News: Nintendo DS Media | New Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword Video Page 1

Mandown 01.08.2007#1

Beautiful, my second most wanted DS game behind PHG. I think Itagaki has created another masterpiece. {LS]

( Edited on 01.08.2007 15:14 by Linkyshinks )

Jump_button 01.08.2007#2

^^ now that look good gameplay love the fire ball ^^ a no D pad to be see

u play this on the side right?

( Edited on 01.08.2007 15:24 by Jump_button )

My ART Gallery la la la la!

Mandown 01.08.2007#3

Jump_button said:
^^ now that look good gameplay love the fire ball ^^ a no D pad to be seeu play this on the side right?( Edited on 01.08.2007 15:24 by Jump_button )

Yeah you play in portrait and it uses stylus control throughout. Really great controls by all accounts. {LS]

( Edited on 01.08.2007 15:31 by Linkyshinks )

irfy 01.08.2007#4

This game looks great, but the only thing concerns me is the area where hes fighting those guys, its jus looks dead, they shud add like wind or moving trees or something to add abit to the atmosphere.

Mandown 01.08.2007#5

irfman said:
This game looks great, but the only thing concerns me is the area where hes fighting those guys, its jus looks dead, they shud add like wind or moving trees or something to add abit to the atmosphere.

Hear what your saying but this is the DS remember you dont often get those niceties without something else being sacrificed. I think the backgrounds do look beautiful all the same, my hope that the game is kept interesting by the enemies, and not animated backgrounds. {LS]

( Edited on 01.08.2007 15:34 by Linkyshinks )

Gibdo 01.08.2007#6

I think I was concentrating too much on the action to look at the background. My bad? It looks good Smilie I liked the version on the Xbox so I might pick this up.

Martin_ 01.08.2007#7

Looks like it's going to be maximum fun. The pre-rendered backgrounds may impact the fluidity of the gameplay a bit, but that's allowed. The bit at the ned looked fucking pants, though. The red dragon just looked like a toy. I understand it went fully-3D at that point, and that it was the best they could do.

Still looked shit, though. It went all sort of 'first-gen PSone graphics', at the boss fight. Also, the way that they seamlessly melded the area of the two screen into one makes me think that on a real DS, that big gap between top-half and bottom-half might seem a touch more intrusive.

James2t3 01.08.2007#8

Ahh but they didn't meld the screens at all, you play this game with the DS in "book mode" or somthing like the brain training games.

The pre rendered areas look good but I agree the boss bit at the end look pants not because the graphics looked bad though more because it looked very awkward to controle.
Quite impressed with it overall, personally I thought it was gonna be another tenchu DS *shudders*

( Edited on 01.08.2007 16:23 by Blade2t3 )

XBL Gamertag: James2t3

J4K 01.08.2007#9

I really like the way it looks, I think the pre-rendered backgrounds really are a smart move on the DS. Allows the backgrounds to look crisp and nice, as well as freeing up horsepower for all the real stuff thats going on.

Apparently this game comes out on the same day as Phantom Hour Glass, which is a shame as I want both, but I don't necessarily want both at the same time. Nothing should distract me from Zelda. Smilie

Also, the way that they seamlessly melded the area of the two screen into one makes me think that on a real DS, that big gap between top-half and bottom-half might seem a touch more intrusive.

Nope, the way the DS is played is on its side Brain Age style which is what gives you that vertical look. The other screen is used for maps and other detailed information.

Martin_ 01.08.2007#10

I stand corrected Smilie

The boss bit looks awful, though. The dragon looks like he's made out of red LEGO bricks.

