Hayashi: Team Ninja taming its 'sex and violence' image in DoA 5
Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi says the studio's perspective has changed since Tomonobu Itagaki left in a huff in 2008, and even though most of its 200 staff are original team members, Hayashi is calling them his "new team." The most obvious shift is the new team's focus on creating an emotional experience, rather than eye candy, Hayashi tells Gamasutra.
"The old team was known for making games that just had two primary elements: Sex and violence," Hayashi says. "It was very obvious. The new team, we want to take it to a new level -- to a direction that contains emotional experiences that can move players."
That's right -- Team Ninja wasn't emotionally invested in all the sexy gameplay you had together, and now it's looking for something more meaningful. Hayashi may find his new, more mature gaming experience in a Dead or Alive crossover with Virtua Fighter, a la Street Fighter X Tekken, Edge reports.
"In terms of collaboration titles, there are staff on our team who just love fighting games and if there was any chance to do that we'd actively, possibly do that," Hayashi says.
"The first 3D game I played was Virtua Fighter; that's the IP I respect most. Virtua Fighter was the father of 3D gaming, so it's very well respected."
For now, one thing's certain: The women in Dead or Alive 5 will be more respectable, well-rounded (emotionally) than in previous titles. "We've always had the sex factor in the game; in the past, the female characters had to have big breasts, they had to have scanty dress," Hayashi says. "In DoA 5 especially, we're trying to focus on the real women that surround us: the voice of a female, the mannerisms. We are being realistic about it."
