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Direct-feed Ninja Gaiden screens are impossible to ignore
We're not generally in the habit of reposting screenshots that have already appeared elsewhere on the blog, but when Famitsu put up these direct-feed shots of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Swords, they were just too damn purdy to ignore.They're a heck of a lot cleaner than those in last Friday's scans, and all eight are waiting for you after the break. Go Ninja, go!See also: 2008's Biggest Blips -- Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Swords %Gallery-4937%
More Ninja Gaiden scan action
Click image to enlarge For those of you who're as excited for Team Ninja's upcoming DS entry in the Ninja Gaiden series, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, as we are, feast your eyes on some fresh scans from Famitsu. It looks like the focus here is on stylus controls and how players will execute everything through the touch screen, from the mundane regular attack to the destructive special attack. Head past the break for the second scan.%Gallery-4937%
Itagaki talks up Ninja Gaiden
It's no secret that we totally love Tomonobu Itagaki. It's a kind of love that few can experience in their life, as it drives you to do things you otherwise wouldn't do. Like, get a restraining order filed against you. It's okay, though. In Itagaki we trust. It's also no secret that Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is going to be one of the year's most highly-anticipated games on the console. In fact, Itagaki commented that he's been approached with many offers to use his game engine. This could mean more DS games utilizing his innovative stylus-driven control scheme down the line. And, if you needed another reason to pick the game up, listen to Itagaki. He says if you "consider yourself a true gamer, you owe it to yourself to play this game. If you don't, you'll be missing one of the breakthrough experiences in video gaming. This is an incredibly innovative piece of software." We're sold. If you're not, maybe you should download the demo? %Gallery-4937%
2008's Biggest Blips: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Developer: Team Ninja Publisher: Tecmo Release: March There is a certain DS title on the horizon: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. As a person who enjoys the finer things in life, like the silent "fwip" of a poisoned dart hitting your enemy's throat or the grace of emerging from the shadows to slice your enemy's stomach, spilling his intestines onto the bamboo floor beneath you, this game is likely the focal point of your life right now. Your only reason for accessing DS Fanboy on any kind of regular basis is only in the hopes that there will be new Ninja Gaiden news. If none of this rings true to you, then perhaps some personal reflection is in order. Have you perhaps considered you are not a ninja, nor are you fascinated with the world's most efficient killer? Should this be the case, we have a surefire way to make sure you let in the unimaginable power to dispatch the living and accept the Ninja as the world's most awesome thing ever, all in a matter of days. First of all, we have to list the givens: You must quit your job Leave your loved ones, making sure only to take one internet-accessing device (so you can read the rest of this, unless you want to use a pen and paper like some jerk), one bowl of rice and your DS Make your way to the mountains of Tibet Okay, now you're in Tibet. First thing you need to do is throw out the bowl of rice. Ninja don't get hungry; hunger fears the power of the ninja. The ninja sustains its life through the destruction of its enemies. It feeds on the perfection of silently killing its target and making its way off into the night. Next, you need to hook it up with Google maps and search for your local video rental store. Actually, there aren't that many in Tibet, so head back to your residence (maybe you should have just written this all down or printed it out?). Look up a Hollywood Video or a Blockbuster and go in. Find the nearest employee and ask them to point you toward the Ninja section. If they don't have a Ninja section, pull out your DS and use it to smack that unhelpful person in the face. Then, ask them to point you toward American Ninja. Once face-to-case with the film, you'll have little time before the cops show up. You won't be able to take them on now at this point in your training, so grab everything that says American Ninja on it and duck out of the door. Once out of the store, put your heels to the pavement and run as fast as you can back to your family. As you arrive at your former home, take care to enter as silently as possible. Your former spouse may have found someone new in the period since your departure and your training may need to be accelerated. Your primary goal is to find your VCR or DVD player, extract it and abscond to somewhere safe so that you may view these films. Now is the time to absorb this material and carefully study each and every film in the American Ninja franchise you were able to make off with. You must watch them and emulate every single one of Dudikoff's moves, with your DS's stylus firmly gripped in hand. And only after learning from the master may you attempt your next task: securing your copy of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. By this time in your ninja career, it is now March and the release of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is quickly approaching. It would have to be before you could realistically master the skills of Michael Dudikoff. And now is your true test, as you must leave your dojo in the hunt for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Now is the time for real-world practice, as seen in the video above. It is here that your true skills will be put to the test. You have trained hard and you have been faced with many trials. You will have to make your way into a convenient retail location, procure the DS title, pay off the cashier and return to your sanctuary. It is a difficult task. We wish you luck. %Gallery-4937% Professor Layton Back Duck!
