9w ago - Sony Social Media Specialist Justin Massongill shared a Q&A from Team Ninja for Dead or Alive 5 Plus which arrives on PlayStation Vita today.

To quote: Dead or Alive, Team Ninja's long-running fighting game franchise, is getting its first PS Vita installment today in the form of Dead or Alive 5 Plus. How does one pack a game of this magnitude into a portable form factor?

Do any concessions need to be made to keep everything steady at 60FPS? What new features can we expect, given PS Vita's unique capabilities? We synced up with Yohei Shimbori of Team Ninja, who graciously answered these questions and more.

PlayStation.Blog: What has been your experience in terms of developing Dead or Alive 5 Plus for PS Vita? Have you had to make many concessions, or were you able to port the entire PS3 game over with minimal changes?

Yohei Shimbori, Director, Team Ninja: Certain elements of Dead or Alive 5 Plus (DOA5+) were relatively smooth in porting it to the PS Vita from the PS3. However, as you may notice from games already on the market today, a complete port in terms of graphics and physics remains a challenge which was also the case for DOA5+.

Fluid fighting motion and stellar graphics are all staples of the Dead or Alive franchise, so delivering anything...

12w ago - Sony Social Media Specialist Justin Massongill has confirmed that Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus hits PS Vita today while talking to Team Ninja below.

To quote: The Ninja Gaiden series, renowned for its surgically precise yet frenetic gameplay, has had a bit of a rebirth on PS Vita. With Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus helping to launch the system, and with the impending release of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, Ryu Hayabusa has never been more mobile.

With Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus launching today on game card and on PSN bundled with an exclusive costume pack and DLC, we asked Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi to shed light on the perks of the PS Vita version. Read on to learn more about the new Ninja Race and Tag Mission modes, PS Vita development details and more.

PlayStation.Blog: Ninja Gaiden is known for its unforgiving difficulty and hyper-precise controls. How does that necessity translate to the smaller form factor and mobile focus of PS Vita?

Yosuke Hayashi, Head of Team Ninja: We wanted to make sure to keep the feel of the controls identical between the different platforms, thus the inputs and control adjustments have been worked on in...

76w ago - Today Team Ninja have shared multiplayer details on the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 3 title for PS3 and also Ninja Gaiden Sigma+ for the PlayStation Vita handheld.

To quote from Sony Social Media Manager Jeff Rubenstein: Earlier this week, Team Ninja set up a temporary dojo in San Francisco to share news and game time with Ninja Gaiden 3 and Dead or Alive 5 on the PlayStation 3.

Of particular note was the first hands-on demo of Ninja Gaiden 3's multiplayer offering in the form of 4v4 Team Deathmatch and Battle Royale modes.

It's a bold move to add a competitive multiplayer mode to a melee-based action game, and I struggled to think of a comparable product out there; it definitely stands on its own in the action genre. My favorite touch: when struck by a deathblow, you can fight off your attacker by mashing the buttons, and then choose to "die with honor" via seppuku.

After a lengthy playtest, we were granted some face-to-face time with the team's Head Ninja, Yosuke Hayashi. Here we chat PlayStation Move support in NG3, working on the Vita, and how many actual ninja are on Team Ninja:

PlayStation.Blog: A focus at...

140w ago - Today Team Ninja have officially announced Ninja Gaiden 3 at TGS 2010, reportedly to be released on both Microsoft's XBox 360 console and Sony's PS3 entertainment system.

Team Ninja will once again handle development on the title, the first in the series since series creator Tomonobu Itagaki left the company.

Not much else was revealed as to what to expect from the sequel, but it's thought we're going to see a "more human side" to main character Ryu.

To quote: "Attending a behind-closed door reveal earlier today, the image of Ryo Hayabusa holds secrets of the game to come. Ryu is pulling off his mask to represent a more human side to the series' protagonist and the idea that players will discover more about him.

Ryu also has blood on his face, representing a more violent and bloody experience to Ninja Gaiden 2.

You can also see a reflection of a person in Ryu's eye, perhaps suggesting an inner darkness which he is trying to contain - the likelihood is this darkness will manifest itself with new abilities.

The flames represent Ryu's descent into a hellish realm and the hell he plans to unleash on his foes.

We've also noticed something peculiar looking under the right eye that looks too specific to be just a blood smear."

192w ago - Today Sony's Social Media Senior Specialist Chris Morell has shared a Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 interview and walkthrough with Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi.

To quote: Team Ninja Producer and Director Yosuke Hayashi should be very familiar to you by now. His series of posts here on the Blog revealed a bunch of new footage, modes and goodies for the PS3's Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

Some of those include a nice chuck of Momiji gameplay, Team Missions co-op mode, and Chapter Challenge mode where after you clear Story Mode, you can go back and replay chapters to compete with others around the world.

Since then, you've been asking for Mr. Hayashi to drop some comments on the Blog. But we did ya one better -- an almost 10-minute long interview/walkthrough that should answer all your lingering questions on Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 before its release in less than two weeks on September 29.





So until then, summon your Ninpo skill -- if Ninja Gaiden history has taught us anything, there's some insanely hard Trophies to be had.

One more thing. A Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 PS3 demo will hit the PlayStation Store next Thursday, September 24!