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51-453: Team Ninja was formed by Tomonobu Itagaki as Tecmo Creative #3. The team was formed from a group of game designers working at Tecmo specifically for the purpose of creating the home versions of the fighting game series Dead or Alive . During the mid-1990s, Japanese gaming company Tecmo was in financial trouble. Seeing how popular Sega 's Virtua Fighter series was in Japan at the time,

102-510: A 2012 Interview with Kotaku , Yosuke Hayashi said that Team Ninja was "very misinterpreted" outside of Japan, and that there's no derogatory intention in their creation process. "We can't help if other cultures in other countries around the globe think that it's a bad representation", so Hayashi. In 2016, Team Ninja garnered public attention after their decision to not release Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 in North America or Europe, reigniting

153-548: A controversy within the video game industry about the sexualised portrayal of female characters within their games. Shuhei Yoshida , president of Sony Interactive Entertainment at the time, said in a statement in regard to Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 that Europe and North America have their cultural differences about how to depict women in video games and other media. In 2008, the German Rating Board USK refused classification for Ninja Gaiden II , banning

204-551: A high priority on ensuring his games are interactive with the player's actions and respond quickly to the player's inputs. It is this opinion which led to his derogatory statements on Heavenly Sword . He finds the payoff for the game's button-prompting sequences to be less fulfilling than that of Genji: Dawn of the Samurai 's (whose Kamui sequences he calls dumb, but entertaining). Likewise, he cited Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Final Fantasy X as games lacking

255-679: A new Metroid action-adventure game for Nintendo 's Wii console, titled Metroid: Other M . A playable Stage from Other M would appear in the Nintendo 3DS game Dead or Alive: Dimensions , which was published by Nintendo in Europe and Australia . Team Ninja would in 2014 also collaborate with Omega Force on the development of Hyrule Warriors , an action game set in The Legend of Zelda universe, and with SEGA AM2 since 2012's Dead or Alive 5 , co-developing an Arcade version of

306-516: A sequel, also without Itagaki's inclusion, and Dead or Alive 6 released in March 2019 and is currently the latest release in the franchise. In the Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball series, Itagaki brought together the girls of Dead or Alive onto an island. The player is to foster good relationship between the girls to create a harmonious winning beach volleyball duo. In the second iteration of

357-484: Is a Japanese video game designer best known for creating the Dead or Alive series and also reviving the Ninja Gaiden franchise in 2004. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time. Joining Tecmo in 1992, Itagaki produced two video game franchises that were commercial successes and earned him several promotions; he headed Tecmo's development team, Team Ninja , and sat on

408-579: Is always seen wearing sunglasses, a habit that has become his trademark in the video game community. Itagaki joined Tecmo in 1992 as a graphics programmer, and initially worked on the Super Famicom version of the American football video game, Tecmo Super Bowl . His career breakthrough came in 1996 with his first Dead or Alive game, a game based on Sega Model 2 hardware ( Virtua Fighter ) created in response to Tecmo management's request. He

459-582: Is married and has a daughter, whom he has mentioned as one of the primary influences on his projects, including developing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS , and a constant gaming partner in games like the Halo series. Itagaki has in his office a set of katana Japanese swords his father made for him, which he tends to take out to show to his visitors. As he wishes to stop people from reading his expressions during gambling-type games, he

510-404: Is the point of cutting down "thousand heads of cabbages on screen." In his integration mindset, everything (graphics, controllers, interactiveness, responsiveness, etc.) has its place, even CG pre-rendered cutscenes which he says can deliver a better cinematic experience of some scenes than doing them in real-time. As a game developer, Itagaki has defined his philosophy as being able to extract

561-481: Is working on a project with former members of Team Ninja under a new studio, Valhalla Game Studios. The title in question, Devil's Third , was revealed shortly before E3 2010 . In January 2021, Itagaki announced that he has established a new game studio, Itagaki Games, and stated that he would be interested in working with Microsoft again. Itagaki believes a good game should be an integrated product of good graphics, interactivity, and playability. He also places

