Hello, it’s me again, Yosuke Hayashi, Producer of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. This is our last blog to you, and it also happens to be on the day our game is released so I thought it best if I say thank you and share with you my plans and thoughts for the future of Ninja Gaiden. It has been such an honour for you to share our thoughts about Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, so here is where the compass now points for the future of the series. Ok, are you sat down comfortably? I shall begin!

Firstly, concerning Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, let me say that if you think you know the secrets that we have put into the game, please look at yourself in the mirror and question yourself. We are Team NINJA, we have ninja surprise in store. We all know now about the SixAxis functions, but that is mere trifle to what is really in there, hiding away like gems and treasures.

Let me say that Momiji isn’t the only character from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword to appear in the game. We have Sanji appearing on this game! He is carrying a pair of guard swords as his charm, and is mourning his father. His father was double sword master so Sanji aspires to this role as well. Although he still can’t use the two swords since he is too young in this title he is a fervent little devil? I bet he will be a double swords master NINJA as same as his father and Ryu Hayabusa someday! My hints are like bombshells!

Also, look out for the prologue section in this game, we inserted it for our fans, there are some hints in there, things to look at that will point the way to the future. Of course, these secret elements will also be in there locked away in the story too, you have to look for them. And one final thing I have to say… look out for a “Golden Scarab”. Okay, that’s enough hints to keep your mouths wet!

You know, looking back at the journey we have been on at Team NINJA, it has been a really interesting one for us. With departures and changes in the team, we knew that by creating this game it HAD to be the ultimate NINJA GAIDEN game. There was a lot of expectation, a lot of people waiting for us to trip over the ghost of what went before us. There was the spectre of long-gone large personalities that would have overshadowed our efforts if we didn’t make NGS2 something that the fans would support, then that would be the end of the NINJA GAIDEN series. All of us were ready to do whatever it took, because everything was on the line with this one. When we announced this title at GDC San Francisco back in March, I got some questions asking “What’s going on at Team NINJA?”, “What’s wrong with you, guys?”.

I fully understood why people would ask these questions, why they would be concerned, but I replied to them only saying “the game will speak for itself, let it be our answer to the critics, let our actions and dedication rise up and silence fears, not me, not here on a GDC panel without a rock star get up. I wear my passion in my heart, not on a leather jacket. All of us at Team NINJA do”. And now the time comes for us to prove it with this title, “NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA2″. I just can’t help but looking at users playing this game. I really would like them to feel the time and energy and passion Team NINJA staff has devoted to get this done… for our fans. With the scores we are seeing for the game, I hope people see that if anything, Team NINJA is stronger and more passionate about games and gamers than it ever was. It feels incredibly humbling and wonderful to have all your support. We do this for you.

In this title, Ryu says “Darkness is destined to lift in the end”. This is the theme of what NINJA GAIDEN franchise has in common, and what Team NINJA itself has experienced I guess. But let me leave with you my thanks again, and this tiny hint about the future. I think our users can feel through playing this ultimate package that Ryu himself is in the presence of such darkness and that ninjas themselves have that villainous streak. Ryu is anguished by it, he is touched by darkness. Such is his anguish and determination; I think this may creep over into any future NINJA GAIDEN stories. If you’re ninja enough to play this game till the end can immediately find out what that might be as well. But come on, we’re Team NINJA, we don’t design our games for people to finish.

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Hello, I am Yasunori Sakuda, and I am the Program Lead for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. This is our penultimate post, so I aim to make it best yet for you!

Let me begin by telling you that I became a programmer because of my pushy father! It was when I was 10 years old. My father gave me MSX instead of NES that I really wished him to buy. I started playing with it and I noticed that I could make plain program based on BASIC and that started my interesting in that field. I could make basic games instead of playing other peoples! It was amazing. The first title I became a part of project was Dead Or Alive 3 in Team NINJA and I was in charge of “Snow falling” in snowy mountain stage. Yes, there was a role just for falling snow! After struggling a little to get the right kind of snow, I did succeed in making a small amount of snow falling which nobody had expected of me. It was really impressive and I got the honour of being nicknames “Snowman” by the team. After DOA3 and my success with the snow, I joined a couple of projects including Dead or Alive 4 and I was promoted chief programmer of “NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA”. All from MSX and some snow! Very impressive!

My team is consist of 13 members, some of us are already veterans but we also have some very young programmers who are looking at games with new perspectives. We are very good at combining our talents and help each other every day to achieve our goal. We are very encouraging team! We are like the A Team! For example, a member of the team isn’t just in charge of only one project, but will be working on a couple things at the same time, like tool creation for CG staff, A.I, physics etc… we are all switchers but it keeps ideas fresh and the team stimulated. If one programmer was assigned to one field only I bet we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this game! However we HAVE achieved success because we helped each other and went for the same goal. I think Hayashi-san said it in his blog, but we are a very democratic developer, we are a family and we look after each other. And I am the Snowman, so I’m cool all the time!
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No doubt you’ve been reading Team Ninja’s weekly Friday posts (the penultimate of which will go up tomorrow!), so you’re sufficiently intrigued by Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. The US blog guys had a chance to sit down and chat with Yosuke Hayashi, the Producer and Director of the title, who spoke in great detail about the upcoming Ninja simulator.

