Tomonobu Itagaki

Tecmo Ltd stock has dropped over 10 percent following Tomonobu Itagaki’s highly publicized departure from Team Ninja earlier in the week. Itagaki is seeking 148 million yen in damages over an unpaid bonus for the completion of Dead or Alive 4, and claims Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda told him to “quit the company or sue it” if he was unhappy with the decision not to pay up. Tecmo responded to the suit, calling Itagaki’s comments “distortions” - however the share price dropped from 1102 to 985 yen on Wednesday morning - a 10.6% drop.

Story via GamesIndustry.biz
Image via Kotaku

Good news for those who got schooled playing the first Ninja Gaiden - the next installment of the series will feature regenerating health, making it far more noob-friendly than prior installments. Of course, including such a feature will always incite an angry response from the hardcore gamers, so Team Ninja has included a modifiable limiter that regulates the percentage of health recoverable from damage. To hear it from the man himself, watch the above video of Tomonobu Itagaki explaining the reason behind the change and how it works.

via Joystiq