New Team Ninja leader says the Ninja Gaiden series will continue, that the intention is to make it for "both audiences".

By Kikizo Staff

In an interview published today on Kikizo, the new leader of Tecmo's elite Team Ninja development studio, Yosuke Hayashi, has essentially confirmed Ninja Gaiden 3.

Although the PS3-exclusive Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 isn't even out of the door yet, Hayashi didn't avoid the question when asked about the future of the series.

Despite former Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki having previously stated that Ninja Gaiden II would be the final entry in the series, Hayashi told us in no uncertain terms: "we will continue to work towards a future for the series."

He added: "What the gamers are looking for is going to be the next chapter - the future of an outstanding series. We feel that we're in a position of being able to make that call... That calling is already there - we feel it".

In addition, while Sigma 2 will definitely remain PS3 exclusive (no DLC update for 360 owners or anything), Ninja Gaiden 3 seems likely to be a dual-platform release, at least if current thinking is anything to go by.

Hayashi stated that after Sigma 2, rather than do a 360 version of it, "we're going to have to push ourselves to the next level, and we are better off giving both audiences an entirely new game.

Elsewhere in the full interview, Hayashi talks about Itagaki things, the new features in Sigma 2, the Koei Tecmo merger, Japanese developers and plenty of other stuff. 

http://games.kikizo.com/news/200905/confirmed-ninja-gaiden-3-planned-dual-release-likely.asp

I'll keep an eye on this when we start seeing proper info about it, but without Itagaki I'm going to remain skeptical.

Nice. I hope NGIII is more akin to the first game rather than the second though. Either way, I'm happy.

why skeptical?

wow.... im glad some one in the industry are learning from their mistakes.....

Because Itagaki was pretty much the driving force with the earlier ones.

Driving shmiving. They can do perfectly well without him too.

/anticipate

That's the thing though - We don't know that they can. I'm not saying they won't be able to, I'm just saying we have no evidence to suggest it. That's why I'll be watching this with skepticism for now.

Well, it's up to you. I'll put my trust in them though.

Itagaki was a Big part of what brought the Team Ninja games forward...I would hope this new guy can take it to the next level.....