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Tecmo: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 less gory

The latest installment in Team Ninja's hack-and-slash romp to be toned down for PS3 release.

104 Comments

When Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2's debut trailer appeared earlier this year at GDC, it left more than a few people scratching their heads. A PlayStation 3 redux of the Xbox 360's well-received Ninja Gaiden II, the video gave many the impression that Sigma 2 may feature toned down violence, rather than hardcore gore for which the series is known.

It appears that assumption is correct, according to Sigma 2's producer, Yosuke Hayashi. Hayashi, who was in London today at an event for the game, told journalists "When we developed Ninja Gaiden 2, we very much placed the emphasis on the violence. Since last year, the number of games featuring high levels of violence increased. So rather than do something the same as everyone else is doing, we decided to make it different." Despite this, GameSpot UK can confirm Sigma 2 will still contain blood, limb dismemberment, and decapitations, though the level of blood spatter is markedly less than in Ryu Hayabusa's last Xbox 360 outing.

In addition to less gore, the other major change this time around, according to Hayashi, is an improved camera system and adjustments to the level of difficulty--something else for which the series is known. Hayashi also played down any plans to support Sigma 2 with downloadable content, saying "We are not going to support downloadable content for the time being."

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Avatar image for MALMSTEEN4774
MALMSTEEN4774

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hmmm well if there is no gore and blood that doesnt mean the game sux! im gonna play this game for sure! and ill beat every mode. BUT it will be more intersting if there is gore and blood! :D but its gonna be an awesome game! i mean i rather have the ps3 version than the xbox version! coz first of all xbox360 SUX and the ps3 version have alot more features! for example the online co-op! thats is sweeeeeet! :D

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Parker7007

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Yosuke Hayashi sucks, your reasoning for taking out the violence is one of the stupidest things i've ever heard in my life and the worst marketing technique ever. You're either an idiot or some anti violence weirdo that should not be the developer of a game about slicing people to pieces. Ninja Gaiden is not as fun without blood and gore. Think, if Gears of War didn't have the over the top violence to go with massacring aliens, it wouldn't be that fun really. But they do, cause they're smart, unlike you.

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Parker7007

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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was2

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looks a big game update will be great i need a ps3 and a copy of this game

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ghostfacewillah

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it should of just went for the upgrade to the game so more people would of wanted a ps3 version of it, not take it down a notch exspecially with the violence here in 2009.at worst should of had it a choice of the player with blood or with out.

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Princess_Rectum

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I dunno, I remember playing Ninja Gaiden for Xbox when it first came out, and there was really a decent amount of blood in it. Seeing videos of NG2, they obviously wanted us to think that enemies were full of pizza sauce, just waiting to be burst. The floor was completely red by the time the whole fight was over. But from what I can tell, it seems that they're going back to the original Xbox Ninja Gaiden. Honestly, if any of you actually played the original Ninja Gaiden (I don't know if NG:Black had boosted gore) then you wouldn't be complaining about the lack of blood. And I'm just laughing at how people think that having a surplus of red pixels somehow means the game is more mature. Honestly, get over yourself.

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GC4ever

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that was the one best thing about ninja gaiden the level of gore was so awesome you can just sit there with open mouths and just say "awesome" its also funny at times to i think it would be bad if they really toned it down but i will still buy it....

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leeko_link

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This doesn't really make a huge difference, I'm still looking forward to the game, there has to be at least a few good extras added with that in mind.

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jaybun3030

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Bull****!

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dr_jashugan

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I hope with the gore cut comes something good to replace it, like better graphics, more bosses, etc. 8)

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rbenns2

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Lame.

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koukiboy

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It is ok with me if they remove only a little tiny bit of blood. But if its more than that, they are making a mistake.

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plainpain93

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please make it MORE gory! but i'm sure getting this game

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lyhthegreat

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Less blood and more babes....hmmm...ic...

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RAVEZero

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So...make the game different by having less blood in it. I can understand the need to differentiate from the pack, but...really? That's all you could come up with? Tecmo's already begun to fail without Itagaki.

