Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 moves away from violence
by Justin McElroy 
{ Jul 7th 2009 at 10:30PM } 
Puzzling Moments In Gaming Sequel History
Sven Karrlsnod, lead producer on Tetris 3: The Blockening: "Sure, I love Tetris, you love Tetris. But what our team had to ask ourselves was this: Could we make Tetris work without all the blocks? We knew we had to try."
Trina Schwinn, design lead on Super Mario Universe: "In retrospect, making a Mario game set in Compton circa 1992 that didn't actually include Mario was a little ... brazen. But we had to follow our bliss."
Yosuke Hayashi, director and producer of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 to GamesRadar: "Each game has its own concept and with Ninja Gaiden 2, the focus was on extreme violence. But with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, we really questioned whether violence is a necessity for a game, so we decided to move away from that trend. So the violence 'approach' is not the way we approached the development of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Being able to unlock higher levels of gore would be out of kilter with the concept of the game."
[Via What They Play]
Trina Schwinn, design lead on Super Mario Universe: "In retrospect, making a Mario game set in Compton circa 1992 that didn't actually include Mario was a little ... brazen. But we had to follow our bliss."
Yosuke Hayashi, director and producer of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 to GamesRadar: "Each game has its own concept and with Ninja Gaiden 2, the focus was on extreme violence. But with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, we really questioned whether violence is a necessity for a game, so we decided to move away from that trend. So the violence 'approach' is not the way we approached the development of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Being able to unlock higher levels of gore would be out of kilter with the concept of the game."
[Via What They Play]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Alvin_Rod @ Jul 7th 2009 10:34PM
DSG!!
Moffka @ Jul 7th 2009 10:37PM
NO! NOT HER AGAIN!
Leroy_Octopus @ Jul 7th 2009 10:42PM
I almost didn't catch her! Hurray for Joystiq!
WINterfang @ Jul 7th 2009 10:45PM
and the world once again rejoiced.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jul 7th 2009 10:53PM
Goddammit I hope we're not going back to that shit again. Don't want to go back to Kotaku for a day again, my computer doesn't like it for some reason.
CBAkiba25 @ Jul 7th 2009 10:53PM
Oh hey! Dead Space Girl! Ah joy.
ArchiGamer @ Jul 7th 2009 10:54PM
SHE HAS RETURNED!!!!!!!!!!!
Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jul 7th 2009 10:57PM
OUR MESSIAH HAS BEEN RESURRECTED
devilsei @ Jul 7th 2009 11:06PM
Hey, for those about to whine about her returning, its the back of her head, so imagine her face in whatever kind of condition you want and you'll feel better!
Sly @ Jul 7th 2009 11:10PM
nah, they're just reusing the pic from an article from that day. but if they are bringing it back, i have to change my avatar back to DSG...
Sly @ Jul 7th 2009 11:15PM
and devilsei, you can see her face reflected on the knife...
pat1202003 @ Jul 7th 2009 11:55PM
DSG!! I've been awaiting your return. I've been continuing your work as promised. http://tinypic.com/a/ws9f/1
ArchiGamer @ Jul 7th 2009 11:58PM
@pat1202003
Love the Brutal Legend one just cause it fits nicely. +1
SpydaKat 17 @ Jul 8th 2009 12:05AM
How dare she assault the beloved!
Exemplar @ Jul 8th 2009 5:59AM
This must be some kind of social experiment with internet memes.
All it does is detract from the article. Why bother wasting your energy with 'journalism'? Just start posting DSG pictures; the result will be just the same.
Jrinswand @ Jul 7th 2009 10:35PM
Uhh... what?
Roofie @ Jul 7th 2009 10:36PM
Trophy Unlocked!
You just decapitated your first demon and managed to do it without having to look at icky blood! That shit is gross.
Jimmy J. @ Jul 7th 2009 10:38PM
Wow, this game is going to suck. It's like making a Mario game WITHOUT Mario or making a GT game without cars. It won't work for this franchise. Ninja Gaiden always had a mediocre/sub-par story; however, that was forgiven because of it's gory and amazing game-play. What does the game have left?
PeterF @ Jul 7th 2009 10:43PM
Boobies?
ArchiGamer @ Jul 7th 2009 10:48PM
I think the answer you're looking for is staring right at you.
Naota @ Jul 7th 2009 11:26PM
"GT game without cars"
Also known as Tourist Trophy
ryan @ Jul 8th 2009 9:38AM
The analogy you are giving is so off, if Ninja Gaiden didn't have any avatars to control, then your crap analogy would be spot on.
charlie b. @ Jul 8th 2009 12:11PM
shit yeah, son, i'm all about that Super Mario in Compton, yo.
