Team NINJA is Planning to Reboot Dead or Alive and NINJA Gaiden

Some breaking news has been released today during Team NINJA's keynote at the South Korea G-Star conference by Fumihiko Yasuda that Dead or Alive and NINJA Gaiden reboots will be the future of the company after the release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty & Rise of Ronin. The final image presented in the breaking story has been translated by key individuals in our community including @WAZAAAAA and @Matt Ponton respectively:

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Team NINJA's Future - Reboot of Popular Series - Images of NINJA Gaiden & Dead or Alive ​

There is a lot of information in this story, and we will break all of it down here at Free Step Dodge, but this looks like extremely positive evidence of a future and now is probably not the time to leave the DOA community if you were planning to jump the fence. We've been covering Team NINJA's Fumihiko Yasuda all year and he checks all of the boxes of a proper president: he's been honest, he's developed legendary games, he's focused on the present and the future.

We don't know all of the details yet, but everyone interested should be inclined to give Yasuda a chance after (in all due respect) the marketing blunder that Yohei Shimbori was vacuumed into as Team NINJA director and producer for Dead or Alive 6. Shimbori was put into a position where he could not excel with DOA6 and was unfortunately retired because of it not to dampen the rest of his career which was a legendary run on his part.

If we find out in ANYWAY that these translations are inaccurate, we will remove them, but as of now they have been double checked, fact checked, site checked and approved for this story release. Also, it's important to consider that the term 'reboot' can mean a wide array of different things, some elements that could have negative impact and some elements that could have positive impact and we ask that you consider that when discussing the future of the games. Seeing as how Yasuda has been as transparent as he can be to a global audience; this is a good indicator of things to come.

 

Heres hoping DOA reboot is in line with DOA5/U/LR & DOAXVV in terms of fanservice, and released exclusively in Japan/Asia like what happen to DOAX spin offs (since the last time DOAX was available release in the west was DOA Paradise for PSP). Personally I don't trust anyone within Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo to do DOA franchise right if it gets released worldwide (due to how they handle certain content when it comes to sex appeal in Western releases).

 

everyone should be inclined to give him a chance after the (in all due respect) blunder that Yohei Shimbori was as Team NINJA president

I feel this is super unnecesary considering that him, Yasunori Sakuda, and other long-time TN members were able to pull DOA from the post-Itagaki slumber and give us the DOA5 era. You can't attribute the success of the series in the 2010s to Hayashi and others and later pin the blame of DOA6 solely to him and omit people like Tom Lee. It's cool for DOA to have a new "champion" inside Koei Tecmo but I'm a bit skeptical on how well-received a reboot can be.

 

I feel this is super unnecesary considering that him, Yasunori Sakuda, and other long-time TN members were able to pull DOA from the post-Itagaki slumber and give us the DOA5 era. You can't attribute the success of the series in the 2010s to Hayashi and others and later pin the blame of DOA6 solely to him and omit people like Tom Lee. It's cool for DOA to have a new "champion" inside Koei Tecmo but I'm a bit skeptical on how well-received a reboot can be.

1. You're going to be skeptical either way because the product isn't out for you to visualize or play.

2. You can say it's unnecessary, but what was even more unnecessary was his EVO JAPAN appearance that put him on ice with the company the second he gained any power. I did mention DOA6 specifically for him and while I thought he was a fine designer I also thought he was probably the worst president (while indeed not actually being a president) Team NINJA ever had. I say this the way I do because he was given a workload, and responsibility of a president and did PR with no actual experience in PR.

 

How intriguing. I'm curious how this reboot of DOA will play out. Perhaps it will be like how Bamco did with Soul Calibur 6. Also yes, Ninja Gaiden definitely needs to return.

 

Reboob DOA!

 

I also thought he was probably the worst president Team NINJA ever had.

Pretty harsh, considering he's never been Team NINJA's president.

 

Pretty harsh, considering he's never been Team NINJA's president.

That's true. He may only be listed as the Producer and Director, but he was clearly filling in for Hayashi's side of things and doing stuff on the stage floor that normally Hayashi or (now) Yasuda would have done.

I'll never forgive or forget what he did at EVO Japan because he made the anti-bikini people look stupid and he made the bikini people feel like there was no reason to ever censor the game or ban bikinis from tournaments in the first place.

At the end of the day, he was the one being called to the back room and the one held responsible for the game.

 

it's important to consider that the term 'reboot' can mean a wide array of different things

I really, really, really hope 'reboot' is meant here in the sense of "were rebooting development of the series" and not "were starting over from scratch". After all, the reason that I know about and play DOA is because of DOA6 - there are elements that exist in DOA6 that I'm not willing to leave behind.

 

Reboot? Back to doa 1? How boring. Same ol story again..

 

Btw got video footage of the conference?

