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Team Ninja's Ni-Oh is not dead-oh, needs 'a little time'
We wouldn't blame you if you didn't remember the announcement and reveal of Tecmo Koei's Ni-Oh - it's been eight years since the game reared its samurai armor-clad head during a non-playable demo at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show. Since then, it went dark and was later revived as a Team Ninja project - albeit a very quiet one. However, the wait may finally be coming to a close. "I have heard rumors that it's been stopped, but it's actually very much in development," Team Ninja Producer Yosuke Hayashi told GamesBeat in an interview. "We still need a little time before showing it off, but it is starting to come together and feel good. You should definitely keep an eye out for it in the future." Ni-Oh will have some fairly infamous company, should it ever actually see the light of day: Duke Nukem Forever and Aliens: Colonial Marines also saw numerous periods of quiet and multiple developers jumping onboard before release, and well ... we don't really have to tell you how well they went over. But then, Xbox 360 game Prey was also in that boat, and it was ... alright.
Team Ninja's Dead or Alive: Code Cronus and Project Progressive canceled
For Dead or Alive: Code Cronus, the long-delayed action game from Team Ninja, there is no longer any question as to its status. It's just "Dead: Code Cronus," now. Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi confirmed the project's cancellation in an interview with Famitsu (translated by Andriasang). After all these years, Hayashi said, "It was just on the framework level." Also on the chopping block: "Project Progressive," mentioned in passing in this 2007 interview with former Master Ninja Tomonobu Itagaki. These two dropped projects aren't the only evidence that Team Ninja is looking forward. "We're developing [Ninja Gaiden 3] with the idea of restarting at the beginning, saying, 'We'd like to make the action game that's most interesting for the current era.' With this meaning, it's going to be a game that's not bound by the past more than necessary. Of course, we will be valuing the past," Hayashi said, "but in a good meaning we'd like to make it into a game that's not tied down by the past." The image released at TGS actually holds vague clues about the content of Ninja Gaiden 3. Hayashi teased that Ryu Hayabusa "seems to be doing something with [his] right hand," which is covered with unnatural-looking blood. Team Ninja also has Dead or Alive: Dimensions and Ni-Oh in the works. Hayashi expects Dimensions to be released first, followed by Ninja Gaiden 3.
Ni-Oh returns as Team Ninja collaboration
Buried beneath all the Ninja Gaiden 3 hoopla, GamePro reports Team Ninja today revealed a collaboration with developer Kou Shibusawa on a "samurai action" game. The cause is noble indeed, as it would seem Team Ninja will help finish Ni-Oh -- a sort of "Duke Nukem Forever" project that's been simmering on Tecmo Koei's back burner for years. First teased at TGS 2006, Ni-Oh has undergone a long, sheltered development, earning a brief mention in an April 2009 issue of Famitsu -- and nary a word since. Team Ninja did not confirm whether the game will remain exclusive to PS3 and wisely made no guarantees on a release date. [Wikipedia says: Ni-Oh was original conceived as a multimedia project that would include a film based on a lost Kurosawa script. The movie was eventually canned.]
Koei's Ni-OH is back from the dead
Hey, remember Koei's PS3-exclusive action title, Ni-OH? You don't? Well, maybe that's because it all but vanished after making a brief, non-playable appearance at TGS in 2006, never to be heard from again -- that is, until the latest issue of Famitsu confirmed that Koei is, in fact, still working on the title. Admittedly, we'd probably be more excited about this development if we'd have heard anything about the game over the past three years. You don't call, you don't write, and now you expect us to let you just walk right back into our lives? It's not that easy, pal.
TGS: Koei to show *yawn* Wii Dynasty Warriors, PS3 concepts are *fingers crossed* more original
Koei has revealed plans to preview Sengoku Musou Wave (Dynasty Warriors) for Wii at Tokyo Game Show. So what's more tired than another "historical" hack n' slash sequel? How about a mahjong game based on a "historical" hack n' slash series? Yep, Koei will also be showing off a Sengoku Musou-themed mahjong title for PSP and DS. Thankfully, Koei's PlayStation 3 support deviates from the developer's norm -- at least, in three out of four games to be featured at TGS. Most notable, but unfortunately unplayable, is Ni-Oh, billed as an action game in which bodyguard monks must defend Buddha. Of course, Koei could be tossing this concept into the Sengoku Musou engine and churning out another Dynasty clone, in which case, Koei's non-brawler offerings fall to just two, an aerial combat racing game (Fatal Inertia) and *sigh* a mahjong game (Mahjong Contest IV). Don't worry Europe, you ain't missin' much.
