Short Itagaki 1Up.com Article

[Nessus]

http://teamninja.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3144194

On Pikmin:
"It's the only game I haven't grown tired of. Both 1 and 2 are great, they're amazing."On Tekken:
"Hate."A lot of people here seem to really like this guy. I'm really surprised by some of his picks for favorite games.

[thecrazyd]

I don't get it. He says graphics are all that matters, and then picks games that don't reflect that idiotic belief. And Tekken has always totally sucked.

[FunkyPoopMonkey]

Who is this guy supposed to be anyways?

[Zeal]

at least the man hates Tekken.

[NGage]

I could just get right into it and call Itagaki a pop marked fuck tard, but that really wouldent do him justice. Instead you have to look deep into the idiocy of this guys mind, and folks im not gonna pretend to understand it.
First off, does he genuinly hate Tekken or is it just his way of garnering attention to his sub par DOA series. And if so dont the giggly boobies and panty shots do enuf of that already? Secondly how can the mind behind Ninja Gaiden be the same one behind DOA Etreame Beach Vollyball, makes no sense, the first was a kick ass action game and the later was a hottie dressing vacation sim that required no effort. (actually that dosent sound half bad). And lastly, Im a fan of pickmin same as the next guy....they were really fun games, but to say that those games have never gotten old, well if by never you mean "a weekend" than i fully agree.
Any ways im not a full on Itagaki hater but some of the shit that comes out of this guys mouth amazes me.
On a good note, he does kinna look like a japanese SLASH from GNR and thats kind of ammusing

[Vandenh]

Guess he has a right be behave like that after making the ultimate action game (Ninja Gaiden) and his picks of best games are pretty good. Ok his hate for Tekken is a bit over the top. I think it is a weak series as well but he could have used that list to "hate" a few other games ;)

[Xaerin]

I don't get it. He says graphics are all that matters, and then picks games that don't reflect that idiotic belief. And Tekken has always totally sucked.

Actually if you read the whole thing he says gameplay is all that matters and that people who say graphics don't, are wrong.

^To NGage: He says Pikmin is the only game he hasn't grown tired of, and because that opinion differs from your own, that makes him wrong?

I'm not saying you have to agree with everything he says but come on people, if your going to disparage his comments you could at least read the thing the way it is written and not how you think it is written.

[Achilles]

Ah Itagaki-san is hilarious. I respect that he actually has the balls to give his opinion on games, even if it gets him personally attacked on every forum.

Why exactly can he not hate Tekken?

[bumgut]

I like the way each screenshot of tekken is the same character doing the same move.

Hmm.... Is he implying something?

[Paranoia]

Itagaki is the man.

[Sion]

This guys is annoying as hell.

[NonSoft]

I don't know who this guy is, but I don't see why its a big story that he announced his favorite and least favorite games. Someone said he isn't afraid to speak his mind? Yeah, thank god for that, otherwise we wouldn't end up with insightful gems such as:


I no longer can figure out what the hell they're trying to do with the numbering, and I don't know which one is which. I don't know what they're trying to do with all of these spin-offs, so this includes Nina: Death by Degrees as well. I don't think it even needs saying, but people should stay away from Tekken. Nothing left to say. I just don't want them to disappoint me any more. It's so annoying. Please don't annoy me any more.

I agree the Tekken series is terrible, but atleast give a rational explanation for why you don't like the game. You don't like the numbering and it annoys you...Ok.

[Vandenh]

>I don't know who this guy is

Nuff said...

[NonSoft]

>I don't know who this guy is

Nuff said...


Errr....What? :confused:

Are you trying to be as incoherent as the guy in the article?

[Harlan Hoyt]

Errr....What? :confused:

Are you trying to be as incoherent as the guy in the article?

So, the part of the article where they described him as the head of Team Ninja, the developer who created the "Dead or Alive" series and the new "Ninja Gaiden" game just ... what? Went over your head?

[saran_js]

So, the part of the article where they described him as the head of Team Ninja, the developer who created the "Dead or Alive" series and the new "Ninja Gaiden" game just ... what? Went over your head?

