Interviews// Team Ninja's Head, Yosuke Hayashi

SPOnG: There have been spinoffs in Xtreme Volleyball and Paradise. It could be said that these games have helped in making the franchise seem overly voyeuristic and lacking in substance. Was that a concern for you when you took over Team Ninja and began work on Dead or Alive Dimensions?

Yosuke Hayashi: The spinoffs came as a result of the core Dead or Alive games, but I think it’s a shame that in the past few years we have only been able to develop these spinoff titles.

The main identity of Dead or Alive is fighting, but of course women are also an important aspect, so we will continue that element of the series in the future. Even though this is a reboot, we will still be taking that aspect of the franchise with us.


SPOnG: What has your personal experience been with the effects of the 3DS? In this country in particular the media has picked up on reports that it apparently messes up your eyesight and gives you headaches. What are your thoughts on that, going by your own experiences with the handheld?

Yosuke Hayashi: New entertainment mediums are always subject to criticism from society. When I was a child, it was said that if you played games you would become stupid (laughs). But the gaming world has overcome this, and we are here today with a thriving industry.

So, this criticism that the 3DS is bad for the eyes... that proves that this is also a new technology that is surprising the world, and that sensational reaction in media is something that the industry will have to overcome here, just like we did before. From this, there will definitely be more entertainment born like it.


SPOnG: From a developer’s perspective, is 3D something you’d like to work on in the future, say the PlayStation 3 or another 3DS title? Can you see a new Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword game working well with the technology?

Yosuke Hayashi: This game was created with 3D specifically in mind from the start, but I think there are more possibilities yet to come with this new technology. I’m always thinking of ways to use 3D in other ways - I haven’t found an answer yet, but once I do I’d like to make it.


SPOnG: As a developer and a gamer, what has attracted you to 3D technology, specifically the 3DS, over the PlayStation 3’s stereoscopic capabilities?

Yosuke Hayashi: The 3D slider is a nice touch, being able to switch between 2D and 3D - that gives me ideas actually, perhaps for a game to include 2D elements and at times requiring to use the slider to change to 3D. Of course, there’s a big difference between 3D games on the 3DS and on the television, and we have to take that into consideration too as developers.


SPOnG: You’ve been the head of Team Ninja for a couple of years now. There was a lot of uncertainty during the period of Itagaki-san’s departure. Has that changed? What’s the morale like at the studio now?

Yosuke Hayashi: This game is complete now, and the team feels a great sense of achievement from that. It would be nice to see consumers play it and for us to hear their thoughts. If they think it has improved from Dead or Alive games of the past that would really please me - I personally feel that we have created a great game.

In terms of atmosphere in the studio, I feel that you get an idea for the studio’s morale when you play the fruits of their labour. So yes, the atmosphere at Team Ninja right now is excellent, I’d say.


SPOnG: Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive have been seen as Itagaki’s babies, so to speak, and in the past he’s been quoted as calling your work on Ninja Gaiden Sigma as inferior. Is there animosity there? What’s the relationship like, if there is one, between you guys at the moment?

Yosuke Hayashi: Well, I have been working with Itagaki-san on Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden as well, so if you use the metaphor that these games are perhaps his babies… if he is the parent who gave birth to them, then I see myself as the parent who brought them up. This is the first Dead or Alive title since his departure, and I feel that it is of a very high quality. I’m looking forward to introducing my children to the consumers.


SPOnG: What are your plans for the Dead or Alive series from here?

Yosuke Hayashi: This title has been labelled a reboot, so we have gone back to basics and we hope to have as many users as possible playing the game. We certainly don’t plan to finish the series here, but we will wait to hear feedback from players first before deciding on where we should go next with the series.