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xxThyLordxx

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only a kid would think blood and gore is mature. dont get me wrong, I love blood and gore, but it does not make or break a game. NG1 did not have the over the top blood and gore, and its still considered to be a better game than NG2. smoothness and good gameplay is more important and if the over the top blood and gore will be hinderance to it, then please remove it, if not add it.

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Meluckycharms12

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Gameplay is the real important detail -- not now many gallons of blood can be spilled. I say good, with the way the world is, a little less blood may be a good thing.

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ico92

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"When we developed Ninja Gaiden 2, we very much placed the emphasis on the violence. Since last year, the number of games featuring high levels of violence increased. So rather than do something the same as everyone else is doing, we decided to make it different." thats a pretty lame reason hayashi there are tons of games without any violence or gore in them ...there really is no point in to removing the gore

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NikBZero

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Good idea as the 360 game was to over the top with blood

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billyjunxix

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Okay. Now I'm not going to get this game. Because I want my game brutal like God Of War. To bad Hayashi is trying to be different than other developers by making it less gory.

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XBLACKXVIPERX

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ok a slasher movie without blood doesnt make it a slasher movie...GET THE POINT THE POINT TECMO?....gives us the choice to decide if we want more gore or not by putting an option in the game not by makin it less gory altogether.....I'm APPALLED.....NEED....GORE...yes the gameplay n extra goodies the ps3 version is getting along with a better format means its a better version but its like making a game like God of War bigger n longer but with out blood or gore whatsoever.....there's a few reasons why we buy games like this other than that they r fun.....its because we want mature content n u have a ninja with a all kinds of cool sss weapons that are "SHARP" and u mean to tell me that there will be no blood????HAHAHAHAHA......make it optional at least but dont tone it down.....I dont want a sissyfied version of NG I want at least the same level of gore that was in the 360 original version of NG2...PERIOD.....I dont have time for sissified games.....

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Avatar image for XBLACKXVIPERX
XBLACKXVIPERX

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ok we're obviously getting the better version....for those of us who waited n knew that this so called exclusivity thing dont mean jack sht N E more nowadays cause most of the time even if the box of the game says its exclusive its not lol but.....MAKING IT LESS GORY? HELLO NO! thats one of the best selling points of the game.....don't take out the gore.....WTF is wrong with tecmo n team ninja....if the do do that they should make it optional like toggling on n off maybe that would at least give the player the option but to make it less gory than the 360 orginal.....no fckn way....this better be a rumor....i'm a grown person i dont need no teletubbies for a game...in some ways true gore i not always wat makes a great game...even a mature game but in some cases its essential so they better not do that n at least give us the option to do....U HEAR THAT TECMO N TEAM NINJA...dont u dare do dat!

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Rhen_Var

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Sure, why not? Blood isn't everything. In exchange, we're getting a better camera and difficulty. But maan, the Topic title reminds me of the Prototype vs InFamous debates :lol:

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JKnaperek

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I was dissapointed until they mentioned "will still contain blood, limb dismemberment, and decapitations". So now I'm fine with what they're doing. Increased blood spatter doesn't mean much to me.

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banana23man

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what? toned-down violence?? that's bull****

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GatCloudX

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ok

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lowkey254

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blood doesn't have an effect on gameplay so it shouldn't matter. Plus there's co-op. You can't beat that with a stick.

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denicola_a_god

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still gaiden sigma 2 has some really good exlcusive content from what ive seen so far looks pretty good :)

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666_Laventine

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Personally, a tone down from the Gore shouldn't really be a problem, at least to me since they are still keeping the body dismemberment. I just hope they change the Boss fight before the last boss fight. If not make the Bow more user friendly!!!! Aiming with a lousy small red dot can be quite frustrating when thousands of projectiles are being thrown at you. Still have to beat it on Xbox, but don't really have the patience of re-doing that 3 Boss Fight marathon again. Dang it! Should've beaten it when I got to that final boss.

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Raykuza

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I really hope they don't make the game easier. I would be heartbroken. I remember playing Ninja Gaiden Black on easy and getting my butt kicked regularly.

