Team Ninja Leads Say Breaking Up Isn't That Hard To Do
It's no secret that Team Ninja hasn't really had a great year in the press. The makers of the boobtastic Dead or Alive series and brutally unforgiving Ninja Gaiden games has seen a string of missteps and blunders that's more akin to a Mariah Carry Glitter-inspired psychological breakdown than actual game development. First there was the lack luster performance of not one, but two Ninja Gaiden entries (on the 360 and DS), then the hilariously blunt Tomonobu Itagaki talked smack about the director of Ninja Gaiden Sigma before getting up and leaving the team he's lead for years, and then there were the lawsuits between Tecmo heads and former Team Ninja members (including Itagaki) over disputed royalties.
With so much negativity surrounding Team Ninja, and perhaps Tecmo as a whole, how is life without the cruel tutelage of the master ninja? If a recent interview with Gamasutra is anything to go by, the answer would be something along the lines of "pretty good." While not directly addressing the subject of Itagaki, the lawsuits, or future projects, Hitoshi Hasegawa (the chewed out director of Sigma) and Yosuke Hayashi talk about leading Tecmo's most recognizable team, their thoughts on the performance of their DS title, where the HD consoles are headed, and even a give you a slight Wii tease. Head on over to Gamasutra to read the full interview.
[Team Ninja: Ready For More] Gamasutra
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Posted to Video Games on 4 November 2008
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: dead or alive, itagaki tomonobu, itakagi's revenge, law suits, ninja gaiden 2, ninja gaiden dragon sword, ninja gaiden sigma, team ninja, tecmo
I definitely had a "mommy and daddy are fighting" moment when Itagaki characterized Sigma as a hack project. I also shuddered when he announced that Ninja Gaiden II would never find its way to the PS3.
That said, while I thought NGII was some of the most fun I've had on my 360, I think Sigma is the superior game of the two.
As for Dragon Sword, did anyone actually play it? Do high-intensity action games translate on portable systems? And more importantly, Can Ryu's ass still be appreciated when robbed of all its delicious pixels?
For the record, Dragon Sword was pretty cool and worth checking out. If you're into the series enough to play through NG1, Black, and Sigma, you're bound to find a lot of fun from NG:DS.
I thought Dragon Sword was terrible - only one weapon to fight with, recycled enemies from the Xbox game, and making it touch-screen only for control gave my wrists such cramps I thought I was developing a repetitive stress injury. It was also mercifully short. If it was a good game, I would have wanted it to be longer but as it was I was just happy for it to be over. Really, the coolest thing about that game was the stylus they gave out with preorders. I've only played the demo of Sigma on my boyfriend's PS3 but I liked what it offered, and I'd definitely like to play the full version at some point. And I've only played a little bit of Ninja Gaiden II, but I liked what I saw and I plan to play through that one as well.