Itagaki talks DOA, thrashes DOA: Dimensions

Pointed out to us by @grap3fruitman and posted on popular gaming forum NeoGAF, Tomonobu Itagaki, our long-favorite and past DOA producer, had some recent words to share in regards to his thoughts on the current state of DOA and what he thinks of Team Ninja in their current state.

Let's just say, he didn't really have anythinig quite nice to say about DOA: Dimensions.

Here's what Itagaki had to say:

There are a couple points that we do seem to disagree on though, "user X".
You say that DOA5 was the start of the problems (or nightmare?), but I think it started with DOAimensions. I could sense it just minutes after turning the power on, and I immediately had to turn it off. Combos aren’t something that you do with a touch panel.

There is not an official publication of this discussion. The NeoGAF poster reports that this came from a Facebook reply to a user from Itagaki himself, dating back to about a month ago.

Read the full discussion over on NeoGAF.

 

Damn, Itagaki. If you're gonna complain that much about DOA being a bad FG, make your own new fighting game I.P. I would actually like to see that happen. I guess he can't take the hold system though, because that's iconic to DOA.

Plus, he and Valhalla Studios would have to get some damn good sales from Devil's Third to get the production rolling.

 

You would NEVER EVER say this, if you were the artist. XD
Oh, well...

I mean if he still wants to be mad, he can. It's been years, i assumed he would be over it by now is all. If not, he can carry on

 

Damn, Itagaki. If you're gonna complain that much about DOA being a bad FG, make your own new fighting game I.P. I would actually like to see that happen. I guess he can't take the hold system though, because that's iconic to DOA.

Plus, he and Valhalla Studios would have to get some damn good sales from Devil's Third to get the production rolling.

Itagaki isn't a fan of "fighting games". It was always a struggle to complete the project. However, that being said, not being a fan of a genre can bring in new interpretations on how to improve the genre.

But yeah, he's done making fighting games.

 

The gameplay is by far the most important part of a game and without Itagaki, the gameplay has gone in a better direction; at least in terms of competitive play. DOA is better off without him.

 

Itagaki has a team behind him these characters aren't his it's TNs

 

The gameplay is by far the most important part of a game and without Itagaki, the gameplay has gone in a better direction; at least in terms of competitive play. DOA is better off without him.

isn't he the one that thought that you make a good game, sell it with boobs, then people would forget the boobs?

 

Itagaki with that salt. All I can say thank god he ain't on DOA.

 

Itagaki isn't a fan of "fighting games". It was always a struggle to complete the project. However, that being said, not being a fan of a genre can bring in new interpretations on how to improve the genre.

But yeah, he's done making fighting games.

Oh, that's interesting. Very interesting...

The gameplay is by far the most important part of a game and without Itagaki, the gameplay has gone in a better direction; at least in terms of competitive play. DOA is better off without him.

Agreed, because Itagaki was the guy who said, a "wrestler should never beat a ninja", and making Hayabusa God Tier in every DOA game before he left.

 

Still, people need to give Itagaki credit. Without him there wouldn't been a DOA to begin with.

Butthurt or not, he still gets credit for what he's done and you can't take that away from him. I am neutral with this one, if he left..well shit happens. Nothing you can do about that but to move on.

 

I agree and disagree with Itagaki... but like he's said before you could throw 100 people in a room with him and he would likely only be able to have a conversation with a few of them.

DOAD... I'll be honest, I agree with the touch stuff not being the way to pull off combos... I own the game sealed, and I will never open it because I'm not interested in that game. I know a lot of people that like it though... and still play it because of the roster and innovative controls.

I also completely agree that there is stuff that the staff doesn't know that he does. I would assume he understands the characters a lot better than the current staff, but that just doesn't matter at all. I feel like I understand the characters well enough to take them in a story-lined production of my own. Robert Jordan's books are a perfect example of these being done in other entertainment mediums.

That along with stage design, and character is probably the best point he has when discussing DOA.

He also said that active members of the community were displeased with DOA5... how many other than @grap3fruitman and the English Dragon from DOA World?

The stages aren't as good in DOA5, but that's the only problem. I would rather be with DOA5's stages than Tekken's or Mortal Kombat's stages.

My question for the community:

Is Itagaki actually aware of how displeased fans were with DOA4? Nobody wanted DOA to end there because DOA4 wasn't a great game. Is he aware that DOA5's mechanics trump DOA4's in every possible scenario?

I can hardly play the older DOA games because of DOA5, and that's the sign of a good sequel that needs a little bit more tweaking to be the perfect fighting game.

I respect Itagaki, but he's not proprietary to Dead or Alive anymore.

 

Still, people need to give Itagaki credit. Without him there wouldn't been a DOA to begin with.

Butthurt or not, he still gets credit for what he's done and you can't take that away from him. I am neutral with this one, if he left..well shit happens. Nothing you can do about that but to move on.

The community for the most part has nothing but respect for him, hes the one talking shit

 

See, I think it's a bit misleading to say he was talking shit. He just has his own preferences. Some of the older Itagaki interviews make this one look extremely tame and considerate.

I love the outspoken person that he is, but I can't agree with most of his points this time.

Every man I have ever worshiped in this life has shown me an ugly side of them I wish I wouldn't have seen. Itagaki's ugly side being DOA4, and his opinions afterwards.

The lesson is to never put a man on a pedestal, cause you never know when their going to fall off.

 

See, I think it's a bit misleading to say he was talking shit. He just has his own preferences. Some of the older Itagaki interviews make this one look extremely tame and considerate.

I love the outspoken person that he is, but I can't agree with most of his points this time.

Every man I have ever worshiped in this life has shown me an ugly side of them I wish I wouldn't have seen. Itagaki's ugly side being DOA4, and his opinions afterwards.

The lesson is to never put a man on a pedestal, cause you never know when their going to fall off.

I believe the axiom is "Never meet your heroes" or in my case not to have any in the first place.

 

I am interested in his interpretation of the Team Ninja intro vid.

 

If theres anything I'd want itagaki back for it'd be ninja gaiden. If there's one thing he can do right its make awesome action titles.

 

isn't he the one that thought that you make a good game, sell it with boobs, then people would forget the boobs?

Nah, he's the one who went "Company's in the red? Well 3D fighting games are the hot thing in the arcades right now. Let's make a game that's simple with big boobs to help bring in more casual players." Of course, I'm paraphrasing.

I am interested in his interpretation of the Team Ninja intro vid.

He did mention it in an interview from long ago. Just briefly, and I honestly forget most of it. I *think* it was something like the rough seas are the game industry, and Team NINJA is meant to be the best of the best so they're above the clouds in the sunlight. I believe it was an interview where he mentioned how he and Kojima were one of the last few fighter pilots of a game design era.

 

This guy should just concentrate on releasing his next game and not go back to being a belladonna and moan about his alcohol problems.

I respect him because of his stubbornness and attention to detail while maintaining a high standard, but he can be a bitch too.

Thankfully, he's not in character and is being honest, which I do appreciate.

The comment regarding diversity in the community was interesting.

 

He also said that active members of the community were displeased with DOA5... how many other than @grap3fruitman and the English Dragon from DOA World?

He was referring to the concept of following the feedback from a fanbase he didn't really care to utilize. Specifically, targeting the competitive fanbase cost them a lot of players on the casual side. I don't think Itagaki would have ever reached out to the competitive base for as much input as we've given. He has a mentality that's required for project management. As he likes to say, when asked for his decision he gives it within 5 seconds and that's that.

 

I too, enjoy making decisions without thinking of the consequences.

 

I really enjoy DOAD and still play it to this day. Actually if it weren't for this game I probably would have never even picked up 5. It's cool to have all of the characters stuffed into one game with many of the iconic stages from previous games. The story mode, although altered from the original canon is still enjoyable to play through and at least the gameplay was better than 4 imo. And I will echo what everyone else has said that NO ONE uses the touch pad to execute combos.