14 DAY TRIAL // The Ninja Gaiden series of games is among the most critically acclaimed action-title franchises. Created by Tecmo's Team Ninja, which was led for a long time by reputed video game creator Tomonobu Itagaki, the series stopped at Ninja Gaiden II, which, according to Itagaki, was the last title in the franchise.
But things have changed for Tecmo, as Itagaki isn't with the company now, and his Team Ninja studio is headed by Yosuke Hayashi. When asked about Ninja Gaiden and how the story and its characters could allow for more titles, the developer revealed that we might get to see new iterations in the series, even though Itagaki said that no new titles would be made.
“Regardless of what Itagaki-san said before,” Hayashi said, “in time, what the consumers, the gamers are looking for is going to be the next chapter — the future of an outstanding series. We feel that we're in a position of being able to make that call, and to provide pure entertainment that's going to be enjoyed by action gamers and our fans. That calling is already there — we feel it, and therefore we will continue to work towards a future for the series.”
So it definitely seems that, under the new management, the studio will have a new look at its “terminated” franchises and take the ideas of Itagaki and his former staff to new grounds and, hopefully, to a new level in terms of quality.
Ninja Gaiden gained so much acclaim thanks to its intricate story and the great gameplay it featured, which, although quite hard in the eyes of many players, was very satisfactory and provided a great challenge for completionists and hardcore gamers.
Look forward to more news about this and other Tecmo projects at E3, where the company promises to unveil some new and interesting titles.