Early this morning (or late last night, depending on your point of view), Tecmo's head of Team Ninja, Tomonobu Itagaki, made his stunning announcement that he was leaving the company on the eve of one of its biggest releases, and furthermore, he was suing them for services rendered and unpaid.

So then, the question is, where does he go from here? Some have suggested he may start his own game company, while others believe he could go exclusively to Microsoft. Which may not be such a bad deal for him, especially if he wishes to continue his thoughts on a World War II game set in the Pacific Theater.

Of course, this could potentially strain relations between Microsoft and Tecmo; conversely, Itagaki may have been the relationship itself, given his admitted affinity for working with the hardware and the exclusives he created for it, leaving others to create what he felt was an inferior product for the PS3.

This could also loosen up the stranglehold that, for the most part, Xbox has held on the Dead Or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series; sure, Ninja Gaiden II was to be the series' swan song (and Itagaki's for Tecmo as well, it seems), but I find it doubtful that Tecmo will hesitate to find some way to continue both franchises, whether Itagaki is there or not. Hell, Itagaki wasn't even a part of the original hit Ninja Gaiden trilogy on the NES; he merely brought it back to the forefront of gaming. Or so a high-ranking, unpaying Tecmo exec might think, at any rate.

But without Itagaki at the helm, I find it questionable that they'll really be losing anything, should a newer DOA or Ninja Gaiden surface. Itagaki is known for basically exploiting everything he can to create "masterpieces" of gaming, "beautiful" games being his primary goal. Would his successor hold development to the same standards as Itagaki did? Would they even be allowed to, without the sway in the company he likely held?

I'm calling it right here, right now: I fear the DOA and Ninja Gaiden series are now at a high risk right now of becoming very generic games within their own genres, sequels without the care and passion put into it which Itagaki did, as he practically saw these works as his own children.

Life, and games, will go on. But where Xbox, Tecmo and its most prized properties are concerned, it may never be the same again. Otherwise, we probably would not even be talking about this.