No more Ninja Gaiden

Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki has declared Ninja Gaiden II the last game in the fantastic series.

The series has reached its peak with the 360-exclusive sequel, reasoned Itagaki, who says he looks to move onto something "completely new".

"Personally I think we were able to create the definitive 3D game in this series so I'm not planning on making any other games in the series," said Itagaki, adding: "So I hope fans treat this as a swan song for the franchise.

He went on: "I think we were able to achieve everything we wanted with this game so anything else would be extraneous," according toKotaku(featuring a photo of Itagaki with a bloke that looks strangely like a less-green Incredible Hulk).

Itagaki brushed off the possibility of a "swan song" NG game for PS3 as "ridiculous", presumably while donning his iconic giant shades.

So what's next? Itagaki says he wishes to move on to something "completely unrelated to anything I've done before. Not any part of any existing franchises," expressing an interest in working with a US developer on "a game based on the Pacific Theater," or a game set in space.

Boo. More angry ninjas and decapitations, please.

Below: Gameplay B-roll vid

Courtesy of CVG

May 14, 2008