hile it just passed the midnight hour here in Tokyo, we've just returned from Tecmo's Tokyo office where they showed us the trailer for Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PlayStation 3.  Mind you, the trailer was shown in 1080p, to boot (the final game may not be in 1080p, however). The title will ship exclusively for the PlayStation 3 next Spring, and the company is targeting a worldwide release.

What?!

Okay, before all you Xbox fans get your panties in a bunch, Sigma is NOT Ninja Gaiden 2. Ninja Gaiden Sigma is an upgraded port of Ninja Gaiden with a ton of bells and whistles and upgraded visuals. Series mastermind Tomonobu Itagaki isn't even at the helm of the project, and instead heading Sigma is Yousuke Hayashi.  The 27-year-old rookie has been with Tecmo for five years and has worked closely with Itagaki on DOA projects, and was in charge of enemy AI for Ninja Gaiden.  Yep, this is the guy that made sure the enemies in Ninja Gaiden were tough as nails.

Details are still a little slim, but from what we were told, expect a new playable character - Rachel, new enemy AI, new weapons, and much more when Sigma is released in the Spring.

So is Team Ninja done with Xbox 360 development?  Hardly. Itagaki explained to Game Informer Online that this PS3 team was hand picked to bring the Ninja Gaiden experience to a broader audience. He stated that he was still extremely dedicated to the Xbox 360 platform, and that any new projects from Team Ninja would be released on the Xbox 360.  Does that mean Ninja Gaiden 2?  We believe so...

We'll have an in-depth interview with both Hayashi and Itagaki soon.