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).
Reader Comments (61)
Posted: May 16th 2009 5:34PM (Unverified) said
I sense a reduex of when the RE creator left to join Clover, and the subsequent fate of Resident Evil 5.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 5:51PM The Blank Mage Returns said
Wait, Are you the same Vexx I'm thinking about?
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 7:19PM (Unverified) said
and another shocker: nintendo will make more mario games.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 2:39PM TheDarkWayne said
ive had a strange urge to play Ninja Gaiden 2 lately, and I dont know why, because I hated it. I think maybe it's because of Wolverine and im jonesing for a more in depth combat system
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 2:40PM (Unverified) said
Despite the first game being one of my absolute favorites, actually Team Ninja is the so called "next chapter" is anything like Ninja Gaiden II I have pretty much no interest.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 7:27PM SheppyReturns said
See, now you're looking at this all wrong. Because if Team Ninja does make a Ninja Gaiden III, they now have something to prove whereas the last game was incomplete garbage shipped only to publically embarass Tecmo.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 2:44PM (Unverified) said
Team Ninja are also developers of the DOA and DOAX series - so they're actually exclusively responsible for ninja-and-volleyball games.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 2:54PM MaliceMajorE15 said
volleyballing ninja chicks= visionaries,
we also cannot understate team ninja, groundbreaking work in breast physics either, the origina doa really laid the ground work that made the shennaigans in doa vollyball possible
Reply
we also cannot understate team ninja, groundbreaking work in breast physics either, the origina doa really laid the ground work that made the shennaigans in doa vollyball possible
Posted: May 16th 2009 3:25PM Captain Underpants and the Bring said
I'M SHOCKED NO ONE REMEMBERS NINJA BLADE! ...oh right it sucked thats why.
Reply
Posted: May 17th 2009 5:18AM Bowser Rogozhin said
"From Software...they actually made a lot of good underrated games before that."
I heard Metal Wolf Chaos was a riot, but their entire back catalogue reads like a dissection of what's wrong with Japanese gaming companies today. Safety in mediocrity is all I see.
Reply
I heard Metal Wolf Chaos was a riot, but their entire back catalogue reads like a dissection of what's wrong with Japanese gaming companies today. Safety in mediocrity is all I see.
Posted: May 17th 2009 1:32PM Deuce said
I enjoyed the demo of Ninja Blade. It was nothing particularly special, and I wouldn't pay more than $20, but it seemed like it might make for a decent time. The method by which you dispatch the spider boss was highly entertaining, and entertainment is, ultimately, the entire point of any game.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 2:52PM (Unverified) said
NO WAY
Didn't expect that to happen. I'm confused.
Reply
Didn't expect that to happen. I'm confused.
Posted: May 16th 2009 2:52PM SecretAgentHam said
sent this in yesterday. yay.
anyways, NG2 didnt have the flare that the first had, but i have hopes for the Sigma release. and as for NG3, so long as it releases on both consoles and has the flare the first had with the depth the second had. i'm all in.
Reply
anyways, NG2 didnt have the flare that the first had, but i have hopes for the Sigma release. and as for NG3, so long as it releases on both consoles and has the flare the first had with the depth the second had. i'm all in.
Posted: May 16th 2009 3:45PM SecretAgentHam said
i sure hope you heard wrong because NG with no gore is a crime. that game better earn its M rating or i'm going to stick with the 360 version....
who am i kidding, i'm buying it on the ps3 anyway.
*sigh*
why cant they just get it right?
Reply
who am i kidding, i'm buying it on the ps3 anyway.
*sigh*
why cant they just get it right?
Posted: May 16th 2009 5:06PM original fred said
"How can you show limbs flying but no blood?? "
Lego Ninja Gaiden
Reply
Lego Ninja Gaiden
Posted: May 16th 2009 3:19PM (Unverified) said
YES! I am need of more dismemberment, masculinity and bounciness.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 3:39PM (Unverified) said
Please patch 2's camera first. How is it possible for the camera to get worse in the sequel, and on a more advanced platform at that?
NG2 would be freaking perfect if they would do that one simple thing. Maybe its not that simple, I don't know. But it kills the flow of combat half of the time. Especially in the trials.
Reply
NG2 would be freaking perfect if they would do that one simple thing. Maybe its not that simple, I don't know. But it kills the flow of combat half of the time. Especially in the trials.
