• Posted March 4th, 2013 at 09:13 EDT by Mike Harradence
• 2 Comments

SEGA legend Yu Suzuki has revealed he is mulling over the use of crowdfunding to get Shenmue III off the ground.

Speaking to Sebastien-Abdelhamid at the Monaco Anime/Game Show, Suzuki – best known for producing classic titles such as Out Run, After Burner and Virtua Fighter – said initiatives such as Kickstarter may give new hope to fans awaiting the return of the beloved action-RPG.

“Yu Suzuki said he is considering crowdfunding like Kickstarter to fund Shenmue III,” Abdelhamid revealed.”

“Yu Suzuki would also continue the story of Shenmue through anime or manga," he added.

Shenmue was released on the Dreamcast back in 2000, with a sequel turning up the following year. The games saw players controlling Japanese student Ryo Hazuki on the hunt for his father’s killers through a picturesque Japanese village and surrounding docklands, before his search takes him to Hong Kong and beyond.

A third game has been in the pipeline for years, though nothing has ever materialized. It doesn’t help that the original game cost a then-massive $40 million to develop, with sales of both titles failing to set tills alight. Nonetheless, Suzuki has never ruled out the possiblity of a new Shenmue title.

Stay tuned.

via NeoGAF