Ninja Gaiden II director Itagaki quits Tecmo

someone hire this dude asap, ninja gaiden 3 must be on this gen consoles or the next!

i would love for him to go to capcom or namco

wow! this is big for other co.! I mean think if he and suda 51 got teamed up to make a game?!!? No more heros 2 or a all new game would be F"N SWEET!

wow now this is stupid... not paying a great director... now that just crossed the lines

Itagaki, at least what I've heard about him reminds me of that guy from the movie "Grandma's Boy" that thinks he's a robot lol. But yeah, just because his relationship with Tecmo, doesn't mean he's out of the gaming business.

very sad news

Itagaki is the man behind the best game i ever played on xbox (ninja gaiden), and he always has been proud of his work, actually i became an xbox fan thanks to him, but maybe ninja gaiden 2 isn't the great sequel he expected to create and his despression make him quit forever, and if ninja gaiden 2 will not be the game we're all expecting, it's all tecmo's fault, cause they don't gave him he's money!

NNNOOOO!!!!!!! I WANTED DOA 5!!! that sucks Tecmo will probably make it without him but i dont think they could make it as good as he did.

Wow those Tecmo guys sound like jerks. Im pretty fond of both of those series, its a shame that the company he's contributed to so much has just completly screwed him. Whats Tecmo gonna make now anyway?

it might have been tecmos fault as itagaki has said or it might have been itagakis fault to which we r kept in the dark but nevertheless that doesnt derive from the fact that at the end of the day TECMO loses and Team Ninja loses 1 of the greatest game designers. i really dont care bout a game designers personal life as long as i get to play his awesom games. no 1 shud feel sorry for this. tecmo will move on. itagaki will get a better job. MS or sony will snatch him definately with better payments and unlike tecmo theyll keep their promises.all that i care bout rite now is that this internal problem thats been taking place at tecmo hasnt affected the development of NINJA GAIDEN II in any way.

"In addition, he made demeaning remarks about me to my subordinates and colleagues, causing me significant emotional distress and worsening my personal relationships and work environment" isnt that what he does to every other developer developing a game simular to his....this is hypocracy at its finest....i think anyone who felt insulted by this guy should go on a class action lawsuit against him for this very reason

Given this guy's history, I'm willing to bet this isn't the complete story. I have a feeling he may have just wanted more money that wasn't promised and Tecmo disagreed. If that's not the case, Tecmo's losing one of their best, but with his prima donna attitude, it may be addition by subtraction. Time will tell, but I'm sure Itagaki won't have any trouble finding employment elsewhere.

Why do people praise this guy? I mean I like DoA and NG, but Itagaki isn't the best director out there, far from it. If anything, I think he's cocky and arrogant and he won't win because any company has the right to refuse to pay any additional bonuses to their employees. Even if there was an agreement beforehand. That's business. I think Itagaki had a poor relationship with his colleagues way before any of this started because of his attitude, hence why Yasuda refused him of any bonuses. Just a thought.

XAF, I hear more developers claiming the industry is entertainment rather then art. I always reads stories of an outside source unrelated to the industry saying videogames are art, but there's some movie critic who disagrees. But then they ask someone in the industry(like Kojima), and they surprisingly say that videogames are just a form of entertainment. But I'm not say it isn't art. The industry is a business, and I think Janpieterzun is right. I'm a freelance graphic designer, and I see a lot young artist like myself enter the field not knowing the business side of things. Or the possible orphan law that's being discussed now. You can be passionate about what you're doing, but when you make it a living you half to treat it differently sometimes. As for Itagaki, good luck. But I always found him strange...and fishy.

Wow thats a big hit for Tecmo. I loved the DoA. It's a shame that money and greed are corrupting the gaming industry.

This is a real shame.

I never thought I would see those two part ways. On the bright side Itagaki can now broaden his horizons. It's going to be interesting to see where he ends up.

Never really was a fan of the DoA series to begin with. It's a shame that his departure from the company and (most likely) field had to be under such circumstances. Obviously there is more than one side to this story, and I'm sure it's not just due to Itagaki wanting his money that is rightfully his. Oh well, best luck to Itagaki and hopefully Tecmo takes note of other companies trying to beat the [proverbial] dead horse and not continue on with Ninja Gaiden. Just...let it rest in peace.

Thats like Shigeru quitting Nintendo :-S. Not a big fan of DOA but I love NG to death so thats a load of bo***cks

hmmm... sucks well i'm not a fan of him or "his" games, but i guess i wish him the best.

@rocheno He already confirmed a few weeks ago that Ninja Gaiden 2 would be the final game in the series. He isn't going to do more, and doesn't want to. There's always the possibility that Tecmo will try continuing the series without him, but it would not be the awesome Ninja Gaiden that we're used to.

Give him he's money!cheap @sses

Sounds fishy to say the least. Oh well. I personally think the Ninja Gaiden series as it is now is an evolution of what I loved as a kid but is oddly overrated for the most part. I couldn't enjoy it. I also must say that I've always thought the DOA series is LAME.

Janpieterzun "This is not art, this is business. This concept is foreign to so many artist." Janpieterzun to be honest it is that thought that originally kept the gaming industry from being taken seriously. Now it is starting to hold its own with the movie industry and is a part of every day life. Everywhere you look you see its mark. It's because there are developers/programmers/composers that see it as more. So, believe me it is more than just business. It is a statement saying "I desired it, I created it. It's my art".

