Itadaki says PSP too powerful for Ninja Gaiden
by Andrew Yoon 
{ May 18th 2007 at 8:30PM }
We're certainly impressed by Team Ninja's upcoming DS Ninja Gaiden game. But why is a hardcore 3D action game being developed for Nintendo's admittedly weaker handheld, especially when it comes from the typically technology-savvy team at Team Ninja? GamePro questioned the infamously opinionated Tomonobu Itagaki on why they avoided the PSP platform."The design philosophy for the PSP as a piece of hardware is a home gaming machine ... If we were gonna make it for PSP, it'd be better for us to make it for a powerful home system instead," he said. The PSP can display console-quality graphics, unlike the DS. It seems as though Itagaki would be far more interested in creating a new game for a home console rather than a portable, especially if it would take a similar amount of effort.
Puzzlingly, he believes that hardcore gamers wouldn't want a Ninja Gaiden game to appear on Sony's handheld. "I think if I were to develop this game on the PSP, most of my fans would be upset." Sorry to prove you wrong Itagaki, but we're more than a little upset that you think that way.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Service_Games @ May 18th 2007 8:39PM
What a cop-out...
SG
rabe7thebest @ May 18th 2007 8:45PM
what the ****..I would be more than happy to buy a NG for PSP..
zoen151 @ May 18th 2007 8:51PM
What an arrogant @ss. He's just making an excuse for not going on the PSP. We all know he made it for the DS to make a quick buck just because the DS is selling better.
thatpspkid @ May 18th 2007 8:52PM
Japanese Michel Jackson look alike quotes:
"We don't want to make Ninja Gaiden on psp because it would just be too good. On the DS we can retain a balance combination of suckiness that we can all enjoy and laugh at.
For our next game, we are considering changing the name to Ninja Maiden and putting it out exclusively on the Wii. It is all for The Greater Good."
Followers mindlessly quote:
"The Greater Good"
Gamespot:
But why would you want to... (cut off)
Japanese Michel Jackson look alike:
"The Greater Good"
mindless Followers:
"The Greater Good"
mastershake3 @ May 18th 2007 8:58PM
In otherwords, the PSP requires a dev. team where as we can get our interns to whip up some cheap crap for the DS for a lot less money and no one will be the wiser.
This interview would piss me off if I were Nintendo.
required @ May 18th 2007 9:39PM
lol
required @ May 18th 2007 10:00PM
Looks like the backgrounds in this DS title are static prerendered 2D illustrations like what was done on the 2001 GBA title, Tony Hawk.
http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/166/166246p1.html
kingofwale @ May 18th 2007 10:04PM
How is making Ninja Gaiden for xbox exclusively not 'pissing off your fans'?
well, I'm not sure they were pissed, but they sure wasn't buying your game. ;) less than 1 million sold worldwide for an fantastic game? Ouch.
bxbailey @ May 18th 2007 11:03PM
He's a damn idiot and a fool!
Saigon @ May 18th 2007 10:35PM
Most of your fans upset? wtf, that doesn't even make any sense. The last DoA game released on a non-microsoft console was DoA 2: Hardcore, and that was on dreamcast.
"The design philosophy for the PSP as a piece of hardware is a home gaming machine"
Ugh, as a proud psp owner, I feel insulted.
Also, I'm surprised they haven't made a DoA game for psp yet, seeing as how successful Tekken was. But what the hell do I care, I rather play a Tekken game.
warrenjoseph76 @ May 18th 2007 10:41PM
spoken like a true wannabe rock star "Yeah.. we're not gonna sell out to the man like some other bands we used to like before they made it big... we're gonna stay hardcore for our like 5 fans out there." What a moron... even if he ever had any intentions of catering to a real handheld.....he just killed any chance of me ever buying a game that his arrogant ass ever develops.
