Itagaki returns: new team and new 360 game

[Purple Filth]

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3174393

1UP: Hey, Matsui-san. Hey, guys. Good to see you. How are you doing?

Hiroaki Matsui: Never been better.

1UP: I'm guessing you didn't stick around for the Tecmo/Koei merger.

HM: Tecmo? Tecmo was a long time ago. I actually quit last July. I wanted to get into an environment where I can really concentrate on making games I like. So we made our own company to do just that.

1UP: Then the rumors were true. How many of you are in the new company?

HM: Just counting the guys who used to be in Team NINJA, we have enough people to make an American football team. In fact we can make an entire offensive team and a defensive team. [Laughs]

1UP: Which means you have at least 22 people. I see Ehara and Okamoto are here; I assume you guys are in this new company as well?

Katsunori Ehara: Yeah, that's right. It's just like Matsui said. We already did all of the things we could do at Tecmo. Now we want to make the best game with just the best people.

Yoshifuru Okamoto: We're making a groundbreaking all-new title right now. We gathered together a team of really skilled individuals, so we're going to bring out something amazing.

1UP: Can you tell me who else from Team NINJA is in your new company now?

HM: Well, I can give you a list, but it's probably faster to just tell you that we got all of the leads and directors and such.

1UP: All of them?

HM: Well, you see Okamoto, the producer here, and Ehara and me, the directors. We got Maeda and Sasaki, the engineering leads. These guys are amazing, they put together a brand new game engine in less than a year.

1UP: Does that mean you're coming up with a brand new title?

KE: That's right. That's why we made an entirely new company.

HM: We also got Motosa, the animation lead. He worked with me to create the high quality and quantity of animations in Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden. This guy is young, but he's good.

YO: We're also working with Onishi, the cinematics lead.

HM: He was in charge of all of the cut-scenes in Ninja Gaiden. He's also always been my right-hand man. We also have Inamori, the audio lead, and the guys from the level design team.

1UP: So that's really almost all of the core staff behind Ninja Gaiden 2. You pulled together quite a roster.

HM: We also have a team of young but skilled engineers working in a new environment and putting together something completely new. We have the young programmer who realized Itagaki-san's new ideas on Ninja Gaiden DS, along with a whole team of other great programmers.

1UP: I take it that's what it would take to create a game engine from scratch in under a year.

HM: Same goes for animation, environmental art and character art. We really have the cream of the crop here, the best of the best. That's the philosophy behind our new company. That's why we have people from not just Tecmo, but from other places as well.

1UP: Really? Like who else?

HM: For starters, the superb art director who led the character design efforts for Virtua Fighter 5 is also on our team. He supervised the modeling for all the characters. We also have the guy who did the modeling for Akira, Kage, and the Lucha Libre character.

1UP: That's pretty cool. How many people do you have total?

HM: Well, I just told you that we can make a football team from just the guys from Team Ninja. But if we add the other guys, let's just say we can actually play a football game.

1UP: That's like, what, 44 people or more? That's a pretty big team.

HM: We might even be able to set up a special team on top of the offense and defense. [Laughs]

1UP: Can you tell me the name of your new development team?

HM: We're planning on an official release sometime in the near future, but I'm going to call ourselves the "Tokyo Vikings" for now. [Laughs]

[From our left, a voice interrupts the conversation...] "Hey, sorry to be late." And finally the familiar face of Itagaki shows itself, wearing his sunglasses as usual, even at night in this dark bar.

HM: You're late, Itagaki-san!

Tomonobu Itagaki: Sorry, sorry. The photo shoot took too long.

1UP: Hey Itagaki, good to see you. I heard rumors that you're a photographer now, but what is it that you really do?

TI: Hey, relax. Let me get some alcohol in my system.

[Editor's note: there's this Japanese ritual, the "Kaketsuke Sanbai," in which the rules are: If you're late to a party, the first thing you do is drink three shots. It's a drinking game designed to punish latecomers, but if you knew how much alcohol Itagaki could cram into his body, you'd realize this wasn't such a big deal. Itagaki totally overshot the rule and consumed several glasses of whiskey on the rocks before breaking out the news.]

