Games

[icycalm]

http://www.vg247.com/2012/09/19/ninja-g ... eveloping/

Team Ninja has revealed Ninja Gaiden Z, a collaboration between Team Ninja, Spark Unlimited and Keiji Inafune. It’s a cel-shaded Ninja Gaiden with zombies basically, and is the full name of Inafune’s ‘Yaiba’ project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-388MLwcmA

[icycalm]

http://gamersyndrome.com/2012/news/yaib ... sole-game/

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z might be a next-gen console game

Several job listings from Spark Unlimited indicate that its latest game, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z might be a next generation title. First off a senior designer listing position description says that it’s looking for people up for “tuning for a third-person action shooter on next generation consoles.” Another job posting is asking for a multiplayer engineer and AI engineer to develop network code for “multiplayer/co-op functionality.” An effects artist job and a engineer position further add to the point as well as confuse since neither of them indicate that the game is a third person shooter like the one above.

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is the latest and certainly most unusual Ninja Gaiden title. Announced at this year’s Toky Game Show, Z follows the adventures of a cybernetic ninja called Yaiba risen from the grave and on a mission to hunt down his killer, Ninja Gaiden protagonist Ryu Hayabusa. Not much is known about the game at this point, beside the fact that it’s lead developed by former Capcom legend Keiji Inafune, creator of Mega Man and producer of Onimusha and Dead Rising. A trailer was released, mixing both artwork and gameplay and showing off the game’s distinct, Mad World-like artistic design and, of course, gore. Zombies are apparently a part of Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, as with everything these days. Team Ninja is also a part of development, though their exact role in all this remains unknown.

More information will be posted as it becomes available. In the meantime enjoy watching the reveal trailer.

And the new trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljgk-fawu24

Whatever it may be, it can't be worse than what Team Ninja would have done on their own. Also, the "next-gen console" is certainly the new Wii, though it'd be surprising if the game doesn't end up on 360 and PS3 eventually, if not right from the start.

[icycalm]

Concept art:

It is signed "Rodrigo"... Could just be the name of the first internet dude who got hold of it though.

[icycalm]

Finally some more details. First, the platforms:

When Team Ninja unveiled Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z at their Tokyo press conference studio head Yosuke Hayashi avoided saying what console(s) the game was for. It appears Yaiba: Team Ninja Z, a Ninja Gaiden spinoff with zombies, will be for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/12/20/ya ... unlimited/

And then an interview with Team Ninja with some screens and character art:

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/11/16/te ... -gaiden-z/

For the record, I don't like the character design, but the rest looks good enough, at least visually. The interview has some interesting tidbits, chief amongst which is this:

We see ninjas portrayed in Western games, and they aren’t real ninjas. There is something off about them.

And what's off about them is that they are ugly as fuck, see for example "indie" sensation Mark of the Ninja, whose review I am typing up right now.

[movie]

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z E3 2013 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4A3OF7H9u4

[icycalm]

Prologue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf1XKuv2bq4
Play footage 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFM73ylFigI (can you spot the DmC?)
Play footage 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6UmSV6GfbM#at=603

Hard to believe these are actual play screens, especially considering this:

The game is in development for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and iOS platforms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaiba:_Ninja_Gaiden_Z

More, mostly boring cutscene screens, here: http://gematsu.com/gallery/yaiba-ninja- ... e-13-2013/

[Tain]

Coming to Windows via Steam: http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/8/481598 ... z-pc-steam

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, the cel-shaded Ninja Gaiden spinoff from Team Ninja, Spark Unlimited and Comcept, will be released on Windows PC in addition to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, publisher Tecmo Koei announced today.

Until now, the company had only confirmed PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. In North America, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will be available through Steam on the same day as the console versions, a release currently scheduled for early 2014.

"Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is an impressive project led by the expertise of Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi and Comcept's Keiji Inafune, with the goal of creating a thrilling new experience for fans," said Amos Ip, senior vice president and general manager of Tecmo Koei America, in a press release today. "We are extremely pleased to offer Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z on PC through Steam, giving us the ability to reach as many gamers as possible with their action-packed creation."

[Some guy]

New screenshots and concept art:

Source: http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/10/yai ... shots.html

[icycalm]

New trailer with plenty of play footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrOiNXTk0UM

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/10/yai ... roved.html

Revenge Has a Date - Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Set for March 4, 2014 Release

Tecmo Koei America and Team Ninja announced today that Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will launch in North America on March 4, 2014 for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Steam and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Additionally, a new trailer has been released, introducing Miss Monday, Yaiba’s in-game tour guide, as well as offering an in-depth look at how Yaiba’s newly implemented skills will deliver increasingly gruesome kills.

In Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, players battle fierce zombies as Yaiba, a cyborg ninja brought back to life with cyber-technology, who will do anything for revenge. Brandishing his deadly ninja sword and the mecha weapons integrated into his cyborg arm, he slaughters zombies with brutal, over-the-top abandon.

Step into a stylized living comic book where stunning graphics depict a world gone mad overflowing with hordes of the undead. Only Yaiba’s drive for retribution and willingness to use any means necessary to get the job done can stop the countless waves of zombies in his path. YAIBA’s lust to kill is insatiable as he mercilessly slices through masses of enemies with his sword, or the array of weapons accessible via his cyborg arm. Miss Monday is Yaiba’s virtual escort and is vital to his survival. However, not even she is safe from his brash, unbridled sarcasm.

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z comes from the two teams behind the most famous ninja and zombie videogame creations as Team Ninja and legendary producer Keiji Inafune team up to create a new experience. The world of the ninja meets undead warriors, cybernetic weapons, comic books, in an entirely new IP that draws from the Ninja Gaiden franchise with a host of bold, new features including an original storyline and style of gameplay.

