New Team Ninja targeting West, new leaders appointed

vspectra06
vspectra06
Since 8283 Days
Yasuda, the president of Tecmo, announced to Bloomberg Japan today that Team NINJA with it's new leader has been appointed to work on a big budget title game with a new genre, and is expected to be completed next year.

With the absence of Itagaki, the team has taken on a new motto for game development, "New Title, New Genre, New Location, New Leader".

Team NINJA's new game will not follow Tecmo's past game genres like Fighting, Action, or Horror Adventure; instead they will focus on a brand new genre and focus on targeting the western audience, though details can not be disclosed at this time...

the new leaders (there are two of them) of Team NINJA are Jin Hasegawa (Project Manager/CG Team Leader in various Fatal Frame projects) and Yousuke Hayashi (Director for Ninja Gaiden Sigma).
Link

I'm guessing it's shooting game, FPS or TPS. We all know we need more of those. Anyway, now it all makes sense why Itagaki bashed on Hayashi's work. He decided to stay instead of doing something about the unpaid bonuses.
In reply to
SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7600 Days
With 360 outselling the PS3 globally but sinking like a rock in japan, japanese developers will inevitably become more west-centric and target the core 360 user base. This, I fear, will become very much the norm.

I'm sad to see Team NINJA take that route though, considering it was once one of the real high profile providers of pretty traditionally japanese action adventure titles and fighting games on the Xbox platform.

I think it's gonna take an enormous upswing for the 360 in japan or a global increase in PS3 sales to turn this trend around.

With a lot of luck, this doesn't necessarily mean an FPS title.... but really, who am I kidding.
In reply to
Jollipop
Jollipop
Since 7460 Days
Oh god why do i sense an FPS title coming.

And yea I fear that too, we are guna see less quirky Japanese stuff i think and more westernised crap, we have enough of that already.

Lets hope thats not the case though, a good platformer would be nice though :D

But in all honesty Ninja Gaiden although Japanese in style still targeted the western audience, as did fatal frame to some extent.
In reply to

Marumaro for the WIN !!

Ronsauce
Ronsauce
Since 7562 Days
Posted by Jollipop
And yea I fear that too, we are guna see less quirky Japanese stuff i think and more westernised crap, we have enough of that already.
While I don't want Team Ninja to pump out an FPS, "quirky Japanese stuff" is definitely not what I want.
In reply to

"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan

"Just because it'll fit doesn't mean it should go there" - Kyle
"That's what she said." - Me

SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7600 Days
Well, if they target the west with a platformer I'm afraid they're just daft. :)

Unless they can somehow have chisel jawed space marines jump around a lot.

Ronsauce; yeah, you must really have trouble avoiding the THREE of them on the 360.

(ps; three is a gross over-estimate)
In reply to
Jollipop
Jollipop
Since 7460 Days
Posted by Ronsauce
While I don't want Team Ninja to pump out an FPS, "quirky Japanese stuff" is definitely not what I want.
Well they have had quirky stuff in the form of DOAX in the past, looks like they are moving away from that, which is a good thing in some ways, but banjo is quirky so its not like quirky is a bad thing.

And yea Simon It wouldn't be the best idea to do a platformer, but I seriously don't want to see another shooter, and we know its guna be... *sigh*
In reply to

Marumaro for the WIN !!

KORNdog
KORNdog
Since 6981 Days
Posted by Jollipop
Well they have had quirky stuff in the form of DOAX in the past, looks like they are moving away from that, which is a good thing, but banjo is quirky so its not like quirky is a bad thing.
"quirky japanese game" conjures up thoughs of datings sims in my mind tho. a platformer like banjo is just that, a platformer, not really quirky in my eyes
In reply to
Jollipop
Jollipop
Since 7460 Days
Yea perhaps quirky isn't the word im looking for lol.

NG appealed to the west a lot so I don't see why they need to go a new direction, perhaps they are looking for similar sucess as Capcom have had, it may turn out to be a good thing, guess we will have to see.
In reply to

Marumaro for the WIN !!

