Interview: Team Ninja Boss Yosuke Hayashi
Our first chat with the new leader of Team Ninja, on Itagaki, Sigma 2, the Koei Tecmo merger and Ninja Gaiden 3.
By Adam Doree, May 15, 2009
If there were any doubts about the talent of Yosuke Hayashi after he directed Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3, then they were surely alleviated with the fantastic DS title, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, on which he was director and producer.
Hayashi, the new leader of Team Ninja, has boldly stepped into the office formerly occupied by Tomonobu Itagaki, someone whose pantomime Kikizo has long been a fan of (and we must admit, a party to, when you consider he's sat down for interviews with us no less than six times).
Yusuke Hayashi's very own 'Momiji' character, in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
I've seen people literally trembling as they enter an interview room with Itagaki, and then watched them leave looking like they want to cry. But while we always smile at Itagaki's character where many fear it, the bottom line is it's his games - and particularly the Ninja Gaiden series - that we're actually fans of. And the games gave him his pass to say whatever he likes.
So, are these awesome games Itagaki's, or Team Ninja's? The answer from Hayashi-san may come as no surprise, but other details in our first interview with the new 'man' of Team Ninja may well do. The interview focuses on broader stuff before looking at Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, the PS3-exclusive remake of last year's brilliant Xbox 360 game Ninja Gaiden II, as well as other stuff.
Kikizo: With Itagaki-san no longer at Team Ninja, we wonder if it must be a lot, um, 'quieter' at the studio?
Hayashi: Well Itagaki liked to talk a lot! Me, I hope I don't have to talk so much. I believe my games will speak for themselves.
Kikizo: But in the eyes of many gamers, Team Ninja's franchises are seen as Itagaki's own rather than Team Ninja's. He pushed them as his creations, so how does today's Team Ninja feel about that?
Hayashi: Well games are team efforts. A person can have his vision and be a creative force, but in the end, it's a team effort. I think that the DNA, or the essence of the foundation of Team Ninja has not changed at all, and the internal staff hasn't really changed either. It's not like we're a different team, it's just that that the face and the leadership has changed.
As an example, most of my staff working on finishing up Sigma 2 has also worked on Ninja Gaiden 2, so it's not like we're giving it to a completely different part of the team. We also have a strong desire to work on something completely brand new, but which still holds true to the Team Ninja DNA.
Kikizo: What about other Team Ninja projects which Itagaki had for a long time mentioned, but as yet never materialized, like Code Cronus and Project Progressive?
Hayashi: I think the mission that we've been given as game creators and content providers is that we don't do it just because it's a business, we do it because it will provide entertainment to our fans. It's not just something that applies to Ninja Gaiden, or any of our other franchises, and it is my duty to continue things in this direction - it's the role I've been given, and it's what fits my talent best.
Kikizo: Let's discuss the Koei Tecmo merger. Koei has a lot of IP that's very popular in Japan such as Dynasty Warriors. Is there any worry on the Tecmo side about competing against the Koei unit?
Hayashi: I have more of a positive outlook on the merger. It's not something directly within my control, obviously. But the more resources, the more pooling of our respective assets, the better the situation. When out teams put ideas on the table, we're now able to look at Team Ninja's resources and see where we could be, and look at Koei's teams individually and even see if there's a chance of working together. Rather that compete, we can work alongside Koei's individual teams, so I don't necessarily see it as competition, but more of a positive outlook for us and Team Ninja.
Kikizo: So, Sigma 2, are you making any major changes?
Hayashi: Essentially the game itself has not changed; apart from some extra content and possibilities which I can't share just yet, this is still about Ryu Hayabusa in the single player mode. The online co op mode is entirely separate from that, and there you can team up with Ayane from the Dead or Alive series, or with Kunoichi Momiji who I introduced in Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Going from the DS to a next gen system we were able to really bring her to life, so I hope the fans will like her very much.
Kikizo: In Ninja Gaiden II the AI sometimes had an issue dealing with just the one player, so it must be a challenge for you to make enemies work perfectly in co-op play?
Hayashi: That point has been brought up before internally at Team Ninja as well. We actually worked very hard on the AI for Sigma 2; in terms of fine-tuning it, the engine used for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is quite an upgrade from Ninja Gaiden II, and in bringing the online co-operative mode into play, obviously we have taken into account a lot of the flaws that were seen in Ninja Gaiden II - a lot of manpower and research has gone into fixing a lot of the problems. So we do touch on the AI, and how we have been able to bring it to the level where it's not going to be a flaw within the game anymore.
Kikizo: Are you considering the possibility of bringing Sigma 2 back to Xbox 360 as a sort of Ninja Gaiden Black type release, or as downloadable content, so that Xbox fans get the new content too?
Hayashi: I am sorry for our Xbox 360 fans, but this one will be PS3 only. As much as I would like to take that as sort of a compliment, saying that we should share the wealth with other consoles, I think it's more or less too old by the time Sigma 2 hits the market and enough people have played it already on the Xbox 360. The total audience of Ninja Gaiden fans and actions gamers will probably just be wanting more, so at that point, we have to open up a new chapter, not just repackage all the updates for the other audience and calling it Black. At that point we're going to have to push ourselves to the next level, and we are better off giving both audiences an entirely new game - I think our time and energy will be better used that way.
Kikizo: Tecmo is a medium-sized game company, but their the quality of product is often way ahead of some of the bigger names in the industry, and is ahead of many other Japan studios. Why do you think this is?
Hayashi: This kind of touches on the personality and characteristics of a Japanese person, and Japanese culture. You know, Japanese people are not very 'direct', in a good way - they're a very 'indirect-response' culture. They can't say: "Yeah, I don't really like what you put out right there", they say it in a different way. So maybe at other companies, they don't find that sense of confidence to criticize. Most places in Japan, one person comes up with an idea and everyone else just sort of ends up agreeing with it without really putting forth their opinions. That's probably one of the strengths of Team Ninja; we've come together, working for so long, that we don't have to hide anything, and we're not afraid to criticize each other's opinions and ideas - and, maybe, that creates a better 'workflow'.
Kikizo: Do you think Japan's ability to create global hits in gaming is getting better or worse?
Hayashi: I think we all can agree that Japan has fallen behind. I think it's an issue about balancing good international ideas and the struggle to keep up with technology. Japanese people may have great ideas, but they haven't been able to follow through with the technical aspect of it. Ideas-wise, I mean, who can beat Nintendo and their products, right? However, back in the day, all the ideas were easier to develop into games because of the hardware limitations. I think there are still a lot of great ideas on paper, but in order for it to be a globally success, it can be difficult for companies to step up to the new technologies.
Kikizo: Itagaki-san had previously said that Ninja Gaiden II would be the final game in the series. Do you think you will go back on that and make a Ninja Gaiden 3 and beyond?
Hayashi: Regardless of what Itagaki-san said before, in time, what the consumers, the gamers are looking for is going to be the next chapter - the future of an outstanding series. We feel that we're in a position of being able to make that call, and to provide pure entertainment that's going to be enjoyed by action gamers and our fans. That calling is already there - we feel it, and therefore we will continue to work towards a future for the series.
Kikizo: Thanks for this interview, Hayashi-san.
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