TI: I have my own production studio now. So I'm a photographer, and a scale model designer, and a couple of other things. Scale models these days are really accurate, so I bought new glasses for the smaller stuff. [Laughs]

KE: Model trains, right? Are those new glasses tinted as well?

TI: Haha, very funny. [Laughs] Those glasses are for pinpoint accuracy, it has special lenses that boost my vision within two meters to 20/10.

1UP: Hey, I didn't come all the way to Tokyo to listen to you talk about your new glasses. The fact that you're here means you're on Matsui's football team, right?

TI: Haha, I said calm down. And I drink here all the time. It's near my alma mater, Waseda University.

1UP: I know. When Matsui told me to come to this bar, I knew you would show up as well, since this is your favorite spot.

TI: The guys here have been my comrades since the first Dead or Alive; my right-hand men, so to speak. I love drinking with them.

KE: What were you shooting today?

HM: Trains, no? [Laughs]

YO: Nah, ladies in bikinis, I'm sure. [Laughs]

TI: If only. [Laughs] It's a portrait picture of a new jazz artist who's debuting soon. It's going to be on the cover of the CD.

1UP: Well, as much as I'm enjoying learning about your new photographic ventures, I have to ask you this, on behalf of the gaming community. Are you still making games?

TI: What else would I do?

1UP: I don't know, that's why I'm asking. [Laughs]

TI: Game making is my true calling. I'm aware that I have fans all around the world waiting for me. The rest I leave up to your imagination.

1UP: I was told a few minutes ago that a couple guys who worked on Virtua Fighter 5 joined your team. Is this new game a fighting game?

HM: [Bursts out laughing] No, no that would be impossible.

KE: Yeah, we did all what we can do for a fighting game. We have no more reasons to make another fighting game.

TI: It'd be more fun if we made something new, right?

1UP: Given your past history, can I assume that you're developing something exclusively for Xbox 360? If so, is it because of the hardware's power, or because of its bigger-than-PS3 user base?

TI: I'm trying to be flexible in that respect, but I do feel that the Xbox 360 still has a lot of potential that I haven't been able to play with yet. I also have many good friends [at Microsoft's Xbox team] too, and being in a comfortable environment is best.

1UP: Have you heard how Koei president, Kenji Matsubara, has stated that, "There's no possibility of Tomonobu Itagaki being employed with us?" How do you feel about this? I can't imagine you'd want to have to work on one of this year's fifteen Dynasty Warriors games, so I'm imagining you don't care in the least.

TI: I have nothing but total respect for [Koei chairman, Keiko] Erikawa-san, who created all of the historical war simulation games, but who is this Matsubara guy anyway? Were we talking about dynasties? Unfortunately, I have absolutely no interest in the Dynasty Warrior franchise. In fact, I prefer that old American TV show, Dynasty. I used to watch it when I was a student.


1UP: I thought it was pointless of him to say that; it was obvious to everyone but him that you would never want to work for that company.

TI: The thought never even crossed my mind. I couldn't care less what he says. [Laughs]

1UP: Could you give me a year when you plan for your next game to be complete?

TI: Rule of thumb; never rush a game. You know, that, right?

1UP: How do you feel about the plans for Yosuke Hayashi and the abilities of the remaining Team NINJA at the newly merged KoeiTecmo to continue both the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises? Do you think they're up to the task?

TI: I believe I created a certain era in Tecmo's history, and I hold pride in that fact. So, if I were to speak negatively of Tecmo, it would be the same as me disrespecting myself. They should strive to do their best, that's all.

1UP: Assuming you're going to save the details of your game for the official unveiling, can you tell me what your plans are for the future?

TI: Well, I'm going to E3 next month, for sure.

YO: E3? Not Vegas? [Laughs]

TI: [Bursts out laughing] Both.

1UP: I'm guessing you're not concerned with the swine flu scare like most of the Japanese developers then, eh? Although, considering how you manage to survive exclusively on a diet of whiskey, coffee, cigarettes, and red meat, I doubt there's anything that can kill you.

