ninja-gaiden
Latest
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).
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Phantasy World of Goo
Today would be an incredible day on the Japanese Wii Shop even if World of Goo weren't debuting. In addition to one of the best games on Wii, the Virtual Console is updated with four high-quality titles. In fact, Phantasy Star alone would ensure that today was a winner. It's hard to imagine a better deal than Phantasy Star for just 600 Wii Points. Other VC games available in Japan today include Castlevania 3 (awesome), the PC Engine version of the NES Ninja Gaiden (quite the curiosity!) and an arcade rail shooter from Namco Bandai. The other WiiWare game, and basically the only unknown property, is Hajitte! Block Rush, which looks like a radial Breakout in which the paddle is in the middle of the screen. We'd try that!Virtual Console: Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania 3) (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Phantasy Star (Master System, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Ninja Ryukenden (Ninja Gaiden) (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Starblade (Arcade, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare: Hajitte! Block Rush (1 player, 500 Wii Points) World of Goo (1-4 players, 1,500 Wii Points)
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.
Majora's Mask, Phantasy Star on Japanese Virtual Console in April
Wow! This has been a really great week to be a Nintendo fan. It's been a really great week to be a Virtual Console fan in particular -- when was the last time we could say something like that? The week has just gotten a lot better with the release of the list of upcoming Virtual Console releases for Japan.Why? Two reasons. First: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Like Ocarina of Time, it costs a painful 1,200 Wii Points -- and like Ocarina of Time, it will probably drop to the usual 1,000 in North America. Second, and possibly even more exciting: Phantasy Star! The Sega Master System RPG masterpiece is also coming to the Virtual Console. Maybe it's not a big deal to those of you with Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, but personally, it's awesome news.We fully expect to see both of these games in North America soon. Neither SMS games nor N64 games seem to take long to make it overseas. Also of interest: Hudson's PC Engine port of the NES Ninja Gaiden. And the arcade version of Space Invaders, which marks the third time the "original" Space Invaders has been released on VC. The full list is after the break.
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%
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 coming this fall, new info March 25
We knew it was coming -- Tecmo has just made official Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (though our photochopped "logo" is admitedly far from legit). According to a release issued by the publisher, the game is set to hit North America and Japan this fall, with a European debut to follow. More details on the spruced-up PS3 version of Team Ninja's befitting ninja action game are coming next Wednesday, March 24. Joystiq will be on-hand at the Sigma sequel's Game Developers Conference unveiling, being held at the Metreon's soon-to-be-closed PlayStation Store in San Francisco, CA.
Famitsu reveals Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for PS3
Though Ryu Hayabusa and his reckless vendetta against all manner of attached limbs might be contrary to the more ... subtle approaches employed by a traditional ninja, we don't recall anybody complaining too vehemently while they were jumping off a wall and decapitating a hundred demonic spider things. According to a recent issue of Japanese mag Famitsu, PlayStation 3 owners are set to get another taste of Team Ninja's action franchise, in the form of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.Much like the original Sigma reworked the Xbox's Ninja Gaiden (to former Team Ninja designer Tomonobu Itagaki's chagrin), Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 appears to be a modified version of the Xbox 360's Ninja Gaiden 2. Images depict several familiar environments and characters, along with some new shots of Dead or Alive's Ayane, who may be a playable character. Expect more details to be formally announced over the next week, including confirmation on whether this is "a loss of face for everyone involved." We certainly expect monster faces to get the worst of it.[Thanks, Robert]
Top 5: RETRO REVIVAL PLZ!
