Ok, now let me try doing what I initially failed to do. Please kindly go and read up on how Epic used Gears of War to DISPLAY the potential and capabilities of their engine [Unreal Engine 3, that is] and the case between SK and Epic, then you should be able to understand why a game developer doesn't need to go through the entire source code of UR3 in order to know its limits and functions. How do we know Neverwinter Nights 2's engine is poorly optimized and less advanced compared to its peers on the market? Again, a developer or even a gamer with development backgrounds, need to have such an ability. To put it in layman terms, it is not what the engine CLAIMS that it can do [like the case with Epic when they failed to deliver certain promised features of UR3 even years into their contract and also you requesting a PAPER about the engine] that makes it extraordinary but rather what has been CREATED using this engine that makes it so. BTW, the "entirely new engine" part is by Microsoft. They have it in the description of the Marketplace trailer. I believe you know the legal complications of such a statement so I shouldn't have to explain further. Besides, Itagaki already said that the engine for Ninja Gaiden 2 is completely different from everything they have done before. To make it even simpler for you, and also for the benefit of those who wish to know a bit about how exactly the more advanced game engines work, here's an intro to engine basics and a brief breakdown of the demo presentation by Itagaki:

- The more recognized components [to the general public] of a game engine are rendering, physics, collision detection, audio and A.I. It is of course very foolish to say that a game engine, esp. those used by Square, Epic or Team Ninja, comprises only these components. For the breakdown, I will simply address these aspects of Ninja Gaiden 2's engine.

- As you can see, the models, weapons, objects, etc. in Ninja Gaiden 2 hardly appears to be blocky or have any aliasing AT ALL so that should say something about its rendering engine, A.A. capabilities and the polygon counts, which in turn should show the level the engine is at, given the fact the game is running at a almost perfectly consistent high framerate, as seen in the demo. Sad to say that even Final Fantasy XIII and DMC 4 has a fair amount of aliasing and DMC 4 has some framerate issues at this stage. Like we said before, shadow rendering, etc. only come in the later stages and should not be considered as a distinct part of a rendering engine.

- It should be a no-brainer that Ninja Gaiden's collision engine was and still is today one of the best in the world and the demo shows that Ninja Gaiden 2 has gone far beyond just being one of the best. It's probably impossible for you to see Ryu passing through any LIVE enemy, which is enable partially by the advanced A.I. [note that dead enemies or even DYING enemies are treated like vaccum in order to save memory and hardware usage and large enemies are made partially so in order to enable the various gameplay mechanics to be implemented] even at this early stage of development where they are probably at only the 40-50% range. It should also be noted that the way Ninja Gaiden 2 handles destructible objects is simply incredible. Take a look at the scene with the fruit stands, the stands, the barrels and the crates are wrecked in a manner that is so natural and unobtrusive that it makes ALMOST all other games seem like child's play. Ninja Gaiden 1 & 2 are probably two of the ONLY FEW [if not the only two] games that handles point specific collision to such a degree and scale. Yes, Gears have some point specific collision but it is not as advanced and has a fair amount of generic collision animations. Remember how the tiny bullets in Ninja Gaiden 1 used to hit accurately specific points on Ryu's weapons like as though they are REAL bullets, just like they do now in NG2?

- I would like to explain the A.I. handling part but since it is almost universally agreed by critics that Ninja Gaiden 1 [and now 2] has one of the most advanced, if not THE MOST ADVANCED A.I. in a video game, it should be pretty self-explanatory, unless of course you are really having difficulty figuring that out.

- One of the main reasons why I said that the engine is so extraordinary is because of the way the physics are applied. The "cyclone" ninpo shows it pretty well. Notice how the blood of the enemies conforms to the motion and direction of the "cyclone"? How the charge attacks of the triple-bladed claw distorts the view? These are features that are used primarily in pre-rendered CG sequences and DirectX 10 engines.

- Lastly but not least, the audio engine. Again, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. One thing of special note though is how multiple voices [similiar ones] are processed. Listen to the death cries of the enemies ripped apart by the "cyclone" ninpo.

Hmm...Wasn't really kinda brief, was it?Yes, hostility was never intended to begin with.

dude, im about as impressed with how the game looks from a tech prespective at this state in development, but i wouldnt go making it out to look like the greatest thing ever quite yet.

I guess it's easy to get a good frame rate with a few(not many) decently modeled characters on screen when the textures of the world are terribly flat.No! The tables look like they came apart in a pre-canned, animated way. There is absolutely nothing incredible about that, and it challenges other games in no way whatsoever.Dude, do you honestly think that the "bullets" being fired were actually hitting his sword and that advanced collision detection was at work? That's pretty preposterous. The bullet "collisions" were merely randomized and displayed by Ryu as long as he was blocking while being shot at. Bullets did not exit their guns and hit specific points on his sword.What's so advanced about it? They attack, occasionally block, occasionally dodge, and if you block, they often do some kind of throw/hold. Some of them move quickly; are you confusing that with advanced AI?What physics? The cyclone ninpo really doesn't show that off well at all. Also, if you really look, it also doesn't pick enemies' limbs up off the ground despite what early impressions have said. The arms you see flying are chopped off by the ninpo itself. And are you seriously citing the distorting caused by the charged attack of the claws as why this game is so advanced? Weak. Also with regards to physics, look at around 6:24 in the vid on here. Ryu shoots a fireball at a guy who's standing to the right of a table, the fireball explodes to the right of the table, and the table gets destroyed, but the table experiences NO leftward motion from the blast. Those are some incredible physics at work....That's really great and all, but have you been in a cave for the past 10 years playing vga dos games? Or are you simply being the biggest troll imaginable by choosing not to exercise even moderate reasoning abilities?