SKI @ May 18th 2007 10:43PM
The DS is designed under the concept of "What should a portable system be?" instead of trying to replicate the home experience. That's what attracted me to developing on the DS because you can really utilize its strengths as a portable platform. I think if I were to develop this game on the PSP, most of my fans would be upset.
He's saying that if he made the same game that he would make for the PS2 or 360 on the PSP, it wouldn't be as good and gamers wouldn't like it. By designing it for the DS, he believes he can change the game to fit the hand held better.
zoen151 @ May 18th 2007 10:57PM
Hey Andrew, I think it's time to email Tomonobu Itagaki with all of our comments attached. Tell him what we think of his development strategy.
cafecito @ May 19th 2007 12:11AM
Itagaki must DIE.
Well, if he changes his mind and develops either Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive for the PSP, he can live.
Alien @ May 19th 2007 3:27AM
DS : easy , no effort , cheap development . If it goes wrong he blames the handehalds lack of power .
PSP : it needs real development work and talent , what Itadaki clearly misses at this point :(
darkvegeta @ May 19th 2007 3:27AM
I translate: "As long as we can made handheld junk that doesn't cost us a buck, we're happy"
Chichi @ May 19th 2007 7:15AM
I kinda agree on Itadaki about the difference of the DS and the PSP. That is why when a game is released on multi platform the DS are the only different in terms of graphics and gameplay. PSP/PS2 etc. are very much the same like X-Men Legends 2. But it's no excuse not to make a Ninja Gaiden PSP someday.
Ninja Gaiden
Console style gameplay and graphics
ON THE GO
=
AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kingofwale @ May 19th 2007 7:51AM
he could've just said "Yeah, DS development is cheap and frankly, even if we messed up, DS fans will still buy it, Heck, they've bought worse game before". ;)
The Clunge @ May 19th 2007 9:53AM
I wondered when the zit-faced Yoko Ono look-a-like would remember there was a Sony platform he hadn't insulted yet.
Johnny Lasley @ May 19th 2007 10:05AM
I don't know if I care since I'm not a fan of Ninja Gaiden or Itagaki, but I think most fans of Ninja Gaiden like it for its console experience, which is doable in PSP not DS.
He might have chosen the easy road of mediocrity...
Bored @ May 19th 2007 10:40AM
This guy is an obnoxious narcissist and a proclaimed XBox fanboy.
pixelator @ May 19th 2007 1:52PM
When any developer gets enough fame that people actually want to hear what they think, you can basically write off their perspective as being tweaked by whichever company is paying him more and who is signing what contracts with whom.
He's obviously into Nintendo for his DS version, and how he responds about the PSP would likely impact his business relationship with them in the future. The Japanese have very deeply drawn lines of allegiance between corporations. They want him to favor the DS, he'll favor the DS. Hell, look at the DS they had him hold for the photo.
That said, naturally, he could make a much more realistic version of Ninja Gaiden on PSP. The fact that he's especially proud of shoehorning it onto a system as relatively low power as the DS is clearly something he and his fellow devs are very proud of.
Maybe he means that they could make a console version and just port it to the PSP, since the thrust of the PSP is more conventional in terms of its single display and traditional controls. I wouldn't write a PSP version off just yet. People do a LOT of talking in the industry and most of it doesn't mean squat as to what games wind up being on which platforms.
Either way, if the DS game is really as good as the initial looks would indicate, I'll be surprised. I still haven't seen many DS games that I was totally happy with or didn't compromise some degree of gameplay or realism due to hardware/screens/stylus.
Andrew @ May 19th 2007 3:00PM
Dudes from Japan, and whats happenings in JAPAN... DS mania... thats why Ninja Gaiden is on the DS... and the reason why his fans would be upset, cause he was just talking about his Japaneses fans... who like the DS... make sense. PLUS the guy was jut lazy to make a fully fledged AWESOME PSP game from some faux 3d stuff of the DS...
