Dead or Alive 4

[Missy]

TECMO AND BUNGIE STUDIOS ANNOUNCE NEW “HALO” CHARACTER AND ENVIRONMENT TO BE INCLUDED IN DEAD OR ALIVE 4

LOS ANGELES, Calif.  October 25, 2005—Tecmo® and Bungie Studios announced today that Team NINJA®, Tecmo’s highly regarded internal development studio, and Bungie Studios have teamed up to bring Spartan-458, a one-of-a-kind character from the “Halo®” video game, as an unlockable playable character in the highly anticipated launch title Dead or Alive® 4, for the next-generation Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.  Along with the new character, the two development teams are also introducing a “Halo”-inspired environment as an unlockable fighting stage in Dead or Alive 4. Both the new character and environment will be featured in the game when it hits shelves, along with the launch of the Xbox 360 system, this holiday season.

The idea for the collaboration began about two years ago when the heads of both teams, Bungie’s Pete Parsons and Team NINJA’s Tomonobu Itagaki, met at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.  Both are huge fans of their respective studios’ work and thought it would be a great idea to team up on a future project. What better way to do so than to introduce a hidden character from “Halo” in the next generation world of Dead or Alive 4 on the Xbox 360 system?

“The opportunity to work with Team Ninja and combine our powers to strike yet another blow in our quest for world domination, was too alluring to pass up,” said Pete Parsons, Studios Manager at Bungie Studios, during a Game Informer interview in their January issue.  “Plus, we just think the idea of putting a Spartan into a DOA game totally kicks ass.”

Team NINJA’s outspoken head producer, Itagaki, commented on how the two very distinct worlds can co-exist in Dead or Alive 4 , “Our first priority was, above all else, is to remain truthful to Bungie’s original design and background material. Then, ideally we were able to add a bit of Team NINJA’s distinctive flavor on top,” he said.  “Think about it for a second: do you honestly believe there is anything out there that can’t be accomplished with the technologies of Bungie and Team NINJA put together?”

Players will find out for themselves when Dead or Alive 4 explodes onto store shelves this holiday season as the premier fighting title for the next-generation Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.  Catch all the newest Dead or Alive 4 information and action-packed screens shots on Tecmo’s official website at www.tecmogames.com.

[J Marv]

Tomonobu Itagaki is maybe the cockiest person I've ever heard of. Sometimes it's kind of charming and you can't hate him, other times it's insanely annoying.

I'm assuming it's Master Chief. Sounds like fun, even though it is a bit silly.