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Team Ninja head sounds off on 3DS development, motion control
Team Ninja has repeatedly proven itself to be one of the great reformers of fast-paced hyperviolent action games -- it should come as no surprise that the studio's new leader, Yosuke Hayashi, has a few things to say about the broader changes affecting the industry. In an interview with Gamasutra, Hayashi discussed his feelings on the way Team Ninja has been operating post-Metroid: Other M, as well as how the studio feels about new motion control technology and the 3DS. The studio has a vested interest in the latter, having recently announced an entry into the Dead or Alive franchise on the eye-popping handheld. Hayashi explained the studio is "having fun" figuring out how to effectively use the 3D display -- though he figures gamers familiar with the franchise are expecting more than a bit of 3D ... jiggling. Of the fighters' ... assets. Why, we would never, sir. Check out the full Gamasutra interview for more of Hayashi's thoughts on the industry big trends.
Metroid: Other M team under the Iwata Asks microscope
In an Iwata Asks interview about Metroid: Other M, Team Ninja head and Other M director Yosuke Hayashi classifies the game as "a NES game with the latest technology," an ideal that went on to inform much of the design. "Yes, we thought that if we could make a game that could be controlled with just one Wii Remote controller," Hayashi told Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, "we'd enable players who were put off by complex controls to enjoy 3D action games as well." The automatic movement of perspective enabled the game to have 3D environments while maintaining simple controls, and clever Wiimote movements like pointing at the screen to explore in 3D allowed the team to avoid "resorting to the Nunchuk," as producer Yoshio Sakamoto called it. At the same time, Sakamoto wanted the story and action to blend seamlessly, so the team worked with video production company D-Rockets. Director Ryuzi Kitaura described creating detailed storyboards to impress Sakamoto: "I think I drew more than 300 storyboards in total. The image count was over 2,000. By this stage, I was also accounting for camera work and action, so they became really elaborate production storyboards. I think I took over six months to finish them."
Video: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 interview (plus: screenshot comparisons)
Given an extra year of development, it's no wonder why the Sigma version of Ninja Gaiden 2 is so far improved over the original. The upcoming PS3 exclusive adds a ton of new features, ranging from awesome to downright ridiculous. GamesWire took screenshots of the original Xbox 360 Ninja Gaiden 2 and compared them with the new Sigma edition, noting, "The lighting and textures are just so much better this time around and there's much more detail to be seen now too."Additionally, the PlayStation.blog took some time (10 minutes, actually) to show off the various features of Sigma. You'll get to see the Ultimate Ninpo in action, as well as an extended look at the new co-op mode -- and yes, you'll even see the franchise's notorious Game Over screen. Check that out after the break.[Thanks, Jeremy B.!]Source - Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - PlayStation 3 vs Xbox 360 ComparisonSource - Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Interview and Walkthrough with Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 moves away from violence
Puzzling Moments In Gaming Sequel History Sven Karrlsnod, lead producer on Tetris 3: The Blockening: "Sure, I love Tetris, you love Tetris. But what our team had to ask ourselves was this: Could we make Tetris work without all the blocks? We knew we had to try."Trina Schwinn, design lead on Super Mario Universe: "In retrospect, making a Mario game set in Compton circa 1992 that didn't actually include Mario was a little ... brazen. But we had to follow our bliss."Yosuke Hayashi, director and producer of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 to GamesRadar: "Each game has its own concept and with Ninja Gaiden 2, the focus was on extreme violence. But with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, we really questioned whether violence is a necessity for a game, so we decided to move away from that trend. So the violence 'approach' is not the way we approached the development of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Being able to unlock higher levels of gore would be out of kilter with the concept of the game."[Via What They Play]
Shocker: Team Ninja to work on more Ninja Gaiden games
For those of you curious whether a game development studio named Team Ninja would continue to create exclusively ninja-based games, you can now rest easy. In a recent interview with Kikizo, Team Ninja's (relatively) new Commander-in-Chief, Yosuke Hayashi, confirmed that Team Ninja would continue to work towards "the future of an outstanding series." Said series being, of course, Monster Rancher. Or, wait, no -- Ninja Gaiden. Yeah, that one.Hayashi explained the demand for a Ninja Gaiden III had reached a fever pitch, claiming, "what the consumers, the gamers are looking for is going to be the next chapter," and, "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." Hopefully we'll find out more about the series' future when we sit down with Hayashi at E3 in two weeks (and some change).
Team Ninja 'bored' of hyper violence, wants Gaiden to evolve
Team Ninja wants Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 to be "sleek and sexy," rather than focused on ultra violence, a major selling point for the original Xbox 360 sequel. Speaking with CVG, Sigma 2 producer and director Yosuke Hayashi said the team working on the upcoming PlayStation 3 revamp wants to shy away from retreading the waters of the Xbox version because the team is "kind of egoistic" and gets "bored with the same continuous concept."That doesn't mean Hayashi wants to turn Sigma 2 into Flower, but that the team would rather pursue a different direction for the franchise and "start evolving this game." As long as the first piece of the evolutionary Ninja Gaiden puzzle is a working camera, we're all in.
