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"Secret Tape" reveals Tecmo has been lying in their Court Case against Itagaki

Gothic Girl | July 24, 2008 | News | XBOX 360 Company Misc 
You know the saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all"? Well Tecmo's president Yasuda is going to learn that the hard way.

But first, a recap: A few months ago Itagaki and Team Ninja sued Tecmo over unpaid bonuses. In retaliation Tecmo slapped Itagaki with a gag-order and fired him before he could quit.

And here's where it gets interesting... In court Tecmo denied not paying the bonuses (amongst other things) but a secret video tape that was recorded by Ninja Gaiden II's producer Yoshifuru Okamoto at the start of the year proves that many things Tecmo said in court were lies.

The tape also shows how much of a jackass Tecmo's president Yasuda is, revealing that he constantly harassed and insulted his employees, including Itagaki and Okamoto. (another thing that he denied in court).

Itagaki plans to use this "secret tape" as evidence in court, as well as the contract that specifically states he is owed 6.66% of Dead or Alive 4's earnings.
On January 22nd of this year, Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto taped a conversation with president Yasuda. Why was the producer of Ninja Gaiden II recording conversations with the president of Tecmo? According to Okamoto's affidavit, Yasuda had continually harassed him, calling him an "idiot", stating he was "no good" and saying that Okamoto "had no class." Okamoto claims that he asked for a meeting with Yasuda so that he could understand why he was so negative towards him. During this meeting, Okamoto secretly recorded their conversation. (Note: Okamoto has since left the company and had been contemplating doing so for some time.)

And during this meeting, current president Yasuda admits that the special bonus incentive had in fact been submitted and approved by the board of directors before he became president and while he was still section director. Yasuda says that the special incentive scheme had been discussed and a ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form) had been signed by the board of directors. This is in direct conflict with Yasuda's court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. Therefore, it is invalid. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that this special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this.

Also, during the conversation, Yasuda called Itagaki a "money grubber" because of the developer's desire to be paid incentives that had been approved by Tecmo. Yet in court, Yasuda has denied calling Itagaki a "money grubber." In Itagaki's statement, the game designer says that this audio recording is only a small part of concrete evidence he has. "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice," Itagaki states.
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  • 6 thumbs!
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    Silver Mirror | July 24, 2008 | reply
    Oh yeah you just got owned Yasuda

    I would have loved to have seen his face when he heard he had been recorded
    • 0 thumbs!
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      Tenken | July 24, 2008 | reply
      What's worse is that Itagaki was fired a week or so before he was to quit so they could avoid is other bonuses which he's now suing for.

      Tecmo did try and remove their gag order ahead of time, but it won't help any.
  • 1 thumbs!
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    Tenken | July 24, 2008 | reply
    Score

    Okamoto/Itagaki: 1 Yasuda: O
  • -7 thumbs!
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    Final Blade | July 24, 2008 | reply
    I will laugh if the evidence is completely false. Just wait next week rumor has been denied. XD
    • 0 thumbs!
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      Raziel_326 | July 24, 2008 | reply
      Where in this article does it say rumor? From all of your posts dealing with this case it looks like you have some sort of grudge against Itagaki.
      • -5 thumbs!
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        Final Blade | July 26, 2008 | reply
        It doesn't need to be labeled as one, i've seen countless of articles like this on other gaming news sites which has RUMOR on it. People here don't label anything with rumor even though it should be and thats besides my point.

        @Shadow please stop responding to my post if you have no clue what im talking about. Let me repeat, I WILL LAUGH IF THIS GETS SHOT DOWN NEXT WEEK AS DENIED! I can't make it any more clearer than this, if you can't understand this, then you need help.
        • 0 thumbs!
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          Gothic Girl | July 27, 2008
          Finalblade, there was ONE Itagaki article that was marked as a "rumor" by sites (the Team Ninja article), and that was later found out to be truth.
          You're going on as if this is one great big conspiracy that Itakagi has invented, when it's not. There is documented evidence in the form of a tape and his contact (that promises the bonuses) and you still believe that it's all just a rumor?
        • 1 thumbs!
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          Shadow net583x s | July 28, 2008
          In what I said, how did I make it seem like I didn't know what you said.
          This is what I said: You'd laugh if this was false, if one of the only real ways Itagaki can get what he deserves is false? This isn't Jack Thomspon

          And this is what you said: I will laugh if the evidence is completely false. Just wait next week rumor has been denied. XD

          In what I said, how did I not understand what you said?
    • 0 thumbs!
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      Shadow net583x s | July 25, 2008 | reply
      You'd laugh if this was false, if one of the only real ways Itagaki can get what he deserves is false? This isn't Jack Thomspon.
  • 0 thumbs!
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    Shadow net583x s | July 24, 2008 | reply
    Tecmo just keeps burying itself in more and more shit. You'd think it'd learn when all of Team Ninja sues it, but no.
    • 0 thumbs!
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      Storm | July 26, 2008 | reply
      The entire Team Ninja? I thought it was just a handful. Bad move Yasuda, getting caught red-handed. Should know better than to lie. :S This is bad, what'll happen to future Tecmo games at this point?
  • 0 thumbs!
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    blazeboy11 | July 28, 2008 | reply
    I hope tecmo gets their asses kicked.

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