Itagaki Talks Ninja Gaiden Difficulty, Sequel, DOA

Thanks to Kikizo for its interview with Tecmo's Tomonobu Itagaki regarding "Ninja Gaiden 2, Code Chronus, Dead or Alive Ultimate, DOA4 and PSP, [and] Nintendo DS development", conducted at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. Itagaki addresses the complaints of some about Ninja Gaiden's extreme difficulty, posturing: "It was done intentionally of course. The testers who tested this game went nuts. At first it was easier, but when the testers said 'this is too difficult', I made it even more difficult", before mentioning that a Ninja Gaiden 2 is planned, and "the concept will not change", but "it will be after [development of] Dead or Alive 4", which in turn will be produced after the nearly completed Dead Or Alive Ultimate, the Xbox Live online-enabled title which "takes the first two Dead or Alive titles, adds all new environments, a novel online setup, a higher degree of interactivity in its levels, new movies, new costumes, and more."

Comments

This guy is sure full of himself

[fowlerserpent]

Is it me, or does this guy come off as a bit of a prick? Maybe if I liked his games more I wouldn't think so.

Re:Boasting?

[black mariah]

Bullshit. Believe it or not, there is a small faction of gamers out there (of which I'm a member) that LIKES hard-as-fuck games. We like shooters (Gradius, Raiden, Dodonpachi, Mars Matrix), we like platformers (Mickey Mania, Chakan), we like beat-em-ups (Final Fight, Batman and Robin), and we like them HARD. The harder the better. Konami realized how much they fucked up Contra and finally went back to the old-school side scrolling run and gun style, and the game was hard as hell. Guys like me loved it, whimpering pussies hated it and went back to playing FInal Fantasy 11. Tecmo knew their audience and stuck to it. Not every game has to be a wussy-ass walkthrough designed to keep wimps entertained while they push the "PLAY GAME" button. Some games actually require SKILL and PRACTICE to be good at.