 

Reboot? Back to doa 1? How boring. Same ol story again..

They didn't specify if it would be a range of things being rebooted or just core things such as the mechanics. Even a change in power or outsourcing can be considered a reboot.

DOAD and DOA5 both can be considered reboots to some degree.

 

Not really.... into it.
Current Team Ninja has been good as a 3rd party developer, but DOA6 was pretty underwhelming.
I would prefer something like a Toukidensho remake with DOA characters to build up something, like a "Tecmo All-Stars" than another medriocre fighter to promote the next Xtreme service.

 

You know what I want in the DOA Reboot, I want the Gameplay Style to remain like Dead or Alive 5: Last Round. And not only that, I want Marie Rose, Honoka, and NyoTengu taken out of the Roster. They should bring back one of the more traditional DOA Characters like Bankotsubo to replace NyoTengu, but also have Shiden as a playable fighter. And maybe bring back Leon and Ein as playable fighters, not sure about Gen-Fu though. Then I would hope in vein their Voice Actors for their characters would be kept within the game and never bother changing one of them. In all honesty, this DOA Reboot better appeal to most players who were familiarized with Dead or Alive 5 and before except 6.

 

You know what I want in the DOA Reboot, I want the Gameplay Style to remain like Dead or Alive 5: Last Round. And not only that, I want Marie Rose, Honoka, and NyoTengu taken out of the Roster. They should bring back one of the more traditional DOA Characters like Bankotsubo to replace NyoTengu, but also have Shiden as a playable fighter. And maybe bring back Leon and Ein as playable fighters, not sure about Gen-Fu though. Then I would hope in vein their Voice Actors for their characters would be kept within the game and never bother changing one of them. In all honesty, this DOA Reboot better appeal to most players who were familiarized with Dead or Alive 5 and before except 6.

Highly unlikely they will take out Honoka and Marie Rose. Nyo-Tengu became a Team NINJA staple, so I doubt she's going anywhere. I wouldn't mind having both Nyo-Tengu and Bankotsubo.

At this point I don't really think any of the characters should be removed. It would hurt people that trained for those characters. Leon not being in DOA6 was a fatal mistake.

 

1. You're going to be skeptical either way because the product isn't out for you to visualize or play.

I didn't say I was skeptical about the game, I said I was skeptical about the reception it could get.

For those paying attention, the push for DOA to be seen as more serious started with DOA5's "I'm a Fighter", yet towards the end of its cycle they pandered hard to DOAX fans, only to once again do a 180 with DOA6 western marketing.

If the game stays fanservice-heavy, it will still be seen as the "tiddy fighter" and will once again be ignored by the larger FGC and stay a niche series. If for the third time it tries to be a "serious business" fighter only, people will cry censorship and push for boycotts and yadda yadda.

I agree that a reboot similar to DOA Dimensions is the best path moving forward but I dunno if the series can really change its public perception after all these years.

Personally, they need to focus on making a rock-solid foundation first for it to even get its foot on the door: rollback netcode, tag mode, lots of unlockables for casuals. Only then can we start having the fanservice conversation imo.

 

My take on this is that it will be a nearly 100% female cast so they can definitively end the identity crisis they have been suffering for the last 10 years. They have never understood the western audience, despite it being their largest source of revenue, and it has been a constant source of drama for them in their inability to communicate and market clearly.

I think modern team ninja will be much happier releasing a strict budget, japan-focused IP (ie all boobs no mechanics) with absolutely no concern for how the west perceives it.

That is my prediction. I hope this prediction rings false, but I believe in my heart it is the most likely event.

 

titty busa and copying even more garbage from tekken lets go!

 

You know what I want in the DOA Reboot, I want the Gameplay Style to remain like Dead or Alive 5: Last Round.

No thanks. Make a whole new game from scratch. Fuck the stun game.

And not only that, I want Marie Rose, Honoka, and NyoTengu taken out of the Roster. They should bring back one of the more traditional DOA Characters like Bankotsubo to replace NyoTengu, but also have Shiden as a playable fighter. And maybe bring back Leon and Ein as playable fighters, not sure about Gen-Fu though. Then I would hope in vein their Voice Actors for their characters would be kept within the game and never bother changing one of them.

Good ideas. Back to basics reboot with the original DOA1 cast?

My take on this is that it will be a nearly 100% female cast so they can definitively end the identity crisis they have been suffering for the last 10 years.

DOA Heroines with guest star Ryu Hayabusa (or a female version of him lul)

 

I doubt they will recreate the OG cast as you know them. If its truly a reboot you can expect modern TN to focus their designs to be more lolicon with a few other common tropes scattered here and there.

Basically, I see it turning into Senran Kagura. Terrible low budget included.

Anyway, that's enough crystal balling from me. I have no inside information on this and I doubt even TN knows what they are doing at this moment.