The company has said it is “investigating” the idea of re-releasing Shenmue 1 and 2 in HD.
Unfortunately, several licensing issues are preventing Sega from moving forward with the potential project.
Speaking in a recent episode of Sega Central, Sega Europe community manager Dan Sheridan had this to say:
“Sadly it’s not as simple as porting the games to the current platforms,” he said. “We need to ensure that any HD remaster lives up to the quality of the original titles.”
“With games as immersive as [Shenmue and Shenmue 2], there are further complications [involving] licensed products that were included in the original games. That said, we’d love to do it and are currently investigating how to make it a reality.”
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The original Shenmue was first released for Sega Dreamcast in 1999 followed by the sequel in 2001 for Dreamcast and Xbox.
During E3 2015, a kickstarter campaign was announced for Shenmue 3, the long awaited third installment. The fundraiser made a total of $6,333,295.
Shenmue 3 is currently in development for PS4 and PC with a release window yet to be confirmed.
Would you play a Shenmue remaster? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.