Dead Or Alive Creator Joins Cast Of Saints Row: The Third

[Earnest Cavalli]

Dead Or Alive Creator Joins Cast Of Saints Row: The Third

In completely baffling news, Ninja Gaiden Black designer Tomonobu Itagaki has been added to the violent virtual sandbox of Saints Row: The Third.

If it helps ease the sensation that your brain is about to explode, Saints Row publisher THQ has some palpable motivation for this confusing stunt.

See, a few years back Mr. Itagaki left Ninja Gaiden/Dead or Alive publisher Tecmo following a heated dispute over unpaid wages [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/85234-Tecmo-Fired-Itagaki-Fight-in-Court]. Since that time, Itagaki and a number of his pals from Tecmo's "Team Ninja" division have formed Valhalla Game Studios. Valhalla's first game, Devil's Third is being published by THQ, and presumably the company believes that adding Itagaki to Saints Row: The Third will cross promote both titles.

I think.

Itagaki's character (who seems to serve as a simple aesthetic option, as opposed to a big part of the plot), is said to sport the developer's borderline-trademarked sunglasses and leather jacket look.

Admittedly, this is the sort of news that I find hilarious, but then again, it's my job to know who Tomonobu Itagaki is. I will laugh when his in-game analogue flirts with a busty woman, because I had to cover the 2006 sexual harassment suit filed against the developer.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate THQ creating content specifically for me and the two or three dozen other gaming journalists who will actually understand it, but is Itagaki's presence at all meaningful to the average person? Will Joe Q. Sixpack think this is clever, or will he just wonder why this tiny Japanese man is repeatedly demanding "jiggle physics?"

(Note: I have no idea if the in-game Itagaki will actively berate the Saints Row: The Third development team for improperly animating the mammaries of the title's lady characters. I hope he does, but again, that's the kind of thing that's only entertaining to me, Jim Sterling and at least one member of the Kotaku writing staff.)

Source: Gamespot [http://www.gamespot.com/events/tgs-2011/story.html?sid=6334766&pid=997617]

Permalink

 

[Dr Jones]

That's cool for Itagaki, but I really want to know is if Ashton Kutcher will be in the game. We all saw him in the trailer.

Is that a joke? Where was he?

 

[hazabaza1]

Dear Saints Row:
Never fucking stop.
Love from everyone.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

considering that Itagaki is married and has even even been on record saying "my wife is no pushover", I very much DOUBT he'd let his avatar flirt with floozies in the game.

There is a bit of disappointment in hat supposedly his character is merely a skin. Seriously, if he was an actual character he should be the leader of a clan of cyborg ninjas who wield pure awesome as weapons

 

[go-10]

I've never seen Cliffy B in Gears of War so this seems pointless
I hope this doesn't catch on seeing Stan Lee in every Marvel movie is bad enough already

 

[Sylocat]

When life imitates an Onion headline...

 

[GonzoGamer]

But I thought he was in all the games. They just call him Johnny Knife or something like that.

I'm already picking up this game.
They can stop now.
They've had a good amount of hype for this game but too much hype (see Rage) and I start to worry.

 

[Ghengis John]

(Note: I have no idea if the in-game Itagaki will actively berate the Saints Row: The Third development team for improperly animating the mammaries of the title's lady characters. I hope he does, but again, that's the kind of thing that's only entertaining to me, Jim Sterling and at least one member of the Kotaku writing staff.)

If it helps this made my day. Yes. More than hamburgers for breakfast. I know. The news was just that amusing. Will we catch him chain smoking I wonder? Now I have to know!

But I thought he was in all the games. They just call him Johnny Knife or something like that.

There are no pleasant google image results for Johnny Knife. At least not before I stopped looking. The horror.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

that's the kind of thing that's only entertaining to me, Jim Sterling and at least one member of the Kotaku writing staff.

Well, there's a few dozen of us who regularly read articles from you, Jim, and the Kotaku staff who may be vaguely familiar with this sort of thing too.

But, uh, yeah, no one I know IRL will care. They will be too busy beating each other with a giant purple phallus to notice.

 

[RonHiler]

Sorry to disappoint you, but no that is not Ashton (although I grant you it does look like him). It's an actor that is tagging along with the Saints because he is researching a role in an upcoming movie about the them.

 

[Aprilgold]

considering that Itagaki is married and has even even been on record saying "my wife is no pushover", I very much DOUBT he'd let his avatar flirt with floozies in the game.

There is a bit of disappointment in hat supposedly his character is merely a skin. Seriously, if he was an actual character he should be the leader of a clan of cyborg ninjas who wield pure awesome as weapons

Yes,but then he would be unkillable.

Still awesome though.

 

[ace_of_something]

That's cool for Itagaki, but I really want to know is if Ashton Kutcher will be in the game. We all saw him in the trailer.

Is that a joke? Where was he?

<youtube=LlmSzZKeExY&feature=player_detailpage>
Pause at 1:07

Weird. He's signing pictures of himself too... I... weird.

 

[Dr Jones]

That's cool for Itagaki, but I really want to know is if Ashton Kutcher will be in the game. We all saw him in the trailer.

Is that a joke? Where was he?

Pause at 1:07

Oh wow, never even noticed that.. Is that Really Kutcher? Or just someone that looks like him?

 

[RonHiler]

That's cool for Itagaki, but I really want to know is if Ashton Kutcher will be in the game. We all saw him in the trailer.

Is that a joke? Where was he?

Pause at 1:07

Oh wow, never even noticed that.. Is that Really Kutcher? Or just someone that looks like him?

Oh, for god's sake. Which part of "That's not Ashton" did you people not understand?

http://saintsrow.wikia.com/wiki/Josh_Birk

 

[The Random One]

Is the one member of the Kotaku writing staff also Jim?

At any rate, it's true: these news are baffling.

 

[Aethren]

I wonder why he's holding a reverse-blade katana.

 

[Bat Vader]

That's cool for Itagaki, but I really want to know is if Ashton Kutcher will be in the game. We all saw him in the trailer.

Is that a joke? Where was he?

Pause at 1:07

Oh wow, never even noticed that.. Is that Really Kutcher? Or just someone that looks like him?

Oh, for god's sake. Which part of "That's not Ashton" did you people not understand?

http://saintsrow.wikia.com/wiki/Josh_Birk

It would be kinda funny if they hired Ashton to do the voice for the character Josh.

On Topic: What the developers need to do now is hire the creators from Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat and add them into the game as well.