Kotaku Australia » ninja gaiden 2

Xbox Live Deal Of The Week: Ninja Missions On The Cheap

Mike Fahey — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Microsoft second offering in their recently revived Deal of the Week program grants Xbox Live Gold members a special price on the Mission Mode add-on for Ninja Gaiden 2.

The Deal of the Week is Microsoft’s way of saying thank you to Xbox Live Gold customers by offering them content they more than likely already purchased at a discounted price. The service kicked off in December of last year, returning on a permanent basis last week with a discount on Braid. This week’s deal is the Ninja Gaiden 2 Mission Mode, priced to sell at 560 Microsoft points, or 33% cheaper than the original 800 point price.

Mission Mode originally dropped in July of last year, so chance are if you were going to pick it up, you already have. If you haven’t? Well never let it be said that procrastination never paid off.

This weeks Deal: Ninja Gaiden 2 ‘Mission Mode’ [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

Hard Proof That Tecmo Japan Is Lying? (This Seems Like It)

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:00:07 +0000

Things are going from bad to worse for Tecmo. First Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki announced he was leaving and suing Tecmo, while a totally separate lawsuit has been filed against Tecmo by Hiroaki Ozawa and co-plaintiff Tatsuki Tsunoda. Ozawa is the Tecmo Labour Union leader and Ninja Gaiden 2 lead engineer, while Tsunoda is the Ninja Gaiden 2 level design lead. Two key Team Ninja members! That alone does not bode well for Tecmo. But, this isn’t just a story of two guys trying to get some overtime, but also apparently of deception, falsified statements and a dead, beloved company president. There’s concrete evident in the plaintiff’s claims — so concrete that it could very well be the silver bullet for Tecmo’s current upper management.

Tecmo Employees Sue Tecmo (Tecmo Seems Fucked)

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:30:00 +0000

First Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki sues former employer Tecmo, now this. On June 16th, two Tecmo employees filed suit with the Tokyo District Court for unpaid wages, demanding 8.3 million yen ($AU 81,570) in payment. According to the suit, the workers were illegally placed on a “flexible hours” work scheme, starting four years ago. From that point, overtime wasn’t paid, apparently. The plaintiffs represent all 300 Tecmo employees and contest that because of this dubious employment structure, overtime for the employees exceeded over 100 hours per month in unpaid overtime.

Tecmo developer Hiroaki Ozawa is one of the plaintiffs in the case, and since February has headed up the “Tecmo Labour Union”. The suit even claims that Tecmo has created false documents and has covered up accounting documents. Officials are looking into whether Tecmo has violated labour laws. Things look bad for Tecmo. Very, very bad.

テクモ社員、残業代求め提訴 [jiji via my game news flash]
テクモ労働組合の執行役員2名が未払賃金を求めて提訴 [Game Watch Impress]

Details Surface About Akihabara Killer (Ninja Gaiden 2 Confusion)

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:00:00 +0000

As we reported earlier, tragedy struck Tokyo’s video game/anime/manga district Akihabara this Sunday. A 25-year-old-man stabbed 17, killing 7. Truly, truly horrible stuff. The killer’s name is Tomohiro Kato, and according to blog Japan Probe, details about him include: He had been to Akihabara many times in the past. He worked for a Tokyo-based temp company and had been sent to Shizuoka for work. He played tennis in school. One of his year book sketches includes a character from Namco RPG Tales of Destiny with messages he wrote in English (after the jump). The mass media has already latched onto the game connection, instead of the tennis one to explain this senseless spree. (Because tennis driving people to kill makes no sense — but apparently video games does!)

Itagaki Leaving Tecmo, Suing Tecmo

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:45:00 +0000

Tomonobu Itagaki is leaving Tecmo and suing the company for unpaid bonuses. The Dead or Alive creator cites an unfulfilled Dead or Alive 4 completion bonus, stating, “President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me ‘if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.’”

Tomonobu Itagaki’s translator Andrew Szymanski contacted Kotaku, telling us, “At approximately 2:30 PM Japan Standard Time today, June 3rd 2008, an official statement from Tomonobu Itagaki was sent by fax to major Japanese news outlets. In the interest of fair and expedient reporting of this story throughout the English-speaking world, I have been asked by Itagaki to convey this statement to you. Herein find attached Itagaki’s official statement, in English, for the benefit of your readers.”

