Deals have been finalized, hancocks have been penned, and maybe even blood sacrifices have been made too. Heh. I kid. But seriously though: Tecmo and Koei have announced yesterday of their upcoming merger. They're setting up shop on April 1 (and no, there's no Apil Fool's joke about it!), 2009, under the banner of Koei Tecmo Holdings. Will there be any room for ex-Team Ninja rockstar Tomonobu Itagaki though? Not if current Koei CEO has any say on it.

There's life after Itagaki. Tomonobu Itagaki">Team Ninja is still very much alive, even with Tomonobu Itagaki's departure. In fact, Tecmo's announced that they'll be bringing three new titles that are currently being worked on by Team Ninja to the TGS 2008 show floor! Will they be Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive titles, or new IPs? Who knows... TGS, here we come!

Tecmo's unquestionably in a bubbling tub of hot water the past couple of months, but could their luck be changing? Square Enix has revealed earlier that they have a proposal for a friendly takeover on the beleaguered developer.

Following numerous trials and tribulations (probably because of a certain rock star developer we might all know - cough*Itagaki*cough), Yoshimi Yasuda has now resigned from Tecmo. Details of his resignation weren't revealed, but the only thing we could get is that he's bidding farewell to the company for "personal reasons".

Tecmo's been under fire the past many days, and in an act to have damage control, they released a statement clearing which of the thing we're hearing are true, and which are false. The publishing/developing company also has a favor to ask of members of the media regarding the matter. See what's up at the full article.

Following the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 for the Microsoft Xbox 360, things have gone way South for the people over at Tecmo. As if the departure of iconic game maker Tomonobu Itagaki and some key Team Ninja members wasn't enough, a big lawsuit has been filed against the company for alleged violations of the labor laws in Japan. More details after the jump.

Tomonobu Itagaki, the creator of Ninja Gaiden 2, Dead or Alive 5, and other hit games has left Tecmo, and rumor has it that other members of Team Ninja will be following suit. To find out more about this, head on over to the full article.

As this month comes to a close, blockbuster titles make the cut to establish March 2008 as a great period in time for us gamers. Of course, we're talking about the launch of big hitters headlined by Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Ryu Hayabusa will draw his Dragon Sword on the DS in North America following its recent Japan release, while glaives are going to fly in Dark Sector for the PS3 and 360. To know more about this week's releases, hit that jump!

Let's play a little association game. When I say "men in video game development," whose names come first to mind? Kojima? Jaffe? Miyamoto? The list goes on. Now how about if I say "women in video games development?" You probably thought of Jade Raymond then... blank. Kind of imbalanced ain't it? That was the point of Emily Newton-Dunn, former producer of the Burnout series. She remarks that there is a gender imbalance in the industry and that there should be more women making games. Full story after the "read more" link below.

 Team Ninja's leading man, the guy with a few smiles and a thousand words, behind the Tecmo-published Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series deserves his own QuickJump Quicklist, so here's something dedicated to Tomonobu Itagaki and all his greatness. We've collected some lines from Itagaki that are either very amusing, or so badass fanboys would rather follow him around and wipe his sunglasses clean for a living.

Find all that at the full article!