Almost four years ago, Tecmo's famed Team Ninja development group launched the Xbox with a brilliant display of graphical prowess. The game was Dead or Alive 3, and while not as popular as Capcom, Namco, or Sega fighting games, the series has propelled the Xbox into the homes of many fighting games fans worldwide. While Xbox owners were once again met with a fighting game revolution, this time in the way of online play in Dead or Alive Ultimate, this remake was nothing more than a stepping stone to something much greater; something that is nearly upon us... Dead or Alive 4.

Very little is currently known about Team Ninja's next title, but what we do know is enough to start speculating on many aspects of the game that we don't currently know about. Team Ninja head honcho, Tomonobu Itagaki has stated on many occasions that Dead or Alive 4 has been in development since work was completed on DOA3, and that the title will debut on the Xbox 360, Microsoft's next generation hardware. Nothing has been said about when the title with hit the 360, but with four years of development behind it, DOA4 seems likely to be an Xbox 360 launch title, slated for a late 2005 release.

One thing is certain, Dead or Alive 4 will break the graphical boundaries of the fighting game genre. Both DOA3 and Ultimate remain two of the best looking games on the Xbox, and if the recently released screens from Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 2006 are any indication, DOA fans are in for a treat. Microsoft has stated that the Xbox 360 will be unveiled on May 12 on MTV, and it's very likely we'll see our first glimpse of Dead or Alive 4 on the popular cable network. However, with only a 30 minute time slot and elongated MTV commercials, it's doubtful DOA4 will get much airtime, if any at all.

If this turns out to be the case, expect to see a proper unveiling of Dead of Alive 4 at Microsoft's pre-E3 press event, taking place on May 16. Here, we'll likely see a lengthy gameplay trailer that will literally blow the socks off the gaming community and make Dead or Alive Ultimate look like child's play.

But graphics are not the only thing that will propel Dead or Alive 4 into the fighting game hall of fame. Dead or Alive Ultimate started the online revolution with an online virtual arcade that all online fighting games should take note of. However, the online setup is not perfect. There are many problems, including a ranking system that doesn't reward the better players, minimal options within the various online play modes, and the fact that Ultimate is a remake of an eight year old game.

In Dead or Alive 4, expect to see an enhanced version of Ultimate's online play that addresses many of the issues that have been brought up by fans of the series. After performing in-depth research with the game and its fans, we've come up with a list of improvements that we feel would be most welcomed in Dead or Alive 4. Tecmo, are you listening?

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