Sacred Symbols+, Episode XLIII: Ninjutsu
Added 2020-05-26 16:57:45 +0000 UTCWith its fledgling PS4 franchise Nioh, Koei Tecmo's internal dev Team Ninja has found success with what is, in many ways, a Dark Souls clone. But perhaps that's selling studio director Fumihiko Yasuda's squad a tad bit short, because before Nioh -- in between Dead or Alive games, and even a voyage to Nintendo Land with Metroid: Other M -- Team Ninja was best-known for its Ninja Gaiden revival, a dormant 2D series it revived in 3D back in 2004. On today's mailbag-centric episode of +, we discuss whether the franchise should be revived or left for dead, and what it might look like should it ever return. We also discuss how Sony can best support PSVR (and PSVR2) with first and second party development resources, whether the PlayStation brand is mistreating its Japanese partners concerned over censorship, how publishers and developers typically work together in harmony (or lack thereof), Xbox's divergent approach to next-gen, the promising future of Remedy Entertainment, and much more. Let's go!
Comments
I don't recall writing this comment.
Matt tamer
2020-06-02 04:58:50 +0000 UTCLOL.
Colin Moriarty
2020-06-02 02:59:13 +0000 UTCWell, I think we've gotta be better about covering it. We're gonna try to keep it in mind.
Colin Moriarty
2020-06-02 02:58:55 +0000 UTCWould be interesting!
Colin Moriarty
2020-06-02 02:58:30 +0000 UTCLOL.
Colin Moriarty
2020-06-02 02:58:23 +0000 UTCRoger that.
Colin Moriarty
2020-06-02 02:58:18 +0000 UTCBeing from the Mid-west, I have a spider sense that goes off when I hear the words “corn hole” great game lol
MeatSpin11
2020-05-31 13:44:21 +0000 UTCHey Colin, Appreciate the candid and thoughtful discussion regarding PSVR. I think nobody wants you to play/cover PSVR if you’re not feeling it. Since I think you would then not only do a disservice to your community, but probably yourself as well. I also just want to add, that Sony finds themselves in a unique position. They’re the market leader in both the console and VR space. And on both fronts, they are finding stiff competition (Microsoft/Xbox & Facebook/Oculus). I like your idea of leveraging their first party IP/games to hook people into VR. But, as any person with some experience in VR gaming can tell you, the two mediums are surprisingly different and games built with VR in mind, just work/feel 100 times better than a ported experience. So if Sony goes that route, they need to do it justice or a Horizon VR will do more damage than good. Cheers, Pete PS. I’m 99% you covered this question during the normal show as well, but hey, I’m not complainng. More PSVR is never a bad thing in my book.
Pete
2020-05-30 11:56:56 +0000 UTCMLB The Show in VR could be incredible
Michael Limauro
2020-05-30 02:35:29 +0000 UTCColin, if you go golfing make sure you look out for black swans
Conor Wilson
2020-05-30 01:17:58 +0000 UTCJust wanted to say I really wanna hear your thoughts on FFVIIR in the spoilercast The Persona ep was great but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one! Keep it up! :)
Brett Medlock
2020-05-30 01:13:37 +0000 UTCThis is no lie. I golf literally 15-20 over par and have a great time doing it every time I go.
Dave Carsley
2020-05-29 23:25:20 +0000 UTCThank you! <3
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-29 22:12:26 +0000 UTCI'm definitely gonna be looking into it. =)
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-29 22:12:20 +0000 UTCStill here! Thank you guys for the excellent insight as always! Congrats on Rush and the house!
KeenanMinusKel
2020-05-29 06:34:14 +0000 UTCColin, I've played golf since I was 10 years old, and I still suck. It's a game where it doesn't matter that you suck, the joy for me comes from hanging with my friends, drinking a little bit, and just being outside. Let me know if you ever need someone to play with, Virginia has no shortage of great courses to play! I think you really might enjoy getting into it.
Alex Bolton
2020-05-28 19:49:00 +0000 UTCAbsolutely. Excited for this PS5 event. I just hope everyone sets actual expectations. Insiders say the console WILL NOT be shown at this early June event and this event is just a kick off to a summer of events dedicated to PS5. Console will be unveiled closer to launch i feel. Late July Maybe early August. I've looked into other tech companies who take this approach of unveiling the actual product design closer to launch. Some hit and some fucking airball directly into the ocean. If the console looked fuego Jones i think people won't care
Brett Carlson
2020-05-28 16:22:32 +0000 UTCLemme play with my uncle and brother-in-law and figure out if I like it before I expand from there... =)
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-28 06:43:44 +0000 UTCI'm confused.
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-28 06:43:25 +0000 UTCWe will see. The arms race in games is real, and expectations are higher than ever...
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-28 06:43:21 +0000 UTCJust took a little while. =)
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-28 06:42:58 +0000 UTCColin, I would absolutely love to play golf with you at some point and, at the very least, encourage you to give it a try at some point. I have been playing since middle school and played competitively through high school. I’ve played with all skill levels of golfer and they have always had a fun experience in my group. The most important thing is to play with people who are patient and understand that you’re new and also pick a time of time where there won’t be pressure to play fast. Another thing to consider is to play in a scramble (a variant of golf where your foursome is a team and you each hit a ball and play the from the best shot each time). That alleviates a lot of pressure for newcomers to the sport for when you hit a bad shot you just drive the cart over to the ball and pick it up then move on to the group’s best shot. Without getting too sappy, golf has allowed me to establish some great relationships with friends and family members over the years. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with people, shoot the breeze, enjoy a few beers, share a few laughs and enjoy the outdoors. I hope that one day you too can experience some of the joys the sport has brought into my life.
