Company president Reggie Fils-Aime dishes about why the company signed the developers to do Metroid, "We could've done a fine job on our own. But, we saw the Team Ninja group as a way of adding a little extra special sauce, if you will, to make it a really compelling experience." Just like Team Ninja has made its own games compelling.

So far, the industry reaction to the Team Ninja announcement seems to be good. "One of the pieces of feedback I've heard is that as we made that announcement," says Fils-Aime, "that there were a lot of development teams and publishers who started to say to themselves, 'Wow, Nintendo is open to these types of partnerships. Let's think of other ideas to bring forward.' Which I find exciting."

Then those same publishers say to themselves, "Wow, I wish I had know that Nintendo has had these kind of partnerships for a long time." Game Boy Advance Zelda games from Capcom, anyone?

Reggie Interview [GameSpot]

He's also back to fill the vacuum of Japanese game developer trash talk. From an excerpt of Itagaki interview with 1Up comes this bit about Platinum Games developer Hideki Kamiya, who is currently making Devil-May-Cry-in-heels action title Bayonetta:

1UP: What do you think about Bayonetta, as a game? Do you think Kamiya is right to follow the Devil May Cry formula so closely?

TI: If I made a similar game as a game I made in the company I quit, people would say, "What an idiot, can't he make anything else?" Well, that is more or less the opinion I have for, uh, that Bayo-something game.

1UP: What do you think of Bayonetta's character design? She's covered in hair.

TI: Covered in hair, is she? I dunno, Mr. Kamiya must have a lot going through his head. Well, in any case, I would first recommend laser eye surgery. I'm sure he's not that strapped for cash, right?

A bit of background: Bayonetta designer Hideki Kamiya stated previously that he had never played Itagaki's Ninja Gaiden because he said the game "didn't have the power" to pull him in.

Moving beyond the smack talk and Itagaki's recommendation that Kamiya get laser eye surgery if he's not strapped for cash (ouch), this chatter could provide clues regarding what the former Team Ninja lead ninja and his team are up to. Elsewhere in the interview, he says he's gotten tired of making games with girls that have enormous breasts and won't be making games with Aerosmith music anymore.

"I have to apologize to my fans, but since I won't be making Dead or Alive games," Itagaki explains, "I won't be using Aerosmith's music anymore. I want to send the deepest gratitude to Aerosmith and Steven Tyler. The power I needed to make DOA came from Aerosmith and the movie Armageddon."

So is it safe to assume for the sake of assuming that Itagaki is working on something different than his previous games, something light on the norgs and something free of Aerosmith?

Developer Interview: Itagaki Skewers the Competition [1Up via Sega Nerds]

Well, someone else has to work on the series. And that someone else is Yosuke Hayashi, the new leader of Tecmo's Team Ninja, and the man responsible for where the series goes from here.

Since I had the chance to speak with Hayashi at E3, I put the question to him: what's next for Ninja Gaiden?

"I think the series has a definite future", he said. "In fact, I already have a concept for the next game in place". As for what that concept is, Hayashi was coy, though he did tease that some aspects of the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma might make their way into a future Ninja Gaiden game.

"The online co-op in Sigma 2 is one step, maybe. It could be a testbed for the future", he hinted. "But regardless of whether that works or not, yes, the foundations for a future game are already there".

So relax! There will be more Ninja Gaiden. In some shape or form. Whether you like it or not.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is a remake of Ninja Gaiden II, first released around a year ago on the 360, only this time it's bound for the PlayStation 3. It has a few new game modes (including online co-op), some new characters and a whole range of fixes for the problems that plagued the 360 edition. While I didn't get any hands-on time with the game, I did sit down and watch new Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi play through a few levels.

Firstly, and most importantly, the camera has been vastly improved over NG2's shoddy system (which was the main reason I never really got into the 360 game). No longer will it get stuck behind walls, or lag too slowly behind your character; it's crisp, maintains a constant following distance and zooms in and out of the action smoothly.