Team Ninja's new lead wants to explore new IPs
If we said Team Ninja's path since Ninja Gaiden 2 has been increasingly onerous, the industry would toss us the coveted Understatement of the Year award. Speaking with Gamasutra, new Team Ninja lead, Yosuke Hayashi, said the pressure is on for his team to prove themselves following the exit of long-time leader, Tomonobu Itagaki. Hayashi realizes Team Ninja is "most well-known" for the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises and knows fans have certain "expectations" but the team would like to move onto new properties. The new Team Ninja lead says it's one of Team Ninja's "goals and missions" in a post-Itagaki regime -- which begins with the release of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, a move we know Itagaki would not approve of. According to the article, Team Ninja is already in the process of developing a new IP. During a quick word exchange with Joystiq at GDC, Hayashi delicately sidestepped questions regarding the former Team Ninja boss. Yeah! He totally was gracious and respectful toward someone who talked mess about his previous work. This guy is nothing like Tomonobu!
GDC09: Tecmo talks Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 DLC, exclusivity, 'loss of face'
At Tecmo's totally super secret game unveiling (yeah, it was Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2) at the soon-to-be-no-more PlayStation Store in San Francisco, Joystiq got the opportunity to ask Team Ninja's fresh new face, Yosuke Hayashi (who, with his buttoned-down appearance, can be thought of as the Richie Cunningham to Itagaki's Fonzie) some hard-hitting questions. First up, the 800-lb ninja in the room: Is Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 "a loss of face for everyone involved," as Itagaki said it would be? Hayashi-san carefully sidestepped directly addressing Itagaki's inflammatory remark, instead focusing on the game's development origins. As if to defuse Itagaki's pre-release remark, Hayashi explained though a translator, "Development began only after we read and heard about fan feedback ... after Ninja Gaiden 2 came out last summer." To add some street cred, he explained that the game's development team was "comprised of the Ninja Gaiden 2 team as well as the [original Ninja Gaiden] Sigma team."As for DLC, we broached the topic two ways. First, will the PS3 release have any? Hiyashi said they were "very serious about coming up with new content to be available as DLC" and that he hopes to share "more details soon." And second, can current owners of Ninja Gaiden 2 on Xbox 360 expect to find any of the new enhancements – notably the "refined camera" and new multiplayer co-op functionality – available as DLC in the future? Hiyashi didn't need the translation for this one. Sorry, early adopters, but Tecmo's "ultimate" Ninja Gaiden experience is "only on PlayStation."%Gallery-48452%
Itagaki-less Team Ninja says 'PS3 has most potential'
Despite the fact that Team Ninja has only developed one title for PS3 -- which was last year's Ninja Gaiden Sigma -- TN's Yosuke Hayashi calls this gen's black sheep of the console family the system with the most potential. Speaking to Gamasutra, Hayashi said " ... 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. 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." Does that last line mean that Team Ninja might be working on a new PS3 title? The wider Tecmo corporation is already at work on the PS3-exclusive Quantum Theory, which was shown in video at last month's Tokyo Game Show. What could Team Ninja be working on, if anything at all?
Ninja Gaiden's Yosuke Hayashi 'very interested' in Wii
Nintendo World Store held a special launch event for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the DS. (Check out what the critics thought here.) Development director Yosuke Hayashi was available to sign copies of the game, and a formidable pack of fans lined up to meet and greet the man. Afterwards, we had a one-on-one chat about the game, and what he's looking forward to next. It's no secret that Team Ninja has a reputation for being outspoken and confident in their products. Hayashi is no different. At TGS, we grilled Tomonobou Itagaki about DS action games, and he admitted he played none. However, Hayashi's statement is far more bold: "Itagaki may have said that he's never played any action DS games. But I've played a lot, and none of them were good enough to remember. There's no comparison [to Ninja Gaiden], right?" "There's a very good possibility," Hayashi said when asked about the possibility of DS follow-up to Dragon Sword. "We want to offer a completely different side of the Ninja Gaiden series in a handheld title. There are so many things I can see we can work around if we work on another project." However, a DS sequel may not be the first thing on Hayashi's mind. He talked about how so many fans at the Nintendo World Store wanted a Ninja Gaiden game for the Wii. Without going into details, he simply noted that it was something he was "very interested" in working on. %Gallery-19440%
Team Ninja designer tells complaining PS3 devs to 'get out'
The developers in Tecmo's Team Ninja don't much care for subtlety, not in their games and certainly not in their comments to the press. Ninja Gaiden Sigma director, Yosuke Hayashi, is fast on his way to becoming a miniature Itagaki (an Itsygaki, if you will) after speaking to Eurogamer in London yesterday. When the topic of developers noting difficulty in creating games for the PlayStation 3 comes up, Hayashi suggests, "if they think it's difficult, they should get out of the ring." Hayashi explains that in being a creator of games and in position to receive money from players, Team Ninja "shouldn't complain about the difficulty." Outspoken he may be, but the man at least implies that he'll stick to his guns as well as the PlayStation 3. "As I said, people who complain about the difficulty of creating games for PS3 should get out, right? While I'm saying that kind of thing, if I get out myself, then what I say doesn't mean anything! So, I should stay - right?" You be the judge of that when Ninja Gaiden Sigma gets out in a few weeks.
