The latest addition to this long running franchise is due for release in September on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but if you have already bought Ninja Gaiden 3, you’ll find a bonus alpha demo of Dead or Alive 5 ready and waiting.

The playable characters in the demo will differ depending on which version of Ninja Gaiden 3 you bought. If you pick up the PS3 version, you’ll get Hayate and Ayane, while the Xbox 360 version will offer Hitomi and Ryu Hayabusa himself. However, if you forked out for the Collector’s Edition of Ninja Gaiden 3, Team Ninja has included all four characters on the demo which is a nice little extra.

The good news, is that if you haven’t bought Ninja Gaiden 3, you’ll still be able to check out some footage of the demo as it is now starting to appear all over YouTube. One particular video which you may want to check out though comes courtesy of Free Step Dodge, who have provided a two hour gameplay stream with commentary. The video also gives you an introduction into some of the new moves featured in the game, including a brand new air throw for Ryu Hayabusa.

The graphics are looking pretty good as you expect from a Dead or Alive fighting game and unsurprisingly, there is a lot of breast action as well from the likes of Ayane and Hitomi. Check out the action for yourself below and let us know your initial impressions from the demo – have you played it?

At the moment, there’s no word on whether this demo will be releasing on Xbox Live or the PS Store, but we imagine it will stay exclusive to Ninja Gaiden 3 buyers for the time being, otherwise it defeats the objective really doesn’t it?

It has become apparent these days that the majority of notable game releases come with a Collector’s Edition. The most obvious one to release recently was the Collector’s Edition of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in which players could get their hands on a limited edition Alduin dragon statue.

Now, it teams that Koei Tecmo are following a similar pattern to Bethesda, as the Collector’s Edition of Ninja Gaiden 3 will give the opportunity for die hard fans to take home a collectable figurine of hero Ryu Hayabusa in battle.

The figurine will be given a proper title of ‘Duel of the Mask’ and it is easily the best goodie to come included in the Collector’s Edition. Other contents include a Ninja Gaiden artbook, an official soundtrack featuring music from the game, and last but certainly not least a demo copy of Team Ninja’s fighting game, Dead or Alive 5 which will hit consoles later this year.

While the contents of the Collector’s Edition are certainly generous, the most important aspect is price. We can tell you that in the US, the whole package, including a copy of Ninja Gaiden 3 will come in at $99. Just for comparison purposes, the Collector’s Edition of Skyrim was priced at $150 and didn’t include a game soundtrack CD.

We’re a big fan of video game music so paying $99 for all of this content is a great deal in our opinion. The demo for Dead or Alive 5 is a great bonus as well, so we have a feeling that most Ninja Gaiden fanatics will opt for the Collector’s Edition, as it should only mean that US games pay around $40 extra for all the other goodies and a lovely CE box.

What are your thoughts on the Collector’s Edition for Ninja Gaiden 3? Will you be picking this up in March, or do you think the actual gameplay showings of Ninja Gaiden 3 haven’t done enough to secure your purchase yet?

That’s right, as for the very first time in a Ninja Gaiden game, Ninja Gaiden 3 will feature online multiplayer. You may feel this is a slightly odd decision by Team Ninja since previous games have obviously focused on the single-player aspects of Ryu Hayabusa, but after watching the following video you may just be tempted to give it a try.

There are two online modes in Ninja Gaiden 3, either multiplayer against other players, or teaming up with a friend in co-op modes. Both of these modes will have support for up to 8 players at a time and you can see that it can become a free for all when playing with 8 players online, although things may get a bit frustrating when players hang around on roofs launching arrows to players below – as seen in the video.

There will be another interesting aspect of online multiplayer, as players will also have the option of killing themselves in brutal fashion. We’re not sure if this harms the enemy in some way, or if it is just out of pride in true Ninja Gaiden style, but we will try to find out more details on this aspect, it certainly looks crazy though.

Just like the single player mode, players will also be able to perform combos online like Ryu’s Izuna Drop and also make use of special Ninpo attacks by shaking the controller. We’re not sure about you, but the general feel of this online mode instantly sends us back to the great Tenchu games on PS1 and PS2 – we would love to see a brand new Tenchu game in the future. As for Ninja Gaiden 3, the game is coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3, but a version for Nintendo’s Wii U has already been confirmed before the end of the year as well.

Check out the new multiplayer gameplay below and let us know your thoughts on it. Does online multiplayer belong in Ninja Gaiden 3 or not?

Yeah that’s right, Ninja Gaiden 3 is hitting Japan first if you didn’t realize. We told you in a previous article this week that the game would be released in March, but there has been no official release date in the west as of yet.

However, information over at AndriaSang which cites Japanese publication Famitsu has revealed that the game will be released on March 22 in Japan. Further information that you may be not aware of is there will be two versions of the game available – a standard edition and a collector’s edition. Sadly though, there’s no info on what goodies will be included in the premium version but we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

As for a US and Europe release date, there is no solid date other than March. If the game is hitting Japan on March 22nd, then possible scenario could see the game released in the west on Tuesday December 27 in the US and Friday December 30 in Europe and the UK – obviously this is just mere speculation though until Team Ninja state otherwise.

The game will also be coming to the Nintendo Wii aside from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, but there’s no sign of it whatsoever since the console itself has remained in exile since its unveiling at E3 2011. One of the big talking points of the game prior to release though, has been about the fact that Ninja Gaiden 3 will feature online multiplayer for up to eight players. There’s already a collection of gameplay videos available online previewing multiplayer, the latest of which we have added below for you to check out. Feelings appear to be rather mixed should we say.

Are you looking forward to picking up the third game in the franchise, or are you worried that it lacks quality compared to the other two? We’ll update this when a solid US and EU release date is set.