Also improved are the game's visuals. You'd expect this, with the remake coming a year after the original, but the fact remains, this looks better than the 360 edition. Cleaner textures, better effects, that sort of thing.

The one other significant change to the original is the addition of some extra characters: Ayane, Momiji and Rachel. Hayashi spent most time showing off Ayane, and using her makes for quite a different game, her shorter reach and greater speed changing the way you approach the game's enemies.

Aaaaaaannnnnd that's about all I could gather from the demo: the fact this is Ninja Gaiden II, only with an extra 12 months' worth of polish, fixes and a few new additions. Since the game went down so well on 360, it should be received just as well on PS3 when it ships sometime this Fall.

Oh come on. Don't tell me you weren't thinking it. The studio's games, with or without former boss Tomonobu Itagaki, have always been as well known for their T&A as their swordplay and volleyball. So there are bound to be people hoping/fearing that they'll soon be seeing Samus bouncing around in naught but a thong and a helmet.

Don't worry. Hayashi says Team Ninja will be keeping things classy.

"Every female character in our games is as attractive as possible, both inside and out", Hayashi said. "There has to be something attractive".

"But as long as we provide that in the one place - the inside - that's what's important with this game".

Touching. Maybe they'll save the jubblies for Super Metroid Beach Volleyball Extreme?

[image]

Team Ninja looks like it will do wonderful things with the Wii hardware, giving Metroid fans who crave a return to third-person action something to look forward to. And the promise of Team Ninja artists and Samus Zero Suit action is practically too much to bear.

A trio of new screens is available after this.

That's because Itagaki can now trashtalk Tekken and whatever happens next in the Dead or Alive series, given his new position at a game development start up that's comprised of more ex-Team Ninja developers than you'd expect. Itagaki and team tell 1UP that more than 22 developers jumped ship from the Ninja Gaiden team after a disagreement with Tecmo management that saw team members heading for the door.

So what's Itagaki and crew up to now? Well, he and top level staff formerly of Team Ninja—Hiroaki Matsui, Katsunori Ehara, Yoshifuru Okamoto—are already working on something under the unofficial "Tokyo Vikings" company name. That something we won't see for awhile, as Itagaki says they won't be showcasing their product at this year's E3.

But they have a lot to say. Check out the full interview for hints about what they have planned.

Tokyo Vikings: Tomonobu Itagaki and Crew Return With a New Team and Xbox 360 Game [1UP]

New Team Ninja lead ninja Yosuke Hayashi hinted to website Kikizo that there very well could be more in store for Ninja Gaiden. "Regardless of what Itagaki-san said before," Hayashi said, "in time, what the consumers, the gamers are looking for is going to be the next chapter — the future of an outstanding series."

And that future is? Hayashi kept his cards close to his vest, but added, "We feel that we're in a position of being able to make that call, and to provide pure entertainment that's going to be enjoyed by action gamers and our fans. That calling is already there — we feel it, and therefore we will continue to work towards a future for the series."

Just promise us one thing: You'll act surprised when Tecmo announces Ninja Gaiden III, IV and V. Oh, don't forget to get up in around about those future PS3-only Ninja Gaiden Black ports.

Hayashi Interview [Kikizo]

For starters, the action scenes don't look like a butcher shop. In place of decapitation, the trailer shows innocuous red slashes and vaporiffic blood. Since when is "Sigma" Greek for "toned down"?

Supposedly, the team tasked with creating this 2.5D brawler is comprised of former Team Ninja staffers and folks who worked on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. GoNintendo is reporting that the Wii-bound fighter is scheduled for a late 2009 release and will feature online play said to outperform Brawl.

An Ubisoft rep is quoted as saying that the game, while licensed, is not directly tied to a movie or television show, but will be a standalone effort. Our interest in the turtles couldn't be much lower, as a grown man, but given the pedigree of the developers, we'll say "Go, ex-Team Ninja, go!"

