Trouble has been brewing over in Tecmo land of late. Itagaki, as we all know, is in litigations with the company over bonuses and broken promises, company president Yoshimi Yasuda resigned two weeks ago over the fiasco and subsequently, shares for Tecmo went down in flames as a result. Because of all the turmoil, the gaming company has been hoping that they could either continue to tread water until the rough spot passed or hope and pray for a knight on a white horse to come in and save them from themselves.

In trots Square Enix on the proverbial white stallion with their armor glistening in the sun. Reaching out a strong hand to Tecmo, Square Enix offers to buy out half of Tecmo’s shares for $100 million and if rejected back away slowing for the ailing maiden – never to contact her again. True to their word, Square Enix has backed off of Tecmo after getting a flat out refusal from the company and are instead riding off into the sunset of continued gaming success. Meanwhile, the troubled Tecmo is instead in talks with Koei over a possible merger instead.

In retrospect, this may be a good move on their part. Not only did shares in Tecmo jump 7.5% when the news hit, the company feels as if it would be able to continue their growth should they side with Koei.

According to a statement issued by Itagaki’s former stomping grounds:

“Through a merger, we expect we can grow further by respecting both companies’ identities and having an environment in which employees can fully exhibit their skills,” said Tecmo and Koei in a statement, pointing to a choice for Tecmo which “has a higher possibility of improving corporate value.”

In the meantime, Square Enix is not harboring any ill-will towards Tecmo, but have instead stated that the company would have been better off joining their team if only to help out the Japanese gaming market:

“The game industry in Japan is standing at a critical juncture whether it continues to be a center of the video game industry in the world, or not. Tecmo is a group of excellent creators with proven track-record in the global market, which is a precious human resource of Japan.

We, however, cannot be optimistic about the future of this significant resource, given the current circumstances surrounding Tecmo… We believe that Tecmo will be able to make a great leap forward by joining the Square Enix Group.”

We will keep you posted on what happens next, so check back with us often. Maybe the new holiday line-up Temco is releasing with help pad their pockets a bit more.

Thanks: GI.biz

It took much longer than some would have liked, but the first wave of Greatest Hits game for PlayStation 3 have finally arrived. Starting today, this line of budget games can be picked up in extremely ugly red boxes for the price of $30, which puts it $10 higher than the PS2’s Greatest Hits, but also $10 less than where Microsoft tends to discount its first-party 360 titles.

The nine games are Warhawk, Motorstorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night Round 3, Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow Six Vegas, Assassin’s Creed, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Not a half-bad assortment, but which ones are worth buying?

PS3 Fanboy has assembled a buyer’s guide for the nine titles, giving you a quick rundown on what to expect from each game and which ones are worth buying. Unsurprisingly, Warhawk and Oblivion get a thumbs up, while Motorstorm should be avoided with the sequel, Pacific Rift, not that far off.

They do however refer to Ninja Gaiden Sigma as “THE definitive NG experience,” something that I think Itagaki-san would disagree with.

Nevermind all that Tecmo and Itagaki soap opera nonsense — there’s more Ninja Gaiden 2 to be enjoyed, even if you’ve already completed the game, collected all the crystal skulls, and unlocked all of the achievements.

A new mission pack has been released today for 800 Microsoft points ($10). There are 24 new missions in total, split up into two different mission sets: Karma and Survival. In Karma, you’re trying to get the highest score possible, while Survival has you fend off as many enemies as possible with a single weapon. You’ll get 10 new achievements along with the missions for those of you who are infatuated with your gamerscore.

800 points seems like a lot for something that could very well have been released as free DLC, so I don’t think I’ll be buying this until I feel like I’ve truly gotten my money’s worth out of NG2.

More drama has unfolded in the Itagaki/Tecmo suit.

Supposedly, according to various sources (notably Kotaku) Itagaki was fired on June 18th and did not quit as he has alleged. According to Tecmo, he was fired just a few weeks after he announced he would be leaving and suing the company- so either way you look at it, he was out the door.

Itagaki is suing Tecmo over “special incentives” for Dead or Alive 4 that he was never paid. According to Tomonobu Itagaki, he was to receive 6.66% of profits generated from the sale of the game, but Tecmo president Yasuda says that those incentives were never approved. Itagaki was also supposed to receive his summer bonus and yearly incentives, which he left the company without being paid.

Now comes evidence presented by Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto, which is an actual tape recording of Yasuda calling Itagaki a “money grubber” and saying that Itagaki was owed incentive money after all – which was in reality approved by the Tecmo board despite his claims to the contrary.

Okamoto recorded the conversation with Yasuda because he was continually harassed by him, was called  names and and told he had no class. Great way to motivate your employees there Yasuda.

Itagaki has since decided to increase his claim from 148,000,000 yen to 164,000,095 yen thanks to that wonderful bit of evidence produced by Okamoto (providing it holds up in court, which Japanese courts may differ greatly from ours).

You know, Itagaki may rub people the wrong way sometimes, and while I personally detest people who blow their own horn constantly, it is no matter. If he is owed the money, just pay the guy already.

Thanks: CVG [via Kotaku]

Channel Flip has a video review of Ninja Gaiden II up for your viewing pleasure. The host Katharine will lead you through the pros and cons of the game illustrating points with game footage from the Xbox 360.

Ninja Gaiden is notoriously difficult and gory. Fans of the series should not be disappointed. Here’s Katharine’s take on Team Ninja’s final Ninja Gaiden title under Itagaki.

via Channel Flip

This past week, Tecmo issued a statement that attempted to clarify the record, specifically regarding the rumor 1UP reported on last weekend that several dozen Team Ninja employees would be leaving the company. According to the statement, no such event has taken place.

