Kotaku: Ninja

When Your University Teacher Is a Badass Ninja

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 EST

Most teachers are regular folks. Before they entered education, maybe they worked in an office. Maybe they were students themselves. But how many of them were ninja, head-butting trees in the forest? More »

Get Jetpack Joyride For Free Today

Evan Narcisse — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:40:00 EST

The studio that made mobile smash Fruit Ninja's letting you have their latest blockbuster title for free today. Halfbrick's slashed the price of Jetpack Joyride from 0.99 to 0.00 today on Apple's App Store. The freewheeling sidescroller's also added new unlockable items with its 1.2.5 update, including a Deck The Halls Jetpack shaped like a Christmas tree. More »

Just When You Thought Sly Cooper Couldn't Get Any Better — Playable Ninja Raccoon

Mike Fahey — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:20:00 EST

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In the original Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Sucker Punch's masked bandit hunts for pages from a special book that teach him the techniques of his ancestors. In the upcoming Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time you'll get to play those ancestors, including master ninja Rioichi Cooper. More »

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Mortal Kombat Ninja Dancers

Mike Fahey — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:00:00 EDT

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Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Smoke, and Reptile were made for loving you, baby, and you were made for loving them. More »

We Must Teach Younger Gamers the True Meaning of Ninja

Mike Fahey — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:20:00 EDT

Commenter Kevwood112 worries that we as a community may have lost sight of what it means to be a ninja, which should be a good thing, as you aren't supposed to see them anyway. Let's Speak Up about it. More »

Ninja Is E3's Most Unexpected Turn-Based Game, Supports 30 Players

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:20:00 EDT

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There are many games at E3. But only one of them is the non-video-game Ninja. More »

Mortal Kombat's Tag Team Ninja Throwdown Is A Glorious Spectacle

Mike Fahey — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EDT

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Scorpion and Sub-Zero square off against Cyrax and Sektor in the ultimate ninja-on-ninja battle. Come for the fighting, stay for the scenery! More »

There's A Little Final Fantasy In Mario Sports Mix

Mike Fahey — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:40:00 EST

The upcoming character-driven Wii sports compilation Mario Sports Mix is being developed by Square Enix, which explains how five iconic Final Fantasy characters have made it into the game's roster. Who made the cut? You tell me, Kupo! More »

Play Dress Up With Dead Rising 2 DLC

Mike Fahey — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:20:00 EDT

The Dead Rising 2 dress-up fun never stops, as Capcom reveals four themed packs of downloadable content that add new looks and new abilities to Chuck Greene's arsenal. More »

Meat Bun Dresses You In Wizards And Warriors

Mike Fahey — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:20:00 EDT

The sorcerers at Meat Bun have summoned forth a magical set of t-shirts for their summer 2010 line, "Wizards 'n Warriors," celebrating the 8-bit fantasy fighters and casters who made the early days of gaming so magical. More »

What If Classic Games Had Achievements?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:26:09 EDT

Achievements and trophies are a relatively new phenomenon in the world of gaming, but what if they weren't? Gamerpaper takes a look at the achievements that might have been. More »

Fat Princess Teases Pirates And Ninjas

Mike Fahey — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:40:00 EDT

What could possibly be missing from Titan Studios' multiplayer online PlayStation Network game, Fat Princess? Oh yeah...those. More »

Wolfenstein Introduces The Invisi-Nazi Ninja

Mike Fahey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT

Behold the Veil Assassin, a Wolfenstein enemy that combines the agile movement and stealth of the ninja with the snazzy dress-sense of the video game Nazi. More »

Get Your Hands On Rachel In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Mike Fahey — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:00:00 EDT

Stopping by Tecmo today for a little hands-on with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, I learned that everyone's favorite ridiculously large-chested blonde is the third additional playable character in the PlayStation 3 exclusive remake. More »

Mini Ninjas Make Happy Pandas

Mike Fahey — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:20:00 EST

IO Interactive takes a step away from their popular Hitman franchise to introduce us to an all-new, all-tiny brand of hero, with the announcement of Mini Ninjas. More »

New Ninja Blade Screens And Ninja Blade Facts

Mike Fahey — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:40:00 EST

Microsoft has releases a storm of new Ninja Blade screenshots showing off just how silly Ryu Haybusa would look without the mouth piece of his Ninja Outfit. More »

