Playing dress-up in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
There will be some sassy new costumes for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, according to Tecmo. The Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 costume pack will be available for download only on PlayStation Network beginning November 19th and it will retail for $3.99 in North America. The pack will also be released in Japan on the 19th, in addition to Europe at a later date.
The PlayStation Blog will have some details on this pack next week - provided by Team NINJA producer Yosuke Hayashi, but you can take a look at the art below to get an idea of what they look like. We can tell you that Ayane will get a Venice Festival costume, Momiji will get a Matsuri Festival costume, Rachel will get some spiffy New York Working Woman’s apparel, and Ryu will get a special white costume.
Tecmo and Koei Agree to Merger Deal
Could Dynasty Warriors: Dead or Alive be looming around the corner? Probably not, but the remote possibility did actually get bumped up a little bit today, as shareholders in both Koei and Tecmo agreed to move forward with a proposed merger deal. It wasn’t a unanimous decision though, as Tecmo’s second largest shareholder, Effissimo Capital Management, opposed to the merger and stated that it may sell off its 18 percent stake in Tecmo as a result.
Barring any unusual surprises, the deal will have Tecmo investors getting 9/10ths of a share in the merged entity for every stock they currently hold, while stockholders on the Koei end will exchange their shares in a straight up one for one trade.
Oddly enough, the marriage between Tecmo and Koei could actually do a lot for both companies. Koei has had a lot of success with its Dynasty Warriors franchise, while Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series have always been fan favorites. With the potential for crossover alone, adding Ryu, Kasumi, and Ayane to a new Dynasty Warriors game for example, the combined strength could make a hefty impact on the Japanese game market. Plus, thanks to Tecmo’s success in the Western market, it’s possible that the merger could give Koei a bit of wider appeal to the audience outside of Japan.
Tecmo: Itagaki Gag Order True, Not in Effect
There were a lot a sensationalistic stories today about Tecmo playing hardball with former employee and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki. According to several stories, Tecmo filed a gag order on the now disgruntled employee, which would keep him from speaking to the media about aspects of the lawsuit he has filed against the company. According to those same reports, this would include talking about confidential insider information, talking about the business inside Tecmo in general, and making inflammatory remarks that have the potential to harm the company’s business.
A follow-up with Tecmo’s Kyoko Yamashita offered some further coloring on the story - including the fact that this gag order is not in effect yet:
“There are numerous sites reporting on each new action/movement regarding the two separate cases and as you can imagine, not everyone is 100% accurate. As for the gag order, from what we have been told (and read in Japanese), the order was filed but has not been issued yet. Hence, the order is not in effect ? yet. “
Tecmo also pointed out that - because this is about a pending lawsuit - chances are they will not be commenting on it any further in the future. No shock there.
Tecmo Responds To ‘Lawsuit Rumors’
Tecmo is not happy about the stories that are circulating around the internet about lawsuits, employees and .. well, fraud. The company issued a statement today denying key elements of these stories:
“On and around June 15, 2008, various websites in the US reported a rumor about ?dozens? of development staff members resigning and filing a lawsuit against Tecmo, LTD., following Tomonobu Itagaki’s departure from the company. The rumors are false and no such action is taking place at the company.
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.
In addition, there were reports that Tecmo, LTD., a publicly traded company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, withheld information from its shareholders regarding the lawsuit filed in May 2008 by Tomonobu Itagaki. The company has observed the provisions defined by the Exchange and has released information accordingly and in a timely manner.
It is unfortunate that false and inaccurate reporting of our organization and employees’ actions have caused some unrest among our development staff members. Tecmo, LTD. would like to assure its partners and loyal fans that its teams continue to focus and work on several projects to be released and announced in the future. The company is committed to providing high quality, entertaining products for our fans around the world.”
We’ll have more on this story shortly.
