In a press release on Tecmo's site, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword will be shipping March 2008 in the US. Previous rumors and spectulation placed Team Ninja's latest DS project to come out February 2008.

Also to whet gamers' appetites is the release of the US Boxart, which unfortunately is pretty underwhelming.

Hit the Forums for more discussion.

[NeoGAF | DS Fanboy]

TORRANCE, Calif. December 19, 2007— Tecmo® announced that Ninja Gaiden® Dragon Sword, the highly anticipated action game for the Nintendo DS™, will be shipping in March of 2008. With the intuitive use of the DS stylus, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword will let players control Master Ninja Ryu Hayabusa like never before.

Developed by Executive Producer Tomonobu Itagaki and the Team NINJA® development studio, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword features beautifully rendered environments, fast Ninja Gaiden-style action, numerous enemies, and a new story. Various directional movements and taps with the DS stylus will activate Ryu Hayabusa to run, jump, attack, and cast Ninpo (Ninja Magic). Certain combinations of movements will allow players to perform special attacks like the “Izuna Drop” and the “Cicada Slash” which were made famous in the Ninja Gaiden console games.

“Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword brings a new level of gaming action to the Nintendo DS,” says Yoh Watanabe, Tecmo’s Marketing Manager. “There’s currently a demo available on the DS Download Station and I urge everyone to try it out and you’ll know what I mean.”

Akira_EX via tecmogames.com »