Always intense, never boring, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is violent, creative, and daringly different. Sharpen your sword, fire up your cyborg arm, and prepare to GET SOME!

[dinopoke]

More screens and concept art: http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/11/yai ... tails.html

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Images Surface Detailing New Breeds of Wicked Zombies and Merciless Killing Tactics

Team Ninja today released new gameplay information for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z showing off an all new area, elemental-based combat and the introduction of new zombie types that Yaiba will have to dismember in his quest for vengeance. New artwork and in-game screenshots have been released highlighting this newly revealed content.

This latest batch of Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z assets find Yaiba deep in the bowels of a sewage plant, confronted by waves of zombies that attack with bile, electricity and fire. Ever the cunning the ninja, Yaiba adapts to his new zombie adversaries by ripping out the Blister Sister’s bile filled guts to harvest her toxic bagpipe, allowing him to spew the deadly bile himself, at his dastardly discretion. Even though the Zombie Bride’s shocking attack can short circuit Yaiba’s cyborg arm, she isn’t safe from Yaiba’s carnage as he turns her spine into an electrical whip, zapping flame zombies to create a powerful magnetic storm. From there, the real fun ensues. Yaiba’s flail is a weapon of wicked design, and it seeks the taste of zombie flesh. Armies of the undead can feel the flail’s cold kiss in one attack, but it rarely runs solo with combos of cyborg rocket punches or a bit of sword play not far behind.

There are mysteries abound in this new area. A hideous beast snarls from behind a sewer grate. A recording from the past is discovered that only Yaiba can view with his cyborg eye. The extremely toxic atmosphere makes Yaiba question if the sewage plant is the source of the zombie outbreak. That’s not the only question Yaiba is left with… As he comes across zombies slain with the blade of a Ninja Sword, is he finally on the tail of his arch nemesis, Ryu Hayabusa?

In Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, players will battle fierce zombies as Yaiba, a cyborg ninja who will do anything to get revenge and stay alive. Cleaved in two, he is brought back to life with cyber-technology. Brandishing his ninja sword and the mecha weapons in his cyborg arm, he slaughters zombies with brutal, over-the-top abandon. Step into a stylized living comic book where stunning graphics depict a world gone mad. Hordes of undead can only be stopped by Yaiba’s willingness to use any means necessary to get the job done. Will he kill by turning his cyborg arm into a razor chainsaw for slicing up undead—or just rip off an opponent’s arms to use as zombie nunchucks? Both possibilities fill Yaiba’s heart with twisted laughter in this upcoming collaboration between famed developers Team Ninja and comcept’s Keiji Inafune.

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will be available for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Steam March 4, 2014.

[Some guy]

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Features Retro 2D Mode, Collaboration with Mighty No. 9
http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/12/yai ... ro-2d.html

Retro 2D mode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ01P3kmAJQ

New trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBUjYH6w3TU

[dinopoke]

Level 1 & 2 Play Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqPn38eHQWQ

[movie]

New trailer with play footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-nQ3K-1bIg

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2014/02/yai ... ailer.html

[icycalm]

I am thinking of downloading this on 360 but it's $60 and there's a PC version, so I am sceptical. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any info on PC vs. console versions, or even on 360 vs. the PS3 version. And on top of all that all reviews are trashing it. Not that it matters, mind -- even if what they are saying is true, the game is a must-play simply because of the graphics -- but it's yet another reason I wouldn't feel good blowing $60 on the digital 360 version, and then more money on a retail version at some later time (since I always want a retail copy too). If the game were good and I was sure I was getting the best version, I wouldn't mind so much...

Anyway, here's the Edge trashing, if anyone cares:

http://www.edge-online.com/review/yaiba ... -z-review/

It's impossible for me to take anything he says seriously when he starts out with hipsterisms like this:

The first of Tomonobu Itagaki’s Ninja Gaiden games was defined by its counterattack.

Nigga it's my favorite 3D brawler ever and I didn't even remember if there is a "counterattack" in it. Obviously the reasons I love it must have nothing to do with it. "LOOK IM TALKING ABOUT COMPLEX MOVES." Poser to the core.


P.S. I removed the TAB and MOB tags from the title because I think these versions have been cancelled since no one's talking about them. Good riddance.

[icycalm]

Well, I said fuck it and tried to download it, but the US GoD version at least is IP-locked, so it wouldn't let me buy it. Thanks for saving me $60 dudes.

[icycalm]

I will be streaming the PC version on Hard starting in a few minutes: https://www.twitch.tv/insomniacult

Some stuff I posted in the Discord: https://discord.gg/7ZKAkEj

Ninja Gaiden Z looks 10 times better than that musou game and runs flawlessly on my laptop at 1080p with everything maxed out
it only has the same quirk as Mighty No. 9, also by Comcept, that I need to unplug my mouse for the game to recognize the controller
And it only cost me 5.99
or something like that
no co-op of course
I wonder if I can stream it well
I'll test it
Actually, it's possible to have both a mouse and a controller enabled. You just have to follow these steps: 1. Unplug mouse, 2. Plug in controller, 3. Start game (you must have preselected it with your cursor and simply press enter to launch it since you don't have a mouse at this point), 3. Wait until the start screen comes up and you are sure the controller is working and then plug in the mouse again, and voila, everything works now (edited)
I'll eat something and then stream a few hours of the game
I can't believe it runs flawlessly even when streaming

[icycalm]

Played about three hours. It's a good game. Easily 4/5. PC version is probably the best because it does 1080p. I also like the main theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLxjbwZ ... UxKkUm1dGf

Not quite mix material, but it sounds awesome when it comes on in the game. Definitely a game to play on a huge screen with the music turned all the way up. I am on 42 inches, so it's all good. Will see this one through to the end.