So, we got a lot of ridiculous flack for posting a comparison of what Ninja Gaiden was and what Ninja Gaiden Sigma has become -- a whole new, gorgeous gaming experience for those who did not get to enjoy the titles on the XBox. Now, don't complain about how it should stay on the 'Box (technically it should stay on Nintendo if that's a concern), you'll probably get this iteration eventually. Possibly bundled with a, gasp, sequel? With that in mind, we're going to present some new details about the game, as told by director Yosuke Hayashi.- About graphics: "we more or less are recreating Ninja Gaiden with the most up-to-date graphic techniques in order to take advantage of the hardware...One of the best ways to do that was to have a game that runs at a 1080p with a constant 60 fps, and utilizes real-time self-shadowing. No other game as accomplished all three of these goals at once."
- About enemy AI: "it's about making sure they have goals they are fulfilling and that they can work together with existing enemies. That's really our philosophy. As far as A.I. goes people have played our game before will see that we've made some subtle improvements. A lot of it has to do with using all the Cell's SPU processors."
- New dual-wield swords? "We've succeeded in making a weapon that has a ton of moves and is as useful as the single sword you start the game with. We wanted the dual swords to be the second standard weapon. You don't start out with them, but acquire them early on."
- Difficult to develop for PS3? "The developers that say it's too hard to develop for and complain about it are missing the point. It sounds like an excuse to the consumer to us...If we can do it then other people will be able to do it as well."
- Online features? "Karma ranking, which is like a leader board for your score. That's something we had back on Xbox but we're going to expand it more to include more detailed statistics on how you played."
- Working with PS-HOME? "If you wanted to wait for the game to come out for a few more moths we'd be able to, but I don't think anybody wants that."
Whew. It's shaping up to be a completely awesome experience -- one that few action-game lovers should pass up. If we can get our mitts off of God of War 2, which is awesome. Haven't laughed maniacally as I kill a boss in ages (Theseus, on the Steeds of Time). Awesome.
