It's hard to know what exactly we did to deserve this fine month of May. First we get the Iron Man movie. A new Indiana Jones comes out later this month. Then there's all this Ninja Gaiden II coverage (not to mention the demo coming out sometime this month). GameTrailers has just unleashed a veritable flood of Ninja Gaiden II videos. Seriously, there are six of them. Seasoned Ninja Gaiden players will likely feel the urge to yell at whomever is behind the control though (he never jumps!!!11!!). Still, it's new footage and we're not about to complain. To be fair, we've actually featured one of the videos already, but we're throwing it in again anyway because the GameTrailers player is much, much better than GameSpy's. Check 'em all out after the break.
We didn't think hardcore ninja types had daddy issues but this latest clip of Ninja Gaiden 2 tells us otherwise. It showcases the ultra-ninja Genshin versus the father of Ninja Gaiden star Ryu Hayabusa. In the clip Ryu's father Joe Hayabusa (seriously, his name is Joe) faces off against the ultimate bad-dude before Ryu walks in and screams out for his father's safety, and probably because he never played catch with him as a kid.
After the jump you can check out another cutscene that features the werewolf boss, Volf (seriously who names these characters?). Surprisingly Volf reminds us of Kelsey Grammar's portrayal of Beast in X-Men 3. Well-spoken werewolves FTW!
Eurogamer recently got their (lucky, lucky) hands on a preview build of (Game of the Year 2008) Ninja Gaiden II and the word is good. According to Eurogamer, complaints leveled at the original (bad camera, wonky save system, respawning enemies) have largely been addressed. Oh, and we should probably mention that the game is reportedly beautiful, with Eurogamer praising it for its "incredibly sharp textures, vivid and atmospheric backdrops, and frenetic, pinball-like action that barely flinches no matter what chaos is unfolding on the screen." Perhaps most importantly for many gamers out there (not us, of course), the game now sports a much more forgiving difficulty curve as well as more selectable difficulty levels available from the start.
For the love of all that is good, the wait is killing us. That demo had better get here soon. Hit the "read" link to check out Eurogamer's full preview in the meantime.
Alas, we cannot have them. No, these were made by the (no doubt very loving) girlfriend of one lucky Ninja Gaidenfan. The shoes are hand painted and feature Ninja Gaiden's star ninja Ryu in front of a rising sun background. They are, as the kids say, "teh awesomez." While you won't be getting your hands on this particular pair, take heart, for creator Kirstentjie says that she's considering selling them locally and "hopefully internationally one day." Oh, let's hope that one day is very, very soon (and that Microsoft and Tecmo's lawyers don't mind).
Posted Apr 24th 2008 6:00PM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
Taking their Gears of War action figure experience to a new ninja level, NECA (with the help of Action Figure Insider) just released some sculpt in progress photos of an upcoming and previously unannounced Ninja Gaiden II Ryu figure. And even though the prototype figure is tan colored blahness, it's still teh hawtness! No word on a release date or pricing, but we'd expect our lovely Ryu figure to ninja-kick retailers in time for the game's June release.
The ever watchful folks over at 360Sync recently spotted a new Ninja Gaiden II standee at their local GameStop. At first glance it appears to be nothing more than your typical standee, but look closer and you can see glory. Yes, that is a Ninja Gaiden II Xbox 360 (and it appears to be an Elite at that). GameStop will apparently be giving these consoles away -- how many we don't know -- sometime in the near future. Unfortunately, the URL listed on the standee currently leads to a dead page. Here's hoping it goes live soon, because we have got to get our hands on that sweet console. Just look at it ... sitting there in all its majesty. That thing could probably slay a hundred demons before breakfast.
We're not sure how long it's been live, but there is a newly revamped (Game of the Year 2008) Ninja Gaiden IIwebsite up on Xbox.com. The website actually offers some very cool extras to fans of the series and, in a refreshing twist, the site offers some actual new information about the game for those who know where to look. Firstly, the website allows users to build their own custom desktop wallpaper using the games various weapons as a backdrop (see our creation above). The cool part -- and this is where the new info come in -- is that you can check out a brief video snippet of each weapon to help you decide which ones to pick. The videos show off weapons that have so far remained under wraps, most notably the kusari-gama (which has an awesome essence attack, the projectile weapons, and a new Ninpo called "Art of the Piercing Void." Another bit of new info: Ryu can now charge his projectile attacks as well as his melee attacks. We have to admit it's pretty cool to watch him hurl multiple incendiary shuriken into a hapless foe.
The website also offers a somewhat bizarre minigame in which players send attacks to other opponents. The strange part is that players have to wait for others to respond. It's sort of like playing chess over the phone, except instead of moving pieces on a board, your killing this with a sword. At any rate, it's a neat site, and all the fanboys slavering over Ninja Gaiden II (that should be all of you) should definitely check it out.
