keisuke-kikuchi
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Team Ninja split into two groups in Tecmo Koei reorganization
Parent company Tecmo Koei will restructure its flagship studio Team Ninja into two individual groups, Ichigaya Development Group 1 and Ichigaya Development Group 2. In a statement today, Tecmo Koei confirms Yosuke Hayashi will oversee Group 1, while Fatal Frame series alum Keisuke Kikuchi will get a bump up to head of Group 2. We've followed up with Tecmo Koei to confirm how this reorganization may affect others at the Japanese development house.This news comes at a busy time for Tecmo Koei, who just launched Dead or Alive 5 Plus on the PS Vita and is currently gearing up to port Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge to the PS3 and Xbox 360 on April 2. A demo for Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge is currently available on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
TGS 2009: Japanese developers love on Project Natal
If there was any doubt left in your mind that Japanese developers are on board for using Project Natal, we've got seven fancy, high-powered Japanese developers ready to convince you of their dedication in video form -- in case you didn't know, all the cool kids are doing it. Above, we've dropped Capcom's Keiji Inafune. He sees Natal as an "enhancement" rather than a replacement, saying the current controllers prevent game developers from creating "games without limits." This of course begs the question: What happens when you combine Garry's Mod and Project Natal? Our guess: Madness.Peep developers from Tecmo, Namco, Kojima Productions, Konami, From Software and Sega extolling Natal's many virtues after the break.
Interview: Tecmo's Keisuke Kikuchi and Red Entertainment's Naoki Morita on Nostalgia
Tecmo's Nostalgeo no Kaze, being localized as Nostalgia by Ignition Entertainment, is a fantasy RPG set in a fictionalized version of our own world in the late 19th century. In this steampunk-inspired world, a young man named Eddy searches for legendary treasures, traveling around the world ... on his zeppelin. During E3, we had the opportunity to speak briefly with producer Keisuke Kikuchi (best known for creating Fatal Frame) and director Naoki Morita (known for his work on Sega's Sakura Taisen series, which is finally coming to North America) about the inspiration behind the fanciful Nintendo DS RPG, and about life after the Tecmo-Koei merger.
Wind of Nostalgia keeps sounding better and better
If we're (maybe) not getting a Skies of Arcadia sequel, Wind of Nostalgia sounds like the next best thing. In fact, it sounds like the same thing, only instead of air pirates, you're ... Londoners. Even with that not-as-cool difference, the gameplay of this RPG includes both dungeons and air battles, just like Skies. Interestingly, though, the setting for Wind is in the 19th century -- you don't usually associate the 1800s and air ships together, not that we're complaining.IGN pointed out another interesting detail that has us salivating over this new IP. Not only is Matrix (think the Final Fantasy III and IV DS remakes) working on the project, as we knew, but also the producer is Keisuke Kikuchi of Fatal Frame fame. asdlfjasdlkjfa -- oh excuse us there, we were just wiping drool off the keyboard.
Joystiq interview: Rygar's Keisuke Kikuchi
Maybe Tecmo didn't receive Nintendo's marketing materials. Rygar on the Wii ignores the elderly, girls and casual gamers. This is meant squarely for the adrenaline-loving Spike TV-watching crowd. At the helm of this project is Keisuke Kikuchi -- a man who wants to bring a darker edge to the franchise and give Wii owners something that might, in fact, make players build their muscles. So much so that the game is being subtitled Muscle Impact in Japan. Seriously. Read on.Why is it called Muscle Impact in Japan?The Japanese title is going to be Rygar: The Battle of Argus. But after that will be "Muscle Impact." He wants to know what you think about it.It's interesting, to say the least. Maybe, it's strange?Well, do you think its Japanese?It's very Japanese.To elaborate on why we decided to include "Muscle Impact" in the Japanese title, was because we want players to feel strong and tough in this installment of Rygar. There's a bold statement behind it. With the foreign title, simply adding "The" to "The Battle of Argus" will probably translate what we're trying to do without adding more words to it. But, in Japanese, we wanted to make it more strong and add a really "tough" word to it. We want you to really feel the toughness.Maybe players will feel stronger?Well, take a look at my muscles! (Laughs.) Although, because we don't have a playable ROM here yet, you can't see how big they are yet!%Gallery-8884%