Let’s start by saying that an exact date has not been confirmed, but we can tell you that Ninja Gaiden 3 will be available sometime in March, 2012. This news came via JoyStiq, apparently Team Ninja’s Yosuke Hayashi revealed this news to a crowd of journalists at an event in San Francisco a few days ago, no details were given regarding the release of the Wii U version of the game, perhaps it will be a launch title.

We don’t have much else to say at the moment, however if you are looking forward to the game’s release as much as us you should check out a few of other previous posts. Firstly check out these beautiful screenshots, secondly find out all about the multiplayer game modes and the support for up to 8 online players, finally be sure to read about the game’s lack of gore and watch the game’s trailer which was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show.

While we are here we will quickly mention what we spotted when researching information for this article. A recent tweet from the Team NINJA Twitter feed revealed the front cover of an upcoming Official Xbox 360 Magazine (see it here), in this issue we will get to see an exclusive unmasking of Hayabusa and the tagline reads “Get ready for the most brutal game on Xbox” – therefore it looks like we will soon find out a lot more about this game and Ryu Hayabusa pretty soon.

Will you buy Ninja Gaiden 3 on its release date?

Now the developers have released 12 new screenshots from Ninja Gaiden 3 that will satisfy even the most sadistic carnage cravings. The series has earned itself a reputation of being extremely gory with the first two games being so full of blood and the new screenshots suggest the third game won’t be any different. If the rest of the game delivers as much as the bloody content does then the game won’t be a disappointment.

These new screenshots also seem to contradict previous news that Ninja Gaiden 3 would not be as gory as it predecessors. They show just as many decapitations, just as much dismemberment and the flesh and bone slashing swordplay that the series has become known for. You can check out all 12 of the new screenshots by heading over to CVG.

There is no specific date for the game as of yet, we only know that it will be appearing in Q1 2012. Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi revealed the company is also making plan to bring Ninja Gaiden 3 to Sony’s new portable gaming device the PlayStation Vita saying the team is keen to expand the series. What do you think of what you have seen from the third game so far? Are you looking forward to its release next year?

The popular beat-em-up series will be getting a fifth installment in 2012 for both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, according to CVG’s report, which says a glimpse of it was shown secretly at a Tecmo event. Team Ninja marked the announcement with a trailer teasing some of the gameplay. The video, which can be viewed below, features a battle between Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden. ‘Dramatic new levels’ were also revealed.

The developers of DOA 5, Team Ninja also unveiled a new trailer for their upcoming game from their main series Ninja Gaiden 3. This game is also due to release in early 2012 and is the first in the series which has not had Tomonobu Itagaki involved. The trailer show Ryu showing know mercy with an English henchmen before transforming into some sort of fiend.

CVG was told that the game would be ‘spectacular’ back in May, by Yoshiki Sugiyama, Senior Managing Director at Tecmo Koei, who also said the ‘fans expect such great things from the next installment that we need to indulge in a little nurturing.’ Talks of a PS Vita version of the game were also mentioned, though it was stated that the development would not begin until Ninja Gaiden 3 was finished.

Will you be getting either of these two games from Team Ninja next year?

The news was first sparked by a post on Team Ninja’s official twitter page, which translated as ‘In fact… next week, we’ll also be announcing a new title.’ it is thought that the developers were to showcase a playable demo of Ninja Gaiden 3 at TGS anyway, but the new game announcement has come as surprise.

According to PSX Extreme, rumors concerning the developer’s involvement in a PlayStation Vita assignment have been circulating for quite a while, suggesting to some that it could be a portable game that it is to be announced next week. This would make more sense considering they are still working on Ninja Gaiden 3, so starting another console game would be difficult and could prove too much to handle.

Certain reports have even gone as far as to guess that the new game could be Dead or Alive 5, but we shall have to wait and see. Ninja Gaiden 3 will be playable at the Tokyo event next week for the first time in Japan. So far we have heard little about the third in the series of the notoriously hard games, yet we have been able to bring our readers details about the game. We also brought our readers a trailer, teasing some of the gameplay. Check out the link for a glimpse of what you can expect from the game which is expected to start shipping in early 2012.

What do you think the new game being announced could be?

Today we are able to elaborate on the speculation surrounding touchscreen controls, QTE (quick time events) and the lack of the gore that the game is famous for featured in the new game, as Team Ninja looks to clear things up for us.

According to the article at VG247, the lack of severed limbs and decapitated heads, which was noticed in a demo of the game, is deliberate decision. The game developers say ‘Ninja Gaiden 3 is about violence’ rather than gore.

As for the QTE, as the game progresses prompts for attack cues and tutorial buttons stop appearing. The QTE are merely for how the actions work and for introducing players to the game. Meanwhile the introduction of the new Wii U means the game will also be available on Nintendo’s console titled Ninja Gaiden: Razor’s Edge. It will also introduce new slashing Dragon Sword controls available through the console’s touchscreen.

You can check out the full article at VG247 for more details about what Team Ninja said. If you are interested in getting the game it will be available on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in early 2012 with a Wii U version soon after.

What do you think of the game so far?

Previously we heard that multiplayer game modes would be pretty complex and we also told you that the game’s release date would be the same for all platforms, now we have more detailed information to reveal courtesy of EuroGamer.

Apparently online modes will allow you to play both competitively or cooperatively, if you want to fight against each other up to eight of you can do this at the same time. It was also revealed that if you join the Shadows of the World online there will be new challenges, characters and missions awaiting you.

As we suspected Ninja Gaiden 3 will be coming to both Xbox 360 and PS3, there is also talk of a Wii U release called Ninja Gaiden: Razor’s Edge, however details regarding this title are currently scarce.

When we hear more about the upcoming Ninja Gaiden titles we will keep you posted, do you think NG 3′s multiplayer modes will be a success? Let us know in the comments section below.