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612-647: The Nintendo Switch in 2019 as well as Dead or Alive 6 . Team Ninja released the prequel to Nioh , Nioh 2 , in March 2020. A compilation of Ninja Gaiden series, dubbed Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection , released in June 2021. Team Ninja also developed Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin , which released in 2022. As of 2022, Yosuke Hayashi had left Team Ninja to serve as the general manager of Koei Tecmo's entertainment division, with Fumihiko Yasuda replacing him as president. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

663-509: The PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 . In 2009, it was announced that Tecmo and Koei would be merging. The newly founded Koei Tecmo would officially disband Tecmo in 2010. A year later all of Tecmo's assets were absorbed into Koei Tecmo, including IP and its subsidiaries and divisions. Team Ninja would continue as subsidiary of Koei Tecmo. Team Ninja collaborated on multiple titles with Nintendo. In 2010, Team Ninja co-developed

714-673: The Rōnin would not release in South Korea, due to Fumihiko Yasuda comparing Shoin Yoshida , a controversial figure in South Korea, to Socrates . In a statement to gameindustry.biz, Sony gave official confirmation that the game would not release in South Korea, saying "We can confirm that the title is not going to be sold/published in South Korea in any form", but did not provide an official reason. Tomonobu Itagaki Tomonobu Itagaki ( 板垣 伴信 , Itagaki Tomonobu ) (born April 1, 1967)

765-547: The basis of minigame design. Itagaki defended those games as nostalgia comedic pieces, meant to make the player remember the celebrity games played on Japanese television. In 2006, various gaming sites reported that an unnamed female former Tecmo employee had filed a sexual harassment suit against Itagaki. She claimed that Itagaki had made several unwanted sexual advances on her since 2003. While Itagaki admitted to kissing her, he claimed that whatever had gone between them had been consensual. Tecmo's ensuing investigation reached

816-464: The best and the ultimate action game on the Xbox before moving on to the Xbox 360, thus he reworked the game and integrated the additional downloadable content to produce Ninja Gaiden Black . With Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 , he chose to patch an easy-cash exploit rather than leaving it alone and ruminating over the consequences. Itagaki creates his game characters by immersing himself in their roles and

867-462: The best games of the genre. He openly claims to be the sole creative force behind his projects, as well as being able to convey his plan clearly for the team to understand. He bemoans that the Japanese are starting to forget the basic concepts, closing off their minds to outside criticisms. Itagaki has consistently given harsh opinions on Namco 's Tekken games, mainly due to his grudge against

918-632: The company for its insulting radio commercial on his Dead or Alive game. He has stated he never forgets an insult to his family, and will retaliate with "nuclear missiles more than 100 times for that". This along with what he views as Tekken 's stagnation in the fighting game genre (starting from Tekken 4 ), led him to condemn the Tekken series, placing it as his top five hated games, in spite of him stating Tekken , Tekken 2 , and Tekken 3 were good games which his family enjoyed. Omega Force Too Many Requests If you report this error to

969-412: The conclusion that "the allegations in question were a result of the former employee's desire to vent frustration over her own personal affair, and not indicative of sexual harassment." Tecmo has also demoted Itagaki and the accuser for their mingling of "personal affairs with their corporate responsibilities". Meanwhile, the court has found Itagaki innocent of the charges. Itagaki values frank and "to

1020-751: The design philosophy of being a handheld device. He says a game created, based on the specifications of the PSP, would be more suited for a true home console. This view is reflected in his statements on why Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword as a handheld game has to be designed to take advantage of the Nintendo DS' touchpad rather than conventional inputs which would have rendered it a typical game. Itagaki classifies his projects into core projects (for business and technical excellence purposes), and those purely for self-fulfillment. The Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball series and Dead or Alive: Code Chronos fall into

1071-420: The developers behind Quantum Theory as well as Rygar: The Battle of Argus being shut down. A large amount of developers were moved to Team Ninja. In 2017, Team Ninja released their new action role-playing game Nioh to great critical response. Nioh originally started development in 2004 at Koei, and was moved between multiple developers, such as Omega Force , before Koei approached Team Ninja after

