HokieJoe said:
Perhaps, but I think MS's relationship with Tecmo/Team Ninja has been worth it. DOA and Ninja Gaiden weren't top sellers, but they broadened the Xbox line up and both games boast devoted fan bases. Without Itagaki, Tecmo has issues. Tecmo shareholders can't be pleased with his departure. What was it over- $1.4 million? Seems like a trifling amount of money to lose your star developer over. Dunno' really, just thinking out loud.
In one sense, hasn't Team Ninja served it's purpose for Microsoft? DoA3 was second to Halo for the longest time and is still one of the best looking games of last gen...DoA4, not so much. I could see MS snatching up Itagaki (my money is on this happening) and then "featuring" him like Sakaguchi. Then they're going to team up Itagaki and Sakaguchi in a game called Lost Odyssey Gaiden: Monsters of Disgraced Developer Rock Edition.
Of course it's conjecture. But if this guy was such an asset to the company as measured by his KPIs then they'd want to keep him happy in order to ensure he continues to work there. But here he is slagging off the CEO because they want to make money. Who would want this guy pitching ideas?
Who knows what's really going on. Kinda corny in that fanboy-ish way to assume the worst though. I don't know what KPI is, but I can tell you DoA4 must have lived up to their expectations--it has probably been the best selling Tecmo game since the last Ninja Gaiden, assuming DoA:Ultimate and XBV2 weren't major sellers.
Who would want this guy pitching ideas? Fuck... do you know anything about his status at the company? He basically is tecmo. In the time since he revived the company with the DoA series, they haven't diversified in any meaningful way. Fatal Frame is great, but Tecmo has done nothing but rely on Team Ninja releases.