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remark666

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i wanna c some multiplayer ninja fun, still most likely will by this

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Geetarman42

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well i was excited about this...

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ninja_where

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I could care less about the blood and gore being toned down. What matters is the content of the game, not the content of your enemies. If I want gore and blood, I'd be playing Mortal Kombat. Besides, the old Ninja Gaiden didn't have gore and no one was complaining.

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shroom76

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i hope they made it HARDER >: ) i only broke 2 controllers on the first one... i have 3 more!

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speedy5212

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THEGoD1 , I don't think NGS 1 was that hard (Completed on Normal without having any problems ) . Even beat the last boss on my first try .

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THEGoD1

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as long as its not freaken impossible like the first one

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GenkaiSIX

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I imagine after awhile, the reduced amount of blood and gore won't even be noticeable... I hope.

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cutmaclass1

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Still going to be twice the game NG2 was.

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Kyuubi_Vegetto

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Wow they Fix the supposed promatic camera Give you new characters to play as New boss battles New weapons And people are more interested [upset] about the fact that the blood and gore has been toned down. Wow if ever I want to find "quality" when it comes to people complaining about [BS] when it comes to video games Gamespot & IGN are the go to spots. Aurey If Mr. Hayashi is the person who is substituting Tomonobu Itagaki as leader of Team Ninja, I'm truly afraid of what this guy would do to the DOA franchise to "improve" it. Considering how most acknowledge the fact that Dead or Alive became popular for all the wrong reasons (bouncing breasts) I don't really see any reason to be concerned.

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Gothic_symphony

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i dont mind less blood, its all god as long as its fun like all ninja gaiden games, but what really bothers me is the camera. They really need to get to serious work on that. I have not seen any improvement as yet....

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gamenerd15

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While violence in hack and slash games is important, there was a bit too much blood in NG2 on 360. It just was a bit over the top. I don't know if the added content is enough to spend 60 dollars on the game again, but it seems to be better overall than the 360 game. It is a little annoying that all the games I bought a 360 for are coming to PS3. Granted they are coming quite a bit later, but if they can improve the game I say who cares. NG2 was a good game but failed to match the first. There really wasn't any new moves except for the cinematic limb dismemberment. Some of the levels were hard to annoyance. I knew the game was going to be hard, but some levels just seemed like it was just being retarded. The new might of valor instead of mission mode was a let down. Hopefully the PS3 version adds something like this back in as well.

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ShimmerMan

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They sure as heck not creating much incentive for buying this game for people who already own NG2 on the xbox360.

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Kenji_Masamune

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maybe the less gore and added stuff (along with the slight name change) are the changes needed to not get M$ on their ass since they did bankroll NG2.

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chronolzx

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As long as the game is fun to play!

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SillySkeleton

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It's stupid that they took out the gore. When I cut a ninjas or fiends arm off, I want it to fall to the ground and spray blood everywhere, not dissapear and show 'purple mist' coming out of the body. It'll still be a great game, but that was a really dumb move of Hayashi.

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Echo_742

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Moose, If you had read the article, the toned down violence was a choice, not a nessesity for ninja gaiden sigma 2. Nowhere in the article did it even hint at a lack of Ps3 capabilities, just because the 360 has a blood thirsty audience; for example: Gears of War, and produces gorier games than the more casual Ps3 does not mean that it would not be able to have blood, in fact; blood is confirmed to be in Ninja gaiden sigma 2. I'm not saying that the Ps3 is any better than the 360, I'm saying dont be ignorant, read an article before you boast one systems superiority over another.

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The_X_Factor_9

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Fixed camera is the big update that really matters. I'll pick this game up on sale in the future.

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Guzthon

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It doesn't matter with less gore. The PS3 version is enough for everyone; better graphics, more characters (Ayane, Momiji and Rachel), new weapons, more stages and online play. "No mutilation, no problem".

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Devasmet

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Has people actually seen it? I bet if Tecmo din't say anything most of the whiners here wouldn't of said anything... because they wouldn't had noticed.

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