Itagaki practices legal ninjitsu in case against Tecmo

by Randy Nelson { Jul 24th 2008 at 6:15PM }

Former head of Tecmo's Team Ninja and leather aficionado, Tomonobu Itagaki, is proving himself to be quite the legal ~~eagle~~ ~~hawk~~ whatever bird a ninja might keep as a pet in his ongoing lawsuit against his old employer. In addition to upping his claim for damages from 148 million yen ($1.3 million) to 164m yen ($1.6m) for bonuses and salary not paid, the Dead or Alive creator delivered a blow to accusations by Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda that he was never promised bonuses in the first place.

The evidence: an audio recording of Yasuda specifically stating that a legal document known as a ringi, which outlined the contested bonus plan, had in fact been approved by Tecmo's board of directors. Take that! If that didn't sting, Itagaki said (in what we're guessing was a stern voice): "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice." Hear that? Greater justice. Everything the guy does is intense.

Tags: itagaki, lawsuit, legal, team-ninja, tecmo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dwag @ Jul 24th 2008 6:21PM

I no longer care for Tecmo until they release another Ninja Gaiden or DOA and I already read this at kotaku.

wickedneoq @ Jul 24th 2008 6:21PM

TAKE THAT!

EliteBeatsAgent08 @ Jul 24th 2008 6:22PM

Is there any possible way he can get the rights to DOA or Ninja Gaiden?

Or at the very least buy them from Tecmo?

Residentevil72501 @ Jul 24th 2008 6:22PM

YE GUILTY! lol

Squibmacbooth @ Jul 24th 2008 6:29PM

*Itagaki draws Ninja Sword*

willferal @ Jul 24th 2008 6:30PM

For great(er) justice.

syrik zero @ Jul 24th 2008 6:41PM

"Greater justice," awesome!

Spartacus @ Jul 24th 2008 6:42PM

Joystiq:

I think the bird you're looking for is called a HAYABUSA...

Volomon @ Jul 24th 2008 6:58PM

I could be stupid here but doesn't HAYABUSA mean falcon and doesn't falcon mean duck hawk so didn't he already use as one of his examples?

Saria the Cat @ Jul 24th 2008 7:18PM

Everything sounds way cooler in Japanese than it actually is.

Spartacus @ Jul 24th 2008 7:25PM

Are we really discussing the taxonomy of a Hayabusa?

I was simply joking that the bird a NINJA (being Japanese and all) would have would be a Hayabusa -a specific species- as the term "hawk" is an English generalization of all medium sized birds of prey. Was I being serious? Of course not. If I could edit my post I would include a wink at the end just for you...

;-)

ryan @ Jul 24th 2008 6:43PM

I'm going to give some free legal advice to temco: pay the man. give him his money.

Chris @ Jul 24th 2008 6:45PM

"Having Zach bring a gift to your room after a long day was never in our original deal."

Kamizar @ Jul 24th 2008 6:56PM

Itagaki should at least have his legal team at lvl2 in this point of the game...

That way he can do the X Y X X X Y on tecmo...

BlaznGoldstein (Electric 6 Defense Force) @ Jul 24th 2008 6:56PM

Itagaki, for Great Justice, take off every 'ZIG'!!

Volomon @ Jul 24th 2008 6:59PM

All I got to say is nice, all those damn execs get away with saying things as incentives which never happen.

Cesaria (Pitchfork Fest 2008 FTMFW!) @ Jul 24th 2008 7:01PM

I just once want to hear the judge say OVERRULED!

Alex @ Jul 24th 2008 7:04PM

This man is your friend! He fights for your Freedom!

Sora @ Jul 24th 2008 7:14PM

Actually, he fights for his money. And hopefully the rights to Ninja Gaiden, because otherwise, Tecmo will make the series shit without Itagaki....

kagai @ Jul 24th 2008 7:15PM

Anytime someone asks me, "Why did you do that?" I'm going to say, " For the sake of greater justice!"

Awesome!

Neebs @ Jul 24th 2008 7:17PM

Just remember Itagaki, you HAVE to feed the law ninjas.

aristokrat @ Jul 24th 2008 7:54PM

Give ze man heez money. - Rounders

Alex @ Jul 24th 2008 8:32PM

"great justice"

somebody get on immortalizing that line, pronto.

what i'm more concerned about however is itagaki's future in games. he said so himself: another Dead or Alive is not coming from him. and i assume that also means another Ninja Gaiden won't be coming from him, as well. but Code Cronus was another game i was looking forward to. darn...

at least, it's looking well for itagaki.
get that money!

Alex @ Jul 24th 2008 8:33PM

^EDIT^

"greater justice"

jeez, my mind is so off today.

Josh @ Jul 24th 2008 10:46PM

Sometimes this guy annoys me, but it's awesome that he got an audio recording like that and is able to *FIGHT FOR GREATER JUSTICE*.

Pixeldaemon @ Jul 25th 2008 12:52AM

Nice one. I know he'll never see this but stick it to them! I hate seeing these huge companies get away with murder.

Deprincer @ Jul 25th 2008 1:06AM

In desparation, Tecmo busts out the RINGI. rofl!

Dio @ Jul 25th 2008 1:33AM

Tomunobu "Justice" Itagaki: Greater Ace Attorney

Dio @ Jul 25th 2008 1:35AM

Damnit I fucked up his name @_@
* Tomonobu Itagaki

DEEZNUTZ @ Jul 25th 2008 10:11AM

I hope he loses the case... he's a douchebag.

Jfk Aok @ Jul 25th 2008 10:32AM

Yeah, it doesn't matter if he's right or wrong. It all depends on whether he's a douchebag or not.

aristokrat @ Jul 26th 2008 7:26PM

"You are hereby indicted on 12 counts of douchebaggery!"

"But I'm the plaintiff!"

"Take him away, guards."

Jfk Aok @ Jul 25th 2008 10:33AM

I don't know what a RINGI is, but it sounds like a lot of fun in bed with a lady friend.

nmezib @ Jul 25th 2008 11:36AM

remind me not to play poker with this man. He's a hustler

but more power to him! show them corrupt businessfolk whatfor I say!

bus33boy @ Jul 25th 2008 1:34PM

And what have we learned today?

Do NOT fu@k with Itagaki.

I thought the "I'm a bad-ass butt kicker" image was just for show. Man does not play around. I'm willing to give Tecmo a chance to explain themselves, but this had better be a damn good explanation. DAMN good.