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Interview: XSEED on what happened with Muramasa and more [update]
[Update: we had attributed some of these remarks to the wrong person. Our apologies to Mr. Berry.]Last September, XSEED Games announced its intent to publish Vanillaware's Wii side-scroller Muramasa: The Demon Blade in North America, to the delight of hardcore action gamers and people who like to see pretty things. Then, in April, it announced that it wouldn't be publishing the title, a duty that then fell to Ignition Entertainment.At the time, we wondered why XSEED would decide not to publish such an eye-catching game. The short answer: it wouldn't decide to do that. XSEED's Jun Iwasaki and Ken Berry gave us details on the Muramasa situation, as well as the recent Fragile announcement, and the timing of Flower, Sun, and Rain. And, of course, they gamely accepted our pleas for Retro Game Challenge 2.
DS releases for the week of November 10th
Lots of games out this week that may have dropped off your radar, like Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff and Populous DS. If you like a wide variety of games, this one may be tough for you: there's a lot of different things out this week, and unfortunately, they all cost money. That one always gets us in the end.Europe is just now getting Dementium: The Ward? We'd feel bad, but you guys also have Flower, Sun, and Rain this week, so mainly, we're just jealous. Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten Ruins Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno Call of Duty: World at War futureU: The Prep Game for SAT Guinness World Records: The Videogame Hello Kitty Daily My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr National Geographic Panda Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia Pony Friends: Mini Breeds Edition Populous DS Sally's Salon Six Flags Fun Park Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff TrackMania DS Winx Club: Mission Enchantix WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals
DS Daily: Saving up for a Flowery, Sunny, and Rainy day
Marvelous announced a 2009 release for the DS version of Grasshopper Manufacture's Flower, Sun, and Rain, probably to avoid having the game get lost in the holiday rush. But it's set to come out this year in Europe, which means that importers will have the opportunity to play the game in English several months before it's available in the US.If a game is available in English before its US release, do you import? Did you pick up the Japanese DS versions of the Phoenix Wright games? If not, is it because of the price difference? Or is supporting efforts to put games like these in US stores worth a few months?%Gallery-12911%
Flower, Sun and Rain DS remake coming to NA in 2009
If you're itching a "murder and mystery in paradise" kind of game, you need look no further, but you will have to wait. Marvelous and XSEED have announced (via press release) that the DS remake of Suda51's Flower, Sun and Rain is coming to North America in 2009. While it's not specified when in 2009, the ever-reliable (not really) Amazon UK page lists November 14, so we're hoping early in the year. Flower, Sun and Rain revolves around the eponymous hotel where the main character must repeat the same day -- and terrorist attack -- over and over again. Basically, it's just like Groundhog's Day except with an unfortunate dearth of Stephen Tobolowsky. Gallery: Flower, Sun, and Rain
Flower, Sun, and Rain in North America in 2009
No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle might be the biggest news of TGS involving Suda 51 and the letters "D" and "S," but it's not the only such news. Marvelous and XSEED have confirmed a US release for the DS remake of Suda 51's PS2 adventure game Flower, Sun, and Rain, which stars Sumio Mondo, a man forced to relive the same day, in which a sunny resort is blown up by terrorists.Of course, the game is coming out in Europe this November, so waiting until the US release may only be a cost-cutting measure on the part of impatient Suda fans. But we're happy to be able to go into a store -- eventually -- and buy it!%Gallery-12911%[Via press release]
Flower, Sun and English Screens
Click to embiggen. Rising Star Games has planted a European release date and the first English language media for Flower, Sun and Rain on the internet. Although the release date (October) is old news grandad, everything else is new, including the very lovely and understated boxart above, featuring a passenger airliner cruising across a calm, salmon-colored sky, a bomb presumably tucked away somewhere on board.Some (very) minor details/impressions we picked up from the screens: We've now got our first look at the memo pad that can be used to make notes. Handy! Somehow, vampires are involved, thus escalating Flower, Sun and Rain's awesomeness. The 3D sections look more crude than we recall. We wonder: will Rockstar be able to better this? Geeks and freaks ahoy! %Gallery-12911%[Via press release]
Marvelous/XSeed deal means more Wii, DS games
According to Marvelous director Yasuhiro Wada, the deal with XSeed to publish the company's titles in the U.S. is the result of success in Europe. Unlike most companies, Marvelous focused on Europe first (through Rising Star Games) before expanding into the U.S.The agreement with XSeed is more than a simple deal to publish Marvelous games. In fact, Marvelous plans to do their own publishing, with XSeed distributing. They intend to localize other companies' games, as well, and the current plan is to focus primarily on the development and publishing of Wii and DS games. We suspect that their announced European releases -- Lux-Pain and Flower, Sun, and Rain -- are high on the list of potential American releases under the new announcement, along with Avalon Code.
