Ninja Gaiden Sigma's Rachel may have failed to reach everyone's expectations as the "world's greatest female action character," but it seems that Sonia, the leading lady for Ninja Gaiden 2, will be awesome. So awesome, she won't be playable in Tecmo and Team Ninja's upcoming gorefest. More details in the full article.

Ever wanted great games for your PS3 at rock bottom prices? Japan certainly does. A Japanese online retailer recently posted listings for the first set of titles that'll fall under the PlayStation 3 budget lineup for Japan, known as "PlayStation 3 the Best." More on this interesting development after the jump!

 

Attention, Sony PlayStation Network Store shoppers in the US aisle: this update's for you, and it's about a deal that could have you flying all over the place in nostalgic retro-gaming joy. Yes, the guys manning the online deal with your Cell-powered Sony PlayStation 3 has recently unveiled a new downloadable title from the fifth generation of videogames. Taking flight once more with the low price of US$ 5.99 comes Spyro the Dragon from the PlayStation One!

A little refresher on Spyro the Dragon: he hails from the Dragon Realms, a land of dragons, where much of the population unfortunately got frozen into crystals due to some video-documentary badmouthing of a Gnorc with a temper. Having avoided being turned into a dragon popsicle himself, Spyro flies, charges and scorches his way through colorful but challenging levels to restore order in the Dragon Realms and get back to sheep chasing. Worth the download, I'd say, as the game received quite a lot of good reviews in its day.

But that's not all there is to this store update. Other potential purchases you might want to pick up are as follows:

Downloadable Games

• EyeCreate (Free)

Add-on Game Content

• Piyotama Halloween Skin Add-On (Free)
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma DLC (US$ 2.99)

Game Videos

• Bionic Commando Trailer
• Time Crisis 4 Trailer

PS3 Wallpaper

• Eye of Judgment Wallpapers (Free)

Also note that there's a price drop for the Spider-Man 3 New Goblin Add-on Game Content, going at US$ 2.99. And for the Ninja Gaiden Sigma Downloadable Content, it features the Rachel Master mode, which features five survival battles with Rachel as the controllable player. Very nice indeed.

If you go to the Japanese PlayStation Store right now, you will find yourself a treat in the form of Ninja Gaiden Sigma's Speed Master mode. As the name would suggest, this downloadable content is one where you gotta pick up and feel that speed or else be the loser in this time attack mode.

Meanwhile, us American counterparts need not be so jealous, as it's already on the U.S. PlayStation Store. Also to look out for would be the Rachel Master downloadable content from Tecmo, which will supposedly come October 25th. The Ninja Gaiden babe is said to be given a new look, then.

   

Tecmo, in a press release, announced that its first PlayStation 3 title Ninja Gaiden Sigma has a total of more or less 500,000 copies in circulation worldwide. This is really good news for the company considering the game's been out for only a few months.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma actually first appeared on the original Xbox as Ninja Gaiden Black back in 2004. A lot of changes have been implemented by Tecmo in this next-gen iteration, such as improved graphics, enemy specifications like AI and damage, as well as the addition of a new playable character, Rachel.

It was announced recently that downloadable content packs will be made available soon at the PlayStation Store collectively known as "Survival Mode". The first one of which will be be released in North America on September 6 and later this month in Japan. It will be priced for 315 Yen or roughly around US$ 3.

Ninja Gaiden fans better strap on their ninja swords and prepare for a fight to the finish. Tecmo has sent out word that downloadable content for Ninja Gaiden Sigma will be headed to the PlayStation Store this coming September 6, and it's got survival written all over it.

The downloadable content sets, known collectively as "Survival Mode" comprise of three different DLC packs, all with the basic premise of engaging an endless stream of enemies until you can no longer fight. The three downloads provide different sorts of themed battles, with a World Ranking available for each theme.

The downloadable content for Ninja Gaiden Sigma that'll be released on September 6 is called "Weapon Master". The theme behind this survival mode set is the use of different weapons, as this content pack includes five survival modes where you are allowed the use of a limited array of weaponry.

