Tag Archives: Yoshimi Yasuda

Grasshopper Manufacture and Kodokawa Games have launched an initiative to collect player feed back on Lollipop Chainsaw, according to Gamespot‘s translation of an Impress Watch interview. Kadokawa boss Yoshimi Yasuda said Lollipop Chainsaw wasn’t received as well as might have been hoped, and the two companies have taken on board feedback from Japanese and International fans as to why. The data will be used to help fine tune the upcoming Killer is Dead, which will hopefully break something of a poor critical and commercial streak for Grasshopper.

At Ubisoft’s E3 press event it was announced that No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle would be published by the company.

A small video was shown.

The game’s set three years after the original, and features both Travis Touchdown and Silvia Chryste.

It’s out for Wii in early 2010.

Press release below.
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Kotaku is reporting that the troubled Tecmo president, Yoshimi Yasuda will resign today.

The board of directors have apparently accepted his resignation which was handed in this morning. Only “personal reasons” was given as a reason for Yasuda stepping down.

However, it most likely has something to do with with the secret Temco tapes which appear to support Itagaki’s claims that he was due “special incentive” payments.

More through the link.

By Mike Bowden

Tomonobu Itagaki believes Tecmo owes him “special incentive” wages for the completion of DOA 4, but Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda vehemently denies that he’s required to pay Itagaki. Itagaki was fired over the whole ordeal, but now we have a tape provided by Kotaku that makes a pretty strong case for Itagaki’s claims.

The tape was recorded by Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto – without Yasuda’s knowledge – and consists of a conversation between Yasuda and Okamoto. At one point, Yasuda says of the “special incentives” payment that, “The board of directors approved it and signed the ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form),” which essentially means that Yasuda is required to pony up.

If all of this is true, it seems Itagaki was in the right when he sued Tecmo. The tape has been submitted as evidence in court, so we’ll see.

For the full tape as well as a translation of its contents, check out the link.

By Nathan Grayson

Update: The full release is, in Japanese, here. As translated by Kotaku:

Tecmo has issued a response to Tomonobu Itagaki’s statement yesterday saying he was leaving the company over an unpaid completion bonus.

The statement, paraphrased here by IGN, says that the bonus Itagaki mentioned was agreed under previous management and that the developer has been paid through the company’s bonus structure every year.

The note also refers to damages sought against CEO Yoshimi Yasuda as being the product of “distortions” from Itagaki.

The Tecmo statement goes on to complain about Itagaki’s public disclosure of the situation, which it considered to be a personal matter. It also accuses Itagaki of referring to Team Ninja’s productions in his statement as if they were developed exclusively by himself.

More through the link.

Update: Kotaku‘s got a statement out of Tecmo on this: “We’re aware of the statement sent out to the press by Itagaki but do not have anything more to add at this time.”

Boom. According to this 1UP post, enigmatic Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki has resigned from the developer and is suing parent company Tecmo for “unpaid completion bonuses”.

In a statement, Itagaki said: “”I, Tomonobu Itagaki, hereby announce that on the 14th of May 2008 I filed a complaint in the Tokyo District Court against Tecmo Co., Ltd. for unpaid completion bonuses, and against the President of Tecmo, Yoshimi Yasuda, for such unlawful acts as unreasonable and disingenuous statements made towards me, claiming damages in total of 148 million yen. I also announce that this complaint was delivered to the defendants on May 22nd of the same year.”

Itagaki’s resignation was effective as of June 1.

The developer said that a completion bonus had been promised before start of work on Dead or Alive 4, and was never paid.

“President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me, ‘If you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.’ In addition, he made demeaning remarks about me to my subordinates and colleagues, causing me significant emotional distress and worsening my personal relationships and work environment,” Itagaki said.

“Thus, I have no choice but to resign from Tecmo.”

Itagaki added a note to game fans at the bottom of the statement, saying he was sorry that he’ll never be able to make Dead or Alive 5.

The news comes as what will clearly be Itagaki’s last Tecmo game, Ninja Gaiden 2, readies for launch this week.

Read the full thing after the link.

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