Excellent interview with Tomonobu Itagaki

[zurich]

http://www.teamxbox.com/article.php?id=701&t=i

Some interesting bits:

So, what is the highly-anticipated "revolutionary new Xbox Live-compatible feature"? Online co-op? Worldwide stats? Downloadable Hayabusa ghosts? Online multiplayer deathmatch? Please elaborate.

Tomonobu Itagaki: The download content will begin with modeling data, animation data, sound effects, collision data, and AI algorithms combined together to create brand-new assassins that will come down through the Xbox Live pipeline to threaten your Ninja even further. But rest assured, the first wave of the Ninja Master Tournament will test your skills using the game as it ships, so you won't have to worry about those new assassins right away! Features like cooperative play and multiplayer, features that require the participation or support of other people, aren't for the extremely severe, dog-eat-dog world of the Ninja. Those features are something that should probably be expected of Dead or Alive Online instead.

Sounds a bit like the PGR2 ghost cars, but far more developed.

Could you please explain the differences between Code Cronus, Dead or Alive 4, DOA Online?

Tomonobu Itagaki: All of these games are in the Dead or Alive series, but they all are completely different games. If I were to mention one similarity, it would be that DOA Online and Code: Cronus are being developed for Xbox.

So either DoA4 is PS2/3, or Xbox 2 (more likely IMO).

Being you one of finest Xbox developers. What are your thoughts about the recent hardware announcements related to the Xbox successor? You know, the IBM CPU (probably a PowerPC CPU), the ATI VPU (probably a chip based on the R500)

Tomonobu Itagaki: Does it really matter whether it's ATI or nVidia? I am a software engineer, and I don't intend to comment on every little aspect of hardware design, as long as that hardware is worthy of respect. It is up to us to simply use our power to utilize the machine to its fullest.


Have you been asked to provide any kind of input regarding the Xbox successor?

Tomonobu Itagaki: Yes.

Hypothetically speaking, if the PS3 results are more powerful than the Xbox successor; will you switch to "Only on PS3" development? If both are equally powerful, will you make multi-platform titles?

Tomonobu Itagaki: Aren't you familiar with the pious old Japanese proverb that goes "the devil laughs at those who speak of next year"? (laughs)

...just for kicks... hehe, some people have claimed Itagaki-san is a Sony-basher, but IMO he seems more of a 'whichever machine is more powerful' guy

 

[cthellis42]

Offhand, I'd really like to see the development teams who REALLY push one platform or another test their skills on the other platforms as well. Though I guess they pretty much only GET as good as they do by focusing on the one platform predominantly... Heh.

If only we could find a wormhole where Team Ninja was working on PS2, Naughty Dog and Konami on GameCube, and Factor 5 on Xbox...

 

[Paul]

Have you been asked to provide any kind of input regarding the Xbox successor?

Tomonobu Itagaki: Yes.

Interesting.

As for the Xbox2/PS3 thing, I expect both to be of the same power overall in all regards, but with each having advantages over each other, maybe PS3 will do more geometry and Xbox2 have more memory.

But as a whole, both systems will be in the same league.

In other news... Ninja Gaiden is now delayed to sometime in Feburary...

 

[cthellis42]

Yar, seem to be lots of high-profile games just not able to make the holiday season. Sad, sad...

 

[V3]

If only we could find a wormhole where Team Ninja was working on PS2

They did, with DOA2 & DOA2 Hardcore.

...just for kicks... hehe, some people have claimed Itagaki-san is a Sony-basher, but IMO he seems more of a 'whichever machine is more powerful' guy

He just goes, where the money are. I mean Tecmo use loophole in the Sega DOA2 exclusivity, to release the game on PS2.