Satoshi 01.08.2007#11

Linkyshinks said:
Jump_button said:^^ now that look good gameplay love the fire ball ^^ a no D pad to be seeu play this on the side right?( Edited on 01.08.2007 15:24 by Jump_button )
Yeah you play in portrait and it uses stylus control throughout. Really great controls by all accounts. {LS]

I think blocking is done by tapping any direction on the d pad...and menu is start or something....but yeah its like 99% stylus controlled - and looks awesome...the boss looks dodgey but i still think its pretty good for full 3D on the DS. (

Avoid Games Like the Plague, productivity++

Mandown 01.08.2007#12

Jacob4000 said:
I really like the way it looks, I think the pre-rendered backgrounds really are a smart move on the DS. Allows the backgrounds to look crisp and nice, as well as freeing up horsepower for all the real stuff thats going on.Apparently this game comes out on the same day as Phantom Hour Glass, which is a shame as I want both, but I dont necessarily want both at the same time. Nothing should distract me from Zelda.
Also, the way that they seamlessly melded the area of the two screen into one makes me think that on a real DS, that big gap between top-half and bottom-half might seem a touch more intrusive.
Nope, the way the DS is played is on its side Brain Age style which is what gives you that vertical look. The other screen is used for maps and other detailed information.

Are you serious October 1st in the U.S for this?, that sounds very early. Will have to check that out. I have seriously been considering getting the japanese version of this as I would prefer it than a english version. {LS]

What's the Japanese release date Zs?

( Edited on 01.08.2007 17:49 by Linkyshinks )

Martin_ 01.08.2007#13

ZeroSimon said:
the boss looks dodgey but i still think its pretty good for full 3D on the DS.

I dunno, yeah and no. While it'll certainly do, the DS is apparently as powerful as the N64. That's patent bollocks. One look at any number of N64 games would tell you that.

Mandown 01.08.2007#14

Dinner with Itagaki-

Demo-

INTERVIEW:

First off, is this a brand new Ninja Gaiden game with a new story, or is it based on events and locations from previous games?

Tomonobu Itagaki: The story of Ninja Gaiden 1 for the Xbox dealt with the mythology of the Vigoor Empire, the setting of the majority of that game. Ninja Gaiden DS takes place six months later, and the story deals with what happened after the conclusion of Ninja Gaiden 1. It will tackle issues like: what exactly were the foes that Hayabusa fought in the Vigoor Empire, who created them, and for what purpose? These and other mysteries will be revealed.

Tell us how you're using the DS. It sounds very interesting - a new way of playing with the DS?

Itagaki: The game will be played while holding the DS vertically, like a book. If you're wondering why I chose to do it that way, I'm sure you'll understand the moment you pick it up, but the main point is that it enables you to get a firm grip on the DS, which you'll need when you are controlling all of the speedy action that occurs on screen.

In addition, by holding the DS vertically, you can limit the amount of screen space that your right hand covers up when you use the stylus. Ninja Gaiden DS is designed for you to control all of the action with the touch screen, so I paid careful attention to how the system itself should be held.

Oops, I said that your right hand would be using the stylus, but what I meant was your dominant hand. If you're left-handed, you can rest easy because Ninja Gaiden DS will feature a mode that flips the screens upside-down for left-handed players.

Phew, some of our writers are left-handed. So how will the character be controlled on screen using the stylus?

Itagaki: Well, I plan to have footage of the actual game being played available to view on the Internet in the near future. My reasoning for this is that, because the controls in this game are so innovative, watching someone play this game is the only way to realistically understand how wonderful it is.

You can perform all of the amazing action in this game simply by pointing the stylus at Hayabusa, his enemies, or the environment, or by tracing it around the screen or speedily slicing with it. The variety of Hayabusa's actions is on par with the Xbox and PS3 versions, not to mention that they are incredibly fast. When you get the chance to play this game for the first time, you will have no choice but to be surprised.

But as Ninja Gaiden is a very intense action game, as you say, we can imagine it hurting our hands with all the quick, cramped movements on the DS. How have you got round this?

Itagaki: I'm sure your hands will be fine! [Laughs.] Relax; I don't planning on making Ninja Gaiden DS as difficult as the Xbox variants. My first priority is giving everyone the chance to try this innovative new control scheme and enjoy how great it feels to manipulate Hayabusa.

Okay, we're glad to hear that. Moving on to the DS itself, have you been limited by the technology in any way?

