"Game designer and ex-Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki died last week aged 58. He was famous for his sunglasses, long black hair, leather jackets and his penchant for using colourful second world war metaphors to describe game development, marketing strategies and just about anything else. A pugnacious talent, he rocked the boat and made waves in almost every aspect of his life."
"Itagaki joined Japanese game developer Tecmo in 1992, as a young programmer, where he led the creation of the fighting game series Dead or Alive, the first instalment of which was released in 1996. He famously picked a long-running fight with Namco's Tekken series, after that company's marketing team ran an ad that he found disparaging. The resulting one-sided beef put his fighting franchise on the world stage in the early 2000s."
"During one of the most productive game development runs in video game history, Itagaki's Team Ninja produced Dead or Alive 3 and 4, Dead or Alive Ultimate, Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden Black, Ninja Gaiden II, and two Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball games all for the Xbox 360 as well as Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, an acclaimed game for Nintendo DS."
Tomonobu Itagaki died aged 58. He cultivated a distinctive public image with sunglasses, long black hair and leather jackets, and often used colourful second world war metaphors. He joined Tecmo in 1992 as a programmer and led the creation of the Dead or Alive fighting series, launching the first instalment in 1996. A rivalry with Namco's Tekken raised Dead or Alive's international profile. After Dead or Alive 3 he developed beach volleyball spin-offs and in 2004 reinvented Ninja Gaiden. Team Ninja produced numerous acclaimed Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden titles across Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS. He was a pugnacious, loyal figure who worked and played hard.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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