Tecmo-Koei's Ninja Gaiden 3 is coming out March 20, 2012 and the company has announced that its online multiplayer will be locked behind a Online Pass. Joystiq has confirmed with a Tecmo-Koei representative that the title will require the pass to play online.
Ninja Gaiden 3 has been assigned an official release date. Before it was revealed to be sometime in March, but now we know that March 20 will be the precise day the game will be available at retail. The title will ship in a normal version, as well as a Collector's Edition dubbed the "truly deluxe package."
Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi announced that Ninja Gaiden would be released in March 2012 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and on the Wii U at a later date.
At this past E3 Nintendo pulled back the curtains on the Wii U, the company’s first gaming platform capable of producing High Definition graphics. While the controller and muddled presentation of the system took most of the spotlight, Nintendo produced a sizzle reel of 3rd party games that are said to be in development for the new system. One of the more notable games in the reel was Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, a title that should give Nintendo some credentials with the mature gaming audience. While we still don’t know for sure when the game is set to hit shelves, we have it on good authority it will launch alongside the system promoting it.
At E3 earlier this year, Nintendo showed a Wii U “sizzle reel” showcasing games that were said to be in development for or would be ported to the system at some point in the future. One of the titles shown was the highly anticipated Ninja Gaiden 3, a franchise that hasn’t seen Nintendo console release since 1995’s SNES Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. While it was fantastic news that Ryu would be slashing through enemies on the Wii U, there hasn’t exactly been much information concerning the title since. Actually, there’s been no information until now.
It’s been many years since Nintendo had the support of third parties for a home console. With the change into HD, many of the developers saw the Wii as a weaker system, choosing to develop their titles on systems with superior graphical capabilities. However, at Nintendo's Press Conference today, the company was thrilled to announce the vast support they will expect for their newly revealed HD system, the Wii U.
