There’s a new rumor going around that Sega may have some major remake plans in the near future.
As reported by Gematsu, new footage has come up for both Persona 3 and a new Jet Set Radio. Sega has yet to confirm the existence of both projects, but they fall in line with prior rumors.
The Persona 3 footage dates from 2021 but surfaced only this month. Dataminers also found a new domain purchased this March 15, 2023. The domain name is p3re.jp, and it matches with an existing domain for a remake that did get released, p5r.jp for Personal 5 Royal.
The new Jet Set Radio was supposedly leaked three times in 2022. Sega supposedly accidentally let the word out on the new game via a 2022 survey. SegaBiits claimed they acquired the image of what is supposedly the new game in July 2022. Subsequently, Bloomberg reported that Sega was working on big budget reboots for Jet Set Radio as well as Crazy Taxi in April 2022.
A Persona 3 remake does seem to be the most likely project of the two. Sega has seen the massive success of the rerelease of Persona 5 Royal, and now recognize that there is a lot of money in remaking these classic games. In particular, they see the value in making the Persona games multiplatform instead of PlayStation exclusive. While it would seem ironic that PlayStation would still see a sizable number of those sales, the excitement mainly stems from the easier availability that a remake provides to these games. There are, of course, now bigger sales overall as the games are sold in more platforms.
It must be said that there is a version of Persona 3 that has already received a remake. Persona 3 Portable is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, and is based on the PSP port of the game from 2009.
So, would there be a reason to buy a remake of the original Persona 3 from 2003? The answer would be yes, but mostly for hardcore Persona fans. Persona 3 Portable did change many elements of the original, including gameplay and the endings, but if you are a beginner to the series, and you already bought Persona 3 Portable, you may not find this interesting.
Jet Set Radio would be an amazing game if it were confirmed to be true. So far the franchise has only seen incarnations on the Dreamcast, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance, with subsequent ports of the original game on Steam, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, and Vita.
Jet Set Radio has lay dormant for 21 years, so it would be interesting to see what game idea they have come up with to justify a new version. While many consider it one of the best video games of all time, and it has a sizable influence on modern indie games, Sega’s disinterest in the franchise seems to suggest it isn’t as great for the company’s bottomline.
Perhaps a nostalgia cycle is more than enough for Sega to bet on a return of the skating and tagging action game.
