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]

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]