One of the best Ninja Gaiden games created is also one of the most overlooked. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon's Sword for the Nintendo DS was, and still remains, one of the best action games for Nintendo's last-generation handheld. Combat for the game relied exclusively on touch screen gestures and worked surprisingly well.

Apparently, Team Ninja may be looking to replicate the experience with the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge for Wii U. Like its handheld cousin, the Wii U controller features a touch screen that's perfect for adapting Dragon Sword's unique control scheme. Team Ninja's Peter Garza told Giant Bomb that "we're looking forward to emerging of Ninja Gaiden 3 gameplay and visuals with Dragon Sword touch commands. That's where we're thinking now. Honestly, we're just playing with it, so it might change--that's the focus right now." Read more »

Game designer Tomonobu Itagaki has settled the 2008 lawsuit filed against his former employer and publisher Tecmo. As previously reported, the action sought some 148M Yen in damages stemming from unpaid contractual bonuses due after the completion of Dead or Alive 4. Proceedings started getting sticky when it was learned that the evidence submitted to the court by both sides included contradicting versions of the contract in question. Since the initial flurry of activity in 2008, little new information had emerged on the matter prior to the announcement of this resolution.

Itagaki offered this comment on the settlement in a statement given to 1UP.com. Read more »

Tecmo announced today that its upcoming stylus-based ninja action title Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (NDS) has entered manufacturing and will ship to retailers on March 25.

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword follows in the footsteps of other titles like The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS), adapting a traditional control scheme to stylus-only action gameplay. Tecmo's confirmed March 25 ship date for the title confirms a listing on Nintendo of America's early 2008 release list issued early this year.

Fresh from the Game Developers Conference is this Ninja Gaiden II demonstration from developer Team Ninja.

As was announced earlier today, Ninja Gaiden 2 is slated for a June 3 release in North America on the Xbox 360.

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Ninja Gaiden II will arrive in North America on June 3, Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki announced today while speaking during Microsoft's keynote at the Game Developers Conference. Itagaki noted the game would launch worldwide in June, but did not provide a specific date for other territories.

During the demonstration of a previously unseen level--The Temple of Sacrifice--it was also revealed that the game will sport a replay feature, which will allow users to share and download clips of their carnage. Read more »

The original Xbox editions of Team Ninja's action-slasher Ninja Gaiden Black, Firaxis Games' swashbuckling simulator Sid Meier's Pirates!, and Criterion Games' first-person shooter Black will be available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Monday, February 11.

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Following its debut in our Ninja Gaiden II interview, Shacknews is proud to present an exclusive bit of Ninja Gaiden II gameplay footage, which is viewable below through the glory and magic of streaming Flash technology.

Three new screenshots accompanied the movie, complete with pertinent, humorous descriptions that are displayed below the images. "In the weeping cherry blossoms, Super Ninja is scattering bloody splash with his deadliest sword," reads one. "This elegant place even matches horrific violence." Read more »

Team Ninja's upcoming Ninja Gaiden II (X360) will sport some type of downloadable content, studio lead Tomonobu Itagaki told Shacknews in a comprehensive interview.

"It'll be something that'll make you say, 'Whoa,'" teased Itagaki, though he refused to offer further details. "In the past, when I've said I've been thinking about something, there have been times when I haven't followed through. This time, you can rest assured that I'll follow through [with downloadable content]." Read more »

I knew Ninja Gaiden II would be violent and bloody. I'd read Nick Breckon's impressions, which detailed limbs falling from the sky. I'd seen the multiple screenshots and videos depicting the gallons of blood and severed limbs that litter the battlefields. I thought I knew what to expect. I thought I was prepared, that I would be able to sit there and view the on-screen violence objectively, without surprise, without a giant smile creeping across my face.

I was wrong. Read more »

Nintendo of America has announced its partial software lineup for the first half of 2008, which includes a handful of firm release dates for titles whose release windows had been previously unknown.

For the Wii, Nintendo lists the recently delayed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for March 9, as well as a spring release window for both Nintendo EAD's Mario Kart Wii and TT Games' LEGO Indiana Jones. Ready at Dawn's port of Clover Studios Okami and Artepiazza's Opoona are both scheduled to hit retail shelves on March 25, with Nintendo's Wii Fit is slated for a release in the second quarter of 2008. Read more »

1UP and GameSpot both have previews of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword posted, checking out the DS version of Tecmo's action game.

Nothing says Merry Christmas like new Ninja Gaiden 2 media filled with blood and dismemberment. We have three screenshots and another gameplay trailer, which shows about a minute of gameplay footage from Team Ninja's Xbox 360 exclusive action game.

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Yet more media from Team Ninja's Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Gaiden 2 is now available. We have a set of screenshots, as well as two more gameplay trailers. The first offers about a minute of gameplay footage while the other runs for three minutes.

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Team NINJA's Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (NDS), the studio's portable take on the adventures of famed video game ninja Ryu Hayabusa, will slash its way to North American retailers this March.

Much like Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS), Ninja Gaiden DS is controlled almost entirely through the touch screen. A downloadable demo of the third-person action game is currently available through the DS Download Stations scattered throughout retailers such as GameStop, Target, and Wal-Mart. Read more »

Tecmo-owned developer Team NINJA has provided four more images of Ninja Gaiden II, the Xbox 360-exclusive sequel to one of the more frustratingly challenging Xbox, and later PlayStation 3, titles ever released.

Included in the bloody barrage are glimpses of severed arms and legs, along with a few decapitations. The game itself is due out at some point in 2008. Read more »