<s>
Ninja	B-Application
Baseball	I-Application
Bat	I-Application
Man	I-Application
is	O
a	O
1993	O
beat	B-Application
'	I-Application
em	I-Application
up	I-Application
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
developed	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Irem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
Irem	O
's	O
previous	O
beat	B-Application
'	I-Application
em	I-Application
up	I-Application
arcade	B-Application
game	O
,	O
Undercover	B-Application
Cops	I-Application
,	O
Ninja	B-Application
Baseball	I-Application
Bat	I-Application
Man	I-Application
features	O
playable	O
characters	O
with	O
several	O
different	O
fighting	O
moves	O
that	O
sacrifices	O
health	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
annihilate	O
every	O
enemy	O
on	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Irem	O
America	O
opened	O
its	O
U.S.	O
office	O
in	O
1988	O
in	O
Redmond	O
,	O
Washington	O
,	O
headed	O
up	O
by	O
Frank	O
Ballouz	O
(	O
founder	O
of	O
Fabtek	O
,	O
a	O
thriving	O
video	O
kit	O
company	O
and	O
former	O
North	O
American	O
publisher	O
of	O
several	O
arcade	B-Application
machines	O
by	O
Seibu	O
Kaihatsu	O
and	O
TAD	O
Corporation	O
)	O
and	O
National	O
Sales	O
Manager	O
Drew	O
Maniscalco	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
time	O
,	O
Drew	O
created	O
the	O
"	O
Ninja	B-Application
Baseball	I-Application
Bat	I-Application
Man	I-Application
"	O
video	O
game	O
concept	O
(	O
including	O
the	O
English	O
title	O
,	O
plot	O
and	O
characters	O
)	O
and	O
licensed	O
it	O
to	O
Irem	O
America	O
in	O
1991	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
was	O
Teenage	O
Mutant	O
Ninja	B-Application
Turtles	O
;	O
the	O
other	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
Batman	B-General_Concept
films	O
(	O
possibly	O
Batman	B-Application
Returns	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
his	O
concept	O
,	O
he	O
liked	O
the	O
word	O
ninja	B-Application
,	O
because	O
of	O
it	O
sounding	O
mysterious	O
to	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drew	O
's	O
original	O
gameplay	O
ideas	O
for	O
the	O
video	O
game	O
was	O
for	O
a	O
1-player	O
,	O
adventure-based	O
,	O
platform	O
game	O
similar	O
to	O
Nintendo	O
's	O
Super	B-Application
Mario	I-Application
Bros	I-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
very	O
successful	O
game	O
sales	O
of	O
several	O
4-player	O
games	O
(	O
most	O
of	O
them	O
being	O
beat	B-Application
'	I-Application
em	I-Application
ups	I-Application
)	O
,	O
Drew	O
added	O
3-players	O
in	O
an	O
effort	O
to	O
compete	O
with	O
the	O
4-player	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
title	O
and	O
characters	O
were	O
Drew	O
's	O
concept	O
,	O
Irem	O
Japan	O
programmed	O
the	O
arcade	B-Application
game	O
,	O
and	O
modified	O
the	O
look	O
of	O
its	O
prototype	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
4-player	O
beat	B-Application
'	I-Application
em	I-Application
up	I-Application
version	O
,	O
the	O
prototype	O
names	O
of	O
the	O
four	O
main	O
characters	O
were	O
Captain	O
Jeff	O
(	O
red	O
)	O
,	O
Nunchaks	O
Sugar	O
(	O
green	O
)	O
,	O
Hammer	O
 '	O
Eddy	O
(	O
yellow	O
)	O
and	O
Naginata	O
Jimmy	O
(	O
blue	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drew	O
later	O
came	O
up	O
with	O
the	O
final	O
names	O
of	O
the	O
four	O
protagonists	O
that	O
are	O
currently	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
finished	O
version	O
today	O
,	O
which	O
the	O
names	O
are	O
references	O
to	O
the	O
four	O
baseball	O
stars	O
during	O
the	O
arcade	B-Application
game	O
's	O
release	O
:	O
Jose	O
Canseco	O
(	O
red	O
)	O
,	O
Ryne	O
Sandberg	O
(	O
green	O
)	O
,	O
Roger	O
Clemens	O
(	O
yellow	O
)	O
and	O
Darryl	O
Strawberry	O
(	O
blue	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
being	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
top	O
arcade	B-Application
hits	O
of	O
Japan	O
while	O
receiving	O
good	O
reviews	O
from	O
critics	O
during	O
its	O
1993	O
release	O
,	O
when	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
sales	O
of	O
other	O
kits	O
sold	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
it	O
sold	O
poorly	O
in	O
the	O
Far	O
East	O
and	O
especially	O
North	O
America	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Of	O
the	O
1042	O
units	O
sold	O
,	O
only	O
50	O
units	O
were	O
sold	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
,	O
making	O
Ninja	B-Application
Baseball	I-Application
Bat	I-Application
Man	I-Application
quite	O
rare	O
(	O
especially	O
in	O
the	O
U.S.	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
all	O
of	O
this	O
,	O
the	O
popularity	O
of	O
the	O
arcade	B-Application
emulator	O
MAME	B-Device
caused	O
Ninja	B-Application
Baseball	I-Application
Bat	I-Application
Man	I-Application
to	O
gain	O
more	O
popularity	O
years	O
later	O
than	O
it	O
had	O
when	O
originally	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
his	O
interview	O
with	O
GameRoom	O
,	O
he	O
now	O
owns	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
Ninja	B-Application
Baseball	O
Bat	O
Mans	O
non-video	O
game	O
products	O
,	O
while	O
Irem	O
Japan	O
owns	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
its	O
video	O
game	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
