DrunknMunky Veteran Posted June 3, 2008 Veteran Share Posted June 3, 2008 News by Tom Bramwell Tomonobu Itagaki has reportedly left Tecmo under a cloud, leaving a hefty lawsuit and a personal attack on company president Yoshimi Yasuda in his wake. 1UP has relayed a statement - sourced from "Itagaki aide Andrew Szymanski" - in which Itagaki says he has filed a lawsuit claiming damages of 148 million yen (GBP 750k / EUR 915k). In the statement, he also apologises to his fans, pointing out that Ninja Gaiden 2 (due out this Friday in Europe) will be his last ever Ninja Gaiden. "I will also never be able to make Dead or Alive 5," he added. Itagaki seems to blame Yasuda primarily for all this. He says he was promised a completion bonus for Dead or Alive 4 (released in Europe back in January 2006), which Yasuda then denied him, telling him to put up or shut up about it. Itagaki says this caused "significant emotional distress and worsening [of] my personal relationships and work environment". He claims Yasuda acted in a way "unbefitting of a publicly-listed company", and says he wants to "question the social responsibility" of Tecmo and Yasuda "as well as condemning them for their unjust acts". "Thus, I have no choice but to resign from Tecmo," he concluded. You can check out the full statement on 1UP, which is now appearing in a few places. When you're done, you might like to check out one of Itagaki's final interviews - a video chat with Eurogamer TV at Microsoft's recent San Francisco showcase event. Source: Eurogamer Lame (N) :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PL_ Veteran Posted June 3, 2008 Veteran Share Posted June 3, 2008 Whoa :o This could be a blessing in disguise though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 hate to own stocks in that company right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Last month, Team Ninja head and Ninja Gaiden director Tomonobu Itagaki suggested in an interview that he would be done with the franchise after the upcoming release of Ninja Gaiden 2. On Monday night we received a clearer picture of just what he meant with the announcement that Itagaki is leaving Team Ninja and suing Tecmo. 1UP received the following confirmation of this news from Itagaki aide Andrew Szymanski: "At approximately 2:30 PM Japan Standard Time today, June 3 2008, an official statement from Tomonobu Itagaki was sent by fax to major Japanese news outlets. In the interest of fair and expedient reporting of this story throughout the English-speaking world, I have been asked by Itagaki to convey this statement to you. Herein find attached Itagaki's official statement, in English, for the benefit of your readers. ...You will likely have questions regarding the content of the statement, or about Itagaki's future plans. I am afraid that I will be unable to answer such questions for the time being; however, rest assured that more information will be forthcoming as soon as it is deemed appropriate to do so." The full text of the letter from Itagaki follows: "I, Tomonobu Itagaki, hereby announce that on the 14th of May 2008 I filed a complaint in the Tokyo District Court against Tecmo Co., Ltd. for unpaid completion bonuses, and against the President of Tecmo, Yoshimi Yasuda, for such unlawful acts as unreasonable and disingenuous statements made towards me, claiming damages in total of 148 million yen. I also announce that this complaint was delivered to the defendants on May 22nd of the same year. In addition, I hereby announce that I have today submitted a letter of resignation to Tecmo Co., Ltd. stating that I will resign as of the 1st of July, 2008. Before the start of development on Dead or Alive 4, Tecmo Co., Ltd. had agreed to pay a completion bonus to me for this Xbox 360 title, which I produced. However, when the time came for the actual payment, Tecmo Co., Ltd. went against its previous agreement and refused payment. President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.' In addition, he made demeaning remarks about me to my subordinates and colleagues, causing me significant emotional distress and worsening my personal relationships and work environment. Thus, I have no choice but to resign from Tecmo Co., Ltd. The conduct of Tecmo Co., Ltd. and its president Yoshimi Yasuda towards me has been unbefitting of a publicly-listed company. I have filed this lawsuit with a strong intent to question the social responsibility of Tecmo Co., Ltd. and its President Yoshimi Yasuda, as well as condemning them for their unjust acts. Today, in addition to announcing the reasons for this lawsuit, I make clear my reasons for resigning. To All Game Fans I truly feel sorry to all the fans of the games I have made. Ninja Gaiden 2, which will launch on the 3rd of June will be the last Ninja Gaiden I will create. I will also never be able to make Dead or Alive 5. I regret the circumstances that have forced me to leave Tecmo, where I had worked for so many years, and I regret the disappointment this will cause my fans. However, I can no longer continue to work