TI: I would be surprised if the virus had the guts to get in my way. [Laughs] In terms of floating particles, I'm more annoyed by the dust that gets on my Digital SLR imager.

1UP: Are you going public with your new game at E3?

TI: No, no. It's too early. I wouldn't mind having a photo exhibition, though. [Laughs] Anyway, I feel it's my duty to make the best game possible to deliver to my fans. So I don't intend to stay out of the game for too long. To any of my fans reading this, if you see me at E3, feel free to say hi.

nice to see he's back and doing what he does, looking out for his new game.


and this quote was somewhat humble of him

1UP: How do you feel about the plans for Yosuke Hayashi and the abilities of the remaining Team NINJA at the newly merged KoeiTecmo to continue both the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises? Do you think they're up to the task?

TI: I believe I created a certain era in Tecmo's history, and I hold pride in that fact. So, if I were to speak negatively of Tecmo, it would be the same as me disrespecting myself. They should strive to do their best, that's all.

[Veidt]

Nice. he likes xbox for some reason.  That's cool. Can't wait to play whatever he's working on : ]

He's like Xbox's Kojima [ only a lot less talented and less established]

[drew]

no direct quote in the op thus making me click on a 1up link

leper this fucking filth

[Rman]

Hopefully he gets a better art director this time.

[Human Snorenado]

Hopefully he gets a better art director this time.

Personally, I just hope that the character models don't look like they're made of plastic so much.

[drew]

Hopefully he gets a better art director this time.

[ch1nchilla]

Hopefully he gets a better art director this time.

Agreed. I got a Mortal Kombat Trilogy vibe from NG2-- no thank you.

[Jansen]

fucking awesome

i really do hope they take their time and avoid another rushed product like ng2

[Purple Filth]

fucking awesome

i really do hope they take their time and avoid another rushed product like ng2

i really think it was due to the tecmo problem since itagaki tends to polish his games

.

Hopefully he gets a better art director this time.

Personally, I just hope that the character models don't look like they're made of plastic so much.

he got the guy who helped with VF5

HM: For starters, the superb art director who led the character design efforts for Virtua Fighter 5 is also on our team. He supervised the modeling for all the characters. We also have the guy who did the modeling for Akira, Kage, and the Lucha Libre character.

[brawndolicious]

Nice. he likes xbox for some reason.  That's cool. Can't wait to play whatever he's working on : ]

He's like Xbox's Kojima [ only a lot less talented and less established]

Kojima had a lot of ambition but no talent at all.  Itagaki can make a fucking fun game without being rushed (which he won't be if it's his own company) and apparently his games don't have the most tasteful stories but who the fuck cares.

[pilonv1]

dynasty for 360!

[ManaByte]

Itagaki likes the Xbox because he hated how DOA Hardcore turned out graphically on the PS2.

[Bildi]

Nice. he likes xbox for some reason.  That's cool. Can't wait to play whatever he's working on : ]

He's like Xbox's Kojima [ only a lot less talented and less established]

I don't think it's fair to compare the two since Itagaki makes games.

[maxy]

Itagaki

[Veidt]

Nice. he likes xbox for some reason.  That's cool. Can't wait to play whatever he's working on : ]

He's like Xbox's Kojima [ only a lot less talented and less established]

I don't think it's fair to compare the two since Itagaki makes games.

Oh snap!

[cool breeze]

is it going to be a new D-rate fighting game, embarrassing volleyball game or awesome action game?  

[Bildi]

Oh snap!

[cool breeze]

Copy Virtua Fighter, add tits, a boring counter system and repeat 5 times? I'm sure he can do more.

If he made an arena fighting game with gameplay like Ninja Gaiden, that would be fantastic.

[Bildi]

I hope they don't use the wacky boob physics from DOAX2 ever again.  DOAX1 was so much better.

[Human Snorenado]

Copy Virtua Fighter, add tits, a boring counter system and repeat 5 times? I'm sure he can do more.

...add more tits?

