Tecmo announced today that its upcoming stylus-based ninja action title Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (NDS) has entered manufacturing and will ship to retailers on March 25.

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword follows in the footsteps of other titles like The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS), adapting a traditional control scheme to stylus-only action gameplay. Tecmo's confirmed March 25 ship date for the title confirms a listing on Nintendo of America's early 2008 release list issued early this year.

Fresh from the Game Developers Conference is this Ninja Gaiden II demonstration from developer Team Ninja.

As was announced earlier today, Ninja Gaiden 2 is slated for a June 3 release in North America on the Xbox 360.

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Ninja Gaiden II will arrive in North America on June 3, Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki announced today while speaking during Microsoft's keynote at the Game Developers Conference. Itagaki noted the game would launch worldwide in June, but did not provide a specific date for other territories.

During the demonstration of a previously unseen level--The Temple of Sacrifice--it was also revealed that the game will sport a replay feature, which will allow users to share and download clips of their carnage.

Though few details on how the replay system would work were provided, Itagaki and his translator noted--in true Team Ninja fashion--that it is intended for the best players in the world to show off their collective skills. While all players will be able to download the clips, only those that met certain, unspecified conditions will be able to upload them.

A few new screenshots of the game were also released.

The original Xbox editions of Team Ninja's action-slasher Ninja Gaiden Black, Firaxis Games' swashbuckling simulator Sid Meier's Pirates!, and Criterion Games' first-person shooter Black will be available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Monday, February 11.

Word of the impending releases recently appeared through the online marketplace itself as well as the official Xbox web site.

The three mark the latest additions to the recently launched Xbox Originals program, bringing its selection up to 11 titles. Other Xbox Originals releases include Bungie's Halo, Double Fine's Psychonauts, and Criterion's Burnout 3: Takedown, with each game selling for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).

Following its debut in our Ninja Gaiden II interview, Shacknews is proud to present an exclusive bit of Ninja Gaiden II gameplay footage, which is viewable below through the glory and magic of streaming Flash technology.

Three new screenshots accompanied the movie, complete with pertinent, humorous descriptions that are displayed below the images. "In the weeping cherry blossoms, Super Ninja is scattering bloody splash with his deadliest sword," reads one. "This elegant place even matches horrific violence."

Developed by Team Ninja, the Xbox 360 exclusive is slated to arrive later this spring. For more on the game, be sure to check out our extensive Ninja Gaiden II interview with Team Ninja lead Tomonbu Itagaki.

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Team Ninja's upcoming Ninja Gaiden II (X360) will sport some type of downloadable content, studio lead Tomonobu Itagaki told Shacknews in a comprehensive interview.

"It'll be something that'll make you say, 'Whoa,'" teased Itagaki, though he refused to offer further details. "In the past, when I've said I've been thinking about something, there have been times when I haven't followed through. This time, you can rest assured that I'll follow through [with downloadable content]."

While discussing DLC, Itagaki noted his dislike for titles such as Namco Bandai's Beautiful Katamari, a game that includes locked disc content only accessible if users purchase a downloadable key from Xbox Live. "That's not very beautiful, is it?" he jested. "That's awful. Games like that should cease to exist from this planet."

He also touched upon Namco Bandai's recent revelation that Yoda and Darth Vader will appear in Soul Calibur IV, with one character exclusive to the Xbox 360 edition and the other exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version. "I think [the exclusivity is] a disservice to gamers," he said. "This is like saying, 'You gotta get both [versions] if you... Read more

I recently attended a demonstration of Team Ninja's upcoming Ninja Gaiden II (X360) and got to chat with Team Ninja lead Tomonobu Itagaki for a bit.

While it turns out the game is still as violent as ever, Itagaki provided new details as to how the game has been tuned to better accommodate those who aren't as skilled in the ways of the notoriously difficult franchise. He also talked about Yoda and Darth Vader in Soul Calibur IV, his views on downloadable content, and threatened to cut me in half.

We've also got some new screenshots and an exclusive gameplay video. If you're at all a fan of ninjas or badassery in general, I suggest you check it out.

One of the dudes who had lost an arm rushed Ryu and tackled him to the ground. Then, with his gaping wound still squirting blood, he attempted to drive a sword through Ryu's neck with his one remaining hand.

In response, Itagaki did what any good ninja would do. He threw a giant fireball that blew the one-armed bandit across the stage and left his corpse in flames.
Read on...

Nintendo of America has announced its partial software lineup for the first half of 2008, which includes a handful of firm release dates for titles whose release windows had been previously unknown.

For the Wii, Nintendo lists the recently delayed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for March 9, as well as a spring release window for both Nintendo EAD's Mario Kart Wii and TT Games' LEGO Indiana Jones. Ready at Dawn's port of Clover Studios Okami and Artepiazza's Opoona are both scheduled to hit retail shelves on March 25, with Nintendo's Wii Fit is slated for a release in the second quarter of 2008.

On the DS side of things, Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles will be released in February. Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword will be available on March 25, and Destineer's Homie Rollerz, perhaps the most thrilling mention among the lineup, will drop on February 5.

For more details and dates, feel free to scope out full Wii list and the whole DS list.

