Industry leaders attended the memorial service for Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of Dead or Alive and the 3D Ninja Gaiden series. died last month aged 58.
Tomonobu Itagaki was a famous figure in the Japanese video game development industry. He formed Team Ninja (originally called Tecmo Creative #3) back in the late '90s, creating not only the Dead or Alive fighting game series, but also the 3D Ninja Gaiden games.
Eulogy by Yosuke Hayashi about Itagaki
Tou/Royta15 Vninjagaiden
Manage your cookie settings
Among those present was the director of Tekken. Katsuhiro HaradaKoei Tecmo executive vice president Yosuke Hayashi spoke about meeting the developer, working for him, and renewing contact shortly before his death.
“I never thought we would meet like this,” the leader said, as translated into Reddit (Thank you, VGK). “My meeting with Itagaki-san began in 2001 when I joined the company as a new graduate. I was assigned to your department as a game planner. You told me you don't have a job for me. That's what you told me. Two weeks after my appointment, I actually had no work, haha. At the time, I lamented my bad luck, thinking that this was the worst meeting possible.
Manage your cookie settings
“My most memorable memory with Itagaki-san was developing Xbox Ninja Gaiden between 2003 and 2004. The development team was in complete chaos and it seemed like the game would never be completed, haha. But you were the only one who didn't give up. The two of us spent 12 hours every night testing all the changes to the game. These six months are a valuable part of my career as a game developer.”
Itagaki left the company in 2008, shortly after a former colleague sued him for sexual harassment. Although he was found not guilty by Japanese courts in 2007, he ultimately lost his position as chief executive. Later in 2010, Itagaki and Koei Tecmo reached an agreement after Itagaki stated that the company was withholding bonuses for Dead or Alive 4. Itagaki continued development Third Devil at the Valhalla game studio.
Before leaving the company, Itagaki reportedly told Hayashi, “Don’t change [Koei Tecmo] logo.”
“No other unnecessary words were said. You were so pure and cool,” the executive said.
Hayashi also shared his latest message from Itagaki, in which the developer wrote: “Thank you for remembering our promise. [not to change the logo]. Lately, times have changed and selling a million copies no longer brings much recognition in the world. This is the era we have entered. Please continue to create great products in the future.”