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1122-518: The division was renamed Team Ninja to give Tecmo an identity and be recognized as an elite team. That same year, Team Ninja started work on a new Ninja Gaiden project, originally intended for arcades , later for the Dreamcast . Due to Sega exiting the console business, development was moved to the PlayStation 2. However, due to Itagaki being impressed by the technological capabilities of

1173-468: The earlier NES series, Itagaki developed a critically acclaimed action-adventure game for the Xbox which also had an international online tournament held for it. He continued work on it to release Ninja Gaiden Black as the opus of his Ninja Gaiden work. He continued the series on the Nintendo DS with Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword , partly due to a promise made to his daughter. At the same time, he brought

1224-526: The executive board. He left the company after 16 years of service, filing a lawsuit against it for withholding bonus pay. He formed a new company Valhalla Game Studios with several Team Ninja members and released Devil's Third . The company dissolved in December 2021 and he has now formed a new one called Itagaki Games. At its inception, Itagaki said Itagaki Games would release its first game for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC. In early October 2024, it

1275-457: The game for sale in Germany, due to the title's excessive violence. The game's publisher, Microsoft , had no interest in releasing a compromised, cut version of the game. This would later affect the development of the PlayStation 3 version, dubbed Sigma 2 , as the game's violence was significantly toned down. Sigma 2 received classification in Germany. In 2011, Dead or Alive: Dimensions

1326-531: The game. The classification was reinstated shortly thereafter. In 2019, Team Ninja gained controversy, due to a livestream of Dead or Alive 6 at Evo Japan 2019 featuring gravure idols . The livestream was forcibly shut-down by the Evolution Championship Series . The co-founder and CEO of EVO, Joey Cuellar, issued an apology saying that "the stream does not reflect the core values of EVO" and that they had to end to stream to "protect

1377-642: The games. This is a reason why he objects to the suggestion of Kasumi in the Ninja Gaiden universe, saying her 'soft' nature is conflicting with the 'hard-edged' nature of the game whereas Ayane perfectly fits in. It is this role immersion which helps him to develop and exclude guns from the moveset of the Spartan named Nicole in Dead or Alive 4 . However, immersing himself in the games' atmosphere has also failed him at times. The Butt Battle, and Tug-of-War of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 were heavily panned on

1428-405: The head of Team Ninja. In 2007 due to a lawsuit regarding alleged sexual harassment , his manager roles would be revoked. Although he was later judged innocent by a Tokyo district court, the lawsuit permanently strained the relationship between Itagaki and Tecmo. On June 3, 2008, Itagaki announced that he would be leaving Tecmo and Team Ninja on July 1, 2008, citing difficulties with the company. In

1479-467: The integrity" of EVO. Mark Julio, head of global business at EVO, later appeared live during the tournament to issue an apology, saying that the content showcased by a partner of EVO wouldn't "reflect the content and intention" of the Esports organiser. Evo 2020 would be cancelled and Cuellar removed as CEO, due to a history of sexual abuse towards minors coming to light. According to reports, Rise of

1530-436: The interactivity appealing to him. Itagaki professes a liking for simplicity of inputs, he states too many inputs would result in the loss of the gaming experience. As such, he respects Sega-AM2 for their work on Virtua Fighter 4 , while maintaining his claim that Dead or Alive 3 is still a better game. Likewise, he deplores implementing scenarios to show off technology just for the sake of it, sarcastically asking what

1581-437: The latter. The Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball games are just meant for simple fun, and to fulfill a 'love' for the female characters, letting the player nurture and watch the girls partaking in simple joys. Even though he admits to there being sexual content in the game, Itagaki refuses to create scenarios which he feels are vulgar for his 'daughters', a term he uses to call the female characters. Code Chronos falls into