New TMNT Game - More Details [GoNintendo]

Gamasutra recently sat down with that new head, Hitoshi Hasegawa, to talk about the future of the team. In the interview he touches on a couple of interesting things, including their take on Wii development. And where they stand on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

On developing for the PS3:

For the PlayStation 3, we do not believe that we've seen the fullest of its potential from any standpoint: from a developer standpoint, and also a consumer standpoint — and just in products in general.

The developers have been releasing products, but there is a bigger potential. There is greater potential, and we see that possibility the most in the PlayStation 3. It's going to be up to us developers and Sony to make sure that that does happen.

On whether Team Ninja will ever do a Wii game:

Internally at the company, we have a lot of knowledge, and I think we've mastered most of the components to make a very compelling and entertaining product using the console.

We will continue to work in that path. We have a lot of Wii console fans within the company, so hopefully there's something that we can work on.

Hit up the link to read the full four-page interview.

Team Ninja Ready For More [Gamasutra]

One of those titles is expected to hit in 2009, is said to be designed with Western markets in mind and previously reported to be part of a genre new to Team Ninja.

Tecmo also showed off the Wii port of Rygar and announced the sequel to DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou - Satsui no Wana, which helps make this post of appropriate length. They also brought some pretty ladies.

Tecmo Autumn 2008 Press Conference [Game Watch]

One more thing I would add is that I don't think that developing for the PS3 is hard at all. It was much harder developing for the Famicom. It's true. I mean, give someone who's developing for the PS3 a Famicom and see if they can make a game for it. They won't be able to. Yeah, that'll prove it. We'll bet a drink on it.

You know shit is serious when Itagaki starts betting drinks.

Wanted Dead or Alive: Tomonobu Itagaki's first interview since going underground [1UP]

"I needed a sounding board," says Tokyo based localizer and former Team Ninja member Andrew Szymanski. "So it was great having Matt and Hiroko." Andrew, who joined Tecmo after college and recently left the company last September, did an excellent job localizing the first Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox, but felt it was somewhat stilted. If game development is a group effort, why should localization be solitary? He was able to convince Tecmo and Microsoft to let him bring in Matt and Hiroko for the NGII localization.

It was a reunion of sorts as the trio had previously worked on Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword and Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. "One of the things that helped me convince the higher ups," recalls Andrew, "was that Matt and Hiroko both are authors and write books together.” Both are best known for titles like Yokai Attack! or Hello, Please!. “For localization, your skill at writing English is actually more important than your Japanese," says Matt. If you don't know a Japanese word, you can always look it up or ask someone. But if you can't string together a sentence, you can always, no wait, you're screwed.

Team Ninja knew Ninja Gaiden II wasn’t aimed strictly at the Japanese market. "The main target for Ninja Gaiden II was the West," says Andrew. “The market is global, and Japan is more global than ever before.” And since it’s a game targeted for a Western audience, it needed to be written in a Western language: English. The game’s story was conceived by Ninja Gaiden II’s director Hiroaki Matsui in highly detailed, manga-like stories boards.

But where did former Team Ninja lead ninja Tomonobu Itagaki factor in? According to Andrew: "Itagaki-san's main responsibilities are, of course, overseeing the development of the whole game, but he is often focused on combat design, enemy AI, level design, and other key gameplay elements. He trusts Matsui-san implicitly for art and story direction, and thus we mainly worked with Matsui-san to develop the dialogue, worldview, and key story points. He also relies on my judgement when it comes to the localization and the entire English version of the game as a whole, so it was great having the freedom and support to bring on Matt and Hiroko and create an English script that we were all proud of. It goes without saying that Itagaki-san has final say over everything that goes into the retail game, and it was a tremendously satisfying feeling to hear his words of praise when it came to our finished voiceovers and other localized assets. It was great seeing him say ‘Submit, or die!’ in English as he watched the cutscenes!"
At work and after work over bottomless beers, Matsui gave Andrew very vivid instructions of how he envisioned Ninja Gaiden II’s story and world. “These Team Ninja guys live and breathe this stuff,” says Andrew. “So much stuff happens outside the office because they’re always thinking about whatever they’re working on.” Andrew then typed up a rough English draft. Andrew then reconvened with Hiroko and Matt to punch up the first draft — which was also in English. Meaning? That the script Team Ninja was working from was in English and all the motion capture and voice acting was in English.

