Exactly and Sony didnn't pay a dime like Microsoft did.

^You meant slim version of the PS3.  Now I have to put on my Ninja Gaiden veteran fan hat for a second here.  My probelm is I've been gaming for over 20 years, so I don't listen to reviews at all, well.... besides my friends at Play Magazine.

All that opinionated stuff aside -- like you just said, this game should sell much more in Japan than we all think based on the territories and the usual Japanese nationalism.  Ninja Gaiden II was an excellent game.  It was by no means impossible for me to complete on its highest difficulty level, so the game isn't "bloody impossible" -- it's just bloody. The game is described by some less fortunate consumers as broken as a result of it's tenacious enemies destroying many a less skilled gamer without mercy, which I understand.  I'm not some elite gamer; I'm of average ability, but I just don't have anything against a hardcore game actually being hardcore when I buy it knowing that that's what the series has always been.  All the hate that NGII recieved was based on nonsense such as "It's too hard", "I got killed", "This game is broken" -- all that was pretty much whining about the skillcap. 

The easiest mode in NGII was darn easy, so I don't see how someone could not find enjoyment in it compared to the scaled down level of action in NGS2.  There are considerably less enemies to fight in NGS2's Story Mode by comparison. Someone on NeoGAF did a tally of how many enemies they killed overall in both games and NGII had more by far.  And as we all know, those NGII enemies are smart and relentless; this isn't Dynasty Warriors we're talking about. Whole sections where fights used to be were taken out of NGS2 and left barren, with nothing but running thorugh scenery in silence to replace what used to be there in the original game. A slightly higher resolution and texture upgrade wasn't worth sacrificing such a large amount of the action to me, so that's why I will not purchase this game.  No one mentions what was cut from the game, only what was added.  As a person who enjoyed the original, I make sure to get all the minute details before shelling out for a game I already on again at full price.  It's good advice to everyone.

NGS2 is not a reinvention of the wheel, so I don't get how so many people are acting like NGII was so horrible while this port is so perfect.  Maybe it's fanboyism rearing it's ugly head.  Because NGS2 is the end result of a hardcore action game transformed into a casual button masher with all the casual trimmings, such as: a significantly reduced difficulty, an unheard of for the series co-op mode  (the fad feature of today), and some very interesting censorship or should I say toning down of what normally happens when someone is cut into pieces.  But what's really interesting is that this game is anything but lighting up the scene in Japan as a result of the other main change it sports -sixaxis breast controls.  Even with that "augmentation" per say, this game's first week sales in Japan are at the same level they were with NGS1. 

NGS1 First week sales: 46k

NGS2 First week sales: 45k

^This is even with PS3 sales picking up drastically in Japan due to a significant price drop with the console redesign.  I think we need to put the notion of NGS2 doing more than 100k lifetime in Japan to bed.  All that Japanese marketing and changing the game to avoid a Cero Z rating did nothing to help push it above the first PS3 NG game.  NA is traditionally the NG series stronghold, with EU being next.  Seeing those numbers will be interesting, which is why I am curious. Let's see how they like purple dust and disappearing heads and limbs compared to the alternative.  NGII sold over a million copies WW and it did poorly in Japan.  Perhaps Tecmo needs the NA Xbox fanbase to ever see those kinds of numbers again in one release.  We'll see.

There' s a whole lot of wrong crap in your post.

1. Sigma 2 is not the casualization of the original

2. It does not have significantly reduced difficulty, it just has more difficulty options (including a very hard mode making it much harder than the original)

3. That a co-op mode is somehow a bad thing.

4. Censorship? Toning of what normally happens? Ultimate Bull. You don't honestly think every human has 18 gallons of blood and that a single swipe of a sword will cause blood to squirt and fly everywhere. That's unrealistic. What Sigma 2 is much more realistic.

5. A higher userbase usually means that the title will have better legs rather than a higher opening, but hey what do I know.

Aside from graphics others difference include :
- less enemies in NGS2.( still over 1k kills per clear , for me that's more than enough).
- Normal mode in NGS2 is easier than normal mode in NG2.
Bosses tend to have more hp in NGS2.
On master ninja difficulty some sections of NGS2 are actually harder than in NG2 due to the lack of bow UT in NGS2.
- less cheesy off screen enemies throwing projectiles at you ( noone is going to complain about this).
- Global difference in difficulty between NGS2 and NG2 in Master Ninja isn't huge ( trash easier because less, bosses harder because more hp).
- Some of the co-op missions will give a challenge to anyone complaining about the game being too easy ( go beat Ultimate Ninja missions 1-3 Gutbuster and then come back and tell us the game is for casuals...)

PS : Who buys Ninja Gaiden and plays easy mode, seriously....

As for why the game isn't selling more, PS3 owners aren't stupid. Give them a game one year after the 360 release and they won't flock to it. It's Bioshock all over again. If you want a game to sell well on a console, don't release it one year after releasing it on another console...

Its only when youve played both version very recently you can notice the proper differances and NGS2 looks way better. Even pulling off some of the moves are more smoother. Only thing NG2 has is the blood and limbs and more projectile weapons? I got a loan of my brothers xbox to play NG2 for a few days and he took my PS3 to play NGS2 and the first thing he said about the game was the improved graphics.

Neither are realistic, the human body doesn't have 18 gallons of blood but neither are they purple or covered in mist.

NG2 however, follows a fairly traditional and recognised stylisation that is popularly portrayed in samurai art, movie, anime and manga. Go back to Ninja Scroll go back to the Kenshin OVA, heck think of Quentin Tarantino's bloody homage Kill Bill and you'll see where NG2 drew its inspiration from. In a way it is cersorship, but a better description would be an artisitic difference to appeal to a wider audience.