Posted: May 16th 2009 9:13PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, I know. I'll be procuring that item. I think I heard something about online co-op. It'll be interesting to see how that works.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 3:58PM Birth Canal said
The opposite is true. Itagaki is arrogant, creepy, and the biggest idiot in Japan. The series needs a reboot for this generation instead of becoming like Dynasty Worriors. Why would you want an uninspired sequel? For $60 I expect more. I guess you don't...
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 4:09PM ExMcCloud said
But we wouldn't even be talking about the game if it wasn't for itagaki....So for all his faults he made the BEST ACTION GAME I've ever played...And based on the teams work on Sigma I can tell nothing is guaranteed with them....When they prove to me they can make a good game without his help then I'll be right along there with you.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 6:01PM atrimus said
"When they prove to me they can make a good game without his help then I'll be right along there with you."
so, in your opinion they already equal FAIL without Itagaki, but they still have to prove they can make a good game w/o him? a Vulcan would wig-out at such logic. i personally am glad for the change in management. NGB was certainly praise-worthy, but NG2 was rather shallow; a laughable attempt at adding-gore in hopes it would overshadow all the game's short-commings. if the new team can do with Sigma 2 what they did with Sigma (minus all of Itagaki's narcissist anecdotes), then no more proof is needed in my book.
in the end GoW trumps the NG series anyway ;-)
Reply
so, in your opinion they already equal FAIL without Itagaki, but they still have to prove they can make a good game w/o him? a Vulcan would wig-out at such logic. i personally am glad for the change in management. NGB was certainly praise-worthy, but NG2 was rather shallow; a laughable attempt at adding-gore in hopes it would overshadow all the game's short-commings. if the new team can do with Sigma 2 what they did with Sigma (minus all of Itagaki's narcissist anecdotes), then no more proof is needed in my book.
in the end GoW trumps the NG series anyway ;-)
Posted: May 16th 2009 6:42PM ExMcCloud said
Sigma was decent but wasn't good enough over all for me to say they did a good job...If you have something done all ready and all u have to do is add to it IT SHOULD BE WAY BETTER...Period...Sigma took away the two hardest puzzles in the game....Added a TERRIBLE character in Rachel who was completely broken.....and made the graphics better...The never fixed one issue from NGB...Not one.....So how have they proved anything....Be serious.....I don't like Itagaki as a person but I'll be damned if you give the sigma guys credit for doing absolutely nothing...lmao...And GOW is a awesome game but lacks where NG excels and vice versa.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 7:36PM SheppyReturns said
I hate to say this but the ONLY game director who's all over every single aspect of their game is Hideo Kojima. Itagaki didn't make the game all by himself. He HAD a staff. A staff of which he never allowed to share the limelight or praise. A staff that he publicly embarassed on multiple occassions. Itagaki is definately a man standing on the shoulders of the people he decides to shit all over.
Sigma? Sigma was good. Sigma was balanced. Rachal wasn't but that wasn't even added to the main quest so this is like complaining about the lack of polish on deleted scenes in a DVD release. Team Ninja has, for the past 10+ years, been headed by a narcistic asshat who basically bashes the exact same franchises he's directly stealing from.
So what, Itagaki is gone. Most of his staff is not. And frankly, it's about time they get SOME attention instead of standing behind a man taking the credit and insulting his underlings. FUCK ITAGAKI!
Reply
Sigma? Sigma was good. Sigma was balanced. Rachal wasn't but that wasn't even added to the main quest so this is like complaining about the lack of polish on deleted scenes in a DVD release. Team Ninja has, for the past 10+ years, been headed by a narcistic asshat who basically bashes the exact same franchises he's directly stealing from.
So what, Itagaki is gone. Most of his staff is not. And frankly, it's about time they get SOME attention instead of standing behind a man taking the credit and insulting his underlings. FUCK ITAGAKI!
Posted: May 16th 2009 8:08PM ExMcCloud said
Rachels missions were added to the main story...U HAD to play her boring ass broken story.....But I do agree that Itagaki was an ass hole I'm not arguing that...BUT Itagaki gave that edge to Ninja Gaiden...He's the one who wanted it to be so insanely hard that average players couldnt touch it....AND he made Team Ninja who they are......He also held his employees accountable and demanded the best...If you dont like it QUIT....Which is something none of his guys did....They took the ridicule and put out the best action game ever IMO.....but without his leader ship Sigma felt a tad bit easier and they never focused on fixing the things WE the gamers wanted fixed...Nor did they try...lol.....