Even though it was being written in English, the trio were striving to make sure it stayed in line of what a ninja would actually say. Explains Andrew, “The question we always asked ourselves was ‘Is this ninjy?’” Basically, would a ninja actually say this. Continuing, he adds, “So I ninja would never say ‘I am going to kill you.’ Instead, a ninja would says, ‘You will be the bloostains on my blade.’ That’s ninjy.” Andrew, Matt and Hiroko weren't simply pulling out a dictionary and digging through to find words that “match”, but rather, entrenching themselves in the game from head to toe and back and again. “The first rule of localization,” says Andrew, “is to integrate localization into the development process.” But this wasn’t *just* localization — Ninja Gaiden II was something else entirely, somewhere between translation, collaboration and straight-up writing.
Ninja Gaiden II is the game as Team Ninja conceived it — no compromises. “It turned out exactly the way we wanted,” says Andrew. Team Ninja’s plan, the original impetus, was to create a throw-back — you know, a spiritual successor to something you would’ve played on the Nintendo Entertainment System. “This is a game where ninjas fight dinosaurs,” says Andy. “If you can’t have fun with that, where can you?”

"The hardest projects I've worked on have been the ones where the client doesn't appreciate the value of a good translation." says Hiroko. "Or ones where the contribution of a native Japanese speaker to the English version isn't appreciated, which happened more often in the early days. The easiest ones are the projects where the dev team welcomes us in as part of the process, because the closer the you can work with the people who designed the game, the smoother the whole process goes."

No matter how good your localization skills are, nothing can compare to working directly with the team that made the game to ensure that their vision makes it to gamers outside Japan. That's exactly what happened with Ninja Gaiden II. If any of the localizers had questions about what the developers originally intended, then Hiroko and Matt could immediately turn to Andrew. If Matt or Andrew had any questions about the intricacies of Japanese culture or nuances, they could refer to Hiroko. “It's so rare that a native Japanese speaker confronts an English speaker about their English translation,” says Matt. “I'm not talking about errors, necessarily, but more like nuance.” You know, the stuff between the lines, not on the page. The ninjy.

[Andrew, Itagaki Pic]

According to the report, two types of self-contained missions will extend the life of your Ninja Gaiden II experience: "Karma Attack missions task you with obtaining the highest score, while Survival missions give you a single weapon to fight off as many enemies as possible." What? No camera battle missions? That's the best part!

Ninja Gaiden DLC details [Gamersyde]

According to Tecmo, only two employees have filed a lawsuit against the company, as previously reported. Tecmo claims that it notified "all affected employees that they would be appropriately compensated and is currently in the process of resolving the matter." It also goes on record as saying that reports that it had withheld information from shareholders regarding the lawsuit filed by Itagaki were, in short, hogwash.

Apparently, recent reporting on Tecmo's legal kerfuffle has caused "unrest" amongst company staffers, so the publisher and developer has asked us to "handle news reports concerning the above matters with care." Rest assured, Tecmo, that it is our policy to handle all news reports as if they were a brittle nest filled with the precious and fragile eggs of a hummingbird. Tecmo's full statement follows.

June 18, 2008

On and around June 15, 2008, various websites in the US reported a rumor about “dozens” of development staff members resigning and filing a lawsuit against Tecmo, LTD., following Tomonobu Itagaki’s departure from the company. The rumors are false and no such action is taking place at the company.