The statement read in part: “On June 16, 2008, two employees filed a lawsuit against Tecmo, LTD. with accusations of withholding overtime pay.   Although a lawsuit was filed by the two employees, on April 1, 2008, Tecmo, LTD. did notify all affected employees that they would be appropriately compensated and is currently in the process of resolving the matter.   There are several inaccurate reports stating that all 300 company employees are named in the lawsuit and the company would like to clarify that only two employees are involved in the suit.”

They also deny allegations that Tecmo withheld information from shareholders about Tomonobu Itagaki’s lawsuit, which was filed in May.

Additonally, Kotaku has since reported on the evidence presented by the two employees referenced above, which appears to be fairly damning. The lawsuit claims that workers were paid on an illegal “flexible hours” plan, resulting in over 100 hours of unpaid overtime per month.

One of the two individuals, Hiroaki Ozawa, is an official rep of Tecmo’s labor union, spoke with site IT Media and clarified the lawsuit. He said, “There are only two employees bringing this suit, but our accusations encompass all 300 employees, and if Tecmo doesn’t immediately address the issue and correct the problem, we are ready to start a second and a third class action suit.”

We’ll have more on this as it continues to develop.

And the Tecmo vs. Itagaki drama just keeps on rolling. Tecmo recently filed for a gag order in the Tokyo District Court against Tomonobu Itagaki, former employee, creator of Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden, and the man leading a new class-action suit against the company by other employees. The order prohibits Itagaki from:

• Disclosing or leaking information regarding Tecmo’s game software, sales, development or any other company secrets
• Using newspapers, magazines and the internet to criticize company software and company employees
• Obstructing the company’s business through slanderous remarks to third parties
• Do not accept interviews regarding Tecmo or talk to the press about the company

Seems a little for this though, since Itagaki’s already said just about everything he wanted to say already. I have a feeling this is going to get real ugly before it gets resolved though.

Via Kotaku

If you thought Tomonobu Itagaki’s motives for leaving Team Ninja and suing Tecmo were selfish, prepare to be proven wrong — 1UP is reporting that upwards of three dozen key members of Team Ninja’s staff will be following suit by leaving Team Ninja and filing a class-action lawsuit against Tecmo for unpaid bonuses for completed games.

While Tecmo has fired back, stating, “Tecmo would like to assure its loyal fans that Team Ninja, known for its top-selling and critically acclaimed Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises, is intact and, as a matter of fact, has several new projects already underway,” one has to wonder just how many people are left that truly constitute the development group known as ‘Team Ninja.’ Journey was never the same after Steve Perry left, but imagine what it’d be like without the whole band. Yes, Tecmo still owns the IPs and can freely make all the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive games/ports it wants to, with or without Team Ninja (Dimps, we’re looking at you), but what will these games be without the people who made them hits?

That’s well put; I’d say most people realize that not every Call of Duty game is the same with Treyarch and Infinity Ward trading off releases. 1UP also points out that Tecmo faces further complications with this matter — “in Japan, any lawsuit filed against a publicly-traded company must be immediately reported to its shareholders on the same business day.” And that’s not something Tecmo did, as Itagaki filed his complaint on May 14, yet Tecmo didn’t fill in shareholders until as late as June 2.

As if the loss of Itagaki wasn’t bad enough, things are looking rather grim in the wake of Ninja Gaiden 2’s release.

If you were somehow clinging to the hope that Tomonobu Itagaki might return to Team Ninja, I think we’re pretty much past the point of no return between the lawsuit against Tecmo and their subsequent response. But, that doesn’t mean we have to enjoy any of Itagaki’s games or appreciate his work any less. With that in mind, Xbox 360 Fanboy put together a look back at his body of work — from the original Dead or Alive to the present day.

Page 11 is my personal favorite, as it recounts some of Itagaki’s most memorable quotes. Itagaki on Tekken: “I no longer can figure out what the hell they’re trying to do with the numbering, and I don’t know which one is which. I don’t know what they’re trying to do with all of these spin-offs, so this includes Nina: Death by Degrees as well. I don’t think it even needs saying, but people should stay away from Tekken. Nothing left to say. I just don’t want them to disappoint me any more. It’s so annoying. Please don’t annoy me any more.”

He’s also taken shots at Devil May Cry 4 and Heavenly Sword, both of which you’ll find in the story. But don’t forget the comments he made about Ninja Gaiden Sigma recently, when he claimed the game was “no good.”

As a fan of Itagaki’s, I’m upset to see him go, but hopefully we’ll see him do something radically different now that he’ll be working elsewhere.

Another soap opera is unfolding within the gaming industry and this time it will most likely not be as comical as the John Romero-Mike Wilson feud. This one promises to get a bit messy.

TECMO has issued a response to Tomonobu Itagaki’s allegations against the company in which he claimed that TECMO had failed to pay bonuses and plans on suing them. In kind, TECMO released a statement this morning which reads:

Our company getting sued by this employee is huge problem… the reasons for making this lawsuit public are self-centered. What’s more, this employee is filing this suit for himself and making it seem like he alone is responsible for the development of the game titles the rest of the Team Ninja staff had poured its heart into.

Team NINJA is currently working on a line-up of new titles. All of Team NINJA is starting to work together on interesting new game titles.

Translated by Kotaku, the statement goes on to mention Itagaki’s sexual harassment suit, the bonuses, promises made by other management, etc. Wow.

Read the rest via Kotaku