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Ubisoft will bring Tenchu 4 to North America

by Majed Athab { Jan 23rd 2009 at 11:20AM }

It's always exciting to receive news regarding the stealthy assassins of Tenchu 4. Moreover, it's exciting to hear that those very same light-footed spies are coming to North America. Ubisoft will be taking charge of transporting the title over from Japan, having the game scheduled for a release sometime in Q4 of the fiscal year. That pretty much spells out expectations of a localized title to emerge later this month or as far away as March.

Death comes swiftly for enemies in Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

by David Hinkle { Jan 20th 2009 at 12:45PM }

A new video for that Tenchu game has hit the nets and it again focuses on Rikimaru. Instead of being boring cutscenes, however, this latest trailer gets down to what we really want to see: a badass ninja killing dudes. You know, real ultimate power and all of that.

Head past the break to watch the video.

Gallery: Tenchu 4

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Rikimaru's turn to impress in Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

by JC Fletcher { Jan 13th 2009 at 1:40PM }

Okay, now we're at a crossroads. Last time, we said that Tenchu's Ayame was edging her counterpart Rikimaru out as the ninja to fear in Tenchu: Shadow Assassins. In this latest trailer, Rikimaru delivers his own campaign platform. Between his gravelly, menacing voice (good job, Ubi!), his lightning-fast movements, and, well, all those dudes he kills, he makes a pretty good argument for his own badassery. And at the end of the day, no matter which ninja is cooler, the real winner is ... whoever isn't a guard in feudal Japan.

The trailer is after the break for reasons of violent, somewhat bloody content.

Gallery: Tenchu 4

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Rumor: Tenchu 4, Broken Sword, Onechanbara, more dated for Europe

by JC Fletcher { Jan 12th 2009 at 4:26PM }

A list of 'retailer info' containing release dates for upcoming games popped up on NeoGAF. Judging by the use of the German title for Broken Sword, we decided to try Amazon.de to check these dates against their database, and they match. These dates might be placeholders, and they might be subject to change, or our PALs might have an awesome March to look forward to!

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins might actually come out in Europe in the same month as North Americans get to play it: Amazon says it'll be out February 26, alongside Castlevania Judgment. Broken Sword: Director's Cut is listed for March 26, while Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (retitled, as is the Xbox game, Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Killers) is expected March 18 -- a slight delay from the official date.

[Via NeoGAF]

Tenchu 4 PSP trailer showcases plenty of ninja action

by Alan Tsang { Jan 12th 2009 at 3:00PM }

From Software just released a Japanese trailer for the PSP version of Tenchu 4 and it has everything one would expect from a game of the stealth-action franchise. Check it out after the jump -- badass ninjas sneaking around at night, check. Villain with a maniacal laugh, check. Blades piercing various people, check. Damsel in distress, check. The graphics also look like they haven't suffered a downgrade compared to the Wii version. Still no word yet on a US release.

And last but not least, the trailer confirms the inclusion of kittens in the game. Is it too early to crown Tenchu 4 GOTY?

[Via Siliconera]

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Tenchu: Accent Assassins

by JC Fletcher { Jan 8th 2009 at 10:55AM }

We've taken two things away from this English-language trailer of Tenchu: Shadow Assassins: first, that Ayame is totally hardcore, and knows all kinds of ways to just kill a dude with her bare hands (and legs, and such). Although she has no compunctions about using weapons, either. Previous footage has presented Rikimaru as a badass, but for our money, Ayame is the scarier stone-cold killer.

The other thing we learned is that in the absence of a large British population in ancient Japan, locals were unable to properly learn to imitate British accents. We're impressed with the accuracy with which Ubisoft has rendered this historical fact.

Gallery: Tenchu 4

Tenchu 4 devs worked to satisfy audiences of all skill levels

by JC Fletcher { Dec 29th 2008 at 8:25PM }

Acquire's goals with Tenchu 4 (Tenchu: Shadow Assassins, as they're calling it now) are pretty lofty. They wanted to create a game that expanded upon the classic Tenchu stealth gameplay in new ways that longtime fans and hardcore gamers would enjoy, while making the series more accessible.

In this interview with 1up's James Mielke, Acquire's Keisuke Kanayama and Takuma Endo described the ideas that informed Tenchu 4's design. "... We looked at this game as a way," Kanayama said, "with the Wii and its motion control, to allow someone to really feel like a ninja playing the game -- really attacking and blocking and hiding." And yet, Acquire made sure to include the ability to "go through cities in different ways using different tools, and to explore at their own pace ... " That seems like the kind of smart design that truly takes advantage of the platform.

The interview is also noteworthy for Acquire's rather diplomatic discussion of the Tenchu games developed in their absence, and the stories found within, as Endo alludes to in a statement about Rikimaru's apparent death in Tenchu and his mysterious resurrection later: "As I said earlier, we had our own ideas of where the story would go, but since it's already done, we will follow the already established Tenchu story where Rikimaru inexplicably survived."

Gallery: Tenchu 4

Two bonuses for Tenchu 4: Better boxart and bandana

by JC Fletcher { Dec 22nd 2008 at 10:00AM }

The Tenchu 4 (or, rather, Tenchu: Shadow Assassins) boxart we spotted on Ubisoft's site didn't really meet with the Internet's approval. While the image on the official site has yet to change, retailer GameCrazy is displaying a different boxart, which is quite likely to be a newer revision of Tenchu's North American box image.