What does this mean for Itagaki’s future? Szymanski does not know, adding, “You will likely have questions regarding the content of the statement, or about Itagaki’s future plans. I am afraid that I will be unable to answer such questions for the time being; however, rest assured that more information will be forthcoming as soon as it is deemed appropriate to do so.”Quitting Tecmo (and suing it) means the chances of Itagaki making Dead or Alive 5 are more dead than alive. Hit the jump for Itagaki’s full statement.

Statement

I, Tomonobu Itagaki, hereby announce that on the 14th of May 2008 I filed a complaint in the Tokyo District Court against Tecmo Co., Ltd. for unpaid completion bonuses, and against the President of Tecmo, Yoshimi Yasuda, for such unlawful acts as unreasonable and disingenuous statements made towards me, claiming damages in total of 148 million yen. I also announce that this complaint was delivered to the defendants on May 22nd of the same year.

In addition, I hereby announce that I have today submitted a letter of resignation to Tecmo Co., Ltd. stating that I will resign as of the 1st of July, 2008.

Before the start of development on DEAD OR ALIVE 4, Tecmo Co., Ltd. had agreed to pay a completion bonus to me for this Xbox 360 title, which I produced. However, when the time came for the actual payment, Tecmo Co., Ltd. went against its previous agreement and refused payment. President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me “if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.” In addition, he made demeaning remarks about me to my subordinates and colleagues, causing me significant emotional distress and worsening my personal relationships and work environment. Thus, I have no choice but to resign from Tecmo Co., Ltd.

The conduct of Tecmo Co., Ltd. and its president Yoshimi Yasuda towards me has been unbefitting of a publicly-listed company.

I have filed this lawsuit with a strong intent to question the social responsibility of Tecmo Co., Ltd. and its President Yoshimi Yasuda, as well as condemning them for their unjust acts. Today, in addition to announcing the reasons for this lawsuit, I make clear my reasons for resigning.

To All Game Fans

I truly feel sorry to all the fans of the games I have made. NINJA GAIDEN 2, which will launch on the 3rd of June will be the last NINJA GAIDEN I will create. I will also never be able to make DEAD OR ALIVE 5. I regret the circumstances that have forced me to leave Tecmo, where I had worked for so many years, and I regret the disappointment this will cause my fans.

However, I can no longer continue to work with President Yoshimi Yasuda, a man who chooses not to honour promises even when he is able to do so.

I truly hope that nothing like this happens again in the future.

Tecmo Co., Ltd. Creative Officer

Leader, Team NINJA

Tomonobu Itagaki

[Pic]

Ninja Gaiden II Bloody Video Blowout

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:30:00 +0000

Let’s take a break from Itagaki shooting his mouth off and get back to Ninja Gaiden II, eh? And we’ll get back to it by checking out not one, not two, not even three, but four new videos for the game. Above, Mr. Hayabusa painting (a mysteriously drab-looking) Times Square red, with the other three after the jump.

Itagaki Is Focused on “Movement” and “Animation”

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:00:00 +0000

As Crecente previously reported, Tecmo’s Tomonobu Itagaki is ready to move on after Ninja Gaiden 2. He’s said its the last entry in the series. What’s next for the sunglassed one? According to Itagaki:

I love the action game genre, in particular I am very focused on movement and the animation. One of the precepts I always have for my games is making sure that the animation of all the characters is as fluid and as cool looking as they can be… I think that I’m going to continue to explore the action genre and do something that allows me to go in directions that I haven’t been able to go with the Ninja Gaiden series, with an entirely new franchise.

Itagaki told Crecente that he was thinking about either a World War II game with an American developer or on a space game. Whatever Itagaki settles on, you can be damn sure of one thing: It will have great boob physics.
What’s Next [Videogamer]

Celebrate DotN With Ninja Gaiden 2

Mike Fahey — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:00:41 +0000

Oh you know that Team Ninja wasn’t going to let the Day of the Ninja go by without giving us some sort of Ninja Gaiden love. Here’s an all-new trailer for the Xbox 360 sequel, Ninja Gaiden 2, along with three new screenshots to help you actually see Ryu instead of the blur he leaves in his wake. The video itself is a lot better than the ones I saw with the game’s announcement, showing off how crisp and fluid everything moves. Just a few nitpicks from a ninja standpoint. First, you can actually see him at several points during gameplay, which never happens with a real ninja. Secondly? It never takes that long to kill a spider demon in real life. They really should have hired a ninja consultant.