Ninja Gaiden II

Tomonobu Itagaki, the developer behind some of the most difficult console games on Earth, wants you to know he’s sorry for all those times he kicked your ass. In an interview in the new issue of Edge Magazine (issue 218, on newsstands now), the creator of Dead or Alive and the newer Ninja Gaiden games acknowledged that some of his past work has been “too difficult,” and – more relevantly – that his 2012-bound shooter, Devil’s Third, won’t be as frustrating...

GFB writes: On the heels of finding out that his former studio, Team Ninja, was working with Nintendo on a new Metroid title, the video game rockstar (in his own mind) Tomonobu Itagaki has popped up to announce he has some new plans of his own in addition to having settled his lawsuit with Tecmo.

This weekend, Tecmo Koei Europe has re-launched their London MCM Expo microsite, http://www.tecmokoeiexpo.com/, adding a host of information and new features. With the London MCM Expo taking place this weekend, 24th-25th October 2009, most publishers attending the show will be ramping-up their campaigns this week, but once again it's been left to Tecmo Koei Europe to lead the way.

This morning, it appears that Microsoft have launched a minor, and rather bizarre, marketing campaign. Directly highlighting the rivalry for those in-the-know and referring to an Xbox 360 release that's now regularly available at a discounted price, it appears Microsoft still have faith in the original release of Ninja Gaiden II.

Destructiod writes: Yes, seriously. In what may be the most arbitrary and silly decision yet made by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, Destructoid has been asked to remove a launch trailer we posted for Ninja Gaiden II in May 2008. Despite the fact that nobody on this site has even thought about that trailer for a year, it was deemed a threat to society and has now been removed.

411mania talks about this week's game releases. Highlights include Oboro Muramasa, Suggoi! Arcana Heart 2, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, Hammerin' Hero, Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity, and Rhythm Heaven.

NextGen Player writes: When it comes to Xbox Live gold account fees - you either dislike them or don't mind them. The dislike them camp generally point out that Wii and PS3's online services are both free. The don't mind them people often cite Xbox Live's better online experience and access to exclusive content as justifying the annual cost. For people in the first group, Xbox Canada has a new offer to sway you to the other side. They've announced a new Xbox Live Gold Deal of the Week. XBL Gold members will receive discounts (between 25 and 50% off) each week on Arcade titles, Game Add-ons, Xbox Originals, and other content.

Major Nelson has revealed that this week's Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week is for Ninja Gaiden II's Mission Mode expansion, reduced by 33% to 560 Microsoft Points for all Xbox LIVE Gold members. Mission Mode is an all new game mode whereby you can challenge your skills in self-contained missions featuring trials and tribulations not found in the standard story mode. Karma Attack missions task you with obtaining the highest score, while Survival missions give you a single weapon to fight off as many enemies as possible. You can also take your high scores online and compete with players around the world on the mission leaderboards.

411mania gives a rundown on this week's game releases. Highlights include The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity, DJ Max Fever, and Ninja Blade. The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity Despite still being in pre-alpha, the glimpse that I got of The Chase at last year's E3 was already looking pretty good. Unfortunately, more high-profile 2D platformers like Mega Man 9, Bionic Commando, and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia were getting most of the attention. So, it's understandable that this game was overlooked. DJ Max Fever What's surprising is that PM Studios decided not to follow in Konami's footsteps by bastardizing the series with crappy songs from 2nd-tier US bands that nobody has ever heard of. Granted, most of the people who pick this up will not have heard of any of its songs either, but one of the game's main strengths is its song selection, and changing what works would kill the series before it has a chance to plant its feet. Ninja Blade Ninja Blade is a 'Cinematic Action' game developed by the people who brought us the Otogi series It looks to be a cross between Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Heavenly Sword, God of War, and Onimusha.

Amazon.com on Tues. slashed the price of Tecmo Inc.'s Ninja Gaiden II by 33 percent in the latest wave of video game discounts. Ninja Gaiden II held a sale price of $39.99 on Tues, $20 below an MSRP of $59.99.