Team Ninja - Misplaced Pages Continue

1632-413: The management asked Tomonobu Itagaki to create a game similar to Virtua Fighter . In order to stand out from other fighting games , Team Ninja focused on making Dead or Alive provocative. Itagaki believed that violence and sexuality were needed for "true entertainment". The Dead or Alive series became a critical and commercial success, was also a key part in saving Tecmo from bankruptcy. In 1999,

1683-532: The merger in 2010 to help develop the game. When first presented with the project by Koei, Team Ninja staff were skeptic about the game's concept, citing the western protagonist in Sengoku -era Japan, as well as various mechanics. Despite these uncertainties, development was fully transferred to Team Ninja in 2012. The title would go on to receive multiple awards, and became Team Ninja's best-selling title. They released Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for

1734-407: The new Xbox from Microsoft , development was moved to that platform. Ninja Gaiden would be released in 2004 to rave critical acclaim. In 2008, the action-adventure game Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360 was published by Microsoft Game Studios , making it the first game created by Team Ninja to not be published by Tecmo; Tecmo Koei later released an enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden II on

1785-405: The new lead at Team Ninja until his departure in 2022. Fumihiko Yasuda serves as the new president since. Team Ninja's provocative style, originally coined by Itagaki, while often having been praised, with Dead or Alive 's Kasumi being regarded as a modern-day sex symbol , with MTV UK labeling her as one of the sexiest characters in video games, has been criticised for objectifying women. In

1836-472: The point" attitudes, believing anything else would allow "quibbles and sectionalists" to come in and derail the train of thought. His frank attitude is also in line with his admitted aggression, taking criticisms as challenges to overcome instead of something to mope over. This relates to his desire for challenges, producing games like Ninja Gaiden which are acknowledged as ' hard ' by the gaming industry, and to push himself to produce games which can contend as

1887-627: The post of Team Ninja Leader in July 2001. Tecmo appointed him as an executive officer in June 2004. He later assumed the position of general manager of the high-end production department in February, 2006. His Executive Officer position was however taken away in August the same year, due to him being accused of sexual harassment . He was later judged innocent by a Tokyo district court in June 2007. The release of Dead or Alive 2 had greatly increased

1938-404: The release of Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360 , Itagaki announced that he was resigning from Tecmo and was suing the company for withholding a bonus promised for his previous works. He was also suing Tecmo's president Yoshimi Yasuda for damages based on "unreasonable and disingenuous statements" made in front of Itagaki's colleagues. In an interview with 1up.com, Itagaki has revealed that he

1989-513: The same category of development, developed as Itagaki's hobby for style. Itagaki is thorough with his games, working on them from start to release, and even post release to correct what he feels are deficiencies, and polish them up to their full potential. He has shown this in his project developments, such as pushing back the release of Dead or Alive 4 just to polish the game based on feedback of top Japanese Dead or Alive players recruited to test it out. For Ninja Gaiden , he wanted to leave

2040-836: The same statement announcing his resignation, he also announced that he was filing a lawsuit against Tecmo president, Yoshimi Yasuda, over unpaid bonuses for his work on Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360. It was later reported that he was fired from Tecmo on June 18, 2008, in retaliation for his lawsuit. Another lawsuit followed shortly after which was filed on 16 June by two plaintiffs on behalf of Tecmo's 300 employees for unpaid wages amounting to ¥8.3 million. Many of his colleagues at Team Ninja quit as well to join him at his new game development team, Valhalla Game Studios . Some ex-Team Ninja members also helped with Ubisoft 's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up . The two parties would settle in February 2010 for an undisclosed amount. After Itagaki's departure, Yosuke Hayashi would subsequently serve as

2091-431: The series popularity, as well as Itagaki's. He had sought to create fighting games with details he felt were lacking in other games. In the later iterations, Itagaki has built the story of the games around themes of family - Kasumi and Ayane in Dead or Alive 3 , and Helena in Dead or Alive 4 . To date, the series has gone through four iterations with various enhanced editions. A fifth iteration, Dead or Alive 5 ,