1UP and GameSpot both have previews of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword posted, checking out the DS version of Tecmo's action game.

Nothing says Merry Christmas like new Ninja Gaiden 2 media filled with blood and dismemberment. We have three screenshots and another gameplay trailer, which shows about a minute of gameplay footage from Team Ninja's Xbox 360 exclusive action game.

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Yet more media from Team Ninja's Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Gaiden 2 is now available. We have a set of screenshots, as well as two more gameplay trailers. The first offers about a minute of gameplay footage while the other runs for three minutes.

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And again, registered users can use the HD stream. Ninja Gaiden 2 will be released some time during 2008.

Team NINJA's Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (NDS), the studio's portable take on the adventures of famed video game ninja Ryu Hayabusa, will slash its way to North American retailers this March.

Much like Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS), Ninja Gaiden DS is controlled almost entirely through the touch screen. A downloadable demo of the third-person action game is currently available through the DS Download Stations scattered throughout retailers such as GameStop, Target, and Wal-Mart.

"Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword brings a new level of gaming action to the Nintendo DS," said Tecmo marketing manager Yoh Watanabe. "There's currently a demo available on the DS Download Station and I urge everyone to try it out and you'll know what I mean."

Tecmo-owned developer Team NINJA has provided four more images of Ninja Gaiden II, the Xbox 360-exclusive sequel to one of the more frustratingly challenging Xbox, and later PlayStation 3, titles ever released.

Included in the bloody barrage are glimpses of severed arms and legs, along with a few decapitations. The game itself is due out at some point in 2008.

Tecmo has provided three new screenshots of Team NINJA's upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive slash 'em up, Ninja Gaiden II. Depicted in the images are evil dudes, ninja weapons, and a monster. Also released was a 45-second gameplay trailer, which you can grab on Fileshack in HD or view below. Or both!

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To learn more about Ninja Gaiden II and its gratuitous over-the-top violence, which includes severed limbs raining down from the sky, check out Nick Breckon's graphic preview.

There's a brief Ninja Gaiden 2 preview on GameSpot, offering a first look at the game.

The Wii Virtual Console's first CD-based TubroGrafx-16 offering, Gates of Thunder, will be available today via the download service. With the first Neo Geo titles arriving last week, the addition of games for the once-costly TurboGrafx-CD add-on marks the second platform to debut in the online store in just as many weeks.

Developed by TurboGrafx extraordinaire Red Entertainment and system manufacturer Hudson Soft, Gates of Thunder is a side scrolling arcade shooter highly regarded for the top notch rocking tunes made possible through its use of the compact disc format. It sells for 800 Wii Points ($8), the standard price for TurboGrafx-CD titles. Another TurboGrafx-CD game, Red's Super Air Zonk, is scheduled to arrive this month.

Along with Gates of Thunder, Virtual Console also sees the release of Tecmo's ninja-tastic side scrolling NES sequel, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, and Namco's obscure SNES strategy title, Metal Marines. Ryu Hayabusa's second appearance runs 500 Wii Points ($5), whereas humanity's metal-oriented struggle against the Imperial Federation goes for 800 Wii Points ($8).

In its regular Thursday update, the PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store today nets demos of baller NBA 2K8 and, as previously reported, the gore-tacular Clive Barker's Jericho.

Along with Visual Concepts' b-balling effort and Mercury Steam's stab at spookiness, a new vehicle for Evolution Studios' dusty racer MotorStorm--the $0.99 Castro Capitano--and a $2.99 Speed Master add-on for Team NINJA's spirit-crushing Ninja Gaiden Sigma--presumably some sort of time trial mode--arrive as well.

Ryu returns for more action and decapitation, spilling more blood in the process than ever before. Designer Yoshifuru Okamoto talks us through the Team Ninja sequel, set for release on the Xbox 360 next year. Read about it.

"We definitely want to take into account the broad user base of the hardware. And the goal of any developer is to get as many people as possible in the world to play his game, right? So we certainly want to make concessions not only for the hardcore fans that have been with the franchise before, but also those coming from a more casual end of the spectrum."

For a first look at Ninja Gaiden 2 in action, you can now download this video which contains the entire 15 minute presentation of the game during Microsoft's Tokyo Game Show press conference.

Unfortunately we'd go broke by offering this as a streaming video for everyone (but we hope to be able to do so in the near future), but Mercury subscribers can click the image below for a HD stream. And of course everyone is welcome to download the high-definition version.

The true sequel to Team NINJA's Ninja Gaiden reinvention on Xbox will also be an Xbox 360 exclusive, Team NINJA's iconic game designer Tomonobu Itagaki said today in Tokyo. Itagaki took the stage at Microsoft's pre-Tokyo Game Show press briefing to make the announcement, confirming the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 on Microsoft's platform in 2008.

Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame and fan-fiction also took the stage at the engagement, giving his studio's Xbox 360 exclusive RPG Lost Odyssey a release date of December 6 for Japan, but revealing other territories won't see the game until 2008--a delay from the originally stated winter 2007 release. Sakaguchi also priced the game for some reason, surprising no one with a standard $59.99 price point in the U.S. and comparable prices worldwide.

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Ninja Gaiden 2's announcement was leaked earlier today by... Read more