So we shall see how good that team is with this release or in all actuality NG3 when they don't have any of Itagaki's ideas to stand upon. That's all I'm saying.....Show and Prove
Reply
So we shall see how good that team is with this release or in all actuality NG3 when they don't have any of Itagaki's ideas to stand upon. That's all I'm saying.....Show and Prove
Posted: May 17th 2009 12:17AM SheppyReturns said
Wait, it's a GOOD thing Ninja Gaiden was unapproachable by the average gamer? You know it's this kind of elitists "only hardcore allowed" attitude that keeps majority of your ilk from getting laid. I hate to dip into a stereotype born of ignorance but yeah. Let's look at something for a second. The rise and death of adventure gaming.
When it started, it was approachable by everyone. Everyone knew EXACTLY when they were liekly to be eaten by a grue. Time passed, the genre advanced. The makers of said genre thought "gee, these puzzles based on logic aren't exactly hard. Let's make them nonsensical and obscure." Sure enough, the diehard could still play but the barrier was raised. As more people grew OUT of the genre, the barrier for entry was far too high so no new consumers could come in. Then something radical happened and essentially killed the genre. Myst came onto the scene and was actually playable to those who haven't been in the genre since Kings Quest 1.
Now look at the action genre as a whole. Wolverine is doing well as is God of War. Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden? Notsomuch. Wonder why... OH YES, the reputation of being absolutely unapproachable to anyone but the best gamers. While there is a large percentage of children who use achievement points as penis enlargement, a LOT of us kinda grew out of that the first time a Bic razor nicked a pimplehead. And the developers who haven't acknowledged that HAVE suffered in the interim. While it's nice you guys get a game catered exactly to you, it's a big industry out there. The days of putting a sign on the wall stating "No Goils Alluwed" have been a major detriment to the industry as a whole. You can still have your hard games. Oh look, the option for hard is right there. But for fucks sake, let other people into your little club or continue to shake your head in shame as WiiFit outsells everything ever.
Or to put it in the words of a programmer helping me on my own game, "The trick to good AI is simple enough. It isn't about beating the player. You can't have an AI acting like the most advanced soldiers or pilots in the world, because the player isn't on the same level. The AI should be there to provide fun, period. Too many programmers forget this and consider it a badge of honor to frustrate the player. If you cannot entertain a player with your AI, then you've failed. Period. Accomidate and entertain the player."
Reply
When it started, it was approachable by everyone. Everyone knew EXACTLY when they were liekly to be eaten by a grue. Time passed, the genre advanced. The makers of said genre thought "gee, these puzzles based on logic aren't exactly hard. Let's make them nonsensical and obscure." Sure enough, the diehard could still play but the barrier was raised. As more people grew OUT of the genre, the barrier for entry was far too high so no new consumers could come in. Then something radical happened and essentially killed the genre. Myst came onto the scene and was actually playable to those who haven't been in the genre since Kings Quest 1.
Now look at the action genre as a whole. Wolverine is doing well as is God of War. Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden? Notsomuch. Wonder why... OH YES, the reputation of being absolutely unapproachable to anyone but the best gamers. While there is a large percentage of children who use achievement points as penis enlargement, a LOT of us kinda grew out of that the first time a Bic razor nicked a pimplehead. And the developers who haven't acknowledged that HAVE suffered in the interim. While it's nice you guys get a game catered exactly to you, it's a big industry out there. The days of putting a sign on the wall stating "No Goils Alluwed" have been a major detriment to the industry as a whole. You can still have your hard games. Oh look, the option for hard is right there. But for fucks sake, let other people into your little club or continue to shake your head in shame as WiiFit outsells everything ever.
Or to put it in the words of a programmer helping me on my own game, "The trick to good AI is simple enough. It isn't about beating the player. You can't have an AI acting like the most advanced soldiers or pilots in the world, because the player isn't on the same level. The AI should be there to provide fun, period. Too many programmers forget this and consider it a badge of honor to frustrate the player. If you cannot entertain a player with your AI, then you've failed. Period. Accomidate and entertain the player."
