Considering Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2's female cast, there's bound to be a lot of bouncing in the game (if you know what I mean). As producer Yosuke Hayashi shows us, though, there's more to it than meets the eye.


Thanks to Peter Bauer for the tips!

Yosuke Hayashi of Team NINJA (Tecmo) dropped by the PlayStation Blog to share some new information about Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. For this post, he delved into the female playable characters: Rachel, Ayane, and Momiji. He even brought along a cool gameplay video, as well as a challenge to add to the fun while you wait.

The PS3's Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is bigger than its Xbox 360 counterpart in a lot of ways. There's one aspect, however, that it won't match up to: gore. It's still an M-rated game, but the blood spills don't linger as long and there's now a blue glow that obscures beheadings and decapitations. According to Team Ninja, the censorship was deliberate. More after the jump.

No ill feelings here. Tomonobu Itagaki and his ex-team have moved on - he has a new team, Team Ninja has new projects - and he only has the best wishes for Team Ninja and its new leader, Yosuke Hayashi. It's a refreshing change to see the man behind the sunglasses be so positive for a change and he even had enough compliments to go around. Good for you, Itagaki-san.

Tecmo's Team Ninja is one crew that has weathered a few storms over the years. There was the resignation of Tomonobu Itagaki, the subsequent lawsuit, and the Koei Tecmo merger among others. The team may have lost one of its aces, but it's good to see that they are still walking the path of the ninja. Now under the leadership of Yosuke Hayashi, the team is now going to work on new Ninja Gaiden titles.

A mag scan has confirmed that Ninja Gaiden 2 is finally coming to the PlayStation 3. This version may be late in coming, but it looks like it may be worth the wait. The game's going to be an upgraded version of the Xbox 360 game, with a new weapon, a new boss, and even a new playable character.

Thanks to jack_gllghr for the tip!

You can bet Xbox 360 fanboys won't like this one. Yosuke Hayashi and Hitoshi Hasegawa of Tecmo's Team Ninja sat down with Gamasutra to talk about their current and future plans. They both agree: the PS3 is the most powerful system out there. But despite this, they still maintain a diplomatic stand, saying that the Xbox 360 is still a great console.

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.

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!

As Ninja Gaiden Sigma's North American release looms ever closer, we've got another sneak peek at the PlayStation 3 exclusive's Collector's Edition.

This new teaser from GameTrailers boasts of the features the Collector's Edition will sport once it hits the shelves in a few days. We are told that the Ninja Gaiden Sigma Collector's Edition will feature "Behind the Sword", a sort of documentary about Team Ninja. It will also include interviews with the men at the helm of the project: Tomonobu Itagaki (executive producer) and Yosuke Hayashi (director and assistant producer).

Anyway, Ninja Gaiden Sigma's Collector's Edition will be exclusively available at GameStop come July 3. Better watch the video so you can decide whether to get the two disc version or not, as the release is only a couple of winks away.