While we're out gallivanting about in San Francisco during GDC, our 360s languish at home, alone. Thankfully, the dutiful fanboys at X3F are keeping tabs on the happenings on Xbox Live Marketplace. Their diligence has been rewarded too, as the GDC section of Xbox Live Marketplace has revealed that a Ninja Gaiden II demo should be hitting Live sometime in the near future. Given the very polished nature of what Tomonobu Itagaki had on display during Microsoft's keynote, we wouldn't be surprised if the GDC demo and the Xbox Live demo are one and the same. Good news if true, though it threatens to halt all productivity at Joystiq if it comes to pass before GDC is over.

It's one thing to read the news that positively poured forth from Microsoft's GDC08 keynote this year, but it's nothing without a few pictures to help flesh out the experience. It is with this in mind that Joystiq presents Microsoft's keynote in purely pictorial format, handily divvied into cohesive chunks for easier digestion (always chew your images, kids). Click the images in this post -- including the image of John Schappert's best Tony Soprano impression above -- for more. Enjoy.

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.

Gamerscore Blog recently afforded our buddies over at X3F the opportunity to ask Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki one question about the upcoming Ninja Gaiden II on the 360. They chose to ask about the sequel's adjustments to the original's infamous difficulty, specifically the addition of a automatically-regenerating health system, seemingly added to widen the game's appeal to less-hardcore players.

Not to disappoint the fans, Itagaki coolly (oh so coolly) explains that the health regenerating system was added to keep players immersed in the game, rather than having to constantly access the game's menus to use potions.

Of course, Itagaki assures the hardcore audience that the game will still appeal to their masochistic sides, but that they hope to increase the audience in the sequel with more adjustability in the difficulty levels. Good news for everyone?

An utterly gratuitous explosion of mangled limbs is just what you need to snap out of that slow, pre-Christmas Friday afternoon. It certainly worked for us, as the above gameplay footage of Xbox 360 kill-em-up, Ninja Gaiden 2, woke us from our keyboard slumber just long enough for a visit to our violent word thesaurus. Decapitate, eviscerate, disembowel, shave, slash, amputate, behead, cleave, sever, lacerate, perforate and abbreviate -- all apply. It seems our language will have to become quite offensive if it's to adequately describe the game before its 2008 release.

And so the scalding sake saga comes to an end, with the sexual harassment charges against Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki having been dismissed in the Tokyo District Court. The outspoken game designer was accused last year of behaving inappropriately in the presence of a former female Tecmo employee, allegedly displaying his fondness a bit too forcibly for her liking. With the suit settled and the charges vanquished, Itagaki has been declared an innocent man.

"I have held my head high and have fought the good fight for the past year in order to clear my name and to uphold the reputations of Team NINJA and of Tecmo," Itagaki told 1UP. "The former employee's arguments were judged to have been false, and all claims that she has brought against me have been dismissed." We expect he'll be celebrating the occasion by lopping off limbs and hoping this courtroom business remains nothing more than a mammary.

When Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki tells you Ninja Gaiden II is the greatest action game ever made, he doesn't expect you to take his word for it. No, in today's wondrous online world, he expects you to download the demo and reach that conclusion on your own. Failure to do so, of course, will result in the world's deadliest mammals hurling shurikens through your window and slicing up your special edition copy of Devil May Cry 4.

In a video interview with IGN (embedded after the break), the outspoken designer notes that non-believers can look forward to a demo of Ninja Gaiden II at "some point," though we suspect it might be after the game's Spring 2008 release if the tardy Dead or Alive 4 demo is any indication. Not that we need much convincing, mind you -- the interview's talk of mutilated enemies exclaiming "It's only a flesh wound!" before wrapping themselves around your legs and committing C4 seppuku has us convinced.

The latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly has a few new details (via Gamers Creed) on the upcoming Xbox 360 bloodbath Ninja Gaiden 2. Developer Team Ninja has added plenty of incentive for dismemberment, as removed limbs will stay on screen (we can only hope this inspires a rather grotesque Katamari Damacy cross-over game).

Additionally, there will be "obliteration techniques" that the player can activate by pressing Y after removing a limb. The details are unknown except that the camera zooms in, but we can only assume that entails protagonist Ryu totally flipping out and killing people in some stylish fashion. The techniques vary based on what weapon you're using and what body part you just removed.

Some of the stages are modeled after -- and possibly named after -- real world locations, including Tokyo, Times Square and Venice. (The Statue of Liberty was previously spotted in the TGS demo.) Expect cooperative attacks from enemies and unfortunately (but unsurprisingly) no multiplayer in the final game.

Ninja Gaiden 2, being published by Microsoft, is due out Spring 2008.