On June 16, 2008, two employees filed a lawsuit against Tecmo, LTD. with accusations of withholding overtime pay. Although a lawsuit was filed by the two employees, on April 1, 2008, Tecmo, LTD. did notify all affected employees that they would be appropriately compensated and is currently in the process of resolving the matter. There are several inaccurate reports stating that all 300 company employees are named in the lawsuit and the company would like to clarify that only two employees are involved in the suit.

In addition, there were reports that Tecmo, LTD., a publicly traded company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, withheld information from its shareholders regarding the lawsuit filed in May 2008 by Tomonobu Itagaki. The company has observed the provisions defined by the Exchange and has released information accordingly and in a timely manner.

It is unfortunate that false and inaccurate reporting of our organization and employees’ actions have caused some unrest among our development staff members. Tecmo, LTD. would like to assure its partners and loyal fans that its teams continue to focus and work on several projects to be released and announced in the future. The company is committed to providing high quality, entertaining products for our fans around the world.

Your continued support of Tecmo, LTD. is appreciated and it is kindly asked that you handle news reports concerning the above matters with care.

Tecmo, LTD.

Earlier this month Tomonobu Itagaki, who leads/led Team Ninja, announced his intention to quit Tecmo, effective July 1. In his announcement he was PO'd about a company decision not to pay bonuses on a completed game, so, chances are his comrades feel the same. Tecmo, for its part, says the bonus to Itagaki that is in dispute was approved by a previous management team, not the current one.

1Up also writes:

Another problem for Tecmo is that in Japan, any lawsuit filed against a publicly-traded company must be immediately reported to its shareholders on the same business day. The fact that Itagaki had actually filed a complaint against Tecmo in Tokyo District Court on May 14, but Tecmo management withheld this information from shareholders, possibly as late as when the notorious developer released his high-profile public statement on June 2, creates even bigger problems for the game publisher.

Of course Tecmo still owns Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, and can hire developers to make all the games it wishes off of those franchises. But if this is true, it's absolutely a fair to wonder what they'll be like without, and how faithful they'd be to the gaming experience so many have come to expect to this point.

Rumor: Three Dozen Team Ninja Members Leaving With Itagaki [1Up]

But is Ninja Gaiden II really the franchise's swan song or is Itagaki's decision to ditch Team Ninja and sue Tecmo over unpaid bonuses the real reason he won't be making any more of the titles?

Loved
Limb-Lopping Animation: The sheer level of gore is stunning when you first sit down to play the game, and later, later it's still stunning. Don't get me wrong, I love it, it is a celebration of violence that is both fitting for the title and useful in gameplay. Useful? When faced with an armless, or legless ninja they can be, like an injured animal, even more dangerous, so the glistening red stumps help you spot who can be taken out with a quick, merciless series of beautifully detailed cuts. This over-the-top gore balanced with the graceful cuts of the weapon and movements of Ryu blend to create a beautiful ballet of death that alone is worth the price of admission.

Stunning Backdrops: Brown maybe the color of first-person shooters, but you can find just about every hue of the rainbow in Ninja Gaiden II. The eclectic mix of settings and backdrops are so lovingly detailed, so scenic that I found myself stopping to look around and marvel at the spectacle of, say, a world washed red in a rainfall of blood or Team Ninja's take on a future Tokyo, complete with flying cars. This mix of beautiful backdrops also helped keep the game moving forward, avoiding the trap of sameness that often can tear a game's level design down.

Fast-Paced, Tactical Combat: There is a moment, I imagine, for everyone, when they foolishly approach Ninja Gaiden II as a button-masher, but the game's subtle level of tactics, timing and defense eventually come through and they learn the pace of Ryu's frenetic battles... or they die a bunch and give up on the title. For me Ninja Gaiden II is at its heart a game about timing. The game can approach the insanity and necessary perfection of a hardcore shoot-em-up, but instead of facing waves of bullets, players must deal with masses of enemies filling the screen. One misstep can lead to a chain of attacks that leaves Ryu depleted or dead. Never is this analogy more fitting than with the boss battles. Each of these fiends have very specific attacks and can really only be dealt with in one or two ways. Defeating them is more about figuring out how to do so than taking them head-on.

