Team Ninja

Team Ninja is a video game development studio formerly led by Tomonobu Itagaki which was founded in 1995. They are a subsidiary of Tecmo, Ltd..

Overview

Team Ninja is a Tecmo development studio. The studio is most widely recognized for the modern interpretations of the Ninja Gaiden franchise as well as the Dead or Alive fighting game franchise. Team Ninja was lead by game designer Tomonobu Itagaki from 2001 until July of 2008, when he resigned from the company.

Games Developed

"Ryu — Ryu Hayabusa was revived for the DOA games of the 90's.

This team started life as Tecmo Creative #3 with Itagaki as project lead for Dead or Alive, a 3D fighting game designed as a response to Sega's Virtua Fighter. Since then, the studio has developed multiple sequels for a variety of platforms. Team Ninja has also produced several spin-off Dead or Alive beach-themed games starting with Dead or Alive: Xtreme Volleyball.

Following the success of the Dead or Alive series, Team Ninja went on to develop the Ninja Gaiden revival for the Xbox. Critical response to the revival of Ninja Gaiden was ubiquitous, critics only stopped short from referring to the game as masterpiece due to the problematic camera.

Trademark Style

Team Ninja is well known for their sexualized female characters and innovating the concept of breast physics which is now common. The background level deigns are also known for their picturesque beauty. The Extreme Volleyball games put emphasis on these elements that made Dead or Alive much talked about in the media.

Itagaki's Departure

Itagaki resigned from Tecmo in July of 2008. He claimed he had been denied appropriate bonuses for work on his past games. Itagaki also sued Tecmo for unpaid wages to their staff. Since leaving the company, he has created Itagaki Games, an independent development studio where he and numerous of other former Team Ninja members that departed with him. Itagaki's right hand man, Hiroaki Matsui also started Soleil Ltd. with other Team Ninja greats like Katsunori Ehara. Soleil started out a subsidiary of Valhalla but that company quickly folded after the development hell of Itagaki's Devil's Third.

In a letter he released to the public announcing his departure, Itagaki stated that the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden games would no longer be made. However, Tecmo responded by saying projects for both series were already in the works. Since then both franchises have continued to a generally negative critical reception. Since Itagaki's departure, Team Ninja has been an aimless wayward dev team coasting on the reputation of its former staff members.

Post Itagaki Leadership

Following Itagaki's departure, Team Ninja employee Yosuke Hayashi was promoted to helm the studio. Among his first projects as studio head included Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Metroid: Other M. Tecmo turned turned to the creator of the Famicom Ninja Games, Masato Kato, to write the story for what become Ninja Gaiden 3. Kato was not asked to redesign any of the characters or involved with gameplay design. lNinja Gaiden 3's reception was universally negative, the lack of Itagaki's vision and quality control was apparent to consumers. There was an attempt to create a refined port for Wii U, entitled Razor's Edge that made only marginal improvements to the game. The Dead or Alive series has continued in a similar way with much more censorship in an atempto cater to feminist groups in North America who view Itagaki's work as misogynistic. Fans have called for ports of Ninja Gaiden Black and the 360 version of Ninja Gaiden II from the Itagaki era, but Tecmo has reatedly claimed to have "lost the source code." In an attempt to satisfy Itagaki fans, Tecmo released a new port of Sigma 2 called Ninja Gaiden II Black, with a similar amount of gore effects present in the 360 game. Team Ninja also to turned to PlatinumGames to development of Ninja Gaiden 4, unsure of how to continue the franchise by themselves after the disatrous Ninja Gaiden 3. Tecmo also commisoned a new 2D side-scroller from the creators of Blasphemous called Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.