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Tecmo Upgrades Ninja Gaiden Via Xbox Live
joinder writes "IGN is reporting at that Tecmo will be releasing an freely downloadable upgrade of Ninja Gaiden via Xbox Live, including 'improved AI' and 'full 360 degree control of the [in-game] camera', as well as new enemies, bosses, and weapons. As far as I know, this is the first time such wholesale gameplay and content changes have been made on a console title - fortunately, the Ninja Gaiden upgrade is free if you have Xbox Live. Could this be a symbol of a positive trend to come, or a negative one that would equate to the bugfix/patch crazy world of the PC gaming world?"
it isnt a patch this classifies as extra downloadable content. like extra boards, enemies. they just happened to include extra functionality at the same time to scapegoat the no patch policy
Microsoft does not allow patches for non xbox-live games. It has nothing to do with what type of content the update is.
Ninja Gaiden has an XBox Live portion already (head to head battles) even tho nobody uses it. That is the loophole that gets them their update.
If Thief had a "vs" mode, or a level download feature, then they could fix the difficulty bug, even if nothing about "live" was modified.
I used the wrong terminology, but the game does have a competetive mode (see below):
t m
In any case, my point is still valid, the game had a pre-existing live component that was being used.
Xbox Live compatible: Tecmo's revered development team, Team Ninja, has created a unique Xbox Live feature within Ninja Gaiden. The Master Ninja Tournament, developed specifically for the game, will allow players to participate in a nationwide competition. Here, players will put their honed ninja skills to the test to determine the top Ninja Gaiden player in the country. Participants will compete in downloadable trial missions made available only through Xbox Live. Top-ranked players will win special prizes and be included in the Ninja Gaiden Hall of Fame.
http://www.xbox.com/en-us/ninjagaiden/default.h
Actually.. since this patch is being used in Phase 2 of the MasterNinja Tournament. It directly affects online play for the people in the tournament.
It also just happens to be available to people not participating in the tournament.
[i]People without network access, dont have access to patches... [/i]
Er... these are not patches they are extra features (for real not like those in windows) since they are not solving any problem with the game (camera spinning maybe cool but its not needed, extra AI, believe me, you really dont need it or want it), several games have access to extra levels and features via xbox live. so er.. get a grip.
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
Well, if ANYONE remembers, Dead or Alive 3 was upgraded via the Official Xbox Magazine (before Xbox Live was in place). I still have the disc, I paid $10 for the mag just to get the upgrade. I hope there's a way to upgrade Ninja Gaiden via the magazine, too, cause I don't have Live (nor will I ever get Live).
Well, that's the cool thing about Gamerankings.com
Shinobi was rated a 74%, by 68 media outlets and is the number 1,439 ranked game by gamers.
Ninja Gaiden was rated a 92%, by 85 media outlets and is the number 46 ranked game by gamers.
Okay- I am not going to say that these numbers have any hard-core science behind them, but they really are the best numbers we can use for a comparison.
So, depending on how you value a 92% rating vs. a 74% rating- a large part of the world thinks that Ninja Gaiden is THAT much better than Shinobi.
Of course, they rank Zelda Ocarina of Time as the number 1 game, and guys in little green costumes give me the creeps. So I didn't like it at all.
No reason to lie.