Buy Ninja Gaiden and we'll make you a sequel, hints Itagaki
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword sure looks purdy, but even that isn't enough to make Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki look even remotely cheerful. The unsmiling, leather-clad one sat down with Gamespot's Ricardo Torres to natter some more about Dragon Sword, and casually spoke about making a sequel to the title. We'd be all over that, obviously, though Itagaki did mention that he'd like people to, y'know, actually buy the first game before any follow-up is rubber-stamped.Talk of a sequel pops up at around the 4:20 mark, though the entire interview is worth a watch for the gameplay footage, some of which is as new to us as basic expressions of happiness are to Itagaki.%Gallery-4937%[Via Nintendic]
Ninja Gaiden in the spotlight (again)
We've been seeing a lot of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword lately. Lots. And look, it's not like we're complaining, but what haven't we seen? By the time the title makes it into our handhelds, it's going to seem like an old friend back for a visit after a long separation. But the good news? And really, we never thought we'd say this, but it turns out there really is a first time for everything: a lot of the screens that turn up as new are anything but. In fact, we're pretty sure that the shot to the right has appeared in every batch of screens from Ninja Gaiden that we've seen since the game was announced. But it's cool. There were a few screens that we could clearly identify as really new, and we've put them in our gallery for you. Check it out below.%Gallery-4937%
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword unsheathed on March 25
Nintendo's latest release schedule has cut through the fog of ambiguity and pinned the arrival of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword to the pleasingly specific date of March 25th. We only had "March 2008" to go on before and have thus avoided wasting 24 days of the month scouring shelves and phoning overly smug store clerks. Though Tecmo has told us that the shipping date may change if the final code isn't approved in time, it's the one they're currently targeting like... whatever ham-fisted Ninja metaphor we could work into this sentence. For more information on Ryu Hayabusa's DS debut, check out our hands-on with the game and interview with Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki.
Ninja Gaiden is smooth, speedy, stylus-a-riffic
Lately, it seems that for every tiny, persistent doubt that Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword just won't play quite right with the stylus controls, there's a preview that reassures that it in fact does. This time it's the fine folks at 1UP who got a chance to go hands-on with the action title, and they report that, not only is the game smooth and intuitive, with few hitches, but it will also be longer than gamers expected. Good news all around!The only real issue, according to Matt Leone, comes with navigating Ryu Hayabusa's world when there's no ass-kicking to be done. Moving about an enemy-free environment seemed more awkward than combat, but Leone is willing to admit it may just be an adjustment period inspired by the speed of gameplay at every other moment.Still not convinced? Then you might want to check out the videos we've tucked away after the break. It's a mix of new and old footage, extended sequences of some things we've seen before, and combined with what we've seen and heard about the controls, it should be enough to make anyone excited.%Gallery-4937%
High-flying Ninja Gaiden action
This lengthy new video offers not only a good look at the controls for Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, but it's got more airborne action than a damn Nike commercial. Not that this is a bad thing; we're ready to get our bounce on, particularly with a pimped-out preorder sword stylus. Along with the video, which includes a lot of regular gameplay, beyond the focus on the controls, we've got a pack of new screens for you to ogle in our gallery below.%Gallery-4937%
Ninja Gaiden screens assassinate our patience
We recently came across some fresh screens for our most anticipated Ninja game of the year (and no, we're not talking about Ninja Reflex, silly). We're really impressed with some of the cutscene artwork in Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, and we're salivating as we wait for the game's March release date. If you're looking forward to this game like we are, be sure to stealthily make your way past the break for more screens.
Ninja Gaiden scan steathily emerges
Click image to enlarge The latest issue of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu has a nice two-page spread on Team Ninja's upcoming DS entry in the kill-em-all-bloodfest of a franchise, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. We're not only excited to give this game a whirl because of the already-mentioned amount of killing Ryu will undoubtedly do, but also because the control scheme seems like it could pave the way for more games of this type. At this point, we're fairly convinced that Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword can cure every single problem we have in our life. Any of you feel the same way? %Gallery-4937%
Sword stylus comes with Ninja Gaiden preorder
The boxart for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword may have failed to impress us, but we should have guessed that the game had another trick up its proverbial sleeve. Remember this sword stylus stylus that we coveted like thy neighbor's wife? Now it can be yours, scabbard and all, with a preorder at your local EB/GameStop (or online here).We've come to the conclusion that we must have this preorder bonus. Playing your DS with a sword is the way of the ninja, after all.[Via GoNintendo]
Ninja Gaiden boxart flips into view, falls flat on backside
As if the news of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword being delayed until next March wasn't disappointing enough (news that was super-officially confirmed by a Tecmo press release today, by the way), the boxart for the game is ... well, not necessarily bad, but certainly underwhelming. Not ninjatastic. It might just be us, but the whole thing comes across as a bit half-assed, the kind of design a Tecmo work experience lackey might churn out on Photoshop during his lunch break. We really hope that didn't happen, Tecmo. Here's hoping the game, which we're immensely looking forward to, makes more of an impact than its packaging.
