“The Ultimate Ninja series is recognized by Naruto fans and gamers alike as the video game franchise that best captures the high-energy ninja action of the hit animated series,” said Todd Thorson, director of marketing and public relations at Namco Bandai Games America, Inc. “NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM represents an incredible leap forward for the franchise as we make our debut on the PLAYSTATION 3 system with an all-new battle system, free-roaming gameplay and undeniably stunning graphics.”

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It looks like Tomonobu Itagaki won't be the only one to leave publisher Tecmo, as 1up has discovered that dozens of Team Ninja members may be planning to follow his lead and will jump ship and sue the company for unpaid bonuses.

The news comes after Tecmo issued a statement saying that the team is "intact" and "has several new projects already underway," leading many to believe that Team Ninja may soon be in dire trouble. Even if they hire new developers to work on future entries in the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises, they will run the risk of releasing products that aren't true to their predecessors.

1up also made note that Japanese law requires publicly-traded companies to report lawsuits filed against them to shareholders on the same day as the filing, which could cause huge problems for Tecmo, as they waited for weeks after the filing of Itagaki's lawsuit to reveal the information to their shareholders.

We'll have more information once it becomes available.

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In what will certainly be remembered as one of the most unexpected events of 2008, Tomonobu Itagaki, Team Ninja leader and mastermind behind Ninja Gaiden, left Tecmo last night and announced that he is suing the company. The reason? He failed to receive a completion bonus for Dead or Alive 4 that was promised to him by Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda.

1up did some digging and discovered that Itagaki's problems with Yasuda may extend past unpaid bonuses, as they've heard that Yasuda wanted to force him into making several ports of his games and was more concerned with making money over creating a quality product.

In a recent interview, Itagaki stated that he's interested in creating a new action game similar to Ninja Gaiden, but now the question arises of where he'll go from here to create it. Will he join another development team at another publisher? Will he form his own studio? For now, the answer will have to wait.

Here's the statement that Andrew Szymanski, Itagaki's translator, sent to both Kotaku and 1up:

"At approximately 2:30 PM Japan Standard Time today, June 3 2008, an official statement from Tomonobu Itagaki was sent by fax to major Japanese news outlets. In the interest of fair and expedient reporting of this story throughout the English-speaking world, I have been asked by Itagaki to convey this statement to you. Herein find attached Itagaki's official statement, in English, for the benefit of your readers.

"You will likely have questions regarding the content of the statement, or about Itagaki's future plans. I am afraid that I will be unable to answer such questions for the time being; however, rest assured that more information will be forthcoming as soon as it is deemed appropriate to do so."

Hit the jump for Itagaki's full statement, which includes a message to game fans.

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A release date is expected in March of next year.

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New screenshots of Ninja Gaiden II are available this morning and you can view them at the link. The game stars everyone's favorite ninja, Ryu Hyabusa, looking as lovely as ever as he viciously slashes opponents to pieces on the Xbox 360. The title is due to launch sometime in 2008.

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