[Via X3F]

Team Ninja's long-awaited, not-a-remake sequel to Ninja Gaiden has already garnered attention for its gratuitous and unyielding violence, with early screenshots depicting massive arterial blood sprays, decapitations and all manner of lopped and lobbed limbs. It's further exacerbated when seen in motion, as enemies clutch bloody stumps and roll about in agony when separated from their legs. If you didn't consider series protagonist Ryu Hayabusa to be a murdering machine before, Ninja Gaiden 2 should provide enough visual evidence to convince you otherwise.

Leaked screenshots are one thing, but to truly experience the power of a ninja you need to see him in action. Fortunately, GameTrailers has footage from Tomonobu Itagaki's live demo of Ninja Gaiden II at Microsoft's pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference.

Itagaki says the "world's best action game" is "pretty far in development," as evidenced by the eight stages available on the demo's stage select screen (including one that intriguingly shows the Statue of Liberty). Only one level gets played in the live demo, though -- a Venice-style aqua city. Our favorite ninja is shown using a scythe-like sword, a pair of longswords and a set Wolverine-style claws against ninjas, military types and some green-blooded dragons. The action will be familiar to anyone who has played a modern Ninja Gaiden game, with plenty of bloody severed enemies and dramatic zooms for particularly vicious kills.

Unfortunately, the demo ends just before a battle with the towering red-eyed spider-beast shown above. Here's hoping we'll get some hands on time with the game when the Tokyo Game Show starts this Thursday.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

Here at Joystiq's East Coast HQ, the sun has just started to crest the hills, bathing the clover in a soft golden light, while on the West Coast, the sun still hides below the horizon, allowing the California denizens a few more hours sleep. As we watch this picturesque scene we are plagued by one answerable question: ... Is it too early for ninjas?

We don't, of course, wonder if it's too early if you yourself are a ninja, as we all know that you'll rise at any hour for killing. What we want to know is if it's too early for you to watch a video of Ryu Hayabusa after he just killed a bunch of people in Ninja Gaiden 2. Is pure ninja action like cheeseburgers? Delicious, but not necessarily at 8 a.m.? Or is it like bacon, a perfect addition to any meal? Regardless, we're putting this teaser up for your consumption now. If you get your faced rocked off by watching it too early, don't come crying to us.

Fresh from our liveblog Microsoft TGS briefing, Tomonobu Itagaki has unveiled Ninja Gaiden 2 for the Xbox 360. The latest iteration of the title will cut off heads all the time and not even think twice about it as today's earlier screenshot leak indicated. Itagaki is pushing to include even more ideas his team had to scrap with the franchise relaunch (and relaunch), admitting that they made many compromises. We've lost count of the numbers -- does Black count -- but maybe this time will be the charm.

According to a brief 1UP preview, the title will be published by Microsoft instead of Tecmo, so this one seems locked into a 360 exclusive. Look for the game in 2008.

Read - Live at the Microsoft Pre-TGS press briefing
Read - Previews: Ninja Gaiden 2



[Thanks, Jonah]

Our friends from Engadget Japan are live on the scene in Tokyo, feeding us updates from Microsoft's Xbox 360 2007 pre-TGS briefing. Maybe they'll finally come clean on Ninja Gaiden 2 for the 360, we'll see. We'll update this post live throughout the event.

1:10PM – The show begins with a CGI trailer, after which Takashi Sensui, Microsoft Japan's Xbox division manager takes the stage. He introduces Hironobu Sakaguchi who says that his Unreal Engine 3-powered RPG Lost Odyssey is 95% completed.

There is a rather perverse enjoyment of reading bad translations at Joystiq HQ (which is located in France, of course). So it is with a hushed giggle that we inform you of a rumor stemming from GameSpot Korean that [nin] the guy to sleep 2 it is burnt, also known as Ninja Gaiden 2, will be shown on the Xbox 360 at this year's Tokyo Game Show.

A Japanese insider also reportedly said that a PS3 version is not yet detailed. Our Korean is a little rusty, so until we hear a confirmation in another language (Japanese, Spanish, German, Swahili, English or French, of course) and can translate in-house, consider this just a juicy rumor to sink your katana into.

[Via X3F]

An interesting turn of rumored events have surfaced regarding Team Ninja's sequel to the beloved Ninja Gaiden franchise and its console future. According to Gamespot Korea (which is in Korean, so have fun reading that), they've "confirmed" with a Japanese gaming insider that Ninja Gaiden 2 will be released on the Xbox 360 and will be shown on the 360 at the Tokyo Game Show. They supposedly will be demoing the game on a 360 due to their strong relationship with Microsoft and because they probably love having fists full of cash. Also interesting to note is that the Japanese tipster said that a PS3 release wasn't detailed yet, hinting at a possible timed exclusive for the 360. Juicy stuff.

But remember kids, we're nearly required to file this Ninja Gaiden 2 news in the rumor / spec folder, because of all the vagueness. Heck, we can't even read the Korean Gamespot story to confirm its text. But we have to admit the thought of Ninja Gaiden 2 on the 360, at the TGS and being a timed exclusive just makes us giddy.

[Thanks, Jim]