I'm not really sure why at this point, since the games don't really hold up as well as you'd want them to, and I'd even argue that there are modern games that have some of the cooler elements of Shenmue without as much of the tedium (Persona 4 Golden and Sleeping Dogs are 2 recent games that come to mind), but I still really would like to play a third Shenmue game.

I didn't know enough about importing when 2 came out that I actually bought an XBOX to play it. Shenmue 2: system seller. It helped that Microsoft was bundling Jet Set Radio Future / Sega GT with the system at the time. XBOX felt like the spiritual successor to the Dreamcast for me and it seemed to be the most reliable place for me to get the Sega games that I craved. Halo and Fuzion Frenzy didn't hurt, either.

We've been hearing on-again off-again rumors about Shenmue 3 for a decade now, and while I think most people have probably lost interest, I'm still on board. With Sega seemingly in shambles at this point, it seems like the odds of seeing a Shenmue 3 are slimmer than ever, but maybe if Microsoft would underwrite some of the development costs, they'd have a sure-fire system seller for the Xbox720 (well, they'd at least sell one). I don't even know if Yu Suzuki is working with Sega anymore. But if he is and they are: please just make Shenmue 3 already.

I'm not really sure why at this point, since the games don't really hold up as well as you'd want them to, and I'd even argue that there are modern games that have some of the cooler elements of Shenmue without as much of the tedium (Persona 4 Golden and Sleeping Dogs are 2 recent games that come to mind), but I still really would like to play a third Shenmue game.

I didn't know enough about importing when 2 came out that I actually bought an XBOX to play it. Shenmue 2: system seller. It helped that Microsoft was bundling Jet Set Radio Future / Sega GT with the system at the time. XBOX felt like the spiritual successor to the Dreamcast for me and it seemed to be the most reliable place for me to get the Sega games that I craved. Halo and Fuzion Frenzy didn't hurt, either.

We've been hearing on-again off-again rumors about Shenmue 3 for a decade now, and while I think most people have probably lost interest, I'm still on board. With Sega seemingly in shambles at this point, it seems like the odds of seeing a Shenmue 3 are slimmer than ever, but maybe if Microsoft would underwrite some of the development costs, they'd have a sure-fire system seller for the Xbox720 (well, they'd at least sell one). I don't even know if Yu Suzuki is working with Sega anymore. But if he is and they are: please just make Shenmue 3 already.

Yu Suzuki is still at Sega, last time I checked. 
 
Anyway, I'm with you... I got into the Xbox in 2002 after the demise of the Dreamcast when they were bundling it with Jet Set Radio Future and Sega GT 2002.  A big selling point for me was also Shenmue 2, those were literally the first three games I had for my Xbox. It really did feel like the spiritual successor to the Dreamcast at the time, even the Controller-S was similar in shape & layout. 
 
I wonder if they'll ever release shenmue 3, I also hope they do someday.

I am curious what a Shenmue 3 would look like today.

I don't know if I really do want to play a Shenmue 3, I loved that series at the time but I have no idea how they would make it work today. Just play Sleeping Dogs but walk really slowly everywhere, search for non existent capsule toys and pretend that your car is a forklift truck.

Didn't they do a Facebook game or something like that. So at least it's still in someone's mind. Even though I'm not really a fan of the games, I would like to see what they would do with it.

Though as much as I love the shenmue series I actually don't want a third one. The reason being the story was way too ambitious for it's own good, I think the original plan was to have 16 games to tell the full thing? And then they decided to cram parts 2-4 in shenmue two? That's just insane.

But hey, it had Super Hang On!

Play Yakuza series, it is a Sony PS2/PS3 exclusive, the graphics, story and gameplay are very nice too :D

The problem with the Shenmue franchise is making one is massively expensive especially with all those official brands that are in the game. Like Ryo's shoes is Adidas even if the detail isn't seen much, his watch is Timex, the Zippo merchandise is there, Sapporo Beer products are there, hell even Joy's motorbike I think was branded as well. Hahahahahahhaha. Anyway yes I'd love to see a continuation of the franchise. Yakuza and Sleeping Dogs are as close as you can get to being the "spiritual successors" to the franchise.