May 3, 2005 - There's no question about it, Team Ninja Leader (that's his actual position) Tomonubo Itagaki loves to talk. The creator of such Xbox hits as Dead or Alive Ultimate and Ninja Gaiden is featured every month on the pages of Famitsu Xbox, Japan's only Xbox magazine, where he shares his perspectives on gaming through an interview. That's right, he finds something to say every month -- a surprising feat, considering that there are more characters in his interviews than there are Xbox Live users throughout Japan.
This month's interview, appearing in the June issue of the magazine, spans four pages. Itagaki begins the interview by commenting that he has three things to discuss: a look back at the current generation, a discussion of what Team Ninja is working on now, and some comments about the next generation. Let's take a look at what Itagaki has to say.
Beginning his look back at the current generation, Itagaki first acknowledges that it's perhaps too early to do so -- he'd rather do such a thing at the end of summer. The next generation is coming too fast, according to Itagaki. "No matter how much effort we pour into the next generation system, the Xbox is still the current system as far as we're concerned," he comments, adding that users probably feel the same way.
"The flow towards the next generation is happening faster than I was expecting," continues Itagaki, adding with a laugh, "Don't misunderstand -- I'm not saying that Team Ninja is going to be late for the next generation system. What I want to say is that it seems that without our knowing it, the current generation has finished." The laughter quickly gives way to tears (although we're not sure if he actually cried) as Itagaki reflects, "It makes me feel a little sad."
Apparently, there's some life left in the current generation Xbox. "Of course, because Microsoft is making it, I believe that the next generation system will be excellent hardware," offers Itagaki. "But you know what? That doesn't mean that the current Xbox has already died. We wouldn't be making games for it if that were the case."
Pointing to the success of Xbox outside of Japan, Itagaki expresses, "In Japan, if someone would make real software [for the Xbox], there would be many retailers who'd make shelf space for it and many customers who would buy it. In that sense, in a way I'm confused that talk abruptly started about the next generation system."
Itagaki's last comment on the matter brought about tears with the Xbox faithful here at IGN (although Itagaki said it with a laugh): "Why must I bid farewell to this machine that I love from the bottom of my heart?"
Itagaki then reflects back on Team Ninja's involvement with Xbox over the past few years, reminding us that even though the Xbox has been available at retail for three years, his team's development on the platform began four years ago. "I, personally, still play Dead or Alive 3," he comments, referring to the best selling Japanese Xbox title to date. It also happens to be one of the titles that launched the system in Japan, with Itagaki reminiscing, "It was the software through which I met the Xbox. Ahh, speaking of meeting, my first encounter with Seamus Blackley was intense. It was maybe January of 2001. This guy who looked like a soldier came to Team Ninja's office and was all 'Create! Create now! Create immediately!'."
Following a lengthy commentary in which Itagaki ponders such deep topics as "Did the game market go bad because the Spring Tokyo Game Shows was stopped or was the Spring Tokyo Game Show stopped because the game market had gone bad?", Itagaki offers some splendid news for current generation Xbox fans: Team Ninja support is continuing! Read all about it in our separate story.
Xbox 360 is Team Ninja's current focus, though, with Itagaki commenting that development for next generation hardware is taking up 90% of the team's time. This has been the case since the end of development on Dead or Alive Ultimate.
Itagaki comments that he himself is spending 99% of his time on Dead or Alive 4, for which he's acting as project manager. "New characters and story -- there's a lot to do," explains Itagaki, "to the point that over the past four days, I've only gotten forty minutes of sleep." He adds, with a laugh, "For the first time in five years, I took a bath at the company."
Sadly, Itagaki had to cancel an Online tournament appearance for Dead or Alive Ultimate due to his work. Apologizing, he states, "I was looking forward to playing with everyone, but I'm at a state where work is impossibly fun. This is the first time this has happened since making Dead or Alive 2."
When asked what we can expect from Dead or Alive 4, Itagaki states, "The content is completely finalized in my head. Originally, I thought up 300 ideas, and now it's reached the point of being narrowed down to maybe 30." With a laugh (we're not sure if he's joking or not), he adds, "As you might expect, included in the ideas that were thrown out are things that are probably impossible even on next generation hardware."
Regarding the Xbox 360 in general, Itagaki seems to have confidence in Microsoft this time around. "In a word, Microsoft is serious," proclaims Itagaki. "Make no mistake, they will make an excellent machine. I think I said the same thing four years ago about the Xbox, but at that time there weren't too many people who believed me."
Asked if the next generation Xbox is easy to work with, Itagaki offers up this perspective: "I've worked with various systems over the years, but I've not once felt difficulty. Even speaking generally, there are plenty of templates and libraries, so perhaps [the systems] are easy to work with. This is, of course, Microsoft's strength. Microsoft is a software developer, so it understands how we feel. I believe that, in the end, hardware is just a box, and to make it move, you need software."
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