Ninja Gaiden 2 Formally Announced (screens, trailer, some info), Plus Other 360 Info

RC Cola · Sep 12, 2007

Ninja Gaiden 2 trailer:
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From IGN (screens are there if you want to see them):
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/819/819484p1.html

Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki took the stage at a pre-TGS Microsoft event in Tokyo to announce Ninja Gaiden 2, the first real sequel since the original Xbox release. The sequel will be exclusive to Xbox 360 in 2008 according to Microsoft. In a TGS trailer released for the game, we find that Microsoft is tied to the game, and Tecmo's logo strangely absent. Naturally this is big news for Xbox fans.

Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden premiered on Microsoft's Xbox in 2004. Ninja Gaiden Black, and updated version, was released for the same console in 2005. Just months ago, Ninja Gaiden Sigma was released for Sony's PlayStation 3. All previous versions were published by Tecmo.

According to our own Anoop Gantayat who saw a live demo of Ninja Gaiden 2, the action is just as frenetic as before. "The gameplay is so fast that it's hard to watch. Hard to keep up with," says Gantayat. "Lots of blood. Bodies getting chopped in half. Ryu pins enemies on the ground, thrusts his sword in, and they explode!"

The release date for Ninja Gaiden 2 is currently set for 2008.
Click to expand...

A "preview" from 1UP:
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3162734

As Microsoft is set to announce at a pre-Tokyo Game Show press event shortly, Ninja Gaiden 2 is real, heading to Xbox 360, and -- in an unusual twist -- being published by Microsoft itself, rather than Tecmo. While still under development by Tecmo's Team Ninja, the publisher shift puts it next to games like Halo 3 and Mass Effect as part of Microsoft's first-party lineup.

Apart from potential adjustments in how the game's marketing plays out, it doesn't seem this change will have much impact on the game. Anyone worried that Microsoft would want to censor the series needs to do little more than look at the first screenshots released to relax -- blood flows, splashes, and flies more than in pretty much any other game to date. In fact, at first glace, we'd forgive you for thinking the big new thing in Ninja Gaiden 2 is blood (or rather, the amount of it).

But naturally, there's a lot more to the game. We don't have the full details just yet, but we were able to pick up some early information. Perhaps as a way to counter many of the complaints about the series' difficulty, one of the central gameplay changes is a new health system that will automatically heal players to a certain extent. We don't know exactly how this system will work, but it seems to be similar to Halo 1's setup where a certain portion of your life will recharge if you can stay out of trouble for a few moments, but another portion of your life (your "armor," to continue the Halo comparison) will remain missing until you make it to the next save point.

Between those save points, you'll bounce from New York to Tokyo to the Netherworld, and as you can see in the new screenshots from the game, come across an area called the Aqua Capital with gondolas and a river running through the center of town. It's hard to say much definitively about the game's New York appearance, but a "stage select" screenshot released by Microsoft suggests that the Statue of Liberty will make an appearance.

For weapons, Ryu Hayabusa now has claws on his hands and "razor-like blades" on his feet, according to a Microsoft press release, which he can use to aid his decapitations, but it's not clear if he has these for the entirety of the game or just at certain points, and how they fit into the story. As you can see in the screenshots, decapitations are back and fit in nicely with the blood effects.

The final bit of information we have at this point is that there will be a new Master Ninja Tournament and players will be able to upload Karma scores to leaderboards on Xbox Live.

Ninja Gaiden 2 is set for release in 2008, likely in the latter half of the year given the timing of the game's announcement. For the full reveal of the game, look for a cover story in the December issue of EGM, which will have much more information than we've been able to round up thus far, as well as exclusive images and impressions of the game.
Click to expand...

This was announced at a Pre-TGS event for Microsoft BTW, so there are other small pieces of info as well as some screens for upcoming (usually Japanese-developed) 360 games like The Last Remnant and Infinite Discovery. Some games coming to XBLA:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/819/819496p1.html

Microsoft announced an exciting batch of upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles during their pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference earlier tonight. The full list of impending releases can be found below.
* Ikaruga (Treasure)
* Rez HD! Every Extend Extra Extreme (Q Entertainment)
* Omega Drive (Hudon)
* Exit (Taito)
* Trigger Heart Exelica (Warashi)
Click to expand...

IGN has a blog-esque article that posts a little bit more info on what all went on, but I think these are the highlights of the event.

A-Train · Sep 12, 2007

CDogg · Sep 12, 2007

I spent freakin tens of hours on the ninja gaiden xbox version and almost broke my tv for it, but it was worth it lol, one of the best/hardest games ever, def going to get this one and spend tens of hours on it again lol

DaDakota · Sep 12, 2007

That trailer was crap, dramatic, but didn't show anything special....meh

RC Cola · Sep 12, 2007

Yeah, I probably should have added that this was a teaser trailer, and those never show much (see SoulCalibur 4 or Silent Hill 5...at least we saw more than just a logo).

Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will leak the videos from the gameplay presentation at the event. Probably won't happen though, and if it does, it will just be a video from a cellphone or something. Guessing we might get more at TGS though?

RC Cola · Sep 16, 2007

10-Minute Gameplay Presentation available on XBL (I think), or at the following link:
http://www.gamersyde.com/news_5057_en.html
Maybe some other mirrors too.

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AXG · Sep 16, 2007

The game looks fairly along in its development yet it's slated for late 2008. Anyways, I will definitely be picking this one up when it launches. The NG on the Xbox was difficult but it was addictive and kept me trying to beat it. The gameplay footage was great. Thanks RC.

NBAHOU713 · Sep 16, 2007

Ok, im getting an XBOX360

MiniMing · Sep 16, 2007

The second video looks really good. Might have to get this game.

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