Shenmue 3 on next-gen - report

SEGA has declined to comment on a report stating that the publisher hopes to release Shenmue 3 on a next generation games console.

British site Kikizo claims that the game has been "close to finished" for some time, but held back to ensure that the entire series can appear on a next-generation games console.

It says that the reason for this is that SEGA wants to present the series in its entirety to a new audience. It goes on to speculate that Shenmue 3 could appear on multiple next generation platforms.

Yu Suzuki apparently had little involvement in the game's production, having written the script for the entire series some years ago.

Kikizo also claims that an announcement of Shenmue 3 for Xbox was nearly made at E3 last year, but was pulled after SEGA decided the console wasn't popular enough in Japan.

When asked about it this morning, a bemused SEGA rep said the company had no comment to make.