Starting life over at the DOATEC forums, there was this list of possible Ninja Gaiden II achievements featuring a total of 51 different goals, 19 of which are secret. Considering the origin of these (forum posting) we're gonna be safe and call these rumors. Especially when the achievements just seem so ... achievable. One would think that Team Ninja would want to tear its players a new one with such an opportunity as this, and yet if these are true they don't seem all that hard. They wouldn't be totally out of place though, considering that they reference Crystal Skulls (which have been seen in screens before), plus the easier ones are fewer points and the harder ones are vice versa. You decide readers, the full list can be found after the break.
Thanks to X3F tipster Ben, we just came across a pretty awesome deal for future Ninja Gaiden II purchasers who are also interested in the newly releasedHalo 3 Legendary Map Pack. Circuit City is offering a FREE Legendary Map Pack redemption code (a 800 MS point value) to anyone who plops down a pre-order on Ninja Gaiden II. According to the offer details, the redemption code will be emailed to the pre-orderer within' a week's time, but if you don't mind waiting a few days, then this offer can't be beat. Free Halo 3 maps just for paying part of your Ninja Gaiden II purchase early and waiting a week? Sounds dandy great to us.
Appropriately enough, said weapons are excellent at breaking things down themselves (demons in particular). IGN has posted an article detailing all the weapons they've discovered thus far in their six level build of Ninja Gaiden II (we want a six level build of Ninja Gaiden II! Pleeeeeease, Microsoft?). Old standbys like the Dragon Sword and Lunar Staff make a return and are joined by several new weapons that are sure to become favorites. While we're sure many will opt for the Falcon's Talons, a set of blades for Ryu's hands and feet, we're most intrigued by the Kusari-gama, a sweet looking sickle and chain combo (pictured above). With a chain that can reach "almost clear across the screen," it's definitely one of the most interesting weapons revealed thus far. Head over to IGN for in depth descriptions of all the weapons they've found so far.
Master Ninja Tomonobu Itagaki is rather well known for his distinctive attitudes toward both excellence and anything he considers to be inferior. With that in mind, we would have thought that the eccentric leader of Team Ninja would have a much different attitude toward video game bugs. Instead, in keeping with eccentricity, Itagaki surprised us with his rather pragmatic down to earth approach to bugs, programmers, and bosses. Basically stating that bugs are a normal part of the process, and that the focus needs to stay on removing them, with there being no possibility for writing code with no bugs. Plus, the dev-blog format that the piece is written in allows for more of the pure Japan of the thing to shine through in the writing, making the whole that much more interesting to read. Bring on the cyclops flies and the fiend beetles we say. Screw the bugs.
We saw the reveal of the newest lady in the Ninja Gaiden universe earlier this week, and now, courtesy of 1up, we bring you another cutscene with Sonia, direct-feed this time. The cutscene comes from the end of the game's first chapter, Sky City Tokyo, and is rather similar to one from the first game. It involves Ryu saving Sonia from an enemy who needed a distraction and seemingly has bigger fish to fry.
In another amazing reveal, apparently the CIA is recruiting from the S&M community, as that's who Sonia is working for to get help from Ryu to fight the fiends, who themselves are trying to resurrect the arch-fiend. As you likely have noticed, the story is rather thin, so focus on the funny things (like the reuse of the DOAX bounce physics). The only other thing of note to come out of the update was a great piece of concept art for Sonia.
With the reveal of the Dante character-parody recently, Ninja Gaiden II looked to be taking itself a little less seriously. And the latest batch of screenshots (small as they are) seems to confirm the idea, revealing all sorts of never-before-seen features. Some of the cooler revealed items include a new weapon, which appears to be a chain-scythe, an incredibly large enemy that appears to resemble a LOTR-style troll. (This reveal along with werewolves, seems to reaffirm the idea that Team Ninja is pulling more enemy ideas from western fantasy this time around.) Details are hidden all through the excellent-looking screens including a shot of the new, more modern bow, and some sort of dark energy ninpo.
Even though Ninja Gaiden II has gone back to school, our little college late-comer is set to deliver the goods. Coming to us hot and fresh from PressStartGames are these two videos depicting the Ninja Gaiden IIbuild making the rounds from college to college. The videos reveal a great deal, showing us the first views of the shopkeeper, as well as a new girl, Sonya, who appears to fight with a pair of pistols and who shares Rachel's taste in fashion. The first video is mostly cutscene, ending with Sonya getting kidnapped by the Black Spiders. The second video is mostly gameplay and gives us our first view of the new Lunar in action along with the new Fireball ninpo. To quote the PressStart page: "The game looks fantastic folks."
Posted Apr 2nd 2008 11:00AM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
For a while now, we've known that Ninja Gaiden IIis set to release to North American stores on June 3rd. But, ever since GDC when the Ninja Gaiden II information blowout occurred, our European chums have had to settle for a vague "June" release. Well, today, all of Europe can pull out their calendars and Sharpies because UK GAME stores and Eurogamer have pegged Ninja Gaiden II's Euro release date for Friday, June 6th. Now mark that down, get your pre-order on (if that's how you roll), be prepared for the demo and wait ever so patiently. Because, as you are well aware, waiting is one skill all true ninjas must master.