Hands On with N+

Flynn De Marco — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Lately we are seeing more and more online flash games making the leap to consoles and handhelds. The newest addition to that roster is N+, an updated version of a little Ninja action/platformer game called N that took the interwebs by storm last year. The gameplay is simple and addicting. Guide your stealthy Ninja through mazes of obstacles, grabbing gold along the way until you eventually make your way to the exit. Now, Developer Silverbirch Studios is set to bring the title to the PSP and DS with new levels and new game modes. More »

New Pirate Classes In PotBS

Mike Fahey — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Up until now, pirates in Flying Lab's MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea have gotten the short end of the stick. While the different nations had a choice of career paths, pirates were pirates, which works fine in PVE but in group PVP it led to an imbalance...everyone knows what they're up against when they're fighting pirates. Well not anymore. The upcoming 1.4 patch of the game is introducing two new pirate classes, separate factions in the Brethren of the Coast. Existing pirates will be become Cutthroats, the more brutal type of pirates, while players creating new characters can opt between that or the new Buccaneer class.

Buccaneers are pirates too, but a bit subtler than their burning-bearded brethren. They steal and loot, but also manipulate the black markets. Some would call them gentleman adventurers, though few are true blue bloods. Buccaneers do not have the raw power of cutthroats, but they work well in groups and can help friends and cripple enemies.

Bah. Either way they're still pirates, and one ninja could easily take either out. More »

Don't Witness Project Origin's Assassin In Action

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:40:00 EDT

Ever fight an enemy in an FPS and wish you were playing the bad guy instead of the good guy? That's the feeling I get watching this clip of Project Origin's assassin in action. It's all well and good to run around shooting folks in the face, but the ability to fade in an out of view at a moment's notice really calls to the ninja inside me, which is good, because it keeps him from stabbing his katana into my innards and trying to climb my esophagus with his pointy ninja gloves. Damn inner ninja. More »

N+ A Triumph For Tiny Ninja

Mike Fahey — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:20:02 EST

When I first heard that Metanet's minimalist ninja game N was going to be released on Xbox Live Arcade as N+, I have to say I was skeptical. An excellent free game for the PC, why would I want to spend my hard-earned monies on a game that uses a mere fraction of the power of my Xbox 360, filling up my widescreen TV with a game that looks like it could have been made 15 years ago? The answer, in short, is that it completely kicks ass. N+ is gaming distilled down to its component elements. You have a door, switches, and obstacles. Your job is to get to the door. Simple. The single player is as fun (and as frustrating) on the 360 as it was on the PC, but where N+ really shines is in the multiplayer. More »

N+ Hits XBLA This Wednesday

Mike Fahey — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:20:58 EST

For those of you not wanting to wait until April for the handheld versions of the tiny ninja game that has Crecente tearing out hunks of his long, flowing hair, get yourself to an Xbox 360 this Wednesday as the classic PC flash game N makes its way onto Xbox Live Arcade as N+. With 450 levels that are sure to test even the most serene ninja's patience, a built-in level editor for creating your own challenges, and online multiplayer in both co-op and competitive flavors, N+ is surely worth 800 of your hard-earned fictional units of Microsoft currency. Not convinced? Try the free PC game over at Metanet's downloads page for a taste of what's in store for you this Wednesday. More »

Work and Play: A Peek Inside the Lives of Gaming's Greatest

Brian Crecente — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:00:32 EST

I've had a pet project I've been working on for years, three of them if my memory is right. It started as a simple idea: You can judge a lot from a person's desk. I bet you could judge just as much from their home entertainment system. So I decided it would be fun to try and track down some pictures from the work desks and home gaming set-ups of the people who work in and cover the video game industry. Simple right? Not so much. More »

Day Of The Ninja Silently Kills You

Mike Fahey — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:20:09 EST

It's December 5th, and if you don't know what that means you may already be dead and just not know it. The Annual Day of the Ninja (or alternately "Die Like A Pirate Day") tends to sneak up on you, whispering "boo" into your ear, only you just hear the very beginning of the "b" sound, your imagination filling in the rest as you slide lifelessly to the floor. Fun! Today is a fine day to whip out your favorite ninja-themed video game, throw it in deadly frisbee fashion into your game machine of choice, and harness the very power of the wind to power on your console, playing all day whilst steadfastly refusing to remove the black t-shirt from around your head, even to eat. Whether you prefer the hack and slash frenzy of Ninja Gaiden, the more whimsical adventures of I-Ninja or Goemon, the stealth action of Tenchu or even the complete and total suckage of Red Ninja, this day is for you. Actually, admitting you like Red Ninja pretty much signs your death order, but you know, have fun! More »