Team Ninja - Misplaced Pages Continue

2142-467: The series' next chapter onto the Xbox 360 as Ninja Gaiden II . Itagaki claims to be one of the very few in the Japanese video game industry to establish communications with the Western world. He suggests other Japanese developers should do like-wise and be aware of the gaming tastes outside Japan, so as to be able to reverse the Japanese gaming industry slump of 2005. On June 2, 2008, just before

2193-414: The series, the focus is shifted by expanding the number of activities the player can have the girls take part in. He explains the core of the game as a paradise where the player can watch the girls they 'love' enjoy simple activities. Ninja Gaiden was Itagaki's effort to develop a game centered on violent gameplay, with super ninja Ryu Hayabusa as the protagonist. Capitalizing on the brand name of

2244-510: The spirit of gaming. Itagaki claimed that he wanted to develop his games for the Xbox 360. He viewed the Xbox 360 as the most powerful console on the market at the time of its design. Itagaki has also spoken of his handheld philosophy which goes for responsiveness and physical interaction, instead of raw hardware power. As such, Itagaki refuses to make a handheld game for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), stating it goes against

2295-540: The strengths of a game machine, and integrate them together to develop games to a level no one else can reach. He defines a game developer's satisfaction with a game machine as dependent upon these criteria. With this philosophy, he continually expresses happiness in developing on the Xbox 360 , proclaiming it to be more 'software friendly' than the PlayStation 3 . Furthermore, he admires the Nintendo Wii 's dedication to innovation, which he holds in high regard for

2346-694: The title, as well as on bringing characters from Virtua Fighter to Dead or Alive . In 2013, following a reconstructing of Koei Tecmo, Team Ninja would cease to exist internally, being renamed Koei Tecmo Ichigaya, with Yosuke Hayashi subsequently becoming Head of the Ichigaya Development Group. The developer was also split into two distinct development teams, one led by Ninja Gaiden Sigma director Yosuke Hayashi and one led by Fatal Frame producer Keisuke Kikuchi. Further restructuring at Koei Tecmo in 2016 resulted in Team Tachyon,

2397-446: Was announced the same year, being produced by Team Ninja lead Fumihiko Yasuda, who led the development on Nioh and Nioh 2 , as well as Masaaki Yamagiwa. Yamagiwa, who joined Team Ninja in 2021 after the closure of Sony 's Japan Studio , was previously producer on Bloodborne . It released in 2023. Tomonobu Itagaki was promoted to Tecmo Executive Officer in June 2004, as well as to General Manager in 2006, alongside his position as

2448-685: Was banned in Sweden , due to the rating board determining that the characters appeared too young. Due to Sweden's ban on the title, Australian politician Brendan O'Connor urged the Australian Classification Board to reexamine the title, resulting in the game getting its classification revoked and being removed from sale. Nintendo , the publisher of the game in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, stated that Dead or Alive Dimensions contained no objectionable content and resubmitted

2499-458: Was made in his absence and released in September 2012. Dead or Alive 5 received two additional releases of the base title; Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate , which released in September 2013, a year after the original release. The second and final iteration of the game was titled Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and released in February 2015. Given the success of Dead or Alive 5 , Team Ninja created

2550-466: Was mentored by Yoshiaki Inose (of Solomon's Key , Bomb Jack , Rygar and original Ninja Gaiden fame) and Akihiko Shimoji ( Tecmo Bowl ) in his early years at Tecmo, and learned from them to include fun as a necessary component in his projects. His rise through the company had been steady since then. He was appointed as the head of the third creative department in April 2001. He then assumed

2601-586: Was mistakenly announced Itagaki Games was being dissolved like Valhalla Game Studios. This was an error as a result of the studio being renamed to Itagaki Games Co., Ltd. in September 2024. As of this time, the studio remains in operation under this new title. Born and raised in Tokyo , Tomonobu Itagaki graduated from Waseda University Senior High School in March 1985. He enrolled in Waseda University and graduated from its School of Law in 1992. Itagaki

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