Itagaki: The Kikizo Interview 2005

Our latest, extensive chat with the Team Ninja boss reveals new information on Code Cronus and DOA4, his opinion on EA, and thoughts on recent projects.

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And finally, company style. Sega and Namco are very arcade-centric, and own their own arcades. They need to produce games for these arcades to keep the cash flowing. Tecmo has some arcades here in Japan as well, but the relationship between the arcade department and R&D is near non-existent. They can buy anything they please - we're not duty-bound to produce hits for them.

All-new DOAU costumes include Ryu's Ninja Gaiden number

Kikizo: How do you go about designing the many different outfits for the characters in DOA Ultimate?

Itagaki: I just ask the designers to create and draw up many different ideas. I make comments on which costumes I like the most. It's fun for players to have so many costume choices. It's similar to my way of shopping - I just buy a lot at the same time, and later I wonder, "why did I buy this thing?!"

Kikizo: Out of all the Dead or Alive 3 characters, why did you choose to add Hitomi to DOA Ultimate?

Itagaki: She's my personal favourite of the new characters. I didn't plan to include her at first, but the game was delayed, so I decided to add her as a sort of apology for it taking so long.

Itagaki showed us beautiful katanas made by his father

Kikizo: You obviously spent a lot of time making DOA3 better than its predecessor. Why should gamers go back to playing DOA2 online?

Itagaki: I wanted the Xbox players to be able to enjoy the history of my series. The Xbox is my personal hardware of choice. In terms of sales, most people think we should work with Sony. It's easier to get sales there. However, I like the Xbox the most. The machine's power is five times higher. I'm very attached to the hardware, and want to give the users who have constantly supported us the chance to play my past games. It's more fan-oriented than DOA3. I got mail from a DOA fan wondering why we didn't add anything to the original DOA, as we did with the second game. If we did so, what difference would there be between the two games?

Kikizo: What is the most challenging aspect of making a networked fighting game?

Itagaki: It was easy to make the basic protocol, but testing was rough. Almost 30,000 people were on the servers at the same time. Most of the development time went into testing. Other than that, it went smoothly. Three programmers were dedicated to the network development, and up to eight players can be online at the same time, so we had eight monitors per programmer - it looked like a control tower. It looked quite spectacular.

Kikizo: Kasumi and Ayane are two very popular characters. Ayane recently appeared in Ninja Gaiden. Have you thought about giving Kasumi an appearance in an upcoming action title?

Itagaki: Yes, I have [see later in this interview]. The basic concept of Ninja Gaiden was very hard-edged, but Kasumi is very soft. That's why she wasn't in it. DOA is based on a "softer" concept, and she is rather symbolic of the game as a whole.

Kikizo: Is there any special algorithm for the breast physics in the DOA games?

Itagaki: There's one person I know who has been studying that. He's an academic, not a game creator. Team Ninja can't compete with him! As far as that goes... we're pursuing beauty, not reality. If it's realistic but not beautiful, what's the point?

On Gaiden: "I still think there's more room for improvement"

Kikizo: Were you happy with the reception of Ninja Gaiden?

Itagaki: It was our first all-out action game. It is a difficult game, so we were concerned. However, the game did very well. I'm happy with it, but I still think there's more room for future improvement.

Some parts of Europe have strict laws about depicting violence, so with some European versions, we took out things like chopping heads off. I read some articles criticizing this, but we want our game to be played widely. I don't think it's right to bash the laws, or the users. But if you could purchase the game by downloading, maybe you could download the [uncensored] version instead! [Laughs]. But gamers who think that Ninja Gaiden is too hard are losers - there are always winners and losers - just fight your best fight!

Kikizo: We've seen music from well-known pop singers and bands appearing in Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball and recently Dead or Alive Ultimate [Aerosmith]. Is there any particular musician or band you'd like to work with for an upcoming game?

Itagaki: We've already got something fixed for Dead or Alive 4. I can't mention anything yet, though.

A tidy gaming set-up inside the Tecmo office

Kikizo: Tecmo has been reviving some of its older games recently [Rygar, Ninja Gaiden]. Is there another old Tecmo title you would like to see remade?

Itagaki: Tecmo Bowl. Unfortunately, EA kind of screwed that up with the purchase of the NFL rights! [Laughs] By the way, if you're worried about their recent business decisions, Tecmo is financially sound - so there is no possibility of them eating us up! [Laughter]. Hmm, maybe we could make a tennis game - different from Top Spin or Virtua Tennis, though.

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