As seen through the eyes of Yoshifuru Okamoto aka Itagaki's right-hand man.
1UP: What's the most distinct memory you have of the development of Ninja Gaiden?
YO: There were an incredible number of times that the boss and I got together to test the game and play it and work out some issues. There were all kinds of situations under which we did it. Sometimes we were drinking beer and play-testing the game, sometimes we were drinking whiskey and play-testing the game, and sometimes we were drinking Japanese sake and play-testing the game. So there was a ton of variations on how we were testing it! [Laughs]
http://teamninja.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3144160
1UP: What's the most distinct memory you have of the development of Ninja Gaiden?
YO: There were an incredible number of times that the boss and I got together to test the game and play it and work out some issues. There were all kinds of situations under which we did it. Sometimes we were drinking beer and play-testing the game, sometimes we were drinking whiskey and play-testing the game, and sometimes we were drinking Japanese sake and play-testing the game. So there was a ton of variations on how we were testing it! [Laughs]
http://teamninja.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3144160