SimonM7 - The other mod's bitch
SimonM7
Since 7600 Days
Yeah, I'm just further spewing bitterness really. I can't even think of a genre that is equally viable in the west. The transistion from competetive PC gaming/FPS to Xbox, coupled with Xbox Live has really dictated the core audience on it and that's what's going to be the obvious choice I think.

Third person shooter has slightly more flexibility in terms of interesting control patterns and stuff from a veteran action game designer like Team NINJA, but I think that would just lock into place with a Gears setup for controls. I mean take for instance Capcom who alluded to having an additional RE5 control scheme that mimics Gears.

New IP is always interesting though. And really, I don't think they're genetically capable of making something as off-puttingly generic as.. Turok... I mean Metal Gear Solid is a continuous exercise in trying to make a western game, and with each attempt they trip over themselves and end up with characters that look vastly different from what goes on in... Turok.
In reply to
Ronsauce
Ronsauce
Since 7562 Days
Posted by KORNdog
"quirky japanese game" conjures up thoughs of datings sims in my mind tho. a platformer like banjo is just that, a platformer, not really quirky in my eyes
That's what I meant(DOAX included).
In reply to

"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan

"Just because it'll fit doesn't mean it should go there" - Kyle
"That's what she said." - Me

Sath - Missed the<br>hay
Sath
Since 7443 Days
Team NINJA should just stick what they are good at, hack and slash and going multiplatform considering Itagaki isn't there anymore no more exclusive and everyone can enjoy.

I hope it's not FPS.
In reply to

*A New Form of Change*

szaromir
szaromir
Since 7333 Days
lol, Capcom a few years ago stated the same, that they would develop with worldwide audience in mind, and otaku wannabes complained as well, but today no one complains, but is stronger than ever. Take it easy people.
In reply to

"That just happened 'cause that was awesome" - Randy Pitchford, Gearbox

vspectra06
vspectra06
Since 8283 Days
Targeting the West is different from targeting the world.
In reply to
szaromir
szaromir
Since 7333 Days
No, it obviously means the same in this case.
In reply to

"That just happened 'cause that was awesome" - Randy Pitchford, Gearbox

GriftGFX - He can also<br>ban your ass!
GriftGFX
Since 7577 Days
Posted by szaromir
lol, Capcom a few years ago stated the same, that they would develop with worldwide audience in mind, and otaku wannabes complained as well, but today no one complains, but is stronger than ever. Take it easy people.
What, are you trying to say that Capcom didn't shift focus to the first person shooter genre? There's very little about Ninja Gaiden that seems Japan-centric anyway. I don't see how this necessarily represents much of a change for Team Ninja. Developing titles almost exclusively for Microsoft over the last several years doesn't exactly make them mostly concerned with Eastern trends, does it?

I wouldn't mind a very Japanese shooter coming to the Xbox either. I love shit like Gun Valkyrie, and Metal Wolf Chaos on the original Xbox. They don't have much of a flair for tactics, or intuitive controls for that matter (and most rely on some form of target-lock).. but no one can deny that there are Japanese designers that rule at crafting action/arcade classics. Japanese action titles used to be huge, I wouldn't mind seeing a second coming.
In reply to
ApolloCreed
ApolloCreed
Since 7329 Days
I wonder what Itagaki is up to...I heard he started a new company, but I'm not sure. Does anyone here know more about this?
In reply to
Jollipop
Jollipop
Since 7460 Days
Posted by szaromir
lol, Capcom a few years ago stated the same, that they would develop with worldwide audience in mind, and otaku wannabes complained as well, but today no one complains, but is stronger than ever. Take it easy people.
I complained and still do, and im no Otaku *sits and sulks*
In reply to

Marumaro for the WIN !!

GriftGFX - He can also<br>ban your ass!
GriftGFX
Since 7577 Days
I don't really complain, nor have I.. but I sure do miss the old Capcom. Don't get me wrong, I think they still make fantastic games. They used to be the kings of the arcade though, and those fantastic arcade experiences died with the Dreamcast. It's not just about the coin-op/cabinet experience either, I just miss those games. Street Fighter 4 is evidence enough that they've strayed far from that vision.

But they do still make some very compelling stuff!
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