The consequences of Ninja Gaiden II director Tomonobu Itagaki's departure from Tecmo are starting to be felt, as the company's share prices took a dive of more than ten percent.
On Tuesday, the shares were valued at 1,102 yen ($10.40). Today they are worth 982 yen ($9.27). If you're like me and don't understand the stock market and people who actively enjoy wearing ties, this can all be translated as "Tecmo's just taken a bit of a buggering."
This is hardly surprising. Whether you love him or hate him, one cannot deny that Itagaki was a central figure in Tecmo, and his role as the face of Team Ninja was significant indeed. Whatever way you slice it, Itagaki was a great asset, as this new misfortune demonstrates.
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Contest:
12:23 PM on 06.05.2008
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I really don't see what he brought to the development team other than being some annoyingly arrogant figure head.
id say its more oatmeal face and less pizza.
anyways its not like we didnt see this one coming. its bailing ship time over there for sure.
You're right, but we'll just have to see if this trend continues and more people sell sell sell
As for my opinion on this? I think EA should buy Tecmo at half the value of the shares and make an EA vs. DOA game, in the similar vein of Marvel vs. Capcom...
But if you ask me, Ninja Gaiden 2 is fn awesome. Hardcore gamer to hardcore gamer, I have never played such an awesome action game in the 3rd person perspective. DOA games are amazing as well.
The impact is yet to be seen.
While some of the things he said may have been true, he never seemed to showed a balance between belittling and respecting the games of others. That's what made it annoying. While the drop in stock prices is significant, it is based on a perceived weakness rather than an actual weakness.
Also, I don't actually believe the original (Xbox) Ninja Gaiden would have turned out the way it was if not for Devil May Cry being released earlier. And while the two games were certainly comparable, they were basically alone in that battle with no other action games truely being at their level in terms of combat depth.
Hrmmm, I fail to see how Itagaki has done anything for Tecmo other than give them a (horribly disfigured) face for people to look at.
And as far as NG:S, Itagaki has even said himself that he had nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, he thinks it's crap.
Interview with CVG
...and I quote
"What did you think of the PS3 game Ninja Gaiden: Sigma? I'm told you won't even sign copies of the game...?
Itagaki: It was no good.
Why's that? I thought it was pretty good.
Itagaki: All you need to do is play Ninja Gaiden II and then try and play Sigma afterwards and you'll see why.
Despite the fact that it's on a 'next-generation' console there's no evolution whatsoever. That was made not by me, but one of my sub-ordinates who basically tried to copy the success of Ninja Gaiden."
And really, DoA is NOT anything that great for the fighting game genre. If you want to fight with half-naked women that bounce a lot. Then sure, it's awesome. But if you want a technical fighter, you'd be better off with something like Virtua Fighter.
And as far as Devil May Cry being pushed by Ninja Gaiden. I beg to differ. Devil May Cry is probably the reason Itagaki got the idea to re-do Ninja Gaiden on Xbox in the first place. He never even had anything to do with the original NES games to my knowledge. He just saw what 3d action games COULD be like, and decided to make a copy with an older license. NOT that ground breaking.
The only thing Itagaki brought to the scene is better boob physics, and a horribly disfigured face to look at.
He will not be missed.
Yup, he was an ass. Enough a reason for people to dislike him at the very least.
I'm sure Ninja Gaiden 2 wasn't a evolution for the series. (Nor DOA 4) And yet he always talks shit about other games.
Is he a developer or a fanboy who has a raging boner for himself?
It's been ages since I played a Virtua Fighter. I might have to check it out, because you lead me to believe that it has an in-depth counter and grapple system now.
An entertaining douche, though. And to be honest I don't truly believe that he is 100% serious when he shits on other games. He's a public figure, the loud stand out, and any exposure is good exposure.
Also, I've read and watched plenty of interviews with him, and he seems very passionate about his games. If he's ever asked a question about design, or how he would change something, he always has plenty of ideas seemingly off the top of his head. He really seems to understand game mechanics and what it is that makes games fun.
About leaving...
If his version of the story is true, I stand by him 100%. I wouldn't work for a company that jerked me around like that.
I remember watch the 1up show once when their crew where interviewing Itagaki. Despite him being japanese he answered all questions about his games, and there's a big amount of respect going round for him, and rightly so.
What next for them? They should find someone to represent them from Team Ninja. Will anyone step up to restore that confidence in Tecmo? Whoever does, they have big passionate shoes to fill.
Belief that Itagaki wasn't a contributor, is really a matter of opinion, although I would ask you what happened with NG:S when Itagaki wasn't involved. Yes, I could agree that DMC may have influenced Itagaki as before NG, it could be seen as a one of a kind style of action game (I still find it rather unique). The fact that they were alone was what made it necessary to have the both of them at such a high level. Think about how Sony would be if Microsoft didn't exist (I'm one of the few I assume who still hopes they'll spring back to fully competing with them)
@Fantus
I don't know why you people like to de-emphasize Itagaki's contributions constantly, while people like Kojima, and Jaffe still get full credit just because they keep silent. I've known Itagaki had no role in NG:S and it was subpar, I wonder if there's a connection? And yes, I think that Itagaki might have liked what he saw with DMC, but I think at the same time what he produced was superior and thus set some higher standards, which in turn told Capcom that they needed to keep evolving the series. Additionally, if you can't appreciate NG, but still like DMC then I guess thats your prerogative, but as a fan of both, I do see it as a beneficial competition. Also don't get me wrong, DOA4 and its predecessors didn't change the fighting genre, the fact you played them with that atrocious d-pad is proof enough. But it had the potential to do it with the way he was using the counter system. I'm a longtime VF player, but I would like to see something break up the constant stagnation we seem to be in in the fighting genre now and I think DOA may have developed into something capable of that over time (maybe like in the 5th or 6th installment).
Sorry walls of text, and regardless of dislikes, don't support companies cheating their employees, how would you people like it if Kojima or Miyamoto was in the same position?
That's what I'm saying!!
You sure talk alot about the dudes face I bet yours is only one a mother can love eh?
Really you must be some sort of star or model to talk about someone beig "disfigured". Your just a hater on the internet a dweeb at best.