Flowers, Dungeons, and Pain confirmed for Europe
A new batch of European release dates has suddenly materialized from Nintendo, and is packed with all sorts of exciting confirmations. The most thrilling, for us at least, is the news that Flower, Sun, and Rain will be getting that rumored European release this October, followed by Lux Pain in November. If you want to know where to send your effusive "thank you" letters, Rising Star are the ones in charge of localizing both titles. Other items of interest include a specific launch date for Bakushow, and Euro versions of Pokémon Platinum (big surprise, right?) and Dungeon Maker.But here's a question: what's with DS Novel? It's been hanging around on these lists for the best part of eight months now, and we're still no nearer to learning a release date or what it even is. Check out the full list for yourselves past the break!%Gallery-12911%%Gallery-18526%
Flower, Sun, and Rain rumored for Europe
We're convinced that Rising Star is the best thing to happen to Europe since the Euro usurped the dollar (grumble). After the rumor that the company is localizing Lux Pain in the continent, Suda51's upcoming DS port Flower, Sun, and Rain also showed up on Amazon UK's website. If you haven't taken notice of this game, it's like Groundhog Day, only with less Bill Murray and more bomb on a plane.These Amazon UK listings better have some weight behind them, or the hearts of niche gamers in Europe will be broken. Won't someone think of the children? Gallery: Flower, Sun, and Rain [Via Siliconera]
Send your desktop to Lospass
In order to promote the new remake (or port or whatever it is) of Flower, Sun, and Rain, Marvelous has released a new desktop wallpaper featuring protagonist Sumio Mondo running away from Toriko Kusabi, identifiable here by her distinctive dress. It comes in 1024x768 and 1280x1024 flavors.We love this wallpaper because of the fact that even though it's an action scene, the game's art style imparts a vacation-like serenity to the image. It's a very mellow run. We also love it because it bizarrely echoes the composition of another piece of promotional material for a Suda 51 game, which itself contained a little tribute to this game.%Gallery-12911%
Rocking out to Flower, Sun, and Rain
If you find yourself importing Flower, Sun, and Rain because you have no faith in localization, there will be at least one feature you won't have trouble understanding.Some extra content in the game includes a jukebox feature, and luckily, music is an international language. At least you'll have something to listen to while you try to figure out how to read Japanese. We wonder if the soundtrack is even half as good as the one for Suda 51's Wii game, No More Heroes.See also: 2008's Biggest Blips -- Flower, Sun, and Rain / The Silver Case%Gallery-12911%
Fresh Flower, Sun and Rain screens
We don't want it to seem as though we're making excuses for the game, but we've genuinely warmed to Flower, Sun and Rain's slightly crude visuals. Those giant slabs of color and craggy polygons exude a certain charm of their own.We're sure Goichi Suda and co. could cook up something that looks a lot more brown and realistic -- say, Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles -- but that aesthetic would just lack a certain Sudaness. FSR, on the other hand, is quite unlike anything else we've seen on the DS, and we like it all the more for that. Catch a further seven shots after the break, before they explode.See also: 2008's Biggest Blips -- Flower, Sun and Rain / The Silver Case
2008's Biggest Blips: Flower, Sun and Rain / The Silver Case
Developer: Grasshopper ManufacturePublisher: TBD / TBDRelease: TBD / TBDThe DS boasts an enviable spread of adventure games, and 2008 promises much for the genre. Courtesy of Grasshopper Manufacture, both Flower, Sun and Rain and The Silver Case will be appearing on the handheld in the coming months, and it's fair to say that both reek of awesomeness.Flower, Sun and Rain puts the player in the shoes of Sumio Mondo, an assassin tasked with defusing a time bomb planted on a plane. Sumio initially fails his mission, only to wake the next morning and find that the explosion has yet to happen. Presented with a second chance to save the stricken plane and redeem