Tomonobu Itagaki and crew return with a new team and Xbox 360 game

Hames Mielke from 1UP writes:

"When I recently found myself with a little free time wandering the streets of Tokyo, I gave some ex-Team NINJA members a call to see what they were up to. After all, what Tomonobu Itagaki and his loyal band of producers, designers, programmers, and artists most recent projct has been a mystery since the last time I interviewed him, back in July of last year.

Some obvious questions were on my mind, like, "Is Itagaki working on a new game?" "Is it for Xbox 360 or has he moved on to other platforms?" "Does he have a new team, and, if so, what is it called?" "

[Elven6]

Itagaki despite his is attitude is a really cool game developer, good to see his is back!

Edit: Itagaki did say he wanted to make a World War II game from Japan's perspective, like Clint Eastwood/Letters from Iwo Jima. It would be cool to see that especially if portrayed properly and not like how many western developers have done so with the war.

[Bnet343]

This is sweet! Ninja Gaiden is ace, I hope he makes something similar but more flashy like DMC.

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

Yes that would be sweet to get a game from a Japanese soldiers perspective.

[7thNightvolley]

He is back.. i loved NG2 and he is bk.. and now with a 360 game mostly.. well from the interview he talked about having gd friends in Microsoft game studios.. what ever .. just make me a gd game ... i am all waiting .. :D

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

oohhhh, I'm excited! I'm a huge NG2 fan and still kicking it on Master Ninja.

I was wondering what happened to Itagaki, but looks like he took the best and left the rest at Tecmo. Sounds like it might be a multiplatform game though. That means more fun for everyone!

I hope it isn't a WWII game. WWII is sooo overdone...

[BLuKhaos]

That's cool, Xboxers can keep Itagaki and us Playstationers keep Kojima;That way both sides can have great exclusives that works to each console's potential.

[AAACE5]

A lot of people hate Itagaki, his personality could make anyone feel that way. But once you understand what kind of guy he is and what he tries to accomplish... Only an idiot would be able to find a way to hate him!

After Ninja Gaiden 2 came out, I downloaded those videos about him and his team, "Way of the Ninja" or something like that. After watching them, I gained a new found respect for him.

I was hoping he would land a new gig, because he has always pushed other developers to try harder. You gotta respect the way he just calls out the entire industry and tells them they are making crappy games! Either way you look at it, he helps us get better games to play.

[Gamer_Politics]

one of my fav developers...

[Green Lantern2]

Itagki is a 360fanboy i can't wait to see what he is working on.

[Elven6]

He isn't a 360 fanboy, he is a Xbox brand fanboy :p I wonder if his studio will be backed by Microsoft any, Itagaki is really the only true friend Microsoft Games Studios has in the region afterall.

[iWillNotBeIgnored]

he's just trying to be a "rebel".
EDIT: Which is lame. Get over it dude you're a grown man. You ain't in High School anymore.

[Elven6]

Itagaki is a modern day bad boy Japanese greaser who values Japanese customs, if you f**k with him he will blow your ass up!!11!!!!

[phosphor112]

he wouldn't be so pompous and arrogant. He has no idea what console he favors. First he said PS3 was weak, then he said 360 wasn't enough to do what he wanted for NG2. I say he just sucks. DOA has not progressed since DOA2, and NG2 wasn't as amazing as the first. He isn't good and he thinks he is. Get over it Itagaki.

[SL1M DADDY]

The guy really needs some counseling so he can get back on track. Makes me wonder if he had a father that abused him. He just seems so torn up inside.

[kevnb]

Japanese are very arrogant people, don't kid yourself.

[phosphor112]

And if they do feel like they are better, its probably because everything they have IS better. Better internet, better technology, better entertainment, better heatlhcare, education, hell what about their cars? It's not arrogance, its pride. Arrogance is something we are, the western world. We put our noses into every single affair, because we feel like we can. They tend to themselves, and see how they are? They thrive unlike us. That is the difference between the west and Japan.

