Today Microsoft opened the pre-orders of Shenmue I & II, as announced by Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb on his own blog.

Interestingly, the blog and listing have a release date, which is August 21st (the game will unlock on August 20th at 9 PM PDT if you're on the West Coast). Microsoft may not have noticed that Sega actually has not officially announced the release date yet, revealing it ahead of time.

I probably don't need to say much to introduce the games, but they were the brainchild of Yu Suzuki, who is currently working on Shenmue III independently from Sega. The first released for Dreamcast in 1999, while the second came for Dreamcast in 2001, and Xbox in 2002. Both have a very dedicated cult following.

If you want to see more about the game, you can watch the first trailer, and check out a few 1080p screenshots showing the improved image quality.

On top of Xbox One, Shenmue I & II will also release on PS4 and PC.

If you prefer to grab a physical copy of the game, it can already be pre-ordered on Amazon.