[tiesto]

Holy fuck, I totally missed the news that Tecmo and Koei merged. Would be interested in seeing what Itagaki is up to next, by any means. I've always liked the vibrant look of his games, regardless of the 'plasticky' character models. DOA4 had some nice-ass backgrounds.

[Brehvolution]

Nice. he likes xbox for some reason.  That's cool. Can't wait to play whatever he's working on : ]

He's like Xbox's David Jaffe [ only a lot less talented and less established]

Fixed.

[Brehvolution]

Nice. he likes xbox for some reason.  That's cool. Can't wait to play whatever he's working on : ]

He's like Xbox's David Jaffe [ only a lot less talented and less established]

Fixed.

David Jaffe is a fucking hack. GOW2 was fucking brilliant without him. Didn't him and the development team on GOW just not get along? I seem to recall that coming out somewhere.

Bullshit.

Guy with attitude problem makes games for sony = hack
Guy with attitude problem makes games for 360 = teh awesome

[WrikaWrek]

Itagaki is a great dev.

Hope MS seizes the opportunity.

[muckhole]

With his penchant for boobs, and his newfound love of photography and snapping pics, this new game could be like DOA Snap, which would be pretty disappointing.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

OR THE BEST THING EVER BOOOOOOOOOOBS  :kylielaff
                                 *hugs copy of Rumble Roses*

[close]

[AdmiralViscen]

Calling All Cars > Ninja Gaiden

[Brehvolution]

Oh c'mon, I was kidding.

[cool breeze]

Copy Virtua Fighter, add tits, a boring counter system and repeat 5 times? I'm sure he can do more.

...add more tits?

I think he already tried that with the second shitty volleyball game by having each breast bounce independently.

Nice. he likes xbox for some reason.  That's cool. Can't wait to play whatever he's working on : ]

He's like Xbox's David Jaffe [ only a lot less talented and less established]

Fixed.

That's actually a really good comparison.  But Ninja Gaiden > God of War, and Twisted Metal > DoA.  It evens out, basically.

[AdmiralViscen]

If there is another Twisted Metal game I will suck on his dick

[Veidt]

That's way too subtle.

[brawndolicious]

Kojima does the attitude thing for the fans and reporters.  He was apparently really well-liked by his team at Tecmo.

[Herr Mafflard]

Kojima does the attitude thing for the fans and reporters.  He was apparently really well-liked by his team at Tecmo.

Kojima worked at Tecmo?

[Herr Mafflard]

Kojima could direct some mean pornos.

[Rman]

Calling All Cars > Ninja Gaiden

Ugh.

Calling All Cars was such tripe.  Can't believe I fell for that overhyped pos.

[Human Snorenado]

Unlike Itagaki, David Jaffe is not liked by developers who have worked for him.

Pretty much.  He also didn't make the best action game of last gen, nor does he have an amusing fondness for titties.

[Bildi]

Kojima?  Jaffe?  Next someone's going to being up Cliff Bleszinski.

This thread is about Itagaki, not a bunch of pansy attention-starved wannabes.

[Veidt]

oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit !

[Brehvolution]

Kojima?  Jaffe?  Next someone's going to being up Cliff Bleszinski.

This thread is about Itagaki, not a bunch of pansy attention-starved wannabes.

Fuck that. 360 game discussion can't be immune to shitty, petty trolling. That wouldn't be fair. And since this game won't let you pick up a gun or drive a car, there is going to be an automatic deduction in the Eurogamer review.

[Bildi]

That's true, but I feel this is more about Itagaki than the 360.  Itagaki's coolness transcends console boundaries and we really should all feel free to worship how cool he is regardless of console preference.

[AdmiralViscen]

I have no problem calling CliffyB or Dyack pieces of shit, what's the controversy here?

[drew]

these are the parts that should have been bolded in the op

not system warz and boring inter dev talk

TI: I have my own production studio now. So I'm a photographer, and a scale model designer, and a couple of other things. Scale models these days are really accurate, so I bought new glasses for the smaller stuff. [Laughs]

KE: Model trains, right? Are those new glasses tinted as well?

itagannihalated

1UP: Could you give me a year when you plan for your next game to be complete?

