On the left is how Ayane appears in NGII Σ and on the right is how she appears in NGII. As it’s been pointed out back when she was revealed for Σ, gone is some of the cutesy baby fat for thinner, more grown-up features. All of this, of course, makes total and complete sense!

The designer who worked on NGII is different from the designer who’s making NGII Σ. That, and time has passed between the two games. Maybe Ayane aged or went on a diet or something?

『NINJA GAIDEN 2』、Xbox360版とPS3版の「あやね」グラフィック対決 [はちま起稿]

It has a few new game modes (including online co-op), some new characters and a whole range of fixes for the problems that plagued the 360 edition such as better camera control.

The game will be released October 1 in Japan and priced at ¥7,800 (US$81). Those who pre-order the game will get a “starter guide book” and a code for an original downloadable Ryu Hayabusa character costume.

New Team Ninja lead ninja Yosuke Hayashi hinted to website Kikizo that there very well could be more in store for Ninja Gaiden. “Regardless of what Itagaki-san said before,” Hayashi said, “in time, what the consumers, the gamers are looking for is going to be the next chapter — the future of an outstanding series.”

And that future is? Hayashi kept his cards close to his vest, but added, “We feel 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. That calling is already there — we feel it, and therefore we will continue to work towards a future for the series.”

Just promise us one thing: You’ll act surprised when Tecmo announces Ninja Gaiden III, IV and V. Oh, don’t forget to get up in around about those future PS3-only Ninja Gaiden Black ports.

Hayashi Interview [Kikizo]

The trailer for Xbox 360 title Ninja Gaiden II was a pure gore porn, complete with bloody slicing and dicing. The trailer of the PS3 reworking Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 seems, well, different.

For starters, the action scenes don’t look like a butcher shop. In place of decapitation, the trailer shows innocuous red slashes and vaporiffic blood. Since when is “Sigma” Greek for “toned down”?

This fall, Ninja Gaiden Σ 2 is coming to Sony’s PLAYSTATION 3. The game is a PS3 remake of the “Only on Xbox 360″ title Ninja Gaiden II.

The game will have PSN support as well as new content.

Like the original title, Ninja Gaiden Σ 2 is being developed by Tecmo’s Team Ninja. However, Ninja Gaiden II was designed by former Team Ninja lead ninja Tomonobu Itagaki, who has since left the company. Itagaki was known for his preference for developing titles for Microsoft’s game consoles. That, and drinking booze.

Yosuke Hayashi, director of the first Ninja Gaiden ?, will once again take the reins for this Sigma remake sequel. As with Ninja Gaiden ?, NG Σ 2 is a remake of an Itagaki designed game.

When asked about the first NG Σ title, Itagaki did not seem impressed in the least, saying, “All you need to do is play Ninja Gaiden II and then try and play Sigma afterwards and you’ll see why. 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.”

In Ninja Gaiden ?, it was possible to play as voluptuous character Rachel for some of the missions. In Ninja Gaiden Σ it will be possible to play Dead or Alive’s Ninjutsu expert Ayane as well as Ninja Gaiden’s Ryu Hayabusa — which makes sense as Hayabusa and Ayane are friends.

The game is currently half done.

Ninja Gaiden II skewers 1M [GameSpot]

Microsoft is aware of the issues that players are experiencing with the title update to “Ninja Gaiden II” and are currently working to resolve them with Tecmo/Team NINJA. Please stay tuned for a new update. We thank you for your patience!

There is currently no ETA for a new update. Their suggestion for the meantime? Clear your cache and play the game offline. Doing so will remove all game updates and disable the mission mode DLC, but you’ll be able to complete the main game without locking up while we wait for further updates. Hit the jump for cache clearing instructions.

To clear cache:

- Go to the system blade and then select memory.

- Press Y on the HD symbol and then press X, X, Left Bumper, Right Bumper, X, X. Once you do this, a message will appear saying: Do you want to perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices? Select yes.

A relatively simple fix for the issue, and really your only choice if you wish to complete the game before a new patch.

The team believes they have isolated and fixed the Mission Pack problem that some of you reported earlier this morning. They will continue to test it over the weekend and are hoping to get it back onto Marketplace on Monday. If you already downloaded the pack, go ahead and sign into LIVE. Your achievement should update allowing you to continue playing. The freezing issue is still being investigated.

…and some bad news. That’s what you get for paying $60 to invite deadly killing machines into your home.

More Ninja Gaiden II Missions for Your Pleasure! [Gamerscore Blog via Eurogamer]