Itagaki (Team Ninja) interview

[Vandenh]

Kikizo games has a nice and interesting interview (http://games.kikizo.com/features/itagaki_interview_aug05_p1.asp) with Ninja Gaiden/DOA man Tomonobu Itagaki. Like always he is very "direct".
Yes. It's all me personally. Of course, I listen to other people's ideas as well, and people say, "you're crazy!" But those imaginative ideas, they all come from me. Some of those ideas, unless you have a lot of experience designing games, you wouldn't know how to make it work. So I think I am blessed! Of course, I do have a lot of other ideas that just disappear and evaporate in the middle of it all! Of course, but, making the stage too big is not a good idea - it doesn't make the gameplay any better.

[KarmaGhost]

Of course, also very "modest."

[AnthraxKitty]

Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me

[Commissar Rob]

Hmmm, interesting article. I seem to remember there being some uncertainty whether the next Ninja Gaiden would be on the 360...while Itagaki doesn't come out and say the "e" word, he doesn't shoot down the interviewer's suggestion that Team Ninja would be working with Microsoft on the next iteration.

[TrackZero]

hello @ bad translation

[VoodooKarma]

I love this guy. I know he is cocky and arrogant but as long as he backs it up by making games of Ninja Gaidens caliber then it doesn't bother me. I would rather hear people say what they think as opposed to someone who is being fake and just spouting some company line.

[Justin_McElroy]

Is it the goal of anyone else's life to be a part of something called Team Ninja?

[EvilBob46]

This guy's sort of like CliffyB...just not as cool and with an ego the size of gran' canyon.

[Morratut]

Damn i read that interview so fast because i wanted him to say Ninja Gaiden 2 coming to the Xbox360 on its release date :(

Yer, i know, it was a long shot :D

[Frogleg Special]

He's nuts. Can he develop software or he's just "the artist" on the back of the programmers?

[chronocrash]

Is it the goal of anyone else's life to be a part of something called Team Ninja?

Hell yes. Been attempting to hawk my soul for this, in fact.

I like this guy. Reading a cocky smartass is way better than a plug-heavy liar who would say anything is good for the money. Well, maybe that's a bad comparrison, but I like this guy.

[Savok]

Arrogant without being delusional (Romero and Kojima come to mind), I like him.

[Deadend]

Itagaki gives good interviews, and doesn't spend alot of time talking about the cool ideas they have... but will not end up using.

I remember a while back, 1up.com had a advice section from Itagaki, funny shit it was.

[Ernst_Jager]

Seems straight forward and doesn't sugar coat stuff. I like it. It is nice to read about someone that isn't full of lies and shit.

[NACIONAL]

Oh my god.. what an ego!!!!

I made this, i broke that!!.. come on.. we all know he is not the only one making the games....but well, at least he doesn't talk about things he won't do...

The part that i really hated about the interview, was in fact, when he said he broke some dev kits... damn.. i think that the programmers were the ones who burn them,... not him...

[Achilles]

Good interview. I’m really curious to see what kind of gameplay changes he’s putting into DOA 4. I’m surprised though that they didn’t ask a single question about Code Chronos, what’s going to be new about DOA:X2, or what their new project is. Now Itagaki would have just given some kind of vague ‘answer’ to those questions, but still.

[Hellstorm]

Let me know when he makes a game better than God of War.

[VoodooKarma]

Let me know when he makes a game better than God of War.


God of War was an excellent game with a storyline better than Ninja Gaidens, but saying the gameplay of God of War is better than Ninja Gaiden is just asinine. That's not opinion, that is just fact.

[bobbler]

Heh, at first I was confused as to who was being interviewed. Itagaki was asking most of the questions for the first page...

Somewhat entertaining interview at least.

[carneconcarne]

God of War was an excellent game with a storyline better than Ninja Gaidens, but saying the gameplay of God of War is better than Ninja Gaiden is just asinine. That's not opinion, that is just fact.

You're a turd. That's not opinion, that is just fact.

Wow, I wanted to see if I could make something true on the Internet just by typing it, and I did!

