed that he is researching crowdfunding. This is the same stance that he adopted in a French interview last year, so it doesn’t seem like much has changed.

Perhaps the luminary is conscious of how much cash he’d have to raise in order to make the oft-requested sequel a reality. The Veronica Mars Movie, a cinematic adaptation of the Kristen Bell television series, is one of the more recent high-profile Kickstarter success stories, and only managed to accumulate $5.7 million. The original Shenmue famously cost $70 million to produce.

Sadly, Suzuki wouldn’t say how much money he’d need to raise to make the title happen. He also wouldn’t reveal what he’s currently working on, but did stress that he’s keeping busy. We must say, the only thing that’s keeping us occupied right now is knowing that Lan Di is still walking free. We must have our revenge.

[source eurogamer.net]