We happen to think it looks better, though there's an odd mixture of art styles on display here due to the combination of art from the other American box and Japanese character art -- Rikimaru is a lot more realistic-looking than Ayame.

After the break, have a look at the preorder bonus being given away at Gamestop. It's pretty nice, for a video game-related bandana.

Gallery: Tenchu 4

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Tenchu 4 confirmed for the PSP

by Alan Tsang { Nov 26th 2008 at 10:50AM }

According to this Famitsu scan, Tenchu 4 will be coming to the PSP afterall. Rumors abound last month about a possible port of Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (the official title in the US) proved to be true -- the game will be released in Japan on February 12th of next year for 5,040 yen. Ubisoft's US press release for the game issued back in September indicated the game will be exclusive to the Wii, so no one knows yet whether we'll get the port here in the States.

[Via Siliconera]

Tenchu 4: Surprise boxart attack

by JC Fletcher { Nov 20th 2008 at 9:00AM }

We don't know how long this preview boxart image for Tenchu 4 has been on Ubisoft's site. We suspect it hasn't been very long, because the name change (to Tenchu: Shadow Assassins) is a very recent development, showing up just last week on GameStop.com.

The image is regrettably tiny, but detailed enough for us to see what's going on -- and what's going on is that Rikimaru is cutting the head off of whoever picks the game up off the shelf. We've enlarged the image a bit. It's not as beautiful as the Japanese box, but it does have a certain "video game ninja" quality about it.

We're not sure the name change was the way to go; while Shadow Assassins is both more descriptive and exciting than 4, if we were Ubisoft, we'd want to emphasize however we could that this game was somehow different from all the other non-numbered Tenchu games not made by Acquire.

If you're in a Tenchu mood, be sure to browse the official website. And if you're Australian and in a Tenchu mood, good news! The OFLC has rated the game for release.

Tenchu 4 videos are a neck-snapping good time

by David Hinkle { Oct 24th 2008 at 4:18PM }

IGN has uploaded a whole bunch of new videos from the Ubisoft-published Tenchu 4. While they're lacking in ninja cats, they aren't lacking in depicting the other stuff that excites us about the game: stealth ,slaughter, and REAL ULTIMATE POWER. As much as this game could be bad, we're holding out hope it'll be like the Tenchu of old. Or, you know, fun. It's currently set to release in North America and Europe early next year.

Sneak past the break to check out the videos.

Gallery: Tenchu 4

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Tenchu 4: Stealth waggle

by JC Fletcher { Oct 14th 2008 at 8:09PM }

There's been some confusion about the motion-control content of Tenchu 4, at least on our part -- how pervasive is it? Is it all waggle all the time, or is it basic Tenchu with added motion flavor? What we really needed was for someone to play it and describe it to us.

According to Siliconera, motions abound. Spencer describes lifting the remote to jump and shaking left and right to dive behind bushes. Stealth kills are accomplished by following QTE-style button prompts. In fact, Spencer said the game "felt more like a path of rapid fire quick time events rather than a traditional stealth game." So the motion controls are pretty frequently used.

Gallery: Tenchu 4

TGS08: Sneak through the Tenchu 4 demo

by David Hinkle { Oct 9th 2008 at 12:47PM }

You know, we've been watching Tenchu 4 for a bit now and we're holding out hope that it won't totally suck. Call us optimists or whatever, but we really thing the game can be a solid Wii title. For one, it's Tenchu and our fond memories of the early games keeps us hoping that the franchise will return to its roots again. Secondly, there isn't much in the way of compelling stealth-based games on the console, so a solid entry in the genre would benefit the library of games, in our eyes. Plus, it has kittens.

Above, you'll see the first video of three that takes you through the entire demo build available at TGS 2008. Head past the break for the other two.

Gallery: Tenchu 4

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Tenchu 4 to hit PSP, not Wii exclusive after all?

by Majed Athab { Oct 4th 2008 at 12:00PM }

There isn't enough ninja on PSP. There aren't enough pirates either, but Tenchu 4 can't solve that. It can, however, save us from a current lack of stealth kills and rooftop trespasses. Speaking to a Tenchu 4 rep, Siliconera got word that the famed neck-snapper would be going to PSP.

Later, they found out that the game was also listed on the OFLC (Australia) as a multiplatform release. Is this all just coincidence or an early leak? We guess the one place to find out would be at TGS starting next week.

Still images of Tenchu 4's motion controls

by JC Fletcher { Sep 24th 2008 at 6:11PM }

Tenchu 4 may purport to be a "return to form" thanks to the return of original developer Acquire, but it won't be exactly like the old games. While they've all had context-sensitive controls, Tenchu 4's will, of course, involve motion. Sometimes you'll be waving the Wiimote downward to put out lanterns, and sometimes you'll flick the remote left and right to stab someone in the back. We've seen motion at work in Tenchu 4 before, but these new screens show a bit more.

It's nice to know that Acquire decided on the WIi as a platform for Tenchu for reasons other than the low cost of development. For our tastes, traditional controls with a bit of added motion work great for action games.