Julio @ May 19th 2007 4:28PM
Who cares, we have go of war
Muwahahaha
Joe @ May 19th 2007 5:47PM
I do think that there is hope for the future some time ago lots of Xboxs fans never thought that NG would end up on the PS3 and now look at it. There is a new remake of NG and it throws in some new things. Plus there are talks about if NGS sells well on the PS3 both the 360 and the PS3 will get NG2.
I hope that may be the PSP could get a remake of the older NG games now I think that would be cool and some thing I would like to play.
Thomas @ May 19th 2007 7:49PM
He's seems so fixated on not doing a psp game, that he doesn't even realize that a Ninja Gaiden, done in beautiful 2d sprites... wouldn't be a great game to develop on the psp wide screen... Sony is the one that needs to get these developers interested developing for their products.
keif @ May 19th 2007 9:22PM
all you guys did was prove his point. You guys love the psp, and most of you dislike the ds.
well fact is because of diffrint tastes and choices in what system you play they cater to diffrent types of people. Psp is more like a console experience while ds is a handheld experience. and that has nothing to do with the capabilites of the system, its the games that appear on it.
As such itagaki wants to make a handheld experince, not another console one, thast his choice as a designer, otehrwise he would definitly go for psp over ds.
but instead you rather take it personaly somehow and start attacking him back for being a sony hater.
Marco Cano Jr @ May 19th 2007 10:06PM
FYI, in the latest 1up yours podcast, Shane from EGM has played it and has said it was pretty good. And another thing, from what I've read, the decision for making Ninja Gaiden on the PS3 wasn't Itadaki's but from one of his younger team member. Just wanted to put in my two cents.
Stephen @ May 19th 2007 11:53PM
seems to me like he's just lazy!!! "Why make a game for a portable system when a home version would take little more effort..." THAT'S JUST STUPID!!!!! DS just sux! Everything is better on the psp... he just needs to give it a chance... also, I'm on my psp more than my home systems anyways, because it pretty much is the same as home systems... (think of it as a mini PS3!)
dapurplebyrd @ May 20th 2007 12:42AM
what a douchebag
pixelator @ May 20th 2007 12:20PM
Nobody is 'proving' this guy's point.
Itadaki doesn't want to develop for the DS because 1). He's probably developing relations with Nintendo, the company that many feel is reasserting itself as the 'big cheese' in the industry, 2). Making a game like NG on DS grants him 'street cred' for such a technical achievement whereas something similar on PSP wouldn't seem that revolutionary (note his Japanese 'rock star' look) and 3). PSP development does cost more than DS - and they'd have to really think about how to make the game different, while realizing it probably wouldn't sell as well as on the DS.
Just ignore the morons saying 'DS SUX'.
txa1265 @ May 20th 2007 3:23PM
"PSP/PS2 etc. are very much the same like X-Men Legends 2. But it's no excuse not to make a Ninja Gaiden PSP someday. "
One comment on that - if you have played XMEN Legends on the PSP you likely have nightmares from the awful load times - including ~10 seconds for a menu to appear! In other words, lazy developers assuming a direct port end up with crap!
It is that sort of thing that earned the PSP some bad press, and it has taken a whole string of really good PSP games to try to undo that image - but it is always hard to change a preset opinion like that. Developing *for* the PSP is not easy as I've heard, and it is more than just porting a PS2 version.
Thomas @ May 20th 2007 4:02PM
Well I remember a while ago Tecmo didn't want to do a ps2 version of Ninja Gaiden claming that the system wasn't powerful enough. I'm willing to bet if the Redesigned PSP sells well, then we'll see some Tecmo games on the system.
jd @ May 22nd 2007 3:59PM
The DS and PSP IMO are really geared toward different styles of games. With the most recent versions of Ninja Gaiden being a more Console geared game I think it would be a better game for the PSP. That's fine with me....I play a DS because it's superior to the PSP for the style of games I most enjoy (RPG's and Strategy). Nothing wrong with the DS or the PSP...pick the one that plays the games you enjoy most and stop dogging the other one out.