Huh !?? Dead or Alive ? Ninja Gaiden ? Team Ninja ? Is this some bounty the Yakuza put out or what ?
Who is this wannabe Cliff Blezinwhatsisname ? One is enough, cuz we don't need no half ass copy.

[Frogleg Special]

#define Tekken > Dead or Alive
#define Ninja Gaiden > Any 3D action slashers out in the market
#define Don't agree #1 = Might be Xbox fanboy, Itagaki smoocher
#define Don't agree #2 = Might be PS2 fanboy, Kutaragi ball-licker

Void main()
{}

[Liquidize105]

I enjoy a Itagaki once in a while, the guy has a child-like honesty/frankness (like that time when he threatened to get back at xbox modders with "10 billion nuclear bombs"), but lately the ass-kissing by IGN/few others has gotten pretty pathetic.

[Kelegacy]

This guy needs to feel the bite of cold katana on his neck.

Tekken a horrible franchise? If you guys say that, you obviously don't enjoy fighters. Dolts.

[Xerxes]

I wouldn't say Tekken is horrible. The only think I liked about the series was Eddy Gordo (fuck that silly girl wannabe) and putting capoeira in a videogame and Bryan was pretty cool. But if you only had Ninja Gaiden and Nina: Deadly Degrees or whatever to go by, you'd get the assumption only one of those teams actually knows what they are doing.

[KamaItachi]

Itagaki is the Master Shake of game developers.

[Abednigo]

It's not that Tekken wasn't great in it's day, but, in my opinion, Soul Calibur set the bar incredibly high, and no other fighter has been able to touch it since.

His comment about Ocarina of Time makes me want to play it again.

[Xerxes]

It's like you have your VF heads, your DOA heads, and your Tekken heads. But all can enjoy Soul Caliber goodness. Well could enjoy it before the team went all PS2 on us.

[KamaItachi]

It's not that Tekken wasn't great in it's day, but, in my opinion, Soul Calibur set the bar incredibly high, and no other fighter has been able to touch it since.

His comment about Ocarina of Time makes me want to play it again.

I can see that, I played and loved Soul Edge before I ever got to play Tekken and just felt the latter fell short in comparisson. Soul Calibur has aged incredibly well and is still worth dragging out and dusting off the old DC once in a while.

[thecrazyd]

Actually if you read the whole thing he says gameplay is all that matters and that people who say graphics don't, are wrong.
"Graphics aren't important!" That's ridiculous. It's the whole point.
Errr... what?
Tekken a horrible franchise? If you guys say that, you obviously don't enjoy fighters. Dolts.
Oh, I like fighters. I just don't like really slow, unresponsive, boring as fuck fighters.

[Hellstorm]

He hates Tekken because between it and DOA, Tekken is the better game on all fronts from gameplay to sales.

[Thin_J]

I like the guy because he just says whatever the hell he wants to say, and doesn't give a damn what anybody else thinks about it.

If he hates a game, he says it. Like Tekken, which I agree sucks.

It's full of bad animation, lame characters designs, and weak gameplay.

[DannoHung]

Itagaki's view on graphics is that the whole reason we're playing video games and not say, sports or board games is that we have the ability to create fantastic visuals with these computers.

I have to say, I don't disagree with the sentiment that having the hardware means we should push it to the limits, not that I necessarily agree that graphics are the only reason to play video games.

[Xerxes]

He hates Tekken because between it and DOA, Tekken is the better game on all fronts from gameplay to sales.

Tekken's gameplay and sales are better? :confused:

[Heretic Machine]

I love fighters. But Tekken just sucks ass, simple as that. I don't understand why it gets any recognition at all. Street Fighter, DoA, Soul Caliber, Virtual Fighter, Smash Brothers, King of Fighters... these are all much better franchises that are not based on suck.

[The Iron Weasel]

Soul Calibur II was far better then TEkken 5 or whatever the last one was, i tried it and instantly hated it. It was so bland! Soul Calibur II was the eptimum of fighters if you ask me.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Huh !?? Dead or Alive ? Ninja Gaiden ? Team Ninja ? Is this some bounty the Yakuza put out or what ?
Who is this wannabe Cliff Blezinwhatsisname ? One is enough, cuz we don't need no half ass copy.


Oh, CliffyB...

