E3 2011

Itagaki returns with Devil's Third

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

E3 2010: THQ to publish first effort from Dead or Alive creator's Valhalla Game Studios; violent action title combines swordplay, gunplay.

Months after Tomonobu Itagaki first revealed the name of his new Valhalla Game Studios, the former Tecmo developer's first project with the outfit has been officially announced. THQ has released a teaser trailer (see below) for a new game called Devil's Third, with the clip bearing the Valhalla logo and proudly proclaiming the title to be Itagaki's.

So what happened to the Devil's first two?

So what happened to the Devil's first two?

Devil's Third is apparently a third-person shooter for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 featuring two characters: a women clad in snakeskin boots and jacket, and a man with an X-shaped scar on his face. While the woman in the clip carries a machine gun, she is only shown acrobatically eliminating uniformed adversaries with a sword. The man, on the other hand, is depicted dispatching foes not only with swords, but also with a shotgun, a bazooka, and even a Gatling gun.

While other high-profile developers like Bungie and Respawn Entertainment have made retaining ownership of the intellectual property a prerequisite to their publishing deals, THQ holds the trademark to Devil's Third.

Itagaki is best known as the creator of the Dead or Alive fighting franchise and the producer of the Ninja Gaiden games for the Xbox and Xbox 360. Itagaki parted ways with Tecmo in 2008, and spent much of the intervening time involved in legal action against his former employer. When he split from Tecmo, Itagaki claimed the publisher owed him about $1.4 million in unpaid bonuses for development of Dead or Alive 4 on the Xbox 360 and filed suit to get it. At the time, Tecmo said it would "let the court decide" on the bonuses. The two eventually settled out of court earlier this year.

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.

53 Comments

  • doctorsleem

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 5:54 pm GMT

    This looks hot. My love for THQ continues to grow.

  • istuffedsunny

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 3:25 pm GMT

    This is like Wet, except good. That's to be expected since it's Japanese made.

  • SoetSout

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 9:57 am GMT

    done compare this to wet, wet was an all out crap game, it had bad physics, controling was off. graphics was high detail but so many bugs.

    this looks actualy proper

  • theBeorn

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 9:04 am GMT

    game looks awesome.

  • teb60

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 8:36 am GMT

    @ Dark knight6 it does have a look to resemble the game Wet. Truthfully a lot of games are coming out like that,having some resemblance to another game already out. Its that two player aspect that changes the game and set it apart from what Wet turned out to be; I can't wait to see how this game does.

  • Torque203

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 8:30 am GMT

    swords against guns is so corny. if some one runs at you with a sword and you have a gun you shoot them and its done with. hes around by a bunch of guys with guns and his little ity bity sword is going to get them all.

  • Dark_Knight6

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 7:16 am GMT

    Devil's Third? Don't you mean Wet 2?

  • HollowNinja

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 6:47 am GMT

    Itagaki... no.

  • Dante2710

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 6:33 am GMT

    Looks great, looking forward to seeing Itagaki new game

  • alfredooo

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 6:33 am GMT

    itagaki = instant buy
    its good to know he is back, he should get back to trashing some upcoming releases as well.

  • Kengonin

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 5:17 am GMT

    @Danzorz88 it's the same for me

  • King_Gamer19

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 5:12 am GMT

    I saw this Friday night on GT TV & it's just bloody,gory & violent
    I love it

  • Danzorz88

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 4:55 am GMT

    Can anybody tell me why I can no longer view videos on the Gamespot site? The "loading" circle goes until 3/4 and then just stops for good.

  • gurux2k

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 3:24 am GMT

    I wonder why they showed it so early? This is a 2012 release.

  • greasemonkey42

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:17 am GMT

    this is great!

  • shkar

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:07 am GMT

    anything from the producer of NINJA GAIDEN would deserve a look into it...

  • x-2tha-z

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 12:29 am GMT

    I love the Ninja Gaiden games. Glad to hear Itagaki has a new IP being released. Hope we see more NG from Team Ninja. Even though it probably won be the same without Itagaki.

  • zaz0o0o

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 12:28 am GMT

    I'm still playing NINJA GAIDEN 2 since 2008 every time and than and I just can't wait for this one to come out.

  • ahpuck

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 12:08 am GMT

    interesting choice of music for the trailer. The game looks interesting, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt till we get more info.

  • Mirzaeekhorram

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 12:02 am GMT

    Itagaki games were all good. Don't judge it so soon, it might get better. Who knows?