Can we make a formal request? Can Sony hire Itagaki to take Ken Kutaragi's old job? No, we know, Kaz technically has his old position, but Sony really needs someone out there saying crazy things about the PS3, and we think Itagaki's the man for the gig. Here's what he recently told 1UP: "I don't think that developing for the PS3 is hard at all. It was much harder developing for the Famicom. It's true. I mean, give someone who's developing for the PS3 a Famicom and see if they can make a game for it. They won't be able to. Yeah, that'll prove it. We'll bet a drink on it."

Bam! Crazy! Can you imagine getting that kind of stuff day in and day out from PS3 HQ? C'mon, Sony give that man whatever he wants ... and we do mean whatever.

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.

Following the very public resignation of Tomonobu Itagaki two weeks ago, Tecmo has appealed to the Tokyo District Court seeking to restrict Itagaki from making further public remarks about ... any and every -thing that begins was a capital "T" ands ends with an "ecmo." The company filed with the court last Tuesday, June 10, but has yet to receive a verdict, Famitsu reports. The gag order seeks to prohibit Itagaki from:

1. Disclosing, destroying or leaking Tecmo's trade secrets, especially those concerning software, development and marketing
2. Making false or misleading statements about Tecmo's business policies and strategies, or criticizing games developed by other Tecmo employees
3. Making defamatory remarks to damage Tecmo's reputation
4. Making public statements about Tecmo, or accepting media invitations (e.g., interviews) to discuss Tecmo while still employed (until July 1) by the company

No word yet on whether or not Tecmo has ordered up an additional 300 gags. But buying in bulk certainly saves time and money.

[Big thanks to Ittousai over at Engadget Japan for his translation work!]

We thought it was bad when Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo, but little did we know it was about to get much, much worse. As rumored over the weekend, employees of the company are suing for unpaid bonuses. Well, it's not exactly the same as the weekend rumor, which said the lawsuit would come from three dozen or so higher ups. No, apparently the lawsuit has been filed on behalf of all 300 of the company's employees. A Famitsu article on the subject also says the suit complains of employees not getting holiday and overtime pay that they are owed.

So, in short, Tecmo is eating itself. You may now carry on with your day.

[Via X3F]

Losing one of your company's most recognizable figureheads, especially one whose name is so closely associated with most of your best-selling properties, is bound to put a damper on things around the office. However, that last statement assumes that there are still people in the office -- 1UP recently printed a rumor that as many as three dozen Team Ninja higher-ups could be leaving the company following Tomonobu Itagaki's resignation, and will sue Tecmo to gain unpaid bonuses for the games they've completed (much like the class-action suit Itagaki planned to file against the company following his departure).

1UP's source for the rumor was the ever-present "word on the street", though that's likely just rumorese for "we have an inside source". Whoever it may be, we doubt it's the same hopeful Tecmo higher-up who recently assured the public that Team Ninja was going to be just fine, as losing your poster boy, a heartbreaking amount of stock market value, and supposedly, a healthy portion of your workforce in such a short period of time would surely make any game developer feel anything but.

Turns out Tomonobu Itagaki's imminent lawsuit might not be Tecmo's biggest problem after all. Within two days of the Ninja Gaiden developer's abrupt resignation from the company, Tecmo shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped rapidly.

Assurances that Team Ninja would remain (largely) intact apparently did not appease the stockholders. Shares dropped over 10% from Tuesday's closing of ¥1,102 (USD 10.40), to today's closing of ¥982 (USD 9.30). Not a good start to the company's new Itagaki-less lifestyle, to be sure.

Now that Ninja Gaiden 2 developer Tomonobu Itagaki has departed from Tecmo and Team Ninja (and left a lawsuit in his stead), our friends at X3F have compiled a retrospective on Itagaki's career with the company. From his beginnings as a programmer for Tecmo Bowl, through Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden and all the way to his departure, everything is covered.

Join us as we take a stroll through memory lane and examine the games, the controversies and the impending future of Tomonobu Itagaki. Click here, get educated.

Following the resignation of outspoken game designer, Tomonobu Itagaki, and his subsequent lawsuit against his former employer, Tecmo has assured fans that its Team Ninja development studio remains "intact" and involved in "several new projects." In a statement issued to 1UP, the Tokyo-based publisher notes that, due to the legal complaint, it had "no choice" but to accept Itagaki's resignation, effective July 1, 2008.

The lawsuit is said to be tied to an outstanding incentive bonus for a past project, one which the parties could not amicably resolve. Tecmo states that it will let the court settle things and bring about a "true, fair, and quick resolution." As for the Team Ninja studio, it remains "committed to producing compelling and cutting edge games in order to maintain its reputation as a high quality developer and to continue to receive the support of its loyal fans."

While it's obvious that Tomonobu Itagaki didn't make games like Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden by himself, we wonder if another star developer will emerge to give Team Ninja an incendiary pass to the presses. Is this Itsygaki's time to shine?

