Ninja Gaiden II releases. Itagaki quits/sues Tecmo.

[Velorath]

1up has the story here.

"At approximately 2:30 PM Japan Standard Time today, June 3 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.
"...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."

The full text of the letter from Itagaki follows:


"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 honor promises even when he is able to do so. I truly hope that nothing like this happens again in the future."

[stray]

I thought the Japanese never sued. 

[schild]

And Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden Die. This depresses me.

I can see him going to Platinum Games and having a cage match with those guys. We'll end up losing 3 of the greatest designers ever. But it would make for good TV.

[Yegolev]

June 3, hooray.

[Fabricated]

GOOD NIGHT, SWEET PRINCE

[Yegolev]

It's all good if he goes to work with Suda 51.

[stray]

Or hopefully, on PS3 games.

[Yegolev]

I'd like to think he can get Grasshopper to put something onto a real system.  Wishful thinking.  They'd look so awesome together in their black jackets.

[Margalis]

It's all good if he goes to work with Suda 51.

Oh God please no.

Itagaki is a douchebag self-promoter and one of the least creative guys in the industry. His claim to fame is making a Virtua Fighter clone that substituted tits for depth.

[Yegolev]

Suda needs someone to help him out.  Making games for Nintendo is a dead end for Grasshopper.

[schild]

Itagaki will never work on the PS3. For whatever reason, he HATES Sony. Who knows. Maybe he wants to be a cool white man. Errr westerner.

Anyway, while he's terribly uncreative, maybe that's what it would take for Suda to become grounded. Suda is fucking out there.

[Yegolev]

I'm just thinking yin and yang.  Someone of Itagaki's shallowness might help out Suda, since he's got some great ideas but needs some help in getting them into the public eye.  Can't hurt.

[stray]

I don't know if you were joking or not, but he also did strike me as someone who wanted to be more western. Obsessively so.

[Yegolev]

Leather jackets, unite!

[Velorath]

Itagaki will never work on the PS3. For whatever reason, he HATES Sony. Who knows. Maybe he wants to be a cool white man. Errr westerner.

Anyway, while he's terribly uncreative, maybe that's what it would take for Suda to become grounded. Suda is fucking out there.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him moving towards the Wii or doing more games like Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword on the DS.

[Azazel]

Team Ninja mass exodus is likely
Itagaki resignation sets off a chain reaction.

According to a report from 1UP, the offices of Team Ninja could become a very empty place, as dozens of workers are said to be leaving the company, following on from the highly publicised shock resignation of Tomonobu Itagaki earlier this month.

Following in Itagaki's lead, the departing team members are also reportedly set to serve Tecmo with a class action lawsuit. Like the filing of Itagaki's lawsuit, the team's class action suit is seeking damages over unpaid bonuses for work on previously completed titles.

http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=11865&sid=b523767f9d9e16a63dbea6096cf513d6&title=RUMOUR%3A+Team+Ninja+mass+exodus+is+likely
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interesting. Especially as it forbodes for the future...

[Triforcer]

Lawsuits are disharmonious.  Why would they do something disharmonious?

[Azazel]

DLC for this thing is out already. 800 points for a time attack mode.

Mission Mode

What: 25 missions (basically a new campaign mode)
When: Friday, July 25
How Much: 800 MS Points

Introducing Mission Mode, a brand-new gameplay expansion for the acclaimed action game Ninja Gaiden II. In this all new game mode, challenge your skills in self-contained missions featuring trials and tribulations not found in the standard story mode. Karma Attack missions task you with obtaining the highest score, while Survival missions give you a single weapon to fight off as many enemies as possible. Take your high scores online with Xbox LIVE and compete with players around the world on the mission leaderboards!

Skull Videos

What: 30 videos that reveal the locations of hidden in-game skulls. Will split up into 3 packs and each contains 10 videos
When: Friday, July 11
How Much: Free!

Skull Video #1:Having a hard time discovering the crystal skulls located throughout Ninja Gaiden II? Use these videos to help you find the skulls, and earn Achievements in the process! This video shows the location of the first third of the skulls.

Personally, paid-for DLC this soon after release just rubs me the wrong way. With modern DLC, we've now got companies holding back shit that's already on the disc or holding stuff off the disc so they can turn around and sell it to you within weeks of releasing the game. Bizarrely, EA is giving shit away for free.

[Velorath]

Personally, paid-for DLC this soon after release just rubs me the wrong way.

Given the circumstances surrounding this game's release, I think it has to do more with the game being rushed out than it does with being a moneygrab.

[Margalis]

I'm not a fan of the total cost of a game being $90 when all is said and done.

It would be one thing if the basic game was $30 and there was another $30 of DLC, then the "pay for only what you want" argument makes sense. But if you are paying for a full-priced game paying even more for extra modes and costumes starts to get a little silly.

The pricing of game add-ons seems really out of whack. I can get a full game for $5, so for $5 of DLC I expect a lot more than new textures or a new game mode.

Apparently the NG2 mission mode breaks the main game, which doesn't do much to increase my excitement.

[Azazel]

Given the circumstances surrounding this game's release, I think it has to do more with the game being rushed out than it does with being a moneygrab.

Not when they're asking 800MS points for it.
Compare that to Burnout Paradise's "Cagney" patch. From EA of all people.

[Velorath]

Compare that to Burnout Paradise's "Cagney" patch.

I will.  When they stop talking about it and actually release the damn thing.

[Azazel]

Hm. I got it a few days ago. And I live in Australia, where theese theengs, they come last to us.

[Velorath]

Hm. I got it a few days ago. And I live in Australia, where theese theengs, they come last to us.

I just assumed you were talking about the one with the bikes that's supposed to be coming in Sept. now since that actually sounds like a substantial addition.  Looking up this other patch you're talking about, it doesn't sound like that actually added much content so much as they unlocked some modes that were single-player only for online use.

[Azazel]

You say that as though there's "substantial content" in this NGII moneygrab/patch.

[Velorath]

You say that as though there's "substantial content" in this NGII moneygrab/patch.

I couldn't tell you whether there is or not, as I haven't picked up NGII yet, nor would I personally be interested in a Survival mode or a high score mode.   I would imagine that for the hardcore NG players (the type who put videos up on youtube of their biggest combos), such modes would constitute substantial content.  From a development point of view, I don't have any idea whether or not the "missions" in the NGII DLC take place in new environments or if they just rehashed areas.  If they just take an area from the game and throw infinitely spawning enemies at you, that I would agree that it isn't substantial content.