*drool*

[Dirty Harry]

Every streetfighter game since alpha 1 has been a complete milk of the series.

Doa?, yeah its dead on arival, with its simplistic button setup, mash mash mash?, no thanks.

Soulcalibur?, meh, i think its somewhat decent but what really kills it for me is the weapons, no way can someone stand up to being smashed with a 10 foot sword, no one. It shouldnt knock off 10 percent of the health bar either.

Virtualfighter,? what the fuck are you mentioning this game as supperior to tekken, the best arguement i see is that tekken to you feels unresponsive, but get this vf is the king of slow ass unresponsive gameplay.

[Achilles]

He hates Tekken because between it and DOA, Tekken is the better game on all fronts from gameplay to sales.I find Tekken's gameplay halting and centered around dial-a-combo. But gameplay is more subjective. DoA sold 1.8 million units of DoA3, how well did Tekken 5 sell on a system with 4 times the install base? Because I'm quite sure it sold less.

I like how instead of explaining why they like Tekken people bash DoA and the other series. Makes sense, there's really not much to like about Tekken so for it to be good the others would have to be trash. On the other hand there's only about 3 people sticking up for Tekken.

[Xerxes]

I don't dislike tekken because i got my ass handed to me, that never happend. Again, learning to play with Eddy and since Bryan has served me well. It's just overall it's a slower game.

You wrong bout street fighter, ever since SF2 it's been milked... :-P

The argument with DOA being a button smashing game is kind of funny. What can you really accomplish against anybody, let alone a person who knows how to play?

You right VF is slow, people go on about it's depth but I never dug deep.
And to talk about weapons ruining it, Yoshimistu is in Tekken with a sword. Not to mention you have Devil's running around. Yeah 10% is about right for getting hit with lazer beams.

[Sion]

Tekken is such a button mashing game.

[MosBen]

It's not like weapons in games are the only unrealistically under-damaging aspect of said fighting games. Can you honestly say that anyone would get up from a tenth of the punishment an average character takes in one round, let alone three or five, of a fighting game? And while we're at it, what the hell is a health bar? What is 20% of my health?

Being unrealistic really isn't a very fair criticism for a game unless it is designed to be as close to realism as possible, and even then there will always be sacrifices to reality in favor of gameplay because life just isn't that fun most of the time.

[CrysDark]

Battle Arena Toshinden>All

[Zurik]

My favorite fighting game>Your favorite fighting game.

People argue about this almost as bad as religion.

[bardockkun]

Tekken is a button mashing game? Those 10 hit combos and air juggles say beyond other wise. Honestly I love Dead or Alive and Tekken (except 4, i'll admit that was terrible), but everyone's complaints over Tekken are terribly stupid.

Stupid character designs? So i'm supposed to believe Ein (who has the slave outfit last time i remember) and Bass (the cowboy biker), is better then designs like Jin (especially Devil Jin) and King? Hell in Tekken 5 if you dont like the way they look then go change it. Quit your damn bitching. Besides does character design factor in so much for a game being liked or not? In the end theyre all the same, since people have been copying the character outline of Cammy for years now (brainwashed blonde sent to kill someone i.e. Nina, Cassandra, Helena).

As for gameplay, the heart and soul of Dead or Alive is just the interactive levels and can be just as cheap as Tekken. Without that though you can't say as much about gameplay besides countering, which every game has in anycase.

[thecrazyd]

Stupid character designs?
Yes. King, and that guy with the blond hair that goes straight up? The guy with the metal arms? 'nuff said. Worst character designs of all time, bar none.

[Xerxes]

And while we're at it, what the hell is a health bar? What is 20% of my health?


I thinK just lost 5% of my health bar moving a conference table. Boy do I love work. >_<

Anybody a tech support person being drafted for odd jobs or am I being hosed here? :confused:

[danhoo]

My personal take:

Tekken: Combo heavy, and can be a bit of a masher. I like the characters and style, but the mix seems a little off-balance (kangaroos and demons?)
DOA: Too much emphasis on counters, but lots of style to the characters.
VF4: Deep and well-balanced, but presentation feels bland, characters are kinda dull.
SC2: Pretty, and has the best "pick up and play" feel to me. But there's also a tendency to mash here too.
Any of the recent MKs: Juggle-city. Never was a fan of this series.
Haven't played any of the 3D versions of SF.