himself, Sumio again fails, but wakes the next morning to find himself living the same day over and over, his hotel room becoming more and more warped as he slowly begins to lose his mind from the repetition.Comparatively little has been revealed about the DS version of The Silver Case, a murder mystery title that originally appeared on the PlayStation back in 1999. Centered around a series of grisly murders, the game is played from two perspectives: that of a leading detective, and of a freelance writer investigating the affair. In the PlayStation original, the story was narrated entirely through a montage of 2D illustrations, 3D CG, live-action images, and motion graphics, but it's not yet known whether the DS version will adopt the same techniques (the presence of two screens would seem like the perfect excuse to mimic this, however).While both titles are wildly inventive, we feel we should also contribute part of this preview to the man behind them. Here in the DS Fanboy dungeon, our admiration and respect for Goichi Suda knows no end. As the name behind the likes of Killer 7 and No More Heroes, Suda has proven time and again that the punk spirit is alive and well in videogames, and that there remains a place in gaming for the unconventional and the plain bizarre.As much as it saddens us, Suda won't be making games forever, but we like to think that his eventual successor will keep the punk flame alive in game development by following: DO feel free to compare the process of making your games to defecating.DO pile on the geeks and freaks. Suda is an expert at this, as Flower, Sun and Rain looks set to demonstrate.DO try and avoid selling very many copies of your game, even if it's completely awesome. Selling games in any great quantity is for those Establishment suckers at EA and Ubisoft. Stick it to The Man through your own low sales!DO come across as an obnoxious, uncooperative ass in interviews -- think The Sex Pistols and Bill Grundy in 1976 (in a very unpunk fashion, we should warn you that that last link is NSFW). In truth, Suda actually fails to follow this particular rule, as he consistently comes across as the kind of affable, fun-loving fellow you'd quite like to go for a drink with, or at least become friends with over the internet, which could perhaps lead to you both becoming BFF IRL. AND ON THAT SUBJECT, GOICHI, WHY DO YOU NEVER ANSWER MY EMAILS?DO NOT follow rules or guides -- they just, like, totally pigeonhole you. Except, y'know, this one.%Gallery-12911% FFIV Back Many infos
Promotional Consideration: Flower, Sun, and Reused Video
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.As the official hub for the Flower, Sun, and Rain DS remake, the game's Japanese site embraces Goichi Suda's (and Grasshopper Manufacture's) hip presentation, its background shifting through a collection of blown-up and blurred screenshots. Even if you don't understand the Japanese characters strewn around its pages, it's evident that something very cool is taking place. The site added a television commercial to its list of updates late last week -- jump past the post break for the video and more.%Gallery-12911%
Flower, Sun, and Not Heroes
In addition to touch-screeny puzzles, the DS remake of Flower, Sun, and Rain has been confirmed to contain at least minimal new content -- minimal but meaningful. Notably (har), you have a memo pad, which lets you save pages of handwritten notes. This is, of course, wonderful for adventure games.In addition, Suda has (openly) hidden a reference to his recent Wii release No More Heroes in the new game. Sumio Mondo has access to some changes of costumes, which we are guessing are unlockable. One of them is a bellboy, in the same style as Flower, Sun, and Rain's creepy-looking bellboy character, but the other is Travis Touchdown -- right down to the amber sunglasses and single glove. It's no surprise that Suda alluded to No More Heroes in Flower, Sun, and Rain, since he made a similar allusion in (at least the advertising for) No More Heroes.[Via Siliconera]
Flower, Sun, and Rain screens take us to exotic locales