Team Ninja Producer and Director Yosuke Hayashi should be very familiar to you by now. His series of posts here on the Blog revealed a bunch of new footage, modes and goodies for the PS3′s Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Some of those include a nice chuck of Momiji gameplay, Team Missions co-op mode, and Chapter Challenge mode where after you clear Story Mode, you can go back and replay chapters to compete with others around the world.

Since then, you’ve been asking for Mr. Hayashi to drop some comments on the Blog. But we did ya one better — an almost 10-minute long interview/walkthrough that should answer all your lingering questions on Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 before its release in less than two weeks on September 29. So until then, summon your Ninpo skill — if Ninja Gaiden history has taught us anything, there’s some insanely hard Trophies to be had.

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Hello, my name is Kosuke Wakamatus and I am the Animation Lead for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. This is our 4th post and I hope you are enjoying them. It is a good honour to share our minds with so many Ninja Gaiden fans!

I would like to talk about how much emotional characterisation goes into each character. Some people think that characters in games do not need personalities, but that is why they are called ‘characters’, they must have ‘character’. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is mainly portraying the story of Super NINJA “Ryu Hayabusa” but we are also doing it from different character’s point of view like “Ayane”,”Momiji” and “Rachel”. All these characters are there to support Ryu and lend his story weight, but they must have a valid reason for being.

Of course, I am not going to spoil why each new character is included, it will be unveiled in the story that they have their own reason why they fight! Oh! I just can’t talk any further! I would like you to play this game to find out but trust me – each playable character is conducting by themselves with their own motive and you will know about their personality, features and background as the game progresses. A story teller must not spoil the story, he must help you unravel it for yourself. Ayane, Rachel and Momiji will unravel the story for you!

I am aware that each playable character could become very similar without proper direction, so obviously each playable character must have their own action style. Ayane takes her fighting style directly from Dead or Alive which will please fans very much. Momiji has her unique double jump and can attack enemies from the air with her Naginata while Rachel is sexy and powerful with her overwhelming Inferno Hammer and 666 Machine Gun. These different weapons sets and skill sets will mean that the player must be aware of different skills and how each character reacts in the game. Their weapons are different from Ryu’s nine kinds but basic action and attacking abilities are not stressful, you will learn to feel like a ninja! Each character has their own technique so please remember, these skills are not only important in story mode but also Team Missions and Chapter Challenge… and more! Okay, I am giving too much away! Next topic!

There are many additional characters we would like to introduce in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, not just the four you already know about. Firstly, there is Sonia, heroin of this game who comes along with Ryu without regard for her danger. She is very sexy too! The story mode starts with her presence and she becomes important factor at pivotal points so remember to look out for her! Secondly, I can tell you exclusively that Joe Hayabusa will be in the game. He is a master of “Hayabusa sept” and Ryu’s father. We haven’t talked a lot about him in past franchises, but in this game, you will see his story in the prologue we implemented. You will get to know him well for sure! I am saying too much again!

There are many important characters in the game as well, who play even smaller roles – but everyone is important – like “Muramasa” who is sword expert and “Sanji” who is very young NINJA from Ryu’s village…please see them all! All these characters we would like to flesh out too. To explore their humanity, to delve stronger and deeper into their motives. Maybe we can do this more when we will have the next NINJA GAIDEN! We are feeling that our fans are looking forward to it. We do want to live up to their expectation! Okay, I now have said too much! Goodbye!

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Hello! My name is Hirohisa Kaneko, and I am the Character Art Lead of NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA2. It is my pleasure to write our third post for you to see how we work here at Team NINJA. First, let me say that I’m working very hard! We try and produce as many assets as we can for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 as I think nice screen shots and art are needed for our fans. I want fans to spend a lot of time looking at our assets so that is why we spend many hours getting them right!

The process of creating an artistic direction for screenshots begins at fixing the outline of a scenario, then we select the necessary location and situation which suites the scenario. Once we have those ideas drawn in by our designers we have a discussion and delve deeper into them, fleshing out ideas, improving composition etc. We do this at least a couple of times until those drawings evolve into “graphics which contains pleasure” as we would say in Japan. We want the assets to be eye-catching and pleasing to look at – creating screenshots is as much of an art as game design itself – we don’t just screengrab from code!

For the overall theme of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 we’ve pursued a sleek and cool visual style on this title, for that is what a ninja is – sleek and cool – the game must reflect the character, it must feel that the two are linked. We always try and improve the visual beauty of our games and run with those good feelings caused by such visual effects – it is good to go with your heart. NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA2 is the culmination of our work that we’ve ‘run with’. We are working with our feelings, moving where the heart takes us. Whenever we achieve our goals at Team NINJA, and whenever we’ve set out on any title we develop, that’s our basic stance. We complete our objectives by pursuing the new visual style we’ve decided and then we ‘run with it’.

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