The second and third pieces of downloadable content, which are scheduled for an unspecified future date, are called "Speed Master" and "Rachel Master". In "Speed Master," you're tasked with defeating enemies as quickly as possible, with different modes altering the time and power gauge to increase the level of challenge. In "Rachel Master", you'll be playing the survival modes as Rachel rather than Ryu Hayabusa.

There's currently no word on the prices for these different Ninja Gaiden Sigma content packs, but we'll inform you of the prices and release dates of the packs as soon as they become available.

It's barely a month after Yosuke Hayashi announced plans for downloadable content for Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but Tecmo has just announced that it will be available starting later this month in Japan. The downloadable content will include three new missions, available for download separately.

 

First is the Weapons Master Mission which limits you to only five weapons. This download will be available on August 30. The Speed Master Mission sets the game up for, well, speed missions. As the name suggests, time will be limited. This mode will be available late September. The final mission will feature Rachel as a playable character. The Rachel Master Mission will feature five new survival tests for her and will be available late October.

Also, Tecmo will be finalizing its plans for the game's Survival Mode. Players will go through a series of missions to see how long their swords will last against a barrage of enemies. Scores for each mission will be given a worldwide ranking. The download will be available later this month.

Downloadables will be priced at ¥ 315 each for Japan but Tecmo has not made any official announcements yet for the US.

Tomonobu Itagaki of Team Ninja fame, and admittedly one of the videogame industry's more controversial identities to date, recently sat down in an interview to talk about all things Ninja Gaiden - specifically, about the series coming out on the DS, as well as a possible sequel to the awesome next-gen slash-em-up.

We also get a few juicy hints about the games Team Ninja's hard at work on, as well as his opinion about Tekken (which, by now, should probably be a knee-jerk reaction, wouldn't it?). We give you all the details and more.

The full details of the interview after the jump!

PlayStation 3 owners who just can't get enough of Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden Sigma should be happy to know that there's a Collector's Edition of the game out now, chock-full of extras and surprises that'll make any Ryu Hayabusa fan flip out and explode in a burst of Team Ninja joy. If you're already making plans to buy the original version, however, here's a teaser video of one of the Collector's Edition's goodies, namely a behind-the-scenes look at the game titled Behind The Sword.

The video shows a lot of gameplay, with Rachel putting that massive scythe of hers to good use. There's also some bow-and-arrow action from the Ninja in black himself, as well as some nifty boss-dodging. And let's not forget the insights we get from the legendary (and controversial) Team Ninja leader and Executive Producer Tomonobu Itagaki, as well as Yosuke Hayashi. Nearing the end of the video, we find out about Behind The Sword - an in-depth look into the inner workings of the slash-em-up that's achieved legendary status up till now. Certainly something to look forward to.

The Collector's Edition of Ninja Gaiden Sigma is out for sale now. Enjoy the video!

 

If you've been penny-pinching to save up for upcoming games, here's a little primer on US retail releases this week, starting July 2.

Eye catchers of the week (for the grown-ups) would be Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3 and Vampire Rain for the 360. We've been covering both games for quite some time now, and the anticipation is fit to burst through Rachel's black leather suit.

Moms and dads may also want to get Platinum Sudoku or Vegas Casino for those quiet times when the kids are busy with Marvel TCG and Taito Legends 2. (More about these and other games in our Full Article).

What a way to start the month of July! New month, new week... new games!

Ninja Gaiden Sigma. The demo for this ninja action adventure title was one of the few demos that actually lived up to its hype. For those who are old enough to crave challenges and gameplay more suitable for mature audiences, this PS3 exclusive is a must-buy.

• PlayStation 3 - July 3, 2007
• US$ 59.99
• ESRB M (Mature)
• Tecmo and Team Ninja

Vampire Rain. Take on the role of John Lloyd, the government's vampire hunter, as he purges Los Angeles of the vampire threat. We're hoping that this horror action adventure game will cast new light on the vampire game genre with its stealthy "high-tech Buffy meets Sam Fisher" gameplay.

• Xbox 360 - July 3, 2007
• US$ 59.99
• ESRB M (Mature)
• Microsoft Game Studios and Artoon

See the other game releases by clicking on the Full Article link below!