 

[cthellis42]

DOA2: Hardcore was basically an upgraded port, though, and though I have no doubt they were getting to know the hardware and utilize its strengths, it was developed very early in the PS2's lifespan, so obviously continued development would lead to bigger and better things. ^_^

 

[Lazy8s]

I'd more like to have seen where they would've gone with Dreamcast technically, had they made another game for it. The results they got transferring their DOA2 work from Model 3 to DC/Naomi so early in its lifespan was really impressive. Even using the same engine, and instead just making it a normal 1-on-1 fighter so that the graphics didn't have to be scaled back to allow the three (and sometimes four!) characters on-screen simultaneously, and instead also allowing it to have normal load times so it didn't have to hold two of its large stages in memory at once, would've given it a lot of headroom to improve graphically... especially given that it was on PowerVR hardware, where display lists too are stored in VRAM and where proper memory management can yeild a lot for graphic display.

Team Ninja's programming is commendable in that they always forgo settling with a system's standard dev environment to instead write their own custom tools and libraries for each specific console on which they work.

I wouldn't say Tecmo goes where the money is any more or less than most any other publisher, though. These are all businesses here, and companies like Konami and Square stick so much to the PS2 because they see the largest business opportunity there. On the other hand, Tecmo sees the best opportunity exploring a less saturated market that, although smaller, can allow them to stand out as higher-profile. If they can become a favored dev of that platform, they'll have more than their share of the pie in the end - having a segment of a market almost all to themselves, like Acclaim did in its N64 era.

 

[Super Grafx]

The results they got transferring their DOA2 work from Model 3 to DC/Naomi so early in its lifespan was really impressive.

wow, hey... one learns something new everyday. I was not aware that DOA2 was originally being done on Model 3. Well, it makes complete sense, as the first DOA was on Model 2.

 

[cthellis42]

Tecmo as a whole is spending reasonable time on PS2 and Xbox both, and only really ignoring the GameCube right now. PS2 has gotten more and varied games, even, but the showcase titles have moved over to Xbox. (Kinda surprised they didn't want to port Rygar for Xbox, though. I can see why they wouldn't bother with the Monster Ranchers... Hehe.) It seems they've abandoned their sports line forevermore, tho.

Team Ninja itself seems to bear down on one console at a time, though.

 

[passerby]

I can see why they wouldn't bother with the Monster Ranchers

Uhh... why?

 

[Lazy8s]

Super Grafx:

Well, it makes complete sense, as the first DOA was on Model 2.

Yeah, Team Ninja had a close relationship with SEGA's AM division. They were a licensee for Model 2 and one of the few for Model 3 from SEGA, but they never ended up releasing on Model 3 as it goes.

 

[cthellis42]

Uhh... why?

Doesn't quite fit the Xbox's typical demographic, you think?

Ninja Gaiden started development on DC and continued for quite a while

As I recall it continued for a while through the PS2 as well, ne? Be interesting to see just what kind of progression that game made, hopping from console to console. Hehe...

 

[passerby]

Doesn't quite fit the Xbox's typical demographic, you think?

If that is true, I think we may have identified why XB isn't doing well in Japan.

Question is, why have a "demographic"? Why not just appeal to everyone, like PS2?

I'm not sure how the XB demographic arose. Because the dev teams just happen to deliver more products of certain types? Because gamers themselves identify the XB strongly with products of a certain type, and that is the reason they bought the console? Then the whole thing goes into a vicious cycle...

While icons such as Mario have been a source of great success for N, they have also sort of become a stumbling block to the GC's attempts to appeal to a wider demographic. XB is in danger of having the same thing happening with Halo. Or it has already happened.

Anyway I'm off-topic here. Back to Team Ninja.

 

[jvd]

Question is, why have a "demographic"? Why not just appeal to everyone, like PS2?

first the ps2 actually has to apeal to everyone. Once that happens the other systems can follow suit.


I've never heard of a dreamcast upgrade. Anyone have info they can post ?

 

[passerby]

Very well. Rephrase that to - "being able to appeal to the demographic that is elusive to N's reach, plus the demographic that is elusive to XB's reach, plus its own demographics. Which basically covers nearly all areas except for the PC-gaming demographic".