[shocky16]

They and MS have a great relationship!

[N4PS3G]

Hell YEAH!!! The master is back!

[Forrest Gump]

I really hope he spends more time working on his next game.

[xino]

I know.

I laughed when he said this:

"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?"

Never rush a game, but he did with NG2! And it turned out to be a piece of trash!

Ironic isn't it

[Elven6]

He had no choice, it was revealed literally a week before launch the behind the scenes drama happening between Itagaki and his boss. He knew ahead of time he was leaving so he screwed Tecmo over.

That being said NG II still wasn't that bad, not as good as Ninja Gaiden but not mediocre either.

[kevnb]

ng2 being a piece of trash lol, ya right. It wasnt quite up to his level of completion, but considering what was happening behind the scenes he did the best he could.

[thebudgetgamer]

but as a game creator he is one of the best.

:) edit: whoever wrote this stinks with headlines.

Tomonobu Itagaki and crew return with a new team and Xbox 360 game.

makes it sound like a game is allready in the works, and then.

Is it for Xbox 360 or has he moved on to other platforms?"

cmon really

[xino]

did you read the interview?

He said the game is in development already, he doesn't want to show it at E3 yet because' it's too early.

And the platform he chose is XboX 360.
He said he has some guys over at Microsoft too.

SO all his new titles will either be on DS or XboX 360.

[thebudgetgamer]

i just went off the preview. seems like i jumped the gun.

[beavis4play]

maybe. but after he was canned at tecmo.........i don't recall hearing that sony was beating down his door begging him to work on a ps3 game.

[Gamer_Politics]

tecmo?that company would be nothing without Itagaki....i'm happy he his own studio now...when yall playing your ninja gaiden remakes on ps3 just remember who is the father of that series..

[Intrepid]

Some Japanese developers seem like kick-ass guys.
Western developers all seem... -_-

[Green Lantern2]

Hell yeah Itagaki look like a bad a## mutha fvcker.

[poopface1]

Im looking forward to any game that these guys make.

[xino]

THANKS!

LOL..he's back again!
He already bashed Dynasty Warrior games.

Once again...fan of XboX.
And he's really confident to be back, saying his fans were waiting.

But glad that he's back.

The real question will be, if Team Viking's game will always topple Team NINJA's game all the time.

[StanLee]

He said they wanted to be flexible but enjoyed his relationship with Microsoft. He never said it was an Xbox 360 game. I can see him having a publishing relationship with Microsoft but I'm sure there are other large publishers who would get in line to publish an Itagaki game. Especially given the team he has working with him. An action adventure game to rival Ninja Gaiden Black could be in the cards.

[Green Lantern2]

Read the fvcking interview he said his new crew is made of some memeber from team ninja and microsoft.

And the platform he chose is XboX 360.
He said he has some guys over at Microsoft too.

SO all his new titles will either be on DS or XboX 360.

[StanLee]

Maybe you can't read but he never said that. The team is made up of former Team Ninja members, the art team from Vitua Fighter 5, the lead engineer who brought Ninja Gaiden to the DS and a team of young engineers and programmers. He said he wanted to be flexible when asked the question of platforms BUT stated he had friends at Microsoft and being comfortable with Microsoft would weigh in the decision of platform. Read again, fanboy. And I own an Xbox 360 so don't even think of calling me a PS3 fanboy. I really don't care which platform the game is on but he never confirmed or stated in any way the game was for the Xbox 360 or any platform for that matter. No one did.

[Elven6]

He says he is being flexible but given his track record I doubt he will develop on anything but the Xbox 360, if anything maybe the DS or Wii.

Then again give how his studio is over 44 people in size perhaps he will remain the 360 guy while giving the rest of the teams their own freedom?

[Enigma_2099]

...everybody's talking about Kojima at the moment, and he's getting jealous again...

[Green Lantern2]

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.]

This guy is so fvcking cool.

[Elven6]

Itagaki is cool like that, he is so bad ass "f**k the man" on the outside yet he still holds Japanese customs close to himself.

