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".

Tomonobu Itagaki has come to the second hearing of his lawsuit against Tecmo with guns ablazin'. He served up two chunks of evidence to support his case and force Tecmo's hand to pay him what he calls unpaid wages and bonuses. More in the full article up next.

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.

Tomonobu Itagaki has been causing quite a stir when he announced that he will leave Tecmo. In an effort to minimize the damage he can cause, Tecmo issued a gagging order on him. It's how you tell someone to shut up in legalese. Details in 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.

Tecmo has fired off a response to Tomonobu Itagaki's statement yesterday in which the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive creator announced his departure from the company. In the statement, Itagaki also accused Tecmo of not paying him a pre-agreed bonus for Dead or Alive 4 as well as causing him "significant emotional distress". Tecmo's response at the full article.