No more Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive games…at least, no more at the hands of the original creator for those series, Tomonobu Itagaki. The man that has headed Team Ninja with his rock steady demeanor at Tecmo has sent out a statement letting us know that he plans on resigning from the company effective July 1st.
Some of his motives for quitting the company are the denial of bonuses promised to him for Dead or Alive 4, “demeaning remarks about [him] to [his] subordinates and colleagues,” and are mostly directed at Tecmo’s President, Yoshimi Yasuda.
1up.com speculates that some of the blood boiling between Tecmo and Itagaki may have started with the growing focus at the company to turn profits (i.e. Ninja Gaiden Sigma, which is essentially the same game from the original Xbox) and lessening efforts on original, quality products.
Sad to see the gore visionary go, but Itagaki is sure to fall on his feet soon to continue his violent-game tradition — just don’t expect them to have “Ninja Gaiden” or “Dead or Alive” in the title.
Via 1up.com
[Pic from IGN]
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I recall reading last year that he was pissed off about the treatment he was receiving. I guess this was the final straw.