Dead or Alive (デッドオアアライブ Deddo oa Araibu?) is a video game series produced by Tecmo and developed by Team Ninja that is primarily composed of fast-paced 3D fighting games. Its story and characters are the creation of Tomonobu Itagaki, who has since left the company and is no longer working on the series.
In addition to its innovative countering system, the franchise is arguably as well known for its cast of busty female characters and the animation of their breasts. This aspect of the game's popularity led to the creation of the spin-off game Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and its sequels, where the women and their sex appeal play a more focal role than it does in the core Dead or Alive series.
Contents [hide]
1 Conception and development
2 Gameplay
3 Plot
4 Games
4.1 Main series
4.2 Spin-off series
4.3 Ninja Gaiden connection
5 Film adaptation
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Conception and development
The series was created by Tomonobu Itagaki when he became a programmer for Tecmo—which was in need of a hit to boost sagging game sales. In this vein, Itagaki made a wager with the head of the company, assuring the president he would create a video game that would garner a competent fan base.
Because of the wager, Itagaki named the series "Dead or Alive" to demonstrate the series' fail or succeed status and proceeded to form a division in the company named Team Ninja. Itagaki's inspiration for the series derived from the Fatal Fury series in Japan and the Mortal Kombat series in America, with DOA's fast gameplay and sexual appeal drawn from the former series, and the ability to knock opponents off landscapes from the latter.
Itagaki's stated reasoning was:
"I wanted to do something that would attract people's attention as I worked on the DOA game. Of course, DOA is known for its bouncing breasts. Well, I didn't come up with that idea originally. I actually got the idea from one of SNK's 2D fighting games Garou Densetsu. Of course, when I applied it to a 3D game, it was almost too much for people. And of course, it hurts to fall off from high places in DOA, but the idea came from Mortal Kombat. In the case of Mortal Kombat, the 2D fighter, the character
falls off and he simply dies. That ends the game. That's it. But we figured it would be more interesting to have the character