[VoodooKarma]

You're a turd. That's not opinion, that is just fact.

Wow, I wanted to see if I could make something true on the Internet just by typing it, and I did!


Wow, what an intelligent argument! Bravo! And using the insult 'turd', that was impressive!

[Doomsday]

Wow, what an intelligent argument! Bravo! And using the insult 'turd', that was impressive!

Saying the gameplay of Ninja Gaiden is better than God of War, gameplay being a very subjective thing, is a FACT is equally impressive

[Achilles]

Let me know when he makes a game better than God of War.Don’t you mean ‘When he makes a game that I think is better than God of War’? Because most people think Ninja Gaiden is the better game. I know the camera pissed you off, but there’s a lot more to a game than the camera, and for the most part the camera in Ninja Gaiden worked very well. If you didn't get past the first level I can see why you'd think GoW is better, the first level of NG is the worst one in the game and emphasizes the game's flaws (absurdly hard boss, puzzle part you can miss because of the camera, etc).

[VoodooKarma]

Saying the gameplay of Ninja Gaiden is better than God of War, gameplay being a very subjective thing, is a FACT is equally impressive

So you are saying that you honestly believe that the gameplay (which, let's be honest, is 75 percent combat in both games) of God of War is better than Ninja Gaiden? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love both games and I especially liked the story and ending of God of War but to say that the combat in God of War is better than Ninja Gaiden (if you are being honest and subjective) is crazy talk. The combat in Ninja Gaiden was like a fighting game in and of itself which required you to master the controls and get good at the fighting system to be successful while God of Wars combat was more button mashing than anything else. Fun button mashing, but still button mashing for the most part.


Edit: I should also add, to be fair, that in God of War if you took the time you could master the combat and pull off some pretty cool moves BUT you could still beat the game (on normal) by button mashing for most of the game (boss fights excluded). In Ninja Gaiden, if you tried just button mashing in any part of the game you will have your ass handed to you every time.

[mister_slim]

I love Itagaki's bluntness, but that was about a page and a half too much ego.

[icronic]

Wow, what an intelligent argument! Bravo! And using the insult 'turd', that was impressive!


Did you per chance miss the fact that he was being sarcastic, as opposed to arguing as you seem to think?

And as far as which has better gameplay, that's totally subjective. I'd say God of War wins in the gameplay department for me. While I agree that Ninja Gaiden was an incredible game, it was hardly a relaxing gaming experience. That kind of tension does not equal enjoyment in my books, and while GoW may have been far too easy, it was still a lot more enjoyable.

[Hellstorm]

the first level of NG is the worst one in the game and emphasizes the game's flaws (absurdly hard boss, puzzle part you can miss because of the camera, etc).

Right, which are all flaws God of War NEVER had on ANY level. Perfect Camera, logical puzzles, highly modiflable and linkable combo system and hey, and for the icing you can rip guys in half with your bare hands.

[Hellstorm]

Did you per chance miss the fact that he was being sarcastic, as opposed to arguing as you seem to think?

And as far as which has better gameplay, that's totally subjective. I'd say God of War wins in the gameplay department for me. While I agree that Ninja Gaiden was an incredible game, it was hardly a relaxing gaming experience. That kind of tension does not equal enjoyment in my books, and while GoW may have been far too easy, it was still a lot more enjoyable.


Exactly, was the game enjoyable as a whole? God of War: yes. Ninja Gaiden: no. Never once did I have to bitch about the camera. Never once did I not feel I couldn't combo one attack into another. GoW just give you this great feeling of... a really good rush while you play it. I spent more time fighting Ninja Gaiden's camera than any of the enemies.

[Mr.Green]

You kids done already?

[Twigz'N'Berries]

My two cents:

I loved Ninja Gaiden....hated that camera though. But on its worse day it is better than 99% of the drek I have played. Add to that the upgrades you could get later on Xbox live...I give thumbs up to NG.

God of War was tight...but the difficulty of NG, plus the fact that if you beat the game on Normal (let alone hard or Master Ninja) you felt like a man!!! There are few games harder than NG...no noob is going to beat Master Ninja on his first walkthrough.