Suda 51
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Suda 51 wants Grasshopper Manufacture to be like real grasshoppers
Grasshopper Manufacture revealed a major change in its development strategy during the Tokyo Game Show this year. Of the eight different games on display, the majority were downloadable titles, including high-profile titles like Sine Mora, Black Knight Sword and Diabolical Pitch. During the show, we managed to snag some time with Grasshopper's CEO, Goichi Suda, more commonly known as Suda 51. During our chat, we discussed Grasshopper's new direction, Sdatcher and even the possibility of a collaboration between Grasshopper and Kojima Productions. Suda's ultimate goal? For Grasshopper Manufacture to become more like actual grasshoppers.
'Watch' Sdatcher in English right here
A group of heroic fans has begun the work of making Suda 51's Sdatcher, the Snatcher-inspired radio drama, available to Anglophone fans. A fan-subtitled version of the first installment has been posted to YouTube -- in English and Spanish -- allowing us to check in with Jean Jack Gibson, a "JUNKER" agent tasked with finding and destroying humanoid robots (Snatchers) who have infiltrated human society. This first episode is a sort of futuristic police procedural, with Gibson and his robotic partner "Little John" (played by Hideo Kojima) chatting amiably and going for lunch in Neo Kobe's Chinatown as they conduct an investigation. We can't help but wish we were seeing what was going on as we listen to this ... and that we were playing it. Thankfully, Akira Yamaoka's music does an admirable job of dropping us into the kind of cyberpunk future-'80s dreamed up in the original game.
Seen@TGS: Shoe-da 51
When we went to Grasshopper Manufacture's meeting room to interview Suda 51, our attention immediately went to his feet.
The Damned collaboration: How Shadows of the Damned found its closing act
It takes a lot of people a lot of time to license a track for a video game. Among other things, that's what The Damned drummer Andrew "Pinch" Pinching learned in the fall of 2010 when he worked with Grasshopper Manufacture composer Akira Yamaoka on the title track from this year's grindhouse-inspired third-person shooter, Shadows of the Damned. According to Pinch, it took "about a hundred emails" before an agreement was even reached regarding the collaboration. "I kid you not, they are VERY thorough," Pinch explained to me via email earlier this summer. He was speaking to the GhM side of the partnership, which he described as "treading a different path in the games industry" from other dev studios. "I did a bit of research and found out about Suda51 and No More Heroes," Pinch added. "[He] was regarded as a bit of an edgy rebel, which appealed to me immensely. It didn't hurt that his games looked great as well." The end product of the collaboration was, as we now know, the excellent (and if I may say so myself, rockin') final track from Shadows of the Damned. But that wasn't always the plan, as Pinch told me. "Initially, they [GhM] wanted what everyone wants -- an old Damned track. In this instance, a track called 'Love Song,' which in hindsight would have fitted the theme of the game rather nicely." But "Love Song" wasn't meant to be, and The Damned pushed to create an original track for the game.
Sdatcher radio drama begins, swag for sale at TGS
For those of you who can understand Japanese, or just like the way it sounds, the first act of Kojima Productions and Suda 51's "Sdatcher" radio drama has been posted. You can access it from the Snatcher-inspired website set up for the series. And if you're the type of person who has been waiting for years for new Snatcher merchandise, and plans on attending Tokyo Game Show -- we're mostly referring to ourselves here -- Konami will be selling some exclusive Sdatcher stuff, including a postcard set and a clear file folder. We'll make sure to look and sound as American as we can, to send a clear message to Konami staff that there are Anglophones who are way into this stuff.
Lollipop Chainsaw preview: Suck on this
Buffy the No More Heroes Zombie Slayer. That's the best way to sum up Lollipop Chainsaw at first glance. Featuring a Lichtenstein-inspired pop art HUD and over-the-top humor drawn from the Suda 51 vein, the game revels in the expected brutality of a zombie outbreak, but adds a dash of the unexpected with rainbows and sparkles following finishing moves and combos. Developed by Suda 51's Grasshopper Manufacture, the cult name-dropping doesn't stop there. Writer and director James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead, Tromeo and Juliet, Slither) created the script, while Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill, Shadows of the Damned) is handling music -- but none of his work is featured in the current demo. Yamaoka said during our Gamescom presentation, "This game will be crazier than it is now." A terrifying thought, since the game already has the crazy dialed to 11. %Gallery-130904%
Lollipop Chainsaw gets a debut trailer at Gamescom
Germany's Gamescom show has brought us this debut trailer for Lollipop Chainsaw, a new title in the works from developer Goichi "Suda51" Suda's Grasshopper Manufacture. As you can tell from the (scandalous!) footage above, the game's about a cheerleader named Juliet -- who also happens to be a zombie slayer with a chainsaw. The official site lists the location as "San Romero High School," and since American horror/comedy director James Gunn is also along for the ride, you can probably expect plenty of sly references like that one in the game. Lollipop Chainsaw is targeting a 2012 release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
'Sdatcher' radio drama will be distributed for free, sold on CD later
In a tweet, Hideo Kojima announced that the Snatcher-universe radio drama, "Suda 51's Sdatcher," will be released as a free download. A CD will be sold later to pay the voice actors, including many Metal Gear series cast members. There's still no official release date for the drama, but it was planned to be concurrent with Hideradio podcast number 300 -- they're on 298 right now. Kojima subsequently tweeted the character art of Jean Jack Gibson above. Kojima also said that he's heard the music Akira Yamaoka is making for the drama, which was to be '70s progressive rock and '80s electro pop. Per Andriasang's translation, Kojima likes it but questioned its reception by the masses. And when you bring in Suda 51 to make a podcast radio drama based on an adventure game from 1988, you don't want anything to get in the way of that built-in mass appeal.
Warner Bros. picks up Lollipop Chainsaw for Western release
Grasshopper Manufacture's cheerleader-versus-zombie action game, Lollipop Chainsaw, will be released outside of Japan in 2012, thanks to Warner Bros. Interactive. The publisher announced a new partnership with Lollipop's Japanese publisher, Kadokawa Games. That seems like a good match -- both companies are media conglomerates who have only recently expanded into games. Warner is using those media connections to bring in some Hollywood talent: writer/director James Gunn (Slither, Dawn of the Dead) will "bring his cult humor and edgy storytelling to Lollipop Chainsaw." Considering that the Suda 51 game already appears to be 100% cult humor ... that's a lot of cult humor. If WB is putting this much effort and cash into the writing, it seems possible that the company could go so far as to market the game, something that didn't fully happen with Grasshopper's last game. [Image: Famitsu]
No More Heroes social game will be appropriately bloody
Suda 51's contribution to DeNA's "Super Creators Initiative" is a social No More Heroes game. And, being a No More Heroes game