[Ps_alm3k]

i can see where this is leading already....
okay, here is the scenario. Competition with tecmo!!!
Results in clash of the ninja games!!

[Green Lantern2]

MS should let him handle the fable game.lol

[II Necroplasm II]

Tokyo Vikings should end up as a great team.

[DelbertGrady]

No more Tecmo douchebags holding him back. Did you see the lame Gears of War rip-off title they're working on? Ninja Gaiden will go to hell without Itagaki as producer/developer.

[II Necroplasm II]

They should really use that name. and yeah you're right, thanks to Tecmo and that mess, it affected the making of NG2.

[slave2Dcontroller]

This man is a total douche but its kind of why I like him. He makes me LOL.

I think that MS should just give this fool his own studio. They would have a strong internal dev team with Itagaki.Just give him some booze and some pictures of fighter planes and watch the magic happen.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Who wants to bet Microsoft unveils at E3 that they are creating a new studio and it's the one they made. Who knows but I could see it.

[36T]

I agree with you on that one. If this is the case, the X360 will have some fine games heading their way. Please MS, buy his studio!

[AKNAA]

"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."

"trying to be flexible" Sounds like he's gonna go multiplat. Yea! yeah! Good thing, cause I only got a ps3 right now.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Lol well your getting Ninja Gaiden so don't complain. But we'll have to wait and see what this new game is and if he actually takes his time to make the game great with great graphics. NG2 had terrible graphics for the xbox 360. It should have looked a lot better in my opinion.

[AKNAA]

I'm just saying what I see... And If sigma 2 runs equally as good as the first one, its gonna be SOooo Sick!
This guy brought back ninja gaiden, bigger and better so I'm looking forward to his next game.

[Mr Face Creamer]

NEW AWESOME NINJA TITLE PLZ.

[Ingram]

(...)"hes alot more influential and talented than that f@ggot Jaffe who thinks it cool to swear like a retard. "

Nobody brought Jaffe,the next thing you'll bring up is Sony.

You're not cool,You're the one swearing and insulting like a retard.

Nice pic,let us see where you're coming from too.

[Ldubbz]

Good to know he has so many talented people around him. Interested to see what he produces next....and if I ever get to Japan, Im getting drunk with this dude....

[kewlkat007]

I wonder what type of game he will come up with....\

I predicted he might do something like this...good for him he is a talented foe.

Still today nothing touches NG series. Makes gamers cry.

[jlemdon]

Yessss!!!! 360 need an exclusive right now, especially from this man right here.

[BYE]

I don't like that he didn't bother releasing NG2 on PS3 in the first place.

But hey, if ignoring the PS3 is his thing and he can make money anyway, more power to him.

[Gue1]

Seriously, Itagaki's the best! He's the only dev that would make me buy an Xbox.

[likedamaster]

Nevertheless, let the hating begin.

[cmrbe]

and focus on creating another masterpeice like NG. I was very dissapointed with NG2 only because i had very high expecations after NG which is the game that i bought a xbox last gen.

He should do whatever he needs to create the best game he can.

[napoleon_ist]

well why is there a virtua fighter 5 screenshot (el blaze) as an illustration for an interview about (...sega...) tecmo ? :|

so what these 22 losers are going to do without money er? a new xbox360 exclusive franchise? no, they will continue to drink in their bar of course. ;)

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

You probably should have read the "whole" interview, then you wouldn't have asked such a stupid question.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Nice to know the Xbox will get more games from these guys. Lots of PS3 fanboys in here doing drive by disagree's and running off to hide.

[ichimaru]

DADDY'S BACK

[Eyad]

OMG IM SOOOO WAITING FOR THIS AND EVEN IF IT COMES ON THE DREAM CAST 2 (BTW THAT WOULD BE COOL) IM GETTING WHATEVER ITOOO IS MAKI`N BABE

[Thoreau]

complete trash...low defensive hold escape bullcrap. no side step. all talk? maybe. i am waiting on you tomonobu-san