It'll be interesting to see where he ends up. This guy is such an eccentric character, but he does know his stuff. Ninja Gaiden (on the original Xbox) became the foundation for so many different games that have come after it. He is a master of presentation. I think he should get in on that little gathering that Shinji Mekami and Suda 51 have going on...

No doubt the man knows his fighters; but I wouldn't be surprised to see him have trouble landing another job as good as the one he left, he's too big of a liability. If our industry has ever had it's 'rock star', it's Itagaki. What other high profile developers have you heard of getting slapped with a sexual harassment suit?

I'd wager that he's going to open up his own studio.

kale - mikami and suda aren't doing anything together.

Brandon - maybe kale meant "start his own company"?

I'm pretty sure he meant Platinum Games, like everyone seems to think he should do, and I was just being a jerk about it. Itagaki will not join Platinum though, given all the disparaging things he's said about Kamiya, and how they're all friendly jovial guys, and he's cantankerous and egotistical.

All this in mind, it seems kind of odd that someone at Tecmo would do this. Kind of a shoot yourself in the foot kind of feel to it really, when Itagaki's no longer the driving force behind the Ninja Gaiden games I'd wager the series is going to suffer heavily for it. There's plenty of support for this though in other game series, when you take the heart behind it out the series tends to lose it's way.

Actually, I really liked Yosuke Hayashi, for what it's worth. He's the guy who was the director of Sigma. I have a feeling he can continue work on the series -- he's young, and seems self-assured, at the very least. Very different personality from Itagaki.

In a previous life, I interviewed him...

http://www.gamesradar.com/ps3/f/ninja-gaiden-sigma-interview/a-20070518934555320
82/g-2006092210916705008

Maybe Itagaki should join Yu Suzuki in "retirement." He hasn't really brought anything new to the table with the DOA series or Ninja Gaiden II (unless you count physics-driven breasts and mindless, repetitive violence).　He's akin to a dinosaur regurgitating 80's game designs.

He can always go to Namco and develop the next "Tekken" game, seeing he's such a huge fan.(sarcastic, of course.)