[mister_slim]

Oh, I like fighters. I just don't like really slow, unresponsive, boring as fuck fighters.
Yeah, I don't like DOA either.
Yes. King, and that guy with the blond hair that goes straight up? The guy with the metal arms? 'nuff said. Worst character designs of all time, bar none.
At least they have personality. All the DOA characters seem to be either bland or parodies. I haven't played enough Tekken to form a strong opinion about it, but DOA is just flavorless.

[thecrazyd]

At least they have personality. All the DOA characters seem to be either bland or parodies. I haven't played enough Tekken to form a strong opinion about it, but DOA is just flavorless.
Oh, I am not defending DOA. Another terrible game. I am just saying that Tekken character design hurts my eyes.

[Xerxes]

Did you just call DOA slow, unresponsive and boring as fuck fighters? I mean all those things sound like Tekken.

Law a total ripoff of bruce lee outfits has personality? A foot high flat top is personality?

[Nessus]

Heh, I liked the original Killer Instinct (arcade) and Mortal Kombat II.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

While we're all throwing out our opinions, I'm going to say I don't much give a rats for the whole fighting genre. Most of them (Tekken and DOA included) seem silly to me. The only one I've really enjoyed (and bought) is Soul Caliber 2, and I can attribute a good portion of that to Link.

Now Super Smash Brothers on the other hand...


Edit - There was one I really liked way back on the Genesis - it had various magic users and such. Eternal Champion maybe?

Clay Fighter was also pretty amusing.

[Achilles]

Stupid character designs? So i'm supposed to believe Ein (who has the slave outfit last time i remember) and Bass (the cowboy biker), is better then designs like Jin (especially Devil Jin) and King?Well you can't pit the two weakest character designs against one of the strongest. Really, King? The dude looks funny even for a pro-wrestler. And Bass' design was clearly based on Hulk Hogan. Actually he is Hulk Hogan. Itagaki's weird like that. Ein’s got some nifty outfits in Ultimate, the slave outfit was really funny though, intentionally so I think, total cheesecake for the girl DoA players.

Do explain which 3d fighter is more responsive and faster than DoA mister_slim. Even Soul Calibur has bigger gaps between its moves than DoA does.

[Adam Blue]

Eternal Champions on Sega CD was an amazing game.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Eternal Champions on Sega CD was an amazing game.


It was also just on the Genesis too right? I'm pretty sure that none of my friends had the CD, but I do remember playing this game many times. It kicked ass.

[Liquidize105]

Killer Instinct

I wish nintendo would make a new KI.

[Xerxes]

Actually, it would be i wish rare would make another KI. I want a KI 360 as well.

[Liquidize105]

Nintendo owns KI, bro.

At least I think so :confused:

Or maybe not.

[IndependentGMR]

Nintendo owns KI, bro.

At least I think so :confused:

Or maybe not.

You're correct good sir! Nintendo owns the rights to Killer Instinct.

[Xerxes]

Oh well that's just ass...

Edit: If it's true.

From my findings which is as much hersey as your post until solid evidence is posted. Rare got to keep all the rights to there IP except the Donkey Kong Country series and the StarFox license.

[kickmybum]

I can see that, I played and loved Soul Edge before I ever got to play Tekken and just felt the latter fell short in comparisson. Soul Calibur has aged incredibly well and is still worth dragging out and dusting off the old DC once in a while.

Soul Caliber sucks. Any fighting game with no jumping ability instantly removes 1/3 of their combos.

[Xerxes]

If i'm not mistaken you press up on th d-pad to jump... O_o

[KamaItachi]

Damn, I completely forgot about Eternal Champions. That was an awesome game, just a pity that it was overshadowed by Street Fighter at the time. There were some great characters in there, especially the cool trenchcoated gumshoe who could climb on walls.

