Team Ninja
Team Ninja (Japanese: チームニンジャ) is a Japanese video game developer and a division of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1995. It was formerly led by Tomonobu Itagaki and is best known for the Ninja Gaiden action-adventure game series and the Dead or Alive fighting game series.
History
Team Ninja was originally formed by Itagaki from game designers working at Tecmo, specifically for the purpose of creating the home versions of the fighting game Dead or Alive and its sequel, Dead or Alive 2.[1] In 2008, the action-adventure game Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360 was published by Microsoft Game Studios, making it the first game created by Team Ninja to not be published by Tecmo; Tecmo Koei later released an enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden II on the PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.
On June 3, 2008, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki announced that he would be leaving Tecmo and Team Ninja on July 1, 2008, citing difficulties with the company. In the same statement announcing his resignation, he also announced that he was filing a lawsuit against Tecmo over unpaid bonuses for his work on Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360. It was later reported that he was fired from Tecmo on June 18, 2008 in retaliation for his lawsuit.[2] Many of his colleagues at Team Ninja quit as well to join him at his new game development team, Valhalla Game Studios. Some ex-Team Ninja members also helped with Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up.[3]
Team Ninja also worked on two titles for Nintendo. In 2010, Team Ninja co-developed a new Metroid action-adventure game for Nintendo's Wii console, titled Metroid: Other M (a playable Stage from Other M later appeared in Dead or Alive: Dimensions), as well as Hyrule Warriors, an action game set in The Legend of Zelda universe, in 2014. They also developed the third installment of the Dissidia Final Fantasy series for Square Enix in 2015.
Games
| Title | Release year | Genre | Platform(s) | Notes |
| Dead or Alive | 1996 | Fighting game | Arcade, Sega Saturn, PlayStation | |
| Dead or Alive 2 | 1999 | Fighting game | Arcade, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 | |
| Dead or Alive 3 | 2001 | Fighting game | Xbox | |
| Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball | 2003 | Sports, Party | Xbox | |
| Ninja Gaiden | 2004 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | Xbox | |
| Dead or Alive Ultimate | 2004 | Fighting game | Xbox | Remake of Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2. |
| Ninja Gaiden Black | 2005 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | Xbox | Enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden. Includes original NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy. |
| Dead or Alive 4 | 2005 | Fighting game | Xbox 360 | |
| Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 | 2006 | Sports, party | Xbox 360 | |
| Ninja Gaiden Sigma | 2007 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | PlayStation 3 | Enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden Black, featuring additional stages. |
| Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword | 2008 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | Nintendo DS | |
| Ninja Gaiden II | 2008 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | Xbox 360 | Published by Microsoft Game Studios. |
| Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 | 2009 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | PlayStation 3 | Enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden II, featuring additional stages, as well as the removal of gore. |
| Metroid: Other M | 2010 | Action-adventure, metroidvania | Nintendo Wii | Co-developed with Nintendo SPD, published by Nintendo. |
| Dead or Alive: Dimensions | 2011 | Fighting game | Nintendo 3DS | |
| Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus | 2012 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | PlayStation Vita | Handheld version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma. |
| Ninja Gaiden 3 | 2012 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| Dead or Alive 5 | 2012 | Fighting game | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge | 2012 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U | Enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden 3, featuring additional stages. |
| Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus | 2013 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | PlayStation Vita | Handheld version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, featuring the re-addition of gore. |
| Dead or Alive 5 Plus | 2013 | Fighting game | PlayStation Vita | Handheld version of Dead or Alive 5 |
| Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate | 2013 | Fighting game | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Enhanced version of Dead or Alive 5, featuring additional characters and stages. |
| Toukiden: The Age of Demons | 2013 | Action role-playing | PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita | Co-developed with Omega Force. |
| Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z | 2014 | Action-adventure, hack and slash | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Co-developed with Spark Unlimited and Comcept. |
| Hyrule Warriors | 2014 | Action, hack and slash | Wii U | Co-developed with Omega Force. |
| Toukiden: Kiwami | 2014 | Action role-playing | PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 | Enhanced version of Toukiden, featuring additional content. Co-developed with Omega Force |
| Dead or Alive 5 Last Round | 2015 | Fighting game | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Enhanced version of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, featuring additional characters and stages. |
| Dissidia Final Fantasy | 2015 | Fighting game | Arcade | Published by Square Enix. |
| Hyrule Warriors Legends | 2016 | Action, hack and slash | Nintendo 3DS | Handheld version of Hyrule Warriors, featuring additional content. Co-developed with Omega Force. |
| Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 | 2016 | Sports, party | PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita | Only released in Asia. |
| Nioh | 2017 | Action role-playing | PlayStation 4 | Based on a script by Akira Kurosawa and originally announced in 2004. |
| Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia | 2017 | Role-playing | Android, iOS | Published by Square Enix. |
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- Dead or Alive: Code Chronos - A prequel to the Dead or Alive series, which was going to focus on the backstory of Kasumi and Ayane, and reportedly was not going to be a fighting game. It was cancelled in November 2010.
References
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