"They're going to need more than a Shenmue 3 to finish the story."
i got this quote from the shenmue dojo-
http://www.planetxbox.com/shenmuedojo/shenmue3_preview.shtml"The storty is completed. The problem is we have not decided whether or not to move foreward with designing the game yet. If there's a demand for it, we'd love to make it, but it is undecided" ~Yu Suzuki~
Seeing how the story is completed this backs ups his previous statements about finishing the series with a third game. In a Techtv interview he said the series would span with "3 installments" and in the Japanese magazine Dorimaga he said once Shenmue 3 was given the go ahead the rest of the 16 chapters would be included. All this hints at one thing and that is Shenmue 3 could very well conclude the saga of Shenmue."
and this one comes from Dorimaga-
"Dorimaga also asked Sega-AM2's Yu Suzuki whether Shenmue 3 is going to happen. He said that development could begin immediately were Sega to give the project the go-ahead. If it were to happen, the remaining 16 chapters of the game would be included."
of course i agree with you though- i would not want them to cram the last ten chapters in at once in a single game, but if push comes to shove and its the only way to get my shenmue fix, i'll take it