Ninja Gaiden Legitimized the American Xbox Console for Japanese Developers
Itagaki-san had squeezed every bit of power and performance out of Microsoft’s fledgling console, and the result was what some people believe – including me and, more importantly, our resident action-game aficionado Mitchell Saltzman – is the single greatest pure action game ever made. You talk about aging well? It wasn’t just the combat, the precision controls, and the replayability that still…
This opinion piece by Ryan McCaffrey, a long-time Xbox enthusiast, discusses how Ninja Gaiden legitimized the Xbox console for Japanese developers during its early years. At the time, the Xbox was not taken seriously, especially in Japan, with its large size and seemingly absurd controller. However, developer Tomonobu Itagaki, head of Tecmo's internal development group Team Ninja, believed in the console's potential.
Itagaki brought his fighting game, Dead or Alive 3, to the Xbox as a day-one launch title, which proved to be an exceptional game. This success led to the release of Ninja Gaiden, a revival of the challenging side-scrolling action game from arcades and the NES. Ninja Gaiden received universal praise for its stunning combat, 60 frames per second, and beautiful gameplay.
The reviewer gave it a 9.6 out of 10 at Official Xbox Magazine, and it is still regarded as one of the greatest pure action games ever made. This achievement demonstrated that the Xbox could host incredible games developed by talented Japanese developers, helping to legitimize the console in the Japanese market.
Written by urgent.news from IGN's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
