>Wasn't the third game suppose to wrap everything up?
I was under the impression that Shenmue was originally going to be a 7 or 8 (maybe more) part anthology. But after Shenmue I's disappointing sales - Yu had to condense the series. So Shenmue I was supposed to be part I, then Shenmue II was parts II & III, and Shenmue III was originally going to be the rest of the story.
Makes sense that, freed from Sega's accountability, that Yu would want to expand the game back out into it's original length. I just don't think Shenmue is a strong enough property to really sustain further development, and he's risking getting the fire started on a longer storyline just to have interest and funding dry up - leaving everyone right back in the same boat with an unfinished story.