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).
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.
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.
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.
Posted Mar 27th 2008 11:15AM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
Grabbing his book bag, laptop, some pencils, paper and a beer bong (just in case), our friend Ryu from Ninja Gaiden IIis headed back to college. Forgoing any actual learning, Ryu and his Ninja Gaiden crew will be touring North America's universities on a Ninja Gaiden II tour leading up to the game's release on June 3rd. The campus tour will let students, gamers and any ninja fanboys (sorry, pirate fanboys are strictly prohibited) to be the first to experience Ninja Gaiden II prior to its release. The tour kicks off on March 31st at Georgia Tech and will wrap up in April, so be sure to make the jump to check the complete campus schedule and see if Ryu will be making a campus appearance near you.
Remember during GDC all that talk about a Ninja Gaiden II demo hitting the Marketplace which ended up being a video demo, ultimately leaving thousands of fanboys angry and/or depressed? Well, forget about that because that was the past and now we're looking towards the future. Towards the month of May to be exact. Why be so excited about May? Well, according to Xbox.com, that's when the real Ninja Gaiden II demo will hit the XBLM and when our fellow angry/depressed fanboys can quit being so angry/depressed. That is unless "free demo" means something else entirely, in which case we apologize in advance for getting your hopes up twice in two months. But we're more confident this time around. May 2008, Ninja Gaiden II demo slashes the XBLM ... write it down and take that to the bank.
This, as you may have guessed, is a video of the Ninja Gaiden II demonstration held at GDC during Microsoft's keynote presentation. We believe it's safe to say that the video is as capable of making eyes bleed as Ryu is of eviscerating demons. Our challenge to you, dear readers, is to come up with the catchiest name for the enemies that have chainsaws for hands. And ... go!
Posted Feb 20th 2008 2:30PM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
Wearing his classy leather jacket, Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki just took Microsoft's keynote stage to do a quick (and very impressive)Ninja Gaiden II demo and revealed a brand new feature that'll be included when the game ships. The new feature is a video sharing service called "Ninja Cinema" that will allow players to record movie clips, save and then share them over Xbox Live with other gamers. The entire system is very similar to Halo 3's file sharing, but much more ... ninja'fied and bloody. It'll be like dismemberment porn. Oh and a little Team Ninja birdy also revealed that Ninja Gaiden II will storm retail this June. Summer can't come soon enough.
We understand it's possible that you may be getting tired of us posting every scrap of Ninja Gaiden II info we can lay our grubby little hands on. Really, we do. Having said that, it doesn't mean we're about to stop. Oh no, we just wanted to make sure you knew that we understand. Now, on with even more Ninja Gaiden II footage. This time we have Ryu laying waste to the enemy hordes using both his dual katanas (sort of the ancient Japanese equivalent of dual core processing) and his sweet, sweet ninja claws. Check out the video after the break.
With Ninja Gaiden 2 being the next big action game on the horizon, its media is now flowing a little more freely. This interview with the series creator and Team Ninja lead Tomonobu Itagaki covers all the basics of the new entry in the series, and he even finds time to talk a bit about the games difficulty levels. Itagaki touches on everything from design objectives and bringing in new players, to the fact that the AI will be changing its behavior and patterns depending on its specific injuries. He also makes a slightly intriguing comment regarding environmental effects of the player's actions, then amends it by saying "in this case the enemies". Whether or not this means we will see more player interactivity with the environment will remain to be seen, but with were-wolves and an interesting Achievement strategy, this game just can't get here soon enough.
Remember during GDC all that talk about a Ninja Gaiden II demo hitting the Marketplace which ended up being a video demo, ultimately leaving thousands of fanboys angry and/or depressed? Well, forget about that because that was the past and now we're looking towards the future. Towards the month of May to be exact. Why be so excited about May? Well, according to Xbox.com, that's when the real Ninja Gaiden II demo will hit the XBLM and when our fellow angry/depressed fanboys can quit being so angry/depressed. That is unless "free demo" means something else entirely, in which case we apologize in advance for getting your hopes up twice in two months. But we're more confident this time around. May 2008, Ninja Gaiden II demo slashes the XBLM ... write it down and take that to the bank.