TI: Rule of thumb; never rush a game. You know, that, right?

yeah, he knows that, and i guess you do too now, what happened around 2007-2008 that made you forget?

[Oblivion]

What's wrong with CliffyB?

[cool breeze]

yeah, he knows that, and i guess you do too now, what happened around 2007-2008 that made you forget?

In regards to NG2, I feel that he was rushed by both Tecmo and Microsoft to get the game out in a set time frame. Plus you have to remember all of the bullshit between him and the Tecmo higher ups.

About that.  I wonder exactly how much of Ninja Gaiden 2 was ruined because of those problems.  The slow down and loading problems could be fixed, and maybe additional content left out.  Unless they took extra time to look at all the shit they put into the game, from way too much focus on manually aiming the bow to awful boss fights, it still would have been messy compared to the first Ninja Gaiden.  I wonder how Sigma 2 will deal with that stuff.

[drew]

then they just shouldnt haven released the game

ninja gaiden 2 is pathetic compared to the 1st

[maxy]

Former Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki sent out notice today stating that he's reached a settlement with former employer Tecmo. The settlement was reached today (2/26). Itagaki's notice did not give the specifics of the settlement.

Itagaki filed suit against Tecmo in June 2008, claiming unpaid compensation and "disingenuous statements" from then Tecmo CEO Yoshimi Yasuda. Since he left the helm of Team Ninja, we've heard little from the once outspoken producer.

In a separate message addressed to fans, Itagaki thanked his supporters and said, "I cannot wait for the day when I can announce to everyone the new title that I'm currently conceiving."

He also promised to deliver "world class entertainment" with "a greater depth of play than before."

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/02/26/itagaki_tecmo_settlement/

"world class entertainment"

  Itagaki

[iconoclast]

Return of the King.

New action game unveiled at E3, please. Show these fools how it's done.

[Third]

Overrated developer. Team Ninja's only masterpiece is Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox.

[Bildi]

Itagaki is busy conceiving.

[WrikaWrek]

Overrated developer. Team Ninja's only masterpiece is Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox.

"Only"

[Himu]

Overrated developer. Team Ninja's only masterpiece is Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox.

stfu

[Third]

Ehh, Ninja Gaiden was amazing. The sequel was a rushjob and not that good. The original is way better.
DOA is shit. And DOAX....

Yeah, pretty much overrated.

[Don Flamenco]

Overrated developer. Team Ninja's only masterpiece is Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox.

"only masterpiece" is a game that still blows away 99% of current gen games 

[cool breeze]

I'm with third on this one but I would give Ninja Gaiden 2 more credit for being sometimes great.  DoA fighting games are at best on par with Tekken and the DOAX games aren't good.  At least if they were fun volleyball games there might be some merit there.

If he is able to make an action game on par with NG1 that doesn't have the problems of NG2 (I'm not entirely convince that the game being rushed was the only big problem) then yeah, it could be awesome.

[Brehvolution]

Does Draft know yet?

[Third]

Does Draft know yet?

[Beezy]

Overrated developer. Team Ninja's only masterpiece is Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox.

"only masterpiece" is a game that still blows away 99% of current gen games 

Seriously, this isn't even much of an exaggeration. Go whack off over GoW3, Third.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Since they picked pretty much ALL of the top Team Ninja staff, how much should we be concerned that the next Metroid and Dead or Alive anything is going to suck because of it?

[Brehvolution]

Does Draft know yet?

[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/28whuad.jpg[img]

[Don Flamenco]

Since they picked pretty much ALL of the top Team Ninja staff, how much should we be concerned that the next Metroid and Dead or Alive anything is going to suck because of it?

looking at NGS2....

very

jk.  I don't consider NGS2 a fair shake, since they decided to reset the game instead of improving on what was already there.   There are claims that Itagaki fucked up DOA4, so who knows.  Other M will have so much Nintendo input and control on the project that it may as well not be Team Ninja.

[Raban]