FYI, the framerate is affected primarily by [in the graphical department]:
1. The output resolution.
2. How the graphics are processed [i.e. A.A., Anisotropic, lighting, shadowing, etc.]
3. Polygon counts.
4. Special effects.

Texture maps are hardly the issue unless the engine is really not optimized at all, such as the case of Neverwinter Nights 2.Everything in games is animated and PRE-ANIMATED at that.FYI, human eyes cannot see darting bullets, trails maybe [which is exactly what you see in Ninja Gaiden and Sigma], not the bullets themselves. Rendering the bullet or not rendering it is the same since it produces no visible results. It is the supposed path that the bullet follows or should follow that matters. I don't really want to offend anyone anymore, but it would be glad if you can just check out any Youtube videos or your own Ninja Gaiden game [Sigma's collisions and ammunitions are much more noticeable because of the higher resolution]. All ammunitions in Ninja Gaiden 1 have point specific collision to some degree, for instance, the explosives attach at exactly where it should theoratically be on Ryu's body. The Ghost Fishes all follow a different path from one another and areas not covered or protected by Ryu's weapons become vulnerable.

I'm really just trying to tell everyone why Ninja Gaiden is given a 94/100 = Universal Acclaim on Metacritic.com

Please don't take it so personally, I'm no longer attacking anyone, as you can see.I just plead that you read some of the reviews for Ninja Gaiden and Sigma. I honestly don't have the time to go into such extreme detail. A.I. is a very complex system, depending on far one wants to go.Like I said, DEAD or DYING enemies are rendered just like VACUUM so as to conserve memory and hardware usage. Whether it's advanced or not, it's up to you to decide, I cannot impose any standards on you.In fact, the scene that you are talking about PERFECTLY DEMONSTRATES the level of physics simulation used in NG2. The scene in question should be from 6:21 to 6:24. Contrary to what you have said, the chair on the extreme left is both destroyed and its legs sent flying to the left during the animation, as evident in both the animation frame and the debris itself. The reason why the table is not flying to the left is because the Fireball does not work necessarily like the way you think it does. If you watch carefully, you will be able to notice an inward suction motion which is a result of the oxygen being consumed by the flame and thereby, creating a partial vacuum at that specific moment. As the table is at the very center of the fireball, it is affected by the suction motion more than it is affected by the explosion whereas the chair which is at the outer radius is affected the most by the explosion.You really need to understand how audio engines and spatial representations of sounds work in order to reproduce that kind of accuracy in a video game. Why do you think that the death cry of the enemy in flames sound so hollow. That's because the air in his lungs are being consumed by the flame and as a result, the airflow through his larynx [which is pushed down by the high airflow volume and therefore, increasing the diameter of the opening of the larynx, resulting in a low-pitched, hollow voice]. Of course, I'm not saying that the guy has a larynx or even a lung, the sound effect is produced before-hand by the audio team, it's just the way such attention to detail is taken in creating the game. Many games do not produce accurate spatial representations of sounds in their gameplay. For instance, if a bullet is flying past your ear, the sound should be relatively extremely loud [or even deafening but it is not reproduced in such a way in NG2 due to obvious reasons]. However, the distance between the viewer's theoretical position in the game and the object or enemy directly affects the volume and fidelity of the sounds. The fact that multiple voices do not create an amplifying effect in many games further shows that Ninja Gaiden 2 is extraordinary. In other words, contrary to what you think, many AAA titles do not really produce accurate sounds like you think they do.

Actually no, I have never touched dos games, and I'm using a dual-link dvi-d cable for my WSXGA+ LCD, FYI.

You are wrong on so many levels man, it's not even worth arguing with you. I should give you props on elevating trolling to a new height though.

You are giving Team Ninja way too much credit, and it's desperately sad on your part.

Someone please help me comprehend why an Xbox360 game doesn't have Shadows for their characters??? I swear to god... Even Golden Eye 64 had shadows...

jesus christ how many times do people need to be told that the game is far from finished...Itagaki should have placed a Huge disclaimer on the video stating (WORK IN PROGRESS!)

no offense.

Ninja Gaiden 2 looks friggin awesome...

I´m completely new to the series, so i don´t know how the game plays... Looks like God of War (i come from a ps2) but, hell, even more brutal. Is it really as fun and ill-paced as it looks? My girlfriend loves GoW and i´m afraid i won´t ever see her again if she hears about this one... Amazing 60 fps...