Itagaki: No, not at all. As we are able to take complete advantage of the strengths of the DS hardware - namely its ability to allow the player to interact directly with the screen - I would say that we are actually finding that there are increased possibilities, not limitations.

So there are things you can do on DS with the stylus and touch screen that you couldn't do on a console?

Itagaki: Exactly. For instance, if you point and tap the stylus at a far-away enemy on the screen, Hayabusa will throw a shuriken (throwing star) at that enemy. If you point at a flying enemy, once again he will throw a shuriken.

We have implemented an immensely intuitive control system. If you use the stylus to slice side-to-side over an enemy, Hayabusa will slash him with his sword, and you can change the type of slash by varying the angle of your slice. You can jump if you want to, of course, and you can wall jump using the environment.

There are two reasons why we were able to make these kinds of actions controllable at speeds even greater than standard gaming consoles, and the first is because the Nintendo DS is such a fantastic device. The second reason is that we at Team Ninja have built up an immense amount of skill and technology over the past ten years that we've spent making action games. Specifically speaking, it is very important to have a command recognition algorithm that can tell instantly what the player wishes to do and reflect that in the control of the game.

Deep. What attracted you to the DS, then? Do you think there's an audience on DS for Dragon Sword?

Itagaki: There are a total of six Nintendo DS machines in my home. I only have three Xbox 360s! [Laughs.] Wait, isn't that what you meant?

Something like that, yeah... Finally, then, will this tie in with what we might see in Ninja Gaiden 2?

Itagaki: You ask such interesting questions! [Laughs.] Well... I am personally overseeing the development of everything from the story through to the gameplay elements for both games, so if you're observant you may be able to extrapolate some similarities between the two, yes, and not just in the area of story.

We can't wait to extrapolate! So when is Dragon Sword due for release?

Itagaki: I am currently planning on Autumn. This is my first all-new project in a while, and I am greatly enjoying its development Smilie .

Extra vid-
http://uk.gamespot.com/video/938848/6170595/ninja-gaiden-dragon-sword-video-feature

[LS]

( Edited on 01.08.2007 20:48 by Linkyshinks )

Edit this post:

Dinner with Itagaki-
<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" width="420" height="405" id="gamevideos6" align="middle"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="play" value="true"><param name="loop" value="true"><param name="scale" value="showall"><param name="wmode" value="window"><param name="devicefont" value="false"><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"><param name="menu" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="salign" value=""><param name="movie" value="http://www.gamevideos.com:80/swf/gamevideos11.swf?embedded=1&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&src=http://www.gamevideos.com:80/video/videoListXML%3Fid%3D12328%26ordinal%3D1185987614760%26adPlay%3Dfalse" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /> <embed src="http://www.gamevideos.com:80/swf/gamevideos11.swf?embedded=1&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&src=http://www.gamevideos.com:80/video/videoListXML%3Fid%3D12328%26ordinal%3D1185987614760%26adPlay%3Dfalse" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="window" devicefont="false" id="gamevideos6" bgcolor="#000000" name="gamevideos6" menu="true" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="405" width="420"/></object>

Demo-
<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" width="420" height="405" id="gamevideos6" align="middle"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="play" value="true"><param name="loop" value="true"><param name="scale" value="showall"><param name="wmode" value="window"><param name="devicefont" value="false"><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"><param name="menu" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="salign" value=""><param name="movie" value="http://www.gamevideos.com:80/swf/gamevideos11.swf?embedded=1&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&src=http://www.gamevideos.com:80/video/videoListXML%3Fid%3D11431%26ordinal%3D1185987898402%26adPlay%3Dfalse" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /> <embed src="http://www.gamevideos.com:80/swf/gamevideos11.swf?embedded=1&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&src=http://www.gamevideos.com:80/video/videoListXML%3Fid%3D11431%26ordinal%3D1185987898402%26adPlay%3Dfalse" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="window" devicefont="false" id="gamevideos6" bgcolor="#000000" name="gamevideos6" menu="true" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="405" width="420"/></object>