As the release of Mega Man 9 looms closer, the so-called "old school gamers" are about 17 pixels away from exploding out of their skin with anticipation. This is the retro gamer equivalent of a "Phan" witnessing a Phish reunion. The kid inside all of us, having been smothered behind flabby beer guts for years, is beginning to crawl towards the surface. I imagine there's quite a few younger gamers who scratch their heads at all of the love for comparatively prehistoric graphics and gameplay. However, if one were to wipe off the thick coat of nostalgia emblazoned onto the games of long ago, they'd often find enjoyable and satisfying titles. They're not definitively better or worse; just different from much of what is released today. Some prefer that, and they're hungry for more. The biggest hurdle for those folks is commercial success. Not too long ago, retro revivals were rarely considered serious. After all, it would be silly to have Mega Man 9 released on a retail DVD disc. Yet with the success of downloadable services, the floodgates are now blown wide open. The slightly less hyped but similarly retro-themed Gradius: Rebirth was just released in Japan, and cowboy hat-clad developer Igarashi has stated that he's "very much looking into [WiiWare]." Perhaps the style of retro gaming is seeping into the bloodstream of major retail releases. Despite the beautiful hand-drawn graphics and cutscenes of Wario Land: Shake It!, the gameplay is heavily grounded in 2D. Perhaps we're experiencing a retro-renaissance, if I may quote Mr. Greenhough. With this in mind, here's a few more dusty franchises we're nominating to be reborn through the birth canal of Nintendo's online service (wow, gross). These range from the unexpected to painfully obscure, so don't be offended if your favorite was not included. A small note: I excluded some IPs due to either a retro-esque presence on the GBA/DS or because they are likely destined for WiiWare. These include Mario, Castlevania, Contra and Metroid. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Devil May Cry director hearts God of War, Ninja Gaiden not so much
There was a time – when he was working at Capcom, creating the likes of Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, and Viewtiful Joe – that Hideki Kamiya didn't say much. In fact, he hated doing interviews. Something's changed, because now that he's at Platinum Games, the historically low-key director is letting his true feelings out – about action games, at least.Speaking to EGM, Kamiya said that, "I've never played Ninja Gaiden, and to be honest, I'm not that interested." Itagaki could not be reached for comment on whether or not he felt that epic burn. So, what does the master designer actually like? God of War. "There's one game that I am paying really close attention to, that I think is a rival game, a good game, which is called God of War 3," he revealed, boasting, "I want to make a game that exceeds God of War's sequel." That game, he hopes, is his next: Bayonetta. In particular, Kamiya credits Sony's series with being "Very carefully made," saying, "Devil May Cry was a bit rough, but I think that there's no roughness in God of War." Pretty nice words, eh, Mr. Jaffe?
Square Enix proposes Tecmo buyout
It seems Dead Fantasy might just becomes a living reality after all. Square Enix has announced its intention to purchase a majority stake in Tecmo, the Japanese company which recently bid farewell to both its president and most recognizable rockstar developer. As detailed in a press release issued this morning (via IGN), the house that built Final Fantasy (and vice versa) is offering Tecmo shareholders a 30% premium over the company's closing price on August 28th. If successful, the deal would see Tecmo fall under Square Enix Holdings, while retaining its brand and corporate structure.Yoichi Wada, president of Square Enix, expressed hope that both developers would benefit from the deal, with the RPG maker gaining some inspiration from Tecmo's expertise in the action genre. Presumably, the folks at Tecmo would gain some pointers on in-game cameras in return.We'll let you know what happens as soon as the suits are done talking.
Itagaki says PS3 development easier than Famicom
According to former Tecmo employee and Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki (Dead or Alive series, Ninja Gaiden Sigma), developing for the PS3 is easy-peasy. "I don't think that developing for the PS3 is hard at all. It was much harder developing for the Famicom," Itagaki told 1UP. "It's true. I mean, give someone who's developing for the PS3 a Famicom and see if they can make a game for it. They won't be able to. Yeah, that'll prove it. We'll bet a drink on it."For the longest time now, developers have been struggling with getting a hang of the PS3 hardware; for Itagaki, it's apparently nothing more than shooting the breeze on a Tuesday. So Itagaki-san, want to develop again for the PS3 and show these fools how it's done? It's been a while hasn't it?
DS Download Service aims to improve your vocabulary
Another week means another dose of demos available on the Nintendo Channel. If you've got a Wii, you're in luck. If not, then we suggest you cruise past the break to see one of the many reasons why you should own one.
DS Daily: The year of third parties
Nintendo had a very significant release early this year with Professor Layton, and they've got one of the best games of the year ahead -- also some Pokémon stuff, and even a Kirby game. But for most of the year, it's been third parties' time to shine. And the third parties have taken advantage of it -- most notably, perhaps, in the form of Guitar Hero: On Tour, which so suitably served as a surrogate for a Nintendo release that it had its own hardware bundle.Stephen Totilo mentioned in a post yesterday that he's found himself playing a lot of high-quality third-party DS games this year, from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword to Space Invaders Extreme, and games like Zubo and Grand Theft Auto mean that non-Nintendo publishers are going to continue dominating. He even got past the tutorial in Lock's Quest and found that "It plays well, it's fun. I'm hooked."Have you been leaning heavily on third-party games this year? Or are you waiting for Bangai-O, N+, Dragon Quest IV, or one of the many other great new games to come out?
PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits Buyer's Guide
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/PS3_Greatest_Hits_buyer_s_guide'; Today marks the launch of the PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits collection, with nine games given a (slightly) new jewel case and an attractive $30 price tag. Warhawk MotorStorm Resistance: Fall of Man Call of Duty 3 Need for Speed Carbon The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Ninja Gaiden Sigma Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas Assassin's Creed But which of these games are worth your time and money? Our friends at PS3 Fanboy have done the research for you. Check out their Buyer's Guide to see recommendations, and which online retailers currently have these budget games in stock
WRUP: On a flight back from E3 edition
It's still technically Friday, for about a few more minutes. By this time, this blogger will be sound asleep and preparing for an early trip to LAX, to get on a jetplane back to anywhere that isn't E3. What do I have in my DS for the trip? A little bit of Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword. On my second playthrough, the game is still as fun as the first time.Who cares about that, though. In all honesty, I'll probably get 5 minutes in before totally falling asleep in the tiny tin can. What about you all, though? After the craziness of E3, can you even manage to sit still long enough to play a game? I imagine you're all probably far too busy spinning in your chairs with glee.
E308: DS Fanboy enters the Retro Game Challenge
Holy crap is this the most awesome DS game! Seriously, when JC was talking up the title, I trusted the man's judgment, but he couldn't possibly prepare me for how utterly great the DS game is. And when I met up with the folks at Marvelous here at E3 to try out their titles, I had no idea that they were going to have to physically pull me away from Retro Game Challenge.Lucky for me, I have a good grip. So I get plenty of play time with what is sure to be one of my favorite DS games this year.%Gallery-27519%
Playstation 3 Greatest Hits lineup announced
Confirmed list of PS3 Greatest Hits lineup, each retailing for $29.99: Resistance, Motorstorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow Six Vegas, Assassin's Creed, Oblivion, and Ninja Gaiden.
The cutest badass: Ryu Hayabusa Munny
Continuing the tradition of turning badasses into Munny dolls, one Justin Baldwin has created the best cute / deadly hybrid yet, a Ryu Hayabusa Munny. Just look at him! He's adorable ... all soaked in blood like that. He comes complete with the Eclispe scythe and Falcon's Talons from Ninja Gaiden II. He even has little bitty shuriken strapped to his leg. Frankly, the combination of killer and cuddly is a little confusing. We imagine Munny Ryu uses that to his advantage as he systematically dismembers people.[Via TheBBPS]
Rumor: Ninja Gaiden II receiving Mission Mode July 25
Ninja Gaiden 2 will receive Mission Mode as DLC on July 25, according to a post on NeoGAF. Mission Mode, if similar to the original iteration introduced in Ninja Gaiden Black, drops Ryu into an arena setting and lets him go on a flippin' awesome ninja killin' spree. There is currently no price attached to the new Mission Mode DLC.The possibility of a Mission Mode should come as good news to NG II players who don't find dressing up Ryu like a Ken doll a worthwhile activity. But, let's be honest, if it's anything like the original Mission Mode, shouldn't it have been shipped with the game or, and we're hoping this is the case, at least be free?[Via X3F]%Gallery-7335%
Rumor: NG2 gets worthwhile DLC July 25?
Thank you sharp-eyed forum posters, you may have spotted something that could mean Ninja Gaiden 2 will actually get some content worth paying for. Mentioned over at NeoGAF, and spotted somewhere on the XBL Marketplace, was the mention that NG2 will get a downloadable mission mode on the 25th of this month. The mission mode that was in the original iteration was incredibly popular among the franchise faithful for its focus on the game's main strength: pure combat. There are of course no details on how the implementation will work, but as long as it isn't just more of the Tests of Valor (we're really tired of that environment) we'll be ready to shell out the points if this hits on the 25th. Anyone else out there spot this on the Marketplace yet?