Well, despite him probably being a hentai, i'm sure someone will pick him up. Guy make's good games with memorable character's >:)

No DOAX3?... (CRY)

I would want to get paid for the work I do, so I can't blame the guy for leaving but he will be missed. I am sure that a guy like him won't be out of work for long.

I just care about Ninja Gaiden. Whether he quits or not I want Ninja Gaiden to continue!!

I didnt see this coming.

Yeah!! Love it

Much respect to Itagaki for putting together titles like Ninja Gaiden and DoA, but i'm sure his behavior and personality in a work environment has gotten him in that situation. I highly doubt it's because of "bonuses."

Hopefully DOA5 still gets made. and yeah, I really wont be surprised if MS picks him up.

Unless Itagaki takes him with him, Team Ninja could appoint Yosuke Hayashi (Ninja Gaiden Sigma) to take over. Regardless, I'd like to see Itagaki continue with game design.

Itagaki for nintendo, go back to your roots wooot.

That's pretty terrible news for Tecmo fans. I wonder if Itagaki would be able to find a new home at a different studio.

wow.

check my profile, I had it up first.

This is not art, this is business. This concept is foreign to so many artist.

There's probably something more to this story; Itagaki does seem like an egomaniac, and he probably brought this on himself somehow. Also, he hates Tekken, which is a better fighting game series than Dead On Arrival could ever hope to be. XD

Ninja Gaiden II haven't been out no more than 24 hours, but Mr. Itagaki quits Tecmo? I'm surprised that this happen. Best of luck and I'm sure that any video game company would be crazy for not going after him.

If Sony has any brains they should snap him up to head one of their first party dev companies...

honestly, . something just doesn't sound right. Bosses on that level don't do what he claimed they did at Namco unless this guy is a real jerk, . . and judging by his self inflated 1985, I just came from a Judas Priest concert look, . . he's probably NOT fun to work with

The Japanese do not sue. Itagaki is obviously not concerned with his image in Japan. The President of Tecmo basically offered him his job or shame, it will be interesting to see if another Japanese gaming company picks him up after all of this...

You know what I'm not saddened by this news. To me Tomonobu, was not the greatest game designer. Maybe DOA 5 will play better without him.

It is true that one man does not make a development team but he can be the driving force behind quality. Team Ninja has been a rare gem every since seeing what they could do with the original Xbox. The more I look at Team Ninja and Tomonobu Itagaki's work the more I look at an artist bringing his visions to the canvas and taking pride in every piece he creates. Tecmo, Namco, and Capcom seem to live by this rule. But artistically Tomonobu Itagaki's team always pushed the graphical limits of what could be expected. I'm probably among the few that look at the team's games and just find myself captivated by every little detail and Namco is the only other developer that does that to me. Itagaki will be missed and I don't think that Team Ninja will be the same. It always takes someone pushing to create something beyond the expected and Tomonobu Itagaki appeared to be a man that stood out front when it came to pushing his team to excellence. No matter what anyone's personal opinion of him might be, his team and his work speaks volumes. I hope that he and Tecmo will get this resolved or come up with some solution where he and the team can continue to work together.

Perhaps with we are lucky this will cause Ninja Gaiden to be made more like the classic. I'm just not as fond of the new one as I am the old one. I don't blame him for being so upset though. Tecmo made all that money and didn't give him his bonus? That is bogus. I'd move on too. This is a big loss for Tecmo and some other company is going to take him in, treat him better, and make a killing due to his talent and Tecmos stupid mistake of not paying him his cut.

"edhc44 Guts5 The good news for PS3 fans is, now that he is gone Tecmo will be able to do whatever they want with his series. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Senseless. Itagaki doesn't own the NG trademark, Tecmo does. And since NG2 is being published by Microsoft Game Studios, an agreement made between MS and Tecmo and not MS and Itagaki, one thing has nothing to do with the other. Tecmo might have been inclined to do such an agreement because of him and a supposed NG3 or an NG2 Sigma might come to other consoles now he's out, but considering he won't be at the helm, I'm not quite sure what would become of it." Senseless? You got that right. MS doesn't own the NG name. They had an exslusive deal for NG, but you can get around those deals by changing the game up a bit. Ninja Gaiden Sigma is not the same name as Ninja Gaiden now is it? That's like saying EA owns the rights to anything that says football in it, because they have a National Football League license... And most licenses are timed anyways. There will be a variation of NG2 on the PS3. It'll probably be called Sigma 2 and they may even leave the NG part of it off, but it's gonna happen. I think'll it'll be 3 years or so, but it'll happen. Now that Itagaki is gone, they won't have to worry about ticking him off even more. THAT was the point, of course he doesn't own the license. But star players or developers or whatever, always get preferential treatment. He despises Sony so he won't got there. The wii is no where near powerful enough to play his games. He won't work with another 3rd party company that will want to put his stuff on the PS3. So, he'll most likely end up at MS or creating his own little studio. That's my guess.

I hope Team Ninja can still exist and make games somewhere else. I wonder what wil happen to the DOA, doax and NG series now. Whatever happens I hope he continues making games.

Bosses suck all over the world i guess. At least he finished NG2 before dippin out, sucks about DoA5 though. I wish him the best of luck.

M$ Japan will snap him up like flypaper. I can't see him going to another game company like Konami or Capcom.