For the recent 3d fighters, I find a lot of the charatcer designs lacking. DOA just looks like sex dolls brought to life with voodoo magic to partake in sexy battles. Tekken never did much for me either VF was a bit more rooted in reality so I guess it an be forgiven for it's lack of totally off the wall characters. I thought the SC series had some great character designs though. There was nothing really revolutionary or original (maybe bar Voldo) but they seemed to have some fun with some of the more outlandish characters.

[thecrazyd]

Soul Caliber sucks. Any fighting game with no jumping ability instantly removes 1/3 of their combos.
Yeah, you can totally jump. The thing I love about Soul Edge / Calibur is that it is crazy amounts of fun whether or not you are any good. You can button mash Kilik and have a great time, or you can get crazy in depth with all of the characters. Simple to pick up and play with crazy depth. Tekken is pretty much the opposite of this.

[Liquidize105]

Oh well that's just ass...

Edit: If it's true.

From my findings which is as much hersey as your post until solid evidence is posted. Rare got to keep all the rights to there IP except the Donkey Kong Country series and the StarFox license.
That makes sense. I didn't find any sources but I knew KI was released in the arcade first. I played it a lot back in the day.

[Xerxes]

Miday was the original publisher according to wikipedia... O_o

Who here actually focuses playing fighters with more than hand full of fighters?

[KamaItachi]

Soul Caliber sucks. Any fighting game with no jumping ability instantly removes 1/3 of their combos.

SC was about footwork, not jumping. There was a reason analogue control and complete 3d movement was so important.

Who here actually focuses playing fighters with more than hand full of fighters?

Very few, I'd wager.

I used to try and get some time in with every character in these sorts of games, but there were always some who I just hated to use and left them aside. The last game I felt compelled to try out every character was SF2 turbo. Now like most folks, I'll pick one character that feels right and mess about with a few others. Particularly with the huge rosters of characters that are in every fighting game these days. Even DOA 4 looks to have 20 plus characters.

[Xerxes]

I chose a fast fighter(someone who I could use as a wave of offense), a "cheap" character(unpredticable if you actually know how to use them), and kinda of a bruiser(slower and more power hits). Sort of like Ryu for speed, Brad Wong as the "cheap" druken fighter, and Bayman as a bruiser type. Styles that can somewhat change what's going on. I think with tekken Eddy was consider cheap but he was also my fastest, and Bryan bruiser. With SC2, it was Raphael. Fencing was just the shiznit, some called cheap, but his speed. The Eddy of the series, and Knightmare. Before Raphael there was Mistuguri.

[bobbler]

You all suck, its all about Way of the Worrior for 3D0 !

It had everything (and more gratuitous violence than you could shake a stick at), a soundtrack by White Zombie and it was by Naughty Dog!

[bardockkun]

Did you just call DOA slow, unresponsive and boring as fuck fighters? I mean all those things sound like Tekken.

Law a total ripoff of bruce lee outfits has personality? A foot high flat top is personality?
Wait, wait, wait. Isn't Jann Lee just a Bruce Lee ripoff too? Hell doesnt he also have the same yellow tracksuit as both Law and Bruce Lee in Dead or Alive too? I mean just because the face is different everything else is exactly the same so i'd hardly agree with dissing Law as a Bruce Lee ripoff when Jann Lee is the same.

Also Killer Instinct, meh, was i the only one disappointed that the N64 version lacked the feel of it? Especially when you get a supreme victory and instead of a victory FMV you get a zoom in shot of the character. I was hoping Rare would re-release it for XBox but i guess not.

[Xerxes]

Meh you got me... Everybody has a Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do ripoff... But atleast Jann had a different look and build.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Oh well that's just ass...

Edit: If it's true.

From my findings which is as much hersey as your post until solid evidence is posted. Rare got to keep all the rights to there IP except the Donkey Kong Country series and the StarFox license.


Well StarFox and Donkey Kong were never "Rare's IP." Did they develop the first Killer Instinct?

I don't want to see ANY sequels from Rare. The developer is obviously a shadow of it's former self, with most of the good employees going to Free Radical and studios within Nintendo. I don't want to see some of my favorite N64 games get butchered with half-assed sequels and "remakes."

[Xerxes]

I knew they never rares IP but they are games they made. You right about damn near everyone being gone, but can you really fuck up killer instinct. And if not KI3 where is a Tobal 3.