Speaking at Tecmo’s Autumn Conference, new president Yasuharu Kakihara has revealed that Team Ninja are not only still together following Itagaki’s departure, but that they’re very busy indeed.

Three new titles are being worked on, but there’s no word on what they are. It’s a bit too soon for Ninja Gaiden 3, but it’s about time for Dead or Alive 5, isn’t it? He did however bring up Team Tachyon’s Rygar: The Battle of Argus– more details about it will be revealed at TGS 2008.

President Kakihara also engaged in a formal bit of corporate back-slapping, affirming that Tecmo is a world class developer and would be aiming to expand in the future. Though I’m not sure dreams of expansion are going to sit with Square Enix.

Source: Inside Games (translated by Google)

According to the February issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, it’s a definite “maybe”. Of course that could just be a typo.

Towards the end of EGM’s Game Over section, they always give a little sneak peek at the next month’s issue. This time, they happen to have Ninja Gaiden II listed in the previews section, but they have it listed for both the 360 and the PS3.

Now, I’m not one to start rumors, so let me just tell you now that I find this extremely hard to believe. I’ve been a reader of EGM for over 15 years, and I’ve seen mistakes like this before. Yes, I’m saying it’s a mistake — a typographical error.

Image courtesy of myself because it’s my magazine and I paid for it. The content, of course, is the property of EGM and Ziff Davis Media.

While it’s entirely possible that EGM knows something we don’t and inadvertently let the ninja out of the bag, I dismiss this idea for one main reason: Microsoft is publishing the game. Unless Tecmo and Team Ninja decided to let Sony or someone else (maybe themselves) publish Ninja Gaiden II for the PS3, I doubt the game is coming to the PS3 by way of Microsoft.

Then again, maybe EGM does know something, but they aren’t allowed to say, in which case they “accidentally” listed the game for both consoles. Again, I find this very hard to believe. They would all be killed!

EGM’s final page is all about the PS3 and how it’s going to have a big year. If EGM really did know that Ninja Gaiden II was coming to the PS3, I don’t think they would have excluded it from the conversation. You know, that would actually be some news worth talking about, wouldn’t it?

Unless you think this is how Ninja Gaiden II for PS3 would be announced, and it’s not just a three-letter mistake in the back of a magazine, I would just put this one in the “wishful thinking” department. Although the shockwaves could be significant, consider this just a simple error on EGM’s part. Great job, guys!

When the original Ninja Gaiden was released in the U.S. in March of 1989 on the NES console it was an instant classic. The mix of side scrolling action, shuriken power-ups, insane difficulty and memorable boss battles left a lasting impression on young gamers across America. It also set the record straight concerning the misconceptions surrounding that most mysterious of ancient Japanese arts: Ninjutsu. The game’s developer, Tecmo, encouraged us to look past the rants of so called “historians” who claim that the Shinobi were assassins who incorporated the use of avoidance, non-detection, information gathering and stealth to achieve their goals.

According to the Tokyo based game company that was all a lot of baloney. Ninjas actually cared very little for subtleties – favoring the slaughter of everything from birds, leopards, dogs and spiders to fellow ninjas, grenade hurling hulks, axe lobbing hockey masked maniacs and even women…all in broad daylight. Yes, Ryu Hyabusa definitely utilized extermination over espionage and little has changed in the almost two decades since the series’ inception.

Now with the announcement of Ninja Gaiden II (the highly anticipated sequel to the platinum selling original XBOX title) fans are excited to know where young Ryu’s adventures will be whisking him off to next. All that we can say for sure is that whatever road Hyabusa heads down would benefit from a crew of diligent street sweepers, because getting all that dried blood off the pavement ain’t gonna be easy.

When Tobonobu Itagaki and Team Ninja brought the Ninja Gaiden series back to life on the XBOX console after roughly 10 years of hibernation, fans were understandably hyped. And it delivered. It stayed true to the spirit of the original NES trilogy by including all the fast paced action that those 3 games introduced. The game continued to grow in subsequent months with the release of the highly popular Hurricane Packs made available over XBOX live, and the re-release of the improved Ninja Gaiden: Black. XBOX 360 owners were dealt a tough blow, however, when news was released that Team Ninja had no intentions of releasing Ninja Gaiden: Sigma – the 2007 next gen port, and Playstation 3 exclusive, of Ninja Gaiden – to the Microsoft console. Hardcore XBOX gamers felt betrayed and alone. But the clouds were lifted on September 12th when Microsoft announced that an entirely new and original Hyabusa adventure would be released exclusively on the XBOX 360, rather than yet another remake of its 2004 counterpart. Hallelujah!

Ninja Gaiden II is slated for a 2008 release. Itagaki and the rest of Team Ninja will once again helm the game’s development. But this time around there’ll be a little twist. Unlike the 3 previous entries, Ninja Gaiden II will not be published by Tecmo but directly by Microsoft Game Studios (Halo, Gears of War, Mass Effect). While this move pleases a lot of 360 owners who’re anxious to steer young Ryu through another acrobatic slash fest, the PS3 faithful will never get that chance. Ninja Gaiden II will be a 360 exclusive.

Little is known about the sequel’s story at this time, but it is known that you will once again be fighting to prevent the annihilation of the human race, using an assortment of authentic (and not so authentic) ninja weaponry while avenging your clan in the process. Like Ninja Gaiden before it, this addition to the series will be taking place before the circumstances of the original NES games. That means that a guest appearance by Ruy’s father (Ken), or some of the other characters that graced the earlier story arcs, is still a possibility. Who knows?