[Thanks, Fattycop]

A little bird told us Ninja Gaiden II was coming out today. Actually, that bird was more like a note attached to a shuriken with a flower on it, but the message was all the same. In honor of the series milestone and in memory of the now-former Ninja Gaiden designer Tomonobu Itagaki, we present you with a series retrospective we're affectionately dubbing A History of Violence (hey, we thought it was clever). Click here and be educated.

Team Ninja head and creator of the landmark Dead or Alive fighting game series, Tomonobu Itagaki, has issued a statement announcing his resignation from long-time employer Tecmo. This news, first reported by 1UP, comes just as his latest creation, the Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Gaiden 2, is due to hit US shelves.

In addition to resigning his position at the company – where he had a seat on the board of directors – Itagaki has announced his intention to sue Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda for 148 million yen (US$1.5m) in damages. Among the grievances listed in the statement are Yasuda's unwillingness to pay him bonuses promised for work on titles including Dead or Alive 4, and allegations that Yasuda "made demeaning remarks" about him to other Tecmo employees, which resulted in "significant emotional distress" and "worsening [of his] personal relationships and work environment."

See? It's not just about flipping out and killing people and slashing enemies into the air and tossing shurikens into their faces and lopping off limbs and doing totally sweet combos like that one where you kick the guy in the head before chopping him into pieces and then running up the wall because you're the ultimate unstoppable mammal. Sometimes you just have to calm down and defend yourself. If the sage advice conveyed by the above video isn't enough, you have until June 3rd to view the clips after the break and get educated on the ways of the ninja.

Remember: Ninjas fight ALL the time.

We thought Ninja Gaiden Sigma was pretty good. You know, nothing revolutionary, but at least worth a spin for PS3 owners, especially those who hadn't played through Ninja Gaiden. But we've just received word (via CVG) from Ninja Gaiden I and II developer Tomonobu Itagaki that we're wrong, wrong, totally wrong.

When asked about the game, Itagaki said simply, "It was no good." Apparently not into the whole brevity thing, CVG continued the line of questioning, prompting Itagaki to add, "Despite the fact that it's on a 'next-generation' console there's no evolution whatsoever. That was made not by me, but one of my sub-ordinates who basically tried to copy the success of Ninja Gaiden." You think that's pretty rough, right? Well get this: That guy was sitting next to him. And he was making Itagaki a fancy birthday cake. No, that stuff isn't true. But it's still fairly icy.

Oh, and he dropped a preemptive burn, saying that a PS3 port of Ninja Gaiden II "would be a loss of face for everyone involved." ... So, yeah. Remind us not to cut him off in traffic.

After spending about 30 minutes with a final build (awaiting certification) of Ninja Gaiden II at the Xbox 360 Spring Showcase, we had a chance to sit down with designer Tomonobu Itakagi, along with a handful of other game journalists. Staring out at us through dark shades, as an assistant translated his responses, the Team Ninja front man spoke on the "Deadly Ds," as we like to call them: dismemberment, difficulty (as in, tweaking the design philosophy to make us feel less like wusses for playing on easy) and Down-Loadable Costumes. Actually, there was another "D" addressed here too -- the one that ends with "-rinking on the job," or rather, the lack thereof. Yes, this was a new, sobered Itagaki, folks. Hard to believe given the swirl of emotions surrounding the realization that this could be his last *gasp* Ninja Gaiden.

Joystiq: We noticed the name of the casual mode in Ninja Gaiden II is "Path of the Acolyte" and not "Ninja Dog." Are you trying to remove the stigma of playing on the easy setting?

Ever since the announcement of Ninja Gaiden II's June 3rd release, we've become increasingly annoyed with the months of April and May. As is the case with those insolent, slow-moving people who bunch up in front of you at the supermarket, we really just want to ram them out of the way so that we may fill our cart to the brim with candy as quickly as possible. Having turned around and spotted our menacing glares, May has at least shown some decency by offering us a sampler -- a Ninja Gaiden II demo to be precise (and free of rambling allegories).

According to Microsoft's Ninja Gaiden II website, those eager to decapitate demons, mangle monsters and otherwise alliteratively assault archfiends can expect to download a demon-stration from Xbox Live Marketplace in May. The page also advises to look for "exclusive" content from April 15th, no doubt referring to things like gamerpics, themes and videos pretending to be demos. Wait, we're not falling for that one again, are we?

We nearly missed the Gears of War 2 announcement at the end of Microsoft's GDC keynote because of this surprise Ninja Gaiden II demonstration. By the time it finished, we had completely lost consciousness due to an increasingly violent series of glee seizures -- or gleezures. If you plan on watching the direct-feed footage of Team Ninja's forthcoming kill-em-up, we'd advise you to sit well away from coworkers and small children should your delight suddenly begin manifesting in wild arm flailing and uncontrollable pelvic thrusts.

Protip: We find that thinking about the awful June 2008 release date has an immediate calming effect.