Tecmo Koei will be updating Ninja Gaiden for 2012 in several ways when the third title's released later this month. Besides classing things up a notch with a stronger emphasis on character development and a new 8-player online mode, the company will also be doing that other thing we're all doing this year: locking said mode behind an Online Pass.
We're sure the company didn't come to this decision lightly: what with Online Passes still being somewhat controversial among consumers, and what with Ninja Gaiden being a series explicitly marketed toward fans of sharp objects and extreme violence, this decision doubtless caused some sleepless nights for the management in question.
But then, if you're the sort of Ninja Gaiden fan who'd take this to heart, you've probably pre-ordered the Special Edition; and if you really haven't been keeping up with Ninja Gaiden, you're probably still wondering how they got online play onto a 20-year-old game in the first place...