Posted: May 17th 2009 1:01PM ExMcCloud said
Well its a good thing I've had sex almost everyday 4 the past 4 years.....lmao....Look the losing that attitude is what got us in the situation we are in now......Games are so easy now and days it really dissapoints me that you actually want casual players to be able to play EVERYTHING we can....Gaming is a lifestyle not a hobby...I really feel that way....WE should have our own damn games that casuals can't play. lol....Thats what makes us gamers!!!!! Meeting that challenge and conquering it where average people would give up!
Reply
Posted: May 17th 2009 1:06PM ExMcCloud said
P.S. GOW is a fucking cake walk.........Great story, awesome graphics.....Hell an all around great game....BUT Poor combat, and TOO easy...Well atleast GOW2 was too easy, GOW 1 actually had some challenge especially the second part of the fight with ARES thats good gaming right there...lol
Reply
Posted: May 17th 2009 4:14PM Birth Canal said
Not every game has to bee so hard it gives you a seizure. Mario, Zelda, and Metroid are proof enough. Personally, I play video games to have fun, and in some games I look for a good story, a story that I can only get because of how interactive video games are.
I don't want to spend $60 on a broken game that I will literately brake by throwing across the room because of how frustrating it is. I agree that us hardcore gamers should have our AAA GTAs and Halos, but I disagree when you say you don't want casual gamers playing our games. What's wrong with adding an option for them? Like Gears of War for example. You can play on insane and your co-op partner can play on easy if he/she needs it. I want video games to hit the mainstream. I don't to see people painting our favorite hobby in a bad light. I want our medium to mature.
Reply
I don't want to spend $60 on a broken game that I will literately brake by throwing across the room because of how frustrating it is. I agree that us hardcore gamers should have our AAA GTAs and Halos, but I disagree when you say you don't want casual gamers playing our games. What's wrong with adding an option for them? Like Gears of War for example. You can play on insane and your co-op partner can play on easy if he/she needs it. I want video games to hit the mainstream. I don't to see people painting our favorite hobby in a bad light. I want our medium to mature.
Posted: May 17th 2009 10:11PM ExMcCloud said
WTF are u serious.....Super Mario on the NES is still a hard game, Legend of Zelda 2 is one of the HARDEST GAMES OF ALL TIME, and metroid was hard as balls UNLESS u did some sequence breaking, or until u got the Ice Beam...So what are u talking about...lol...Those are terrible examples.....And when things go mainstream they get progressively worst its a proven fact with any entertainment media.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 8:06PM SheppyReturns said
I think the "exclusive" tag is essentially for two reasons.
1. Xbox 360 already has NGII and remixed updates rarely do well on their original console. So the effort to multiplat it might not be worth it in regards to sales.
2. With the exclusive tag on it, they automatically have a very devout group of retards ready to "support such efforts" on day 1 while claiming their version is the superior one. Don't get me wrong on this point, 360 and Wii fantards are everybit as bad on this issue so it could happen from any game. Just saying it's a hell of a reason to keep the Sigma franchise exclusive.
Reply
1. Xbox 360 already has NGII and remixed updates rarely do well on their original console. So the effort to multiplat it might not be worth it in regards to sales.
2. With the exclusive tag on it, they automatically have a very devout group of retards ready to "support such efforts" on day 1 while claiming their version is the superior one. Don't get me wrong on this point, 360 and Wii fantards are everybit as bad on this issue so it could happen from any game. Just saying it's a hell of a reason to keep the Sigma franchise exclusive.
Posted: May 16th 2009 4:54PM (Unverified) said
I'll look into it as soon as I succeed in finishing the first NG... I'm still working on that. Përhaps it's my personal style (killing everyone I encounter) that cramps me. My son just runs past the baddies at times and he's gotten a lot furter.
Reply
Posted: May 16th 2009 6:45PM shadowhowl1900 said
highly doubt that sinai.
hideo loves Sony and Itagaki well hates sony. thats why u dont see DOA on playstation
Reply
hideo loves Sony and Itagaki well hates sony. thats why u dont see DOA on playstation
Posted: May 16th 2009 7:29PM SheppyReturns said
And joke completely lost. What would Shigeru Ninamoto say?
Reply
Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.
Featured Stories
The most popular posts
in the last 7 days
- Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
- David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 108 comments
- Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
- Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments









