Ninja Gaiden on PS3

By Tom Bramwell Published 21 September, 2006

Play as Rachel.

The game known to my mother as Ninja Garden is on its way to PlayStation 3 according to, you guessed it, Famitsu Weekly.

1UP, this time, has been flicking through the Japanese magazine, and reports that Team Ninja is planning "Ninja Gaiden Sigma" for the Sony console.

Relax though, Xbox fans, because it's not a completely new game. In fact, mostly it will be a port of Ninja Gaiden Black.

However there will be a fair amount of new content, including the opportunity to play as Rachel.

In the past, Team Ninja boss-man Tomonobu Itagaki has certainly thrown the PlayStation 3 a few measured compliments, but he's been adamant that his studio - currently working on Dead or Alive X2 - remains loyal to Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Speaking to IGN recently, he even dropped hints about a Ninja Gaiden sequel on the platform, noting that the multi-threading technology under the 360's bonnet works wonders.

"If you're working on a game like Ninja Gaiden 2, where it's really important that enemies are smart and challenging, then we might use up to two threads on AI," he noted, before clamming up on the subject.

More at TGS on Friday, perhaps.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (47) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Freek #1 6 years ago

    Keeping in mind ofcourse that Ninja Gaiden 2 hasn't actually been officialy anounced yet. Given the fact that they're porting Black over, they might do the same for Ninja Gaiden 2 and simply anounce it as a multiplatform title when it's officially unveiled.

  • skillian #2 6 years ago

    Two threads on AI? I'll believe it when I see it...

  • #3 6 years ago

    "PS3 gets Xbox1 Port with add-ons" shocker!

  • CrumpledPaper #4 6 years ago

    The more significant part of this news, coupled with Itagaki's comments about 360 getting his games first (rather than alone), suggests they are loosening their Xbox exclusivity. More particularly I'd lay bets that Ninja Gaiden 2 will be on PS3 also, now, even if it's later than 360.

  • aabyssx #5 6 years ago

    / Has Ninja Gaiden already.
    / Finished very hard mode.
    / Has Ninja Gaiden Black already.
    / Finished very hard mode again.
    / Besides, likes to whatch feemale characters, but hates to play them.
    / Is terribly disappointed.

    :(((

  • Darren #6 6 years ago

    I've nothing against Ninja Gaiden 2 being a mutliformat title anyway. Good games should be played by everyone, not restricted to a single platform.

  • coojam #7 6 years ago

    Hasn't PS3 got, like, 8 threads though?

  • Dizzy #8 6 years ago

    "Hasn't PS3 got, like, 8 threads though? "

    A thread is actually something in software. Both machines have unlimited threads ;)

    Threads of course can run of differrent cores/CPUs. Cell has indeed 7 (8-1) while 360 has 6 (3x2 hardware "threads";).

    BTW this game is being ported by another team.
    BTW2 this port is a true compliment on how good NG was on XBox1.
    Edited by Dizzy at 21/09/06 @ 13:02

  • coojam #9 6 years ago

    Oh right, I thought he was referring to the "number" of processors in each system's core.

  • Walshicus #10 6 years ago

    Well, 360 has support for 6 simultaneous threads on CPUs that are good for general purpose code. The PS3 has 2 threads on a general purpose core and six threads [eight SPUs on die, one disabled for yields, at least one reserved for OS] on DSPs that essentially are only useful for floating point operations. They're assymetric in their capabilities; I'm somewhat certain that AI is integer heavy and thus not really suitable for the PS3's SPUs.

    Dizzy got there before me.
    Edited by Walshicus at 21/09/06 @ 13:06

  • Garibaldi #11 6 years ago

    Was Rachel the one with comically enormous breasts?

  • asphaltcowboy #12 6 years ago

    @Garibaldi:

    pretty much

  • lambtron #13 6 years ago

    They did have their own gravitational field it cannot be denied.

  • Xerx3s #14 6 years ago

    Hasn't PS3 got, like, 8 threads though?

    lol

  • Bill_Gates_Bitch #15 6 years ago

    I'm very dissapointed by this news. Ninja Gaiden should have stayed an xbox exclusive. Itagaki's officially sold out to $ony. :(

  • Blerk #16 6 years ago

    I'm very dissapointed by this news. Ninja Gaiden should have stayed an xbox exclusive. Itagaki's officially sold out to $ony.

    What does it matter, man? The world's still here.

  • Xerx3s #17 6 years ago

    What does it matter, man? The world's still here.

    Or is it?

    /watches objects disappear & fog obscure everything
    /hums outer limits tune

  • JoeyBean #18 6 years ago

    Surely it would be a better game if they concentrated on one system (Xbox 360 or PS3) rather than trying to make a game that works well on both formats?

  • Les #19 6 years ago

    "I'm very dissapointed by this news. Ninja Gaiden should have stayed an xbox exclusive. Itagaki's officially sold out to $ony."

    Well, Team Ninja never made a secret of their main reason for focussing on xbox was the fact it was the most powerful console. Maybe they're just impressed by PS3's power? ;)

  • captainrentboy #20 6 years ago

    Let's face it,there doesn't seem to be too many exclusives in this upcoming generation does there?The only ones that seem to be dead cert as exclusives are all the first party titles and that's about it :/
    I wouldn't be surprised if games like DMC3 and MGS4 make their way to the 360 one day,I mean why would a company like Capcom/Konami want to miss out on easy mega bucks?When all they've got to do is port their biggies across to another format.

  • Les #21 6 years ago

    "Let's face it,there doesn't seem to be too many exclusives in this upcoming generation does there?"

    That seems to be the case. Though some features of the Wii (it's control scheme) and PS3 (BluRay) will limit the possibilities of porting. So titles designed with at first only those platforms in mind might be less likely to be released also on other platforms.

  • prettyboytim #22 6 years ago

    The 360 has six hardware threads running on two cores. However, when each core is running two threads, each thread only gets an execution on every other clock cycle, giving you effectively two 1.6Ghz threads per core. The advantage of having two 1.6Ghz threads as compared to one 3.2Ghz thread is that one thread can still run whilst the other is stalling, which is useful especially when, like the 360, your CPU doesn't have out-of-order execution.

  • #23 6 years ago

    "I'm very dissapointed by this news. Ninja Gaiden should have stayed an xbox exclusive. Itagaki's officially sold out to $ony. :( "
    Worst. Gaming. Attitude. Evar.

  • kangarootoo #24 6 years ago

    @Bill_Gates_Bitch

    "Itagaki's officially sold out to $ony"

    Well if by "sold out" you mean "got paid to produce software" then I guess you are right.

    You know, the term selling out is almost always used by people not in a position to do so.

    I saw a quote from Vanilla Ice a few years ago about selling out. It went something like "I was working in a bike shop, making minimum wage, I was three payments behind on my car and someone offered me quarter of a million bucks to do a song. Of COURSE I sold out".

    Even ninjas have bills to pay you know.

  • Mr_Whacker #25 6 years ago

    Never understood why people were fussed whether a game is exclusive to a system or not. I guess its interesting from a business view but all I care about is how well it plays.

    Any new or even semi new NG games on any system are fine by me.

  • JediMasterMalik #26 6 years ago

    lol Kangarootoo, nice reply. :)

  • TripleSeven #27 6 years ago

    nice ;)

  • Garulon #28 6 years ago

    I think it's great news - PS3 owners now have a tick-the-boxes FPS AND a four-year-old XBox 1 port to play on their £425 system sometime in March. Sony FTW!

  • doctor__no #29 6 years ago

    Cell has got 1 PowerPC core + 8 SPU cores (1 lost ot yield), so its got 2+7 threads which is 9. The 370 has 2 PowerPC cores so its got six since a PPC core can do two threads, however, this whole thread thing is pointless.

    Threads mean little compared to the actual processing power, basically its a way of breaking down data. The PPC core is better for interger etc, however for floating-point, and double-floating point style data the SPU's are going to be much faster. Things like AI, etc. using multicore games should be better on the PS3, however all multi-threaded applications are incredibly cumbersome to program and a handful.

  • Les #30 6 years ago

    "I think it's great news - PS3 owners now have a tick-the-boxes FPS AND a four-year-old XBox 1 port to play on their £425 system sometime in March."

    First it's potential PS3 owners and when was Halo2 announced for PS3 then? ;)

    I think this is good news as long as Team Ninja doesn't try to bring any Dead or Alive shit to PS3.

    But of course a game like this will hardly sell any extra PS3s although it might actually mean even less 360s sold in Japan. And it very well might set the stage for a NG2 duo-platform release (it will never make it to Wii, unless as a spin-off).

  • Bates #31 6 years ago

    Well, there's goes the only reason I had to get a 360 :D

  • TripleSeven #32 6 years ago

    @Garulon: Yep, the "typical-4-years-old-port" of Ninja Gaiden Black.

    "Developed by Team Ninja, Sigma isn't a sequel, but a "complete version" of the Xbox Team Ninja title.

    Team Ninja is improving upon the Xbox version in all areas. The visuals, including characters, stages and effects, are being upgraded. Event scenes are being redone, and new scenes are being added. All cinema scenes in the PS3 version will be real time, Famitsu specifies.

    On the gameplay side of things, players can look forward to new moves, actions and weapons for Hayabusa. Racheal, one of the series' heroines, will be playable, and when using her, you'll get to experience the storyline from her perspective."

    [url=ign[/url]
    ]    http://ps3.ign.com/articles/733/733714p1...

    Indeed.

  • alpha-0ne #33 6 years ago

    they will better be improving on the xbox version is an old XBOX game not 360...

    Ninja Gaiden 2 woohoo

  • IronGiant #34 6 years ago

    "BTW this game is being ported by another team."

    This says otherwise:

    Developed by Team Ninja, Sigma isn't a sequel, but a "complete version" of the Xbox Team Ninja title.

    Anyway why do you feel the need to point out that it may not be done by the same team?

  • Hughes. #35 6 years ago

    What's this? A 360 owner thinking PS3 getting old XBox ports is funny? How's that 4 year old PS2 game Final Fantasy XI working out for you guys? Surprised anyone from the MS camp would knock getting last-gen tart ups, without them there'd have only been about 6 games for them this year. It's the REAL NEXT GEN!

  • The-Bodybuilder #36 6 years ago

    So NG goes head to head with DMC?

    Atleast ps3 owners will finally realize that xbox owners have known for over 2 years....

    NG>DMC

  • Vin #37 6 years ago

    Man, this looks average.

    Hell, it's nary discernable compared to the Xbox version.

  • Lex_Luthor #38 6 years ago

    "Atleast ps3 owners will finally realize that xbox owners have known for over 2 years....

    NG>DMC"

    Yeah, but the difference is they'll get to enjoy both :)

  • OllyJ #39 6 years ago

    even though i've played NGB to death I'd still love sigma to appear on 360....don't see a reason why not either...

  • Lex_Luthor #40 6 years ago

    Nope, confirmed PS3 only.

  • mike_mgoblue #41 6 years ago

    Ninja Gaiden was a great game on the original Xbox when it was released 3 years ago. Ninja Gaiden obviously could not have been ported to the Playstation 2, because the Xbox is so much more powerful than the Playstation 2. But the Playstation 3 will be able to add more polygons to the Xbox version. Tecmo stuck to their word, they always release products on Xbox LOOOONG before any other system.

    Personally, I think this will be similar to Metal Gear Solid 3 on the Xbox. The game is a "port" that will receive a slight graphics upgrade and some new gameplay features. However, so many people have already bought the game, they won't be motivated to purchase this game for the Playstation 3, especially because of the high cost of Playstation 3 games. After all, why pay so much for the same old thing.

