One thing that almost every Shenmue fan wants other than a perfect release of Shenmue 3 is Shenmue HD Remaster versions for both of the games that came before it.
We know that Sega is helping Ys Net in the development of the third game, but so far they have not confirmed the much discussed HD remasters.
Finally someone got them to discuss it during Sega Europe’s Sega Central video where the Community & Social Marketing Manager of Sega, Dan Sheridan has to respond.
Sheridan did not confirm that a Shenmue HD Remaster is in hte making, but he did say that Sega was “investigating” how to do it:
With regards to Shenmue I and II HD, of course we would love to release these tomorrow. Sadly, it’s not as simple as porting the games to current platforms as we will need to ensure that any HD remaster lives up to the quality of the original titles. And with games as immersive as Shenmue I and II, there are further complications from 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.
Well it is true that remastering a game a simply porting it to a platform (specially a newer one) are two distinctly different things with the former bringing a boatload of new complications to the equation. However, we are hoping that Sega will overcome those.
The fact that Sega officials have been teasing about them in the past, coupled with this statement suggest it is only a matter of time before we get at least one Shenmue HD Remaster whether it is for the first game or the second.
