Season 2, Episode 5: Tomonobu Itagaki Forever! Notes

Season 2, Episode 5: Tomonobu Itagaki Forever!

In this episode we take the time to commemorate a legend in the video games industry that has often had indirect or direct impacts in the video game industry since 1992 when he joined Tecmo (later to be merged with Koei to form Koei-Tecmo in 2009). The frank earnest attitude and signature rockstar persona, bringing controversy and being the eager heel that begat competition with his peers such as Katsuhiro Harada (of Tekken fame), Hideki Kamiya (of Resident Evil 2 and Bayonetta fame). We talk about all the games that he's worked at over at Tecmo and Valhalla Games, the independent development studio and publishing company that Itagaki, were it not for his serious illness that took him this last October of 2025. He would often take risks in his projects to port them exclusively to systems such as the Sega Dreamcast, the first Microsoft Xbox and later Xbox 360 while other peers re reluctant and was never afraid to push forward years before the rest of the Japanese video game corporate industry would catch up.

A lover or rock and roll music, with one of his favorite bands being Aerosmith, cited the song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" as one of the songs that got him through a depression. He didn't just love rock and roll as he also had an ear for music as much as Hideo Kojima has an eye for movies. But unlike the more reserved Kojima, Itagaki was a guy who would always enter in a room and everyone would direct their attention to what he had to say. That was the kind of guy that Itagaki was, a rockstar.

So this entire episode is dedicated to his memory, his games, and what we guess he stood for as far as what we have observed over time from a distance.

Rest In Peace, Tomonobu "Oatmeal Cookie Man" Itagaki.

A Speech by Mr. Itagaki about his journey into video games A complete list of accreditations attribute to Tomonobu Itagaki as listed by MobyGames.com

🎶 Music

1. OP: Love, Don't Leave Me! by Kahoru Kohiruimaki ( link 1, link 2 )
2. Break: I Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith ( link )
3. ED: Jaded by Aerosmith ( link )

🎮 Games Mentioned

1. Dead or Alive - 1996
2. Dead or Alive ++ - 1998
3. Dead or Alive 2 - 1999
4. Dead or Alive 3 -2001
5. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball - 2001
6. Ninja Gaiden - 2003
7. Dead or Alive Ultimate - 2004
8. Ninja Gaiden Black - 2004
9. Dead or Alive 4 - 2005
10. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 - 2006
11. Ninja Gaiden II - 2008
12. Devil's Third - 2015