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Joystiq Weekly: GDC 2014, Infamous, Metal Gear Solid and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. We saw many great games and met with many great people during this year's Game Developers Conference in sunny San Francisco. Or did we? One of the biggest announcements of the show was undoubtedly Project Morpheus, the upcoming virtual reality headset from Sony, and during our hands-on demo, we felt pretty darn virtual. So now the question is: What if we didn't really attend GDC 2014? What if it was all virtual reality? Whoa, dude. Sony also gained news traction this week thanks to the release of PS4-exclusive, Infamous: Second Son. Meanwhile, Snake/Jack Bauer has come out of retirement (again) to save the world in Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, and a new cyborg ninja came to town with the release of Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. You can read all about these games and more of the week's biggest and best after the break. [Image: Joystiq]
Tomb Raider creator forms new studio with former Yaiba dev team
Toby Gard, creator of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise, has formed Tangentlemen, a new development studio focused on experiential game design. The studio's team met while developing Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, which Gard served as director of, and includes Yaiba's lead designer, producer and art director. Tangentlemen is currently in concept phase of their first project, a horror game currently being referred to as "Daedalus." In Greek mythology, Daedalus is the creator the Minotaur's labyrinth and Icarus' wings, so you know what that means: it means ... um, well let's see, the labyrinth could be ... uh ... okay, no, we have no idea what that means yet. [Image: Eidos]
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Review: Entrails from the crypt
It's a shame that words and phrases like "gnarly," "radical" and "totally tubular, dude" aren't considered common these days. If they were, I'd know exactly how to describe Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. I'd know just how to highlight the game's ludicrous, over-the-top tone and obscene jokes. I'd have a word to describe its damn-the-odds combat. I'd be able to precisely encapsulate how it feels to be a cyborg ninja that wields the limbs of undead clowns like they were nunchuks. Ah, what the heck: Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is one of the most gnarly, radical, <insert '90s slang here> game I've ever played. I just wish it was a little less focused on being Xtreme to the MAX and more focused on remaining consistently fun.
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z special edition packs in DOA 5 Ultimate costumes
A jam-packed special edition of Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will be available in limited quantities for PS3 and Xbox 360, bundling the game with a full-color comic from Dark Horse, some Yaiba costumes for Ryu Hayabusa and Mimoji in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and the full Yaiba soundtrack. Publisher Tecmo Koei has also revealed some bonus costumes and screenshots for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. You can see a Mighty No. 9 crossover and a schoolgirl get-up in our galleries below. Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z tells the story of Yaiba Kamikaze, a ninja who is almost killed when he encounters Ninja Gaiden series poster child Ryu Hayabusa. Yaiba loses an arm and an eye in the fight and has them replaced with cybernetic implants. He agrees to help a corporation quell a zombie outbreak in return for information on where to find Hayabusa so that he might exact his revenge. Yaiba launches on the aforementioned consoles, along with PC through Steam, on March 18.
Yaiba Ninja Gaiden Z delayed, comic series from Dark Horse begins
Like a zombie slowly shuffling toward tasty, tasty brains, the release date for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z has limped from March 4, 2014 to March 18. For those who can't wait to witness zombie murder at the hands of a ninja cyborg, however, Team Ninja and Dark Horse Comics have released the first of a three-part comic series that provides insight into the world and story of the upcoming game. Written by Tim Seeley (Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash) and Josh Emmons (Ex Sanguine), the debut issue has main character Yaiba explaining how his sword came to be known as "Heartless." Just a wild guess here, but we're going to wager it has something to do with it being used to kill a lot of people. Maybe we're wrong, though! You can find out by downloading the first issue for free from the Dark Horse digital store or via the iOS or Android apps. The comic will also be available in physical format when the game releases.
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z's classic side-scrolling mode spotted in new trailer, screens
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will receive a special Ninja Gaiden Z mode, Team Ninja announced. The retro-inspired mode offers side-scrolling action similar to past games in the series along with 8-bit-style cut scenes and menus. In addition to the trailer and screens showing off the classic game mode, the developer issued an additional quirky parody trailer, seen after the break. What's more, Team Ninja noted that the game's main character Yaiba will receive a downloadable alternate costume thanks to a collaboration with Comcept. Players will have the ability to dress their ninja warrior up like Beck, the lead character of Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9. Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is slated to launch on March 4, 2014 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z set to slash through Steam
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will now chop, slice and dice on PC. Publisher Tecmo Koei announced this morning that the spin-off will be available on Steam, alongside the announced Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, in early 2014. Yaiba, which we haven't heard much of since Gamescom, is an action-packed bout of ninjas vs. zombies created between Spark Unlimited (Lost Planet 3), Team Ninja and Keiji Inafune's Comcept, which also has its hands full with the successful Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter.
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z brings east and west together for zombie and ninja authenticity
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z developer Spark Unlimited was apparently very passionate about working on the franchise. Spark is working with Keiji Inafune's company Comcept, and met with Ninja Gaiden franchise developer Team Ninja through there."But, actually from a different route they actually came up with a concept for a Ninja Gaiden game on their own and presented it to us," Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi told Siliconera. So when Comcept brought Spark in, everyone involved already knew each other. "Now, we met with them and they feel like three parties are one team," Hayashi said.Bringing a western developer on board, Hayashi believes, will help Yaiba get its zombie content right. "We see ninjas portrayed in Western games, and they aren't real ninjas," Hayashi noted. "There is something off about them. Zombies are a creation of the West. We feel we can bring the authentic ninja-ness and by teaming with Spark, they can bring in the authentic zombie-ness. We can really come together to make a very unique zombie experience."