Ninjabread Man Eats It

Mike Fahey — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:20:52 EDT

If you needed proof that the Nintendo Wii is a crap magnet, look no further than Data Design's Ninjabread Man. It's the best title for a game ever wrapped around one of the worst games I've played in a long time. I feel cheated having payed $8 to rent the thing, so the bargain price of $29.99 borders on ridiculous. The game deserves a spot in a PC bargain shareware collection at Wal Mart, not on Nintendo's baby. Please excuse the coughing, random screaming, and the cat cameo. It was very early. More »

Mighty Ninja Panther Billiards Battle

Mike Fahey — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:20:23 EDT

Can there be too many ninja? It seems like every week a new one is unleashed onto the Wii Virtual Console, this week being no different as the previously unreleased in North America NES game Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (600 points) finds its way onto the VC. If this ninja glut continues they're going to band together and kill ever other game available for download, so you might want to hurry up and get your hands on a copy of Lunar Pool for the NES (500 points) and the Genesis classic Golden Axe III (800 points) before the bloodbath begins. Luckily the third installment of the Golden Axe saga lets you play as a giant or a panther, which are two widely known ninja weaknesses (also, Hot Pockets), but Lunar Pool with its 30 tables of billiards splendor only adds sticks and colorful balls to the deadly assassins' arsenal. Enter the world of my imagination, where the Virtual Console is a hundred times more entertaining than it has any right to be. More »

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Mike Fahey — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:40:20 EDT

It's September 19th, ladies and gentlemen, and you all know what that means. Whether you are a Pirate of the Burning Sea, a Pirate of the Caribbean, a Puzzle Pirate, or one of Sid Meier's stalwart band of buccaneers, today is your day. Break out the eye patch, cut off your leg and replace it with a wooden stump (do NOT actually do this), and crack open the rum, for International Talk Like A Pirate Day is upon us, may god have mercy on our souls. It's a special day for Kotaku, as it is a well documented fact that we are captained by the notorious dread pirate Crecente, whose exploits and bird shirts are the stuff of nautical legends. How are you planning on celebrating this day? As a ninja, I am going into hiding, though to be honest that's pretty much what ninja do anyway when they aren't killing pirates. Maybe I'll toss in a silent yar for the occasion. More »

PotBS Celebrates Talk Like A Pirate Day In Seattle

Mike Fahey — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:00:59 EDT

Pirates of the Burning Sea has become the official video game of International Talk Like A Pirate Day (September 19th), and to celebrate they are raiding the coastline of Seattle, causing a right ruckus in the streets, and hanging about the Seattle Aquarium looking swarthy and unkempt. Local Seattle pirate group SeaFair Pirates will be on hand, offering tours of the waterfront on their pirate ship, and you'll get a chance to meet the devs and get some hands-on time with Pirates of the Burning Sea. There'll even be an appearance by Talk Like A Pirate originators John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers, commemorating the game's official pirate status. You can hit the jump for more details, though I would suggest hitting the official RSVP page first, as spots are limited. The event runs from 7-10PM, leaving you plenty of time to get home and lock your doors before September 20th - Unofficial Kill Pirates Like A Ninja Day. Only kidding. Locking your doors won't help, silly. More »

Screw Attack's Top Ten Ninjas

Mike Fahey — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:30:47 EDT

I don't think any of the Ninja in Screw Attack's Top Ten Ninja(s) actually deserve to be on the list. Sure, they're all good at doing whatever it is that they do, but come on, top ninja? You can see them! Top be a top ninja you have to start your training early, slipping out of your mother's womb in the dead of night to avoid being detected by the doctor's special "look at the baby in your tummy" device. Amateurs. More »