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword slashes up your DS in March
You'll be flipping out and killing people on the go this March when Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword –Team Ninja's portable ninja simulator – slashes its way onto the DS. Tecmo announced the March release window today, but failed to give a specific date. So, uh, yeah ... For more on Dragon Swords, take a peek at our interview with Team Ninja's charming Tomonobu Itagaki.
New Ninja Gaiden scan shows off cute characters
Click image to enlarge We're fairly certain these smiling people are allies of Ryu's, as we're sure any enemy of a ninja has no ability to smile, often cowering in dark corners and crying themselves to sleep as they think of nothing but their impending doom. That's just life. The life of a ninja's target. This fresh scan for what is sure to be the definitive ninja experience on the DS, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, hits the net from the latest issue of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu. Team Ninja's handheld entry into the Ninja Gaiden franchise is something that you can imagine we're incredibly excited about, as its ambitious control scheme and truckloads of combat are things we can easily get behind. %Gallery-4937%
Go hit up a download station, get Ninja Gaiden
Getting out to a download station is hard work. First we have to apply for an exit permit from our cruel overlords at Joystiq, then we have to put on gobs and gobs of sun block (SPF 8,273, because of our incredibly pale skin). As if that weren't enough, there are also dangers to navigate in the wild, such as screaming children and the chupacabra. So, as you can see, it's tough work. But, you can bet we'll be going through it now that word hits of a new demo on the download station block: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword. Rumored to be included in a download station near you some time ago, it is now confirmed as reality. As Itagaki fans (and Ninja Gaiden junkies), we're compelled to give the game a download. And we aren't doing it because we want to test it out or anything (we know it'll be great) so that we may come to a decision regarding purchasing the game (we know we'll be buying it). We just need it. [Via Joystiq]
Ninja Gaiden demo at DS Download Stations, but not in our homes
Itching to see how well Ninja Gaiden holds up on the Nintendo DS? Anxious fans of the series can take the portable title for a spin by heading to a local retailer. Gay Gamer reports that DS Download Stations are now beaming demos of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Bringing your DS to a participating retail location should allow you to capture the demo, which controls like a more "extreme" version of Phantom Hourglass. We're happy that Nintendo continues to make use of retail-based DS Download Stations, but we're still anxiously awaiting the release of the Wii's "Everybody's Nintendo" channel, which will allow Wii owners to beam demos to their DS via their Wii, from the comfort of their own homes. Here's hoping that following the release of the "Check Mii Out" channel, DS downloads are just around the corner. Some shaky cam footage of the Dragon Sword demo in action after the break.
Blurry, shaky cam footage of Dragon Sword still gets us excited
It should come as no surprise to all of you out there in Reader Land that we're already sold on Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. We're going to pick it up the second it hits retail shelves, no doubt about it. That's why we can appreciate this video, as poorly filmed as it is. Because it is nothing but a large chunk of gameplay, we find ourselves drooling over the exhibited crispness of the game's controls and promise of massive amounts of combat.[Via Go Nintendo]
Itagaki says Dragon Sword is halfway complete
Tomonobu Itagaki has been a busy man, ever since he revealed his fan favorite franchise Ninja Gaiden would be seeing an iteration on the DS in Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword and a sequel on the Xbox 360. He's conducted lots of interviews about the DS game since then, answering the same question as to why he chose the DS over the PSP over and over again. Aside from the almost God-like status he enjoys in the gaming industry, he's quite the unlucky guy. Aside from the quote where he says the game is 50% complete, he also comments on one of our concerns about the handheld title: the elaborate and breathtaking environments. Team Ninja is striving to meet those expectations on the portable platform. Not only that, but the handheld's lead programmer was almost single-handedly responsible for the fighting engine in both Dead or Alive 4 and the first Ninja Gaiden.
New DS trailer blowout!
The non-disclosure agreements have just expired on what was shown at last week's Nintendo of America Media Summit; naturally, within seconds the Internet has become flooded with information about new games. Rather than post each trailer individually, we've decided to embed the newest DS trailers from this event into one roundup post-- because we're Bloggin' Cowboys! Above, obviously, is a new trailer for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Check after the break for brand new material on Mario Party DS, Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings, EA Playground, Professor Layton, and Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker.