Cory Hahn
2020-05-27 16:09:41 +0000 UTCHey Colin, Underrated comment, but I love you! Fuck off
Matt tamer
2020-05-27 06:11:00 +0000 UTCI mean I wouldn't bring back Ninja Gaiden but I also think the 5+ year dev cycle is soon to be a thing of the past. Almost all the new tech in the next consoles is designed around streamlined game development especially the PS5. As Cerny has stated that was his true focus in terms of the actual architecture of the system. Also the Unreal Engine 5 tech of bringing film quality assets straight into the game saves load of dev time. Im not saying right away, but 2 years into the next generation I believe we are going to be seeing AAA games made faster then they have been in many years. 3 years may become the rule and not the exception. I say that to say they could feasibly have room to make Ninja Gaiden, but i think Nioh is the way to go. Its so unique in the Souls like genre. The stances and the ninjistu and the skills. Its literally Ninja Gaiden but digivolved into a new more robust form. I would stick with Nioh personally
Brett Carlson
2020-05-27 02:45:27 +0000 UTCOh boy, my question about Ninja Gaiden is the topic of the episode! My life is now completed <3
Hugo Falcao
2020-05-27 00:05:54 +0000 UTCMakes a lot of sense. The only thing I don't understand is that Gaikai installed a server/tower in Australia a couple of years ago for seemingly this purpose but nothings come of it, as its still not available in Australia or New Zealand. Hoping for a worldwide launch when PS5 launches but it doesn't really seem likely
Jeremy Miller
2020-05-26 23:52:59 +0000 UTCI would imagine the calculus has to do with where it really matters in terms of deploying your resources. Much like Sony deciding to allocate all of their PS4 launch units to satiate the American market first.
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:49:24 +0000 UTCSix times over for me. They're an ambitious bunch.
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:48:41 +0000 UTCWell put more effort in next time, then, JOHN.
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:48:25 +0000 UTCI would imagine perspective on this relies a great deal on how much of the content you can play, and how often.
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:48:05 +0000 UTCIt's very relaxing.
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:46:54 +0000 UTCPlease enjoy. =)
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:46:47 +0000 UTCI only learned how to properly spell it during the age of auto-spellcheck.
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:46:38 +0000 UTC<3
Colin Moriarty
2020-05-26 23:46:23 +0000 UTCAn interesting thing to think about when you were talking about PS Now numbers in last week's episode is that it's only available in some countries and not worldwide. I get that these countries might not have enough bandwidth to stream games but why not release it worldwide so they can at least download some free PS4/PS2 games.
Jeremy Miller
2020-05-26 23:32:59 +0000 UTCIt’s a humbling time in your life when you realise your nephews are just better than you now at most things haha I know the pain! I’m an uncle 8 times over
Adam Barnes
2020-05-26 20:45:57 +0000 UTCI feel like I should have put more effort into that question from who the fuck knows now. Something I should have mentioned is that the censoring is being done in California, and so the censors aren't really seen in the Japanese version of these games. For example the last Senran Kagura game had this thing called an "intimacy mode", which is similar to the Mario face thing you get on the N64. that was in the Japanese and PC port, but not in the Western PS4 port
John Apocalypse
2020-05-26 20:43:43 +0000 UTCGreat show again lads, the Bungie/ Activision split was interesting for a few reasons. Activision had a marketing deal with Sony so Destiny was always on sonys E3 stage, and Destiny always had to ensure timed exclusive content on playstation, sometimes quite significant weapons and missions. They were also held to a 3 year dev cycle which would have meant we could have reasonably expected D3 with the launch of the new consoles. As an independent developer, Bungie is sticking with D2 as a platform and has opened up cross save, which sony has famously had problems with, most notably on Fortnite and Rocket League . They also made the base game free to play and put it on steam, however they no longer have the support of Activision dev studios like High Moon to create content so their output has dropped significantly, they are also struggling with monetization models and have taken a massive sum of cash from NetEase. Some ups, some downs, but interestingly there is a section of the community that actually misses the Activision funded D2.
Big Swingin' Rick
2020-05-26 20:43:17 +0000 UTCshould get the remake treatment
Jack Doheny
2020-05-26 20:01:19 +0000 UTCThe first Witcher game is indeed not very good. Strong instincts.
sean McGuire
2020-05-26 18:27:33 +0000 UTCYeah man, Cornhole is super popular in the south. I too, live in Virginia and it’s wildly popular.
Joe West
2020-05-26 17:19:35 +0000 UTCForgot this was today, pleasant surprise!
Angelo Ponte
2020-05-26 17:07:12 +0000 UTCAhh, nice to see someone spell ninjutsu correctly. In taking the americanized version of this called Toshindo, it's rare you see people use the correct spelling.
Corey Robbins
2020-05-26 17:02:07 +0000 UTCCan’t wait!
Anthony Wright
2020-05-26 17:01:23 +0000 UTC