    We know that Tecmo is working on a new Ninja Gaiden 2 game for the Xbox 360 that is a true sequel to the original Xbox version of the game; that is the one people are looking forward to BIGTIME!!!

    Plus, Tecmo made it absolutely clear that they support the Xbox platform more than any other. In an interview with IGN, Tecmo said that they will always release their products first on the Xbox 360 platform. So, it is safe to say that the sequel to Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox 360 will at least be a "timed exclusive" game. If history is any indication, Playstation fans won't be playing Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma for about eight years when the Playstation 4 is released! lol ;)

    Remember what was said in the Interview with IGN:

    IGN: Looking into the future, does Team Ninja have plans to develop PlayStation 3 games? And will there be any announcements of said games at TGS?

    Tomonobu Itagaki: Yeah, we have seen the PlayStation 3 hardware and we're studying it. We're messing around with it right now. But I think the most important thing is for people to have good games that they want to play on good hardware, so if there is a demand for it, we may follow that path some time in the future. Obviously, we are big supporters of the Xbox platform. There are a lot of fans of the Xbox that support us and are with us because of that, so I just want everyone to know that we are going to continue bringing out the newest releases on the Xbox platform before they're on other systems.

  • OllyJ #42 6 years ago

    hmmmm...nothings ever confirmed 100% though really (Resi 4, Silent Hill to name 2), I won't hold my breath but I'd be suprised if they haven't at least thought about it ;]

    At least NGB works a treat on 360...even on HD tellies it still looks nice.

  • animal_mother #43 6 years ago

    "I think it's great news - PS3 owners now have a tick-the-boxes FPS AND a four-year-old XBox 1 port to play on their £425 system sometime in March."


    "First it's potential PS3 owners and when was Halo2 announced for PS3 then? ;) "


    Haha very witty!
    Edited by animal_mother at 22/09/06 @ 19:43

  • Les #44 6 years ago

    @mike_mgoblue

    You're really sad, but at least reading your MS press statements is good for a laugh or two.

  • TripleSeven #45 6 years ago

    "One of the big surprises on the Tokyo Game Show floor was the first public unveiling of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the PS3 "port" of Ninja Gaiden Black, which first appeared on Xbox. Though it takes the storyline, basic level design and principal characters of Ninja Gaiden Black, Sigma recreates everything from the ground up, including an all-new graphics engine designed specifically for the PS3 -- resulting in graphics so improved that the real-time visuals now resemble the CG cinemas from the original Ninja Gaiden Black.
    If you're wondering whether it's going to be worth investigating this episode of Ninja Gaiden again, we point to Rachel as a playable character (we've been asking for this for years), new bosses, and an increased difficulty level. How difficult? The worm fight now includes up to five worms attacking Hayabusa at a time, and other new battle elements include motorcycle-riding bad guys attempting to run Hayabusa down as he jumps around, grabbing enemies by the head and throwing them off their bikes. Sigma also boasts new weapons, including new swords that can be dual-wielded for even more fast-slashing action."

    [link url=http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3153884&did=1
    ]http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=31...[/link]


    Yep, a minor "port". Follow the link for even more infos.

  • mike_mgoblue #46 6 years ago

    The Playstation 3 is apparently NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE!!!

    You can read about this at this website: next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3862&Itemid=

    Sony says that PSOne and PS2 games can be played on the Playstation 3 "as downloadable content, for a fee."

    If PS2 and PSOne games need to be downloaded for a fee in order to be played on the Playstation 3, it means the Playstation 3 is NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE like the Playstation 2 is. Looks like Sony was deceiving people all along...AGAIN!

  • TripleSeven #47 6 years ago

    lol

    just how dumb and ignorant are you? (sorry for that)

    Think of this service as Sony's 'Virtual Console'.

    You can still play games you have on CD (PlayStation) or DVD (PlayStation2) on PlayStation3 via the Blu-Ray drive.