DeepFriedSushi @ Jul 7th 2009 10:38PM
lol, they're just trying to covering their asses, they took out limbs and blood trails since it caused too much slowdown with alpha blending since they have significantly gpu.
Jinsenken @ Jul 7th 2009 10:52PM
If that was the case, they could've just toned down the gore to NGS1 levels. They removed it altogether.
Meh. I don't care about it tho. Now I can play this in my living room without getting disapproving looks from my family when they see what I'm playing.
tobz1000 @ Jul 8th 2009 12:34AM
Yeah, they significantly the whole GPU. And accidentally the RAM.
The Baron @ Jul 7th 2009 10:38PM
Well, I'm sure the compelling plot will keep players happy.
Blank-Mage @ Jul 8th 2009 5:20AM
There are still a good 4 or so ninjas left in Ryu's clan, waiting patiently to be slaughtered so as to give Ryu another quest for vengeance.
ExMcCloud @ Jul 7th 2009 10:39PM
Soooooooo? Apparently they must not want me to buy this game? Imagine GOW with no gore.
Leroy_Octopus @ Jul 7th 2009 10:39PM
Okay so violence didn't fit there concept, but demon Statue of Liberty did? WTFuck?
rells009 @ Jul 7th 2009 10:40PM
I wouldn't say violence should be avoided entirely, but Ryu probably gets more action than any ninja in the history of ninjas has ever gotten in their entire lives in one hour. Not much ninja-ing going on there if you know what I mean.
sony boy @ Jul 7th 2009 10:41PM
Great. DSG Bitch is back.
The Dark Wayne @ Jul 7th 2009 10:49PM
that's no way to talk about a lady
ArchiGamer @ Jul 7th 2009 10:42PM
Ninja Gaiden without blood and high levels of violence??
What madness is this??!!!!!!!!
Also: DSG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JudasPrius @ Jul 8th 2009 3:24AM
Sparta?
TheDemiurge @ Jul 7th 2009 10:42PM
If they fix everything that people were complaining about with this game, then I say who cares. The gore is funny and cool and everything, but I would rather have a better game over a bloodier one.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jul 7th 2009 10:42PM
So now one of the most shallow franchises out there gets even more shallow! There's literally no reason to play it now.
mercy @ Jul 7th 2009 11:35PM
So now one of the most obvious trolls out there reaches new levels of trolling! Apparently you've never played Ninja Gaiden before because it's fighting system rivals that of full-fledge fighting games. But since you already think that without trying it, there's no reason for YOU to play it now.
Leroy_Octopus @ Jul 7th 2009 11:56PM
@ mercy
Strange how you call him a troll when you're obviously looking for a flame war.
Blank-Mage @ Jul 8th 2009 5:21AM
Yeah, Tmac is in the clear on this one.
mgsrocks1 @ Jul 8th 2009 5:23PM
Dude do you always complain about stuff? This time I agree with you though. Ninja Gaiden isn't known for it's story. Personally, I preferred Devil May Cry 4 to Ninja Gaiden 3.
Julian @ Jul 7th 2009 10:44PM
I think people are misunderstanding this, the violence will still be there, but its not going to be the over the top kinda annoying violence in Gaiden 2, probably more like Gaiden 1, it will all be there, just less blood splatter and what not
Josh @ Jul 7th 2009 10:45PM
Simply removing blood doesn't remove the violence. The violence is still there, it's just less believable.
Premature ejaculation man @ Jul 7th 2009 11:01PM
They took out blood so that they could use 5 of the cell's cores to give the MOST REALISTIC BOOB PHYSIC EVER
devilsei @ Jul 7th 2009 11:13PM
Dude, DoA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2 would like to talk to you. Those breasts could move independently of each other. One spins to the left, the other to the right, they move in heavenly, So-realistic harmony!
JudasPrius @ Jul 8th 2009 3:40AM
Time to put that motion sensor to good use then, huh?
devilsei @ Jul 7th 2009 11:11PM
Now instead of seeing limbs fly away and blood splattering the walls and sword/claw/staff-end/tonfa in copious amounts, and playing a fun game of "Find the Ninja Head".
We get to deal with magically disappearing limbs, no blood, and instead of insides, we have to believe everyone is full of magical blue fluffy energy.
They ever think that part of the fun was seeing the carnage my scythe could cause to the enemies that annoyed me so dearly. So much so that all that extravagant gore in a way justified dealing with some of those annoying-as-all-hell enemies and thus preserving replayability.
Chin-Paaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! @ Jul 7th 2009 11:12PM
Did Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3 tone down violence from Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox 1?
devilsei @ Jul 7th 2009 11:14PM
Not. One. Bloody. Bit.
Jack Tretton @ Jul 7th 2009 11:27PM
Chin, your Michael Jackson avatar is horrifying.