Take Your Sims On A Wondrous Journey

Mike Fahey — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:20:45 EDT

And the relentless march of Sims 2 expansion packs continues, as was foretold by prophecy. In early September you'll be able to take a break from torturing your Sims to death and burying them in the backyard of their tasteful suburban home to travel to exotic locations around the world where you can torture them to death in some foreign guy's backyard! EA announces The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, the expansion pack that not only adds a variety of vacation-themed objects, activities and locales to the game, but also brings the fabled Ninja VS. Pirate debate to your simulated world. In the Far East your Sims will encounter a local resident known as the Ninja, and in the version of the expansion in my head it will be the last encounter they ever have. Meanwhile, on a tropical island somewhere, your Sims can explore a giant pirate ship - the largest object yet to grace The Sims 2 franchise - which I am assuming will be filled with the bodies of dead pirates, because this fictional reality has Ninja in it. More »

Elf Bowling Trailer Reveals Santa's Checkered Past

Mike Fahey — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:50:00 EDT

Itagaki Talks Motivation, Cabbage

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:00:32 EDT

Team Ninja's chief ninja and Dead or Alive mastermind Tomonobu Itagaki is one competitive dude. He says that the projects he's currently working aren't just good, but good. So much so that they'll destroy the hopes and dreams of other developers. Itagaki explains: More »

N+ Slinking Stealthily Towards DS, PSP

Mike Fahey — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:20:51 EDT

The tiniest ninja just got tinier. The game that proved once and for all that true ninja don't need polygons to kick ass is making the flying death leap from the PC to handheld consoles, as Atari announces N+ for the PSP and Nintendo DS. N is a popular flash game created by Metanet Software that distills the ninja experience to its purest form...jumping around. gathering gold, and killer robots. More »

VC Update: Shocking Vampire Ninja

Mike Fahey — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:20:48 EDT

It's Monday, and that means old game goodness from the good folks at the Wii Shopping Channel. This week sees the beginning of the Belmonts, a ninja game without violent decapitations (say what?), and a TurboGrafx-16 game that probably should have stayed in Japan with its friends. More »

Clip: Tenchu Z Trailer - Hot Ninja Action

Mike Fahey — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:20:32 EDT

Much like many professional athletes later become coaches, Rikimaru from the Tenchu series has taken on a teaching role. This time around, you are the protagonist, on the path to becoming the ultimate ninja warrior. As if. More »

Gallery: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes

Mike Fahey — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:20:08 EDT

I'm of two minds on the subject of Naruto. On one hand, it's the sort of anime phenomenon that invades and devours other aspects of fandom like termites devouring a house. You can't talk about anime without Naruto coming up, and you cannot go to an anime con these days without seeing at least 100 of the stupid headbands. More »

Tenchu Z Sneaks In Xbox 360 Summer Release

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:40:23 EDT

The long-running Tenchu series is coming to the Xbox 360 this summer, as Microsoft has finally locked down a release window for the ninja exclusive from From Software and K2. Tenchu Z (the eighth in the series) was announced as a stateside release in January, but ninja fanatics looking for a customizeable good time can now plan their vacations around its release. More »

Gallery: Pretty Prancing Pirates

Mike Fahey — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:20:09 EDT

Here at Kotaku we are required by ancient code to deliver equal representation to ninjas and pirates, so since I posted the Ninja Gaiden DS bit earlier, I am forced to deliver unto thee these screenshots of Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. Originally titled PotC: At Land's End, the well-documented pirate inability to pull off khakis and a polo shirt caused producers to go in a different direction. More »

Pirate v Ninja Makes The Paper

Brian Crecente — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 09:59:24 EDT

Yes, it made the newspaper because I put it there and no, it's not game related, not really. But I thought perhaps you'd still want to read it, that and I mentioned it last night in my Night Note. More »

PS3 Ninja Gaiden Demo for Japan in April

Mike Fahey — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:20:29 EDT

In the latest issue of Famitsu, Ninja Gaiden Sigma director delivered good news to the hordes of PlayStation die-hards and Xbox haters who've been waiting three years to step into Ryu Hayabusa's blue ninja jammies. A playable demo for the game will be available on the PSN in Japan starting April 27th, two months before the game is released. The demo will consist of a specially made level not featured in the main game in order to showcase a wide array of fighting moves and weapons. More »

White Ninja Makes Luigi Cry

Mike Fahey — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:40:41 EDT

White Ninja is one of the best comics on the web today, mainly because I could, if pressed, draw better than they do. Fortunately Scott Bevan and Kent Earle can do more with their crappy little drawings and a few choice words than many comics with high-quality artists could ever hope to do. Plus, the main character is a ninja, albeit a very 'special' one. More »