Save System: The game's new save system, which makes the save points much more plentiful and automatically saves before boss battles, is a welcome addition to a game notorious for its difficulty.

Hated
I'm Ready for My Close Up: The camera controls remain problematic at the best of times. At the worst of times it can make the game frustratingly hard to deal with. It seems that Team Ninja, when tweaking the camera, was more worried about capturing the action from a cinematic view than they were dealing with the need to make Ryu easier to control. This isn't in anyway a deal breaker, just frustrating at times, especially when you're forced into first-person perspective and the game sort of freaks out.

Blinded By the Fight: What? You're complaining about the camera angles twice? Yes, strange voice in my head, I am. Actually this is more about a confluence of problems that occurs a handful of times in the game. There are four or five major battles in the game that become so crammed with people, so lit up with bloom, effects and colors, so confused by the camera angles that you have no idea what's going on. At times you can't even see where Ryu is.

Double Down Bosses: Each boss, and there are quite a few of these in the 14 levels of Ninja Gaiden II, are painfully hard to defeat, but I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is that with the exception of a single boss, you end up having to face off with every one of the bosses two different times. It feels more like a device to lengthen the game than something meant to add to the experience.

Slooooow Motion: I like what the game is trying to do, overwhelm you with mayhem on a level rarely seen in an action title, but there's a reason it's rarely seen: It's too intense for a console to handle. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally, on the slicker levels, when the screen fills with bad guys the motion slows down to a crawl, a slow motion crawl. It manages to stay smooth, which helps, but it's annoying to see such chug in a triple A title.

Weak Community Features: It's a minor complaint, but why add something like the ability to record and playback chunks of gameplay without putting some effort into it? You can't edit, you can't control the playback at all and you can only share your full save-point-to-save-point recordings if you are ranked on the leaderboards. Seems like a waste to me.

Ninja Gaiden II is a spectacular game but it's marred with some of the same tragic flaws that have followed the series since its introduction into the world of 3D, most notably the camera angles. Despite that and some of the most painfully hard boss battles I've encountered, I thoroughly enjoyed playing through almost every bit of the game. In fact, I've already started through a second time on a harder difficulty level.

Ninja Gaiden II is a game you should expect to frustrate and to reward, and it does both quite well, you just have to deal with a bit of design pettiness along the way.

Ninja Gaiden II was developed by Team Ninja and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Retails for$60. Available on Xbox 360. Played to completion on easiest "Path Of The Acolyte" setting. Played first two chapters on "Path of the Warrior" setting. Saved one film.

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Tecmo just sent along another statement, this one in English, which includes the fact that Itagaki's last day is July 1 and that the Team NINJA team is still "intact" and working on several new projects.

The full statement is on the jump.

On June 3, 2008, Tomonobu Itagaki, Executive Producer of Tecmo, LTD.(Tokyo, Japan) owned development studio Team NINJA, submitted his resignation. Due to the fact that he had recently filed a legal complaint against Tecmo, LTD., there was no choice but to accept his resignation. His resignation is effective July 1, 2008.

The legal complaint is in regards to a claim to an incentive bonus linked to a past project. The parties could not reach an amicable resolution to this matter and Itagaki chose to seek a legal remedy. Tecmo, LTD. will let the court decide the outcome of this case and will seek a true, fair, and quick resolution.

Most importantly, Tecmo, LTD. would like to assure its loyal fans that Team NINJA, known for its top selling and critically acclaimed Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises, is intact and, as a matter of fact, have several new projects already underway. Team NINJA is, more than ever, committed to producing compelling and cutting edge games in order to maintain its reputation as a high quality developer and to continue to receive the support of its loyal fans.

Itagaki Leaving Tecmo, Suing Tecmo [Kotaku]