How YAIBA: Ninja Gaiden Z Was Conceived

YAIBA: Ninja Gaiden Z was born out of a variety of different things, the game’s developers reveal in a new developer diary. One of these was the idea of combining the idea of a ninja and a machine, which resulted in Yaiba himself being a cyborg.

The second was elements that Comcept’s Keiji Inafune—who is overseeing the game—wanted to include. These included things like mechs, zombies and ninjas.

The third, says the game’s producer, was the concept of what Americans and Japanese think makes a ninja “cool,” and trying to find a balance that could accommodate these differences in opinion. You can hear about all these elements in the video above.

YAIBA: Ninja Gaiden Z will be available on February 28th in Europe and March 4th in North America for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.