Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is set to arrive later this year, but does not include Ninja Gaiden Black or Ninja Gaiden II - definitely a bit of a disappointment for some fans - and now we know the reason why.
As it stands, the collection comes bundled with Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge - the Sigma titles being reworked releases for the PlayStation 3. The reason for the original version of the games being emitted? Koei Tecmo "couldn’t salvage" the data from the other titles. In an interview with Weekly Famitsu (and transcribed by Kotaku), Team Ninja brand manager, Fumihiko Yasuda, explained why the collection is the way it is.
"I am aware there are pros and cons. For me personally, Ninja Gaiden II was my debut, and so I have a deep feeling for it. But there’s another reason for this choice. To be honest, there are only fragments of the data that remain. We couldn’t salvage them. However, when developing Sigma Plus and Sigma Plus 2 [for the PlayStation Vita], we got as much of this kind of data together as we could and organized it. Because we use utilize that is the reason why we selected Sigma."
It's a shame the data has been lost, as we're sure many fans would have loved to have played a remastered version of Ninja Gaiden II at the very least. Luckily it can be played through backwards compatibility, and is even Xbox One X enhanced. But for now, we'll have to settle with the Sigma games, which all come with 4K, 60FPS support when the collection launches this June. Hopefully it'll be great!
Are you sad to see the emission of some of the original titles? Let us know in the comments below.
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 13
So why not just do a ROM dump from the games to recover what was lost. If the emulation community can do it In don't understand why the devs can't.
So dumb question to ask i read the post twice but how can data be lost by the developer ?
@TrueAssassin86x Corrupted backups, maybe? That's about all I can think of. I mean we are look at development before things like github and other cloud-based storage were cheap and commonplace.
The original files probably sat on some HDD somewhere collecting dust.
@Tasuki total noob question here, can you recover the source code by just dumping the game ROM?
@endlessleep No, you can't. Just look at Silent Hill HD Collection. You could take the original, emulate it, and rework assets though. It wouldn't be perfect and/or it would take a lot of work. You really need the source code to do it justice.
@Thaliard Yep, you’ve hit the nail on the head. This is the only way to ensure an actual remaster if they lost the other games’ source code. It’s a shame because Black is a far better game than Sigma but this is where we are.
Itagaki-san took some data when he left. 🙂
Surely the fact the originals are available digitally via backwards compatibility and upscaled for One X and Series X should make this easy???
This pretty much confirms that Xbox is the best place to enjoy the Ninja Gaiden experience.
@Xiovanni if you are backing up to any one device whether hard drive or disc it is always vulnerable. That 50-1000 years is best case, discs still fail.
Instead look at data redundancy (e.g. raid) and/or backup to multiple places.
Personally I recommend one local backup e.g. a local raid array and one cloud or offsite backup in case you have a fire or similar.
Local Storage is cheap a 6tb drive can be had for about £100.
Of course It depends what your data is worth to you, I work from home, so I use a service called Backblaze that costs about £50 a year to store many terabytes of data securely.
Worth the peace of mind.
@Thaliard yeah i assume you can't do it too. I know nothing of ROM dumping and modding but just amazed at what community modders can do with games released on console, which are more restricted compared to PC game modding. Recent news like some group are making their own expansion content for BOTW is just exciting to see and follow. What modders can do with more restricted modding environment compared to PC is kind of the reason i thought that you can somehow recover the source code by dumping the ROM, lol.
Also if that's possible, wouldn't that make crazy amount of possibilities? Like you can port any console exclusive games to PC or any platform you want.
@GamingFan4Lyf @TrueAssassin86x poor source control is a big reason. Many older projects in the industry would either have poor versioning, or only backed up the final build once projects are comlleted.
Sigma was likely built on top of the existing project, and backed up as the "final form".
In fact, this worries me a bit because it sounds like the final form was the Sigma Plus versions for the Vita, and those are likely a bit interior due to the mobile device's horsepower.
Btw this is not extremely rare. On my first indie project, an iPhone game, I messed up and did this to myself. I shipped a small indie game, and then made huge changes for Android. Re-arranged levels and tweaked many things, it was basically an alternate game by the time it shipped to android. Then at some point realized I had done things in a way it was impossible for me to ever just patch the iPhone game without turning it into the now vastly different Android build. Extreme novice mistake, for my case. I have heard of other novice teams doing similar mistakes.
@Tasuki there is little point to pursue emulation. This compilation is also headed to PS4 and Switch. Switch might not be able to emulate it and playstation users likely just want the Sigma games. On Xbox, we already got the BC versions that are not getting delisted.
cloud backups are a lifesaver
I got 3 years of office365 and moved everything to the cloud
Tap here to load 13 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...