The 3D art in the DS remake of Suda 51's PS2 adventure game Flower, Sun, and Rain is beyond rough. Suda's games are usually low-poly for stylistic reasons, but this goes beyond style and into "just unintentionally weird-looking." Of course, being a Suda game, all of the non-3D parts -- the maps, the puzzle screens, and even (especially) the typography -- look really damn cool. The maps and in-game guidebook mimic travel brochures, and the puzzles juxtapose realistic depictions of objects with pixel art. We've updated our gallery with six new screens from the game. The source of these screens, French gaming site Wiiz.fr has "confirmed" this again for an American release, but only in that they said that it's coming out and didn't provide any attribution or evidence. %Gallery-12911%
Flower, Sun, and screenshots
These new screens from Suda 51's Flower, Sun, and Rain pull you in, encouraging you to look again and again until you can stop the bomb from exploding in our gallery. No, wait; that's just ridiculous melodrama. They're only pictures, after all, not a repeat-o-tron. Despite the revamped PS2 title's upcoming March release (in Japan), we haven't been treated to many images from the game, so these are a nice treat. While the game is a little less shiny than the original, which had a strange, haunting quality to the look, the images are very true to the original characterization and feel of the game. Here's us crossing fingers for an English-language release.%Gallery-12911%
Surfer Girl 'confirms' localized Suda games
The enigmatic "Surfer Girl," who posts a bunch of game-related rumors on a Blogspot site every so often, is at it again. This time she has "revealed" something that we already kinda knew about some DS games in which we're very interested. Specifically, in her post "December Thirtieth Things" she said that the three Grasshopper Manufacture adventure remakes The Silver Case, The Silver Case Ward 25, and the recently-announced Flower, Sun, and Rain, would be released next year in the U.S. Is this really "insider" knowledge? Maybe. Suda already announced that The Silver Case and its sequel were being released worldwide, but it's possible that whoever this Surfer Girl character is saw some release plans from a publisher. The possibility of a localized FSR is news to us. At the very least, this rumor provides evidence that someone, somewhere, who may be related to game publishing, is talking about these Suda 51 adventure games. That's comforting.
Suda's other assassin game hitting Japan in March
No More Heroes wasn't the only Goichi Suda game to cause our pulses to race in the last few weeks. With its Groundhog Day-esque hook and all-too-topical tale of airborne terrorism, we're anxious to hear whether or not Flower, Sun, and Rain will ever leave Japan. It doesn't strike us as the most import-friendly title, so unless you're one of those forward-thinking types who took the time to learn kanji, a western release might just be our best only hope.We know one thing, however: the game is scheduled to release in Japan on March 6th, and it has a shiny new official site to prove it. Poke around there, and you'll find a number of (tiny) new screens, character profiles for three of the game's fifteen primary characters (including protagonist and assassin Sumio Mondo), and a rundown on "Katherine," the suitcase-shaped instrument that Sumio carries to crack codes.[Via Go Nintendo]
Another Suda 51 classic coming to DS
Flower, Sun, and Rain, an adventure game released in 2001 for the Playstation 2, is being remade for the DS, according to the latest Famitsu. It's one of the earlier works of Grasshopper Manufacture, headed by Suda 51, and has a lot in common with later works.Like Killer 7 and No More Heroes, the protagonist of Flower, Sun, and Rain is an assassin. Sumio Mondo lives the same day over and over again until he can stop a bomb from exploding in an airport. To do this, he must also solve the problems of the people he interacts with during that repeating day. As time (fails to) pass, his hotel room starts changing to reflect his mental state.With The Silver Case's remake being done with an eye for international release, can we expect the same of Flower, Sun, and Rain? (Will The Silver Case actually be released outside Japan?) Is Suda 51 attempting to remake his complete works for the DS? That would certainly be welcomed by Suda fans and adventure fans. We've posted the magazine scan after the break.