The gameplay and difficulty level are things that have always shined in the Ninja Gaiden series. Gameplay mechanics are expected to remain faithful to the original XBOX game with some welcomed additions. One of these additions has been titled “Obliteration Techniques” which have been described as moves that can be engaged to stylishly end an opponent’s existence. It hasn’t been made clear if essence collecting will play into these new techniques (pretty likely), or if a blocking mechanic might be the catalyst.

Itagaki said during a presentation of Ninja Gaiden II that this game would be used to implement a lot of the features that had to be left out of the first game due to the original XBOX console’s restrictions power wise. That same presentation also left hints of a variety of environments for our hero to wreak havoc in, both urban and rural. You’ll travel from quiet Buddhist temples to the gritty streets of New York and Tokyo, while visiting the Netherworld in an attempt to learn its secrets. Real life locations also seem like a possibility, with footage showing places that seem to resemble Kiyomizudera in Japan and the obvious inclusion of The Statue of Liberty in the Big Apple.

In an effort to make the game a little more accessible to the average gamer there has been a new auto healing health system incorporated into the gameplay. Operating similar to Halo in the way that you will gradually heal yourself as long as you avoid taking hits, with semi permanent damage being healable at save points to revive your health bar’s full potential. Although the gaming industry seems to have made a lean towards the more casual gamer with the success of Nintendo’s Wii and Bungie’s decision to lower the default difficulty setting for Halo 3, Itagaki assures us that this next Ninja Gaiden won’t alienate any of its masochistic fans. And if the early videos circling the Internet are anything to go on, those who are gluttons for punishment can expect a good hearty spanking come next year.

All in all, Ninja Gaiden II looks like it will be a promising ride. Team Ninja seems to have taken a lot of steps over the past 3 years towards giving us the perfect numchuku swinging, wall scaling, head decapitating thrill ride that we’ve been longing for. With improvements in camera control, interface design, weapon variety and item selection over the course of the last 3 installments – this game will most likely expand an already amazing upcoming lineup of XBOX 360 must haves.

One of the finest experiences in gaming just got better. Team Ninja has hit it out of the park with their latest installment of blade swinging action. Our beloved Ryu Hayabusa is back, in black, and better than ever. Playstation 3 owners, you now have a response to the insults regarding your system’s line up of games. Yes, Metal Gear Solid 4 is still a ways away, but Ninja Gaiden Sigma is here now, and you can only find it on the PS3!

Who can forget the cinematic intro for the original Ninja Gaiden side scroller. Two ninjas running towards each other as they spring into mid air and metal meets metal … only one would be left standing as they hit the ground. If you saw it, you remember it, if you didn’t then you are probably too young to have played it. Either way we have it for you below and are going to request that you please watch it before reading any further.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Back from Black, not only does Sigma not disappoint, it delivers on all cylinders. Game play is not only the best of any game in this genre, but hands down the most in depth and challenging game play experience on the market today.

The action is intense and make no mistake, it will take some getting used to for gamers new to the series, but the learning curve is well worth it. Once engaged you will find it hard to put the controller down.

Graphics and sound are superb, and the animation is fluid and believable. With the awesome power of a highly trained ninja you will scale walls, glide across water, unleash magic, and wield your blade in ways that would make the iron chef himself green with envy.

The advanced enemy AI, well thought out combat environments, and seamless in game camera movement create unique real time visuals that do away with the need for constant cut scenes, which oddly enough used to be a trademark of the original NES and SNES games.

In terms of game play enhancements, you will now be able to access potions without having to visit the game’s menu system via the use of your controller’s directional pad. Walking on water this time around is as simple as maintaining motion in the desired direction and fighting fanatics will be glad to know that a few new combos have been added to the mix as well.

Don’t expect too much in the way of new content though. There are a handful of new battles along with extended versions of some of the old ones revamped with enhanced special effects and added detail. Overall though the main focus of the title is the adventure at hand, and it is a dandy.

“Demon Hunter Rachel” is a new playable character that we have all probably seen at one point or another, and yes, her and her whip are everything we all hoped they would “crack” up to be. Decked out in her skin tight leather suit, Rachel will battle through a few new chapters in the game.

Just like in a movie, how a game is edited effects the overall experience, and while we did notice that certain scenes had been either modified or completely removed, we felt that the changes made for a much smoother game play experience.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma is not without its share of bugs. The camera can be a bit of a pain when fighting in close quarters and we noticed that the lighting within the game seemed a bit off at times. The movie player is gone but being that most of the cinematics were replaced with real time action, this didn’t bother us as much as finding out that we were no longer able to play the old school NES versions of the game like we could in Black. We thought Blu-ray discs could hold more content!

Overall the game has a lot of positives and is one of the best games on the market, certainly the best game available for the PS3. We give it a 9.4 overall and think that gamers and ninjas alike will enjoy it very much.

What the heck are you looking at?!?

PlayStation 3 owners rejoice, for you and you alone have Team Ninja!

Eager fans of the Ninja Gaiden series have likely already hit the PlayStation Store, downloaded the Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo, and played it non stop until their hands started bleeding, but now there is a reason to go back and play it some more!

Team Ninja and Tecmo have once again sprung from the shadows to smack us upside the head, this time in the form of an update! If you thought you had exhausted the current demo think again, because Team Ninja is watching and waiting to reward you for your efforts.

The final release of the game which is slated for early July will be able to detect the amount of hours you played the game, difficulty level, etc and reward you accordingly with “Yellow Essence”. For those of us that don’t speak Ninja, that means you will get in game currency that can be used to power up weapons and purchase other cool stuff.

So stop breaking bricks with your head and go download the demo if you haven’t already.

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