Sega has suggested that it is investigating the possibility of releasing HD remasters of its nostalgia-laden Shenmue role-playing games, following the success of a crowd-funding campaign for a third entry in the franchise.
Developer Ys Net raised more than $6 million in
July 2015 to complete the planned Shenmue trilogy, the first two games of which were released on the ill-fated Dreamcast console in 1999 and 2001 respectively. With such money on the table, it's no surprise then to find that Sega is looking into the possibility of bringing the first two games back from the dead in the form of HD remasters for current-generation consoles and PCs.
During an otherwise dull
unboxing video, Dan Sheridan of Sega's European arm confirmed that the company was actively investigating the possibility of releasing the first two Shenmue games, but warned that it would not be as easy as just generating higher-quality textures, loading the game into a Dreamcast emulator and calling it a day.
'
With games as immersive as Shenmue 1 and 2,' Sheidan explained, '
there are further complications from licensed products that were included in the original games.' Sadly, the semi-announcement did not come with official confirmation that development was underway, nor with anything approaching the promise that gamers on current-generation devices will too one day be able to experience the shock and awe that was a mandatory daily job driving a forklift truck.
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