Ninja Gaiden and DOA Online: Japanese launch dates fixed

TOKYO--Tecmo announced the release dates for two widely-anticipated titles this week. Ninja Gaiden will launch in Japan on February 26 with a recommended retail price of 7,800 yen ($71), and Dead Or Alive Online will hit the stores in March, 2004, with a price tag of 8,800 yen ($82).

To sweeten the deal, Tecmo has put together some incentives for gamers that pre-order either game: figurines of popular characters from the Dead or Alive series. Ninja Gaiden pre-orders get an Ayane figurine, while DOA Online pre-orders get Kasumi.

For Ninja Gaiden at least, these incentives probably aren’t necessary: the Japanese press is buzzing about this game. If anything can put a dent in Japanese sales, however, it might be the decision to make the games Xbox exclusives. As of the end of July, Microsoft admitted that only 450,000 Xboxes have been shipped in the Japanese market.