with President Yoshimi Yasuda, a man who chooses not to honor promises even when he is able to do so. I truly hope that nothing like this happens again in the future." In addition to the allegations made in the letter, we've heard rumblings that Itagaki believes that Yasuda has focused too much on making a profit without a regard for quality. While Itagaki's official announcement does not point to any specific releases, recent Tecmo ports such as Rygar for the Wii and Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3 are possible targets of Itagaki's anger, which would also explain recent interviews where Itagaki has been especially negative toward Sigma and has said that a PS3 port of Ninja Gaiden 2 would not be good. We've even heard rumors that Yasuda wanted to port Ninja Gaiden Sigma (a PS3 port of a rerelease of an Xbox title) to the Xbox 360 before he was talked out of it by Itagaki and others at Tecmo. In the same interview we linked to above, Itagaki mentions that he intends for his next game to be "a brand new action game" that will be violent like Ninja Gaiden. It's safe to assume that this game will not be with Tecmo and probably that Itagaki knew that already when he started discussing it. We cannot speculate further as to what Itagaki might be up to next, but considering the timing, there's clearly some very bad blood between Itagaki and Tecmo. The outspoken game maker waited until the evening before Ninja Gaiden 2's release to make this announcement, which is sure to leave a slightly bitter taste in the mouths of many fans picking up their next dose of blood-soaked action. We'll update with further details on Itagaki's departure and lawsuit as they are uncovered. 1UP Wow, sad news indeed :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PL_ Veteran Posted June 4, 2008 Veteran Share Posted June 4, 2008 Threads merged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Oops, didn't see the original thread. My apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrix XII Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 He'll have no problem finding a job. Big loss for Tecmo though, I wonder what the boss is thinking now? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo003 Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 It looks like tecmo took hit in there stock hearing this news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George P Global Moderator Posted June 5, 2008 Global Moderator Share Posted June 5, 2008 Since he loves the 360 so much he should get snapped up by MS, given his own little studio and left alone to make whatever games he wants. Hell if I was at MS I'd just sign the checks and let the guy do his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunknMunky Veteran Posted June 5, 2008 Author Veteran Share Posted June 5, 2008 Since he loves the 360 so much he should get snapped up by MS, given his own little studio and left alone to make whatever games he wants. Hell if I was at MS I'd just sign the checks and let the guy do his work. Definitely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted June 5, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted June 5, 2008 Since he loves the 360 so much he should get snapped up by MS, given his own little studio and left alone to make whatever games he wants. Hell if I was at MS I'd just sign the checks and let the guy do his work. (Y) Hopefully working with westerners would help him brush up on the small technical tweaks that seemed to let NG2 down a little. Japanese developers just seem to suck at certain things, like cameras :/ (not related to NG but true: and online play!) Thank god Kojima sorted that for MGS4 with the help of that Ryan dude (westerner). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightz Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Since he loves the 360 so much he should get snapped up by MS, given his own little studio and left alone to make whatever games he wants. Hell if I was at MS I'd just sign the checks and let the guy do his work. i have a feeling that's the way it will work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+vlsi0n Subscriber¹ Posted June 5, 2008 Subscriber¹ Share Posted June 5, 2008 Haha, If I were MS I would pay his lost (?) bonus, let him create a studio of his own with his creativity and welcome him to the Microsoft Game Studios family, and cousin (bungie). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunknMunky Veteran Posted June 5, 2008 Author Veteran Share Posted June 5, 2008 (Y)Hopefully working with westerners would help him brush up on the small technical tweaks that seemed to let NG2 down a little. Japanese developers just seem to suck at certain things, like cameras :/ (not related to NG but true: and online play!) Thank god Kojima sorted that for MGS4 with the help of that Ryan dude (westerner). That is due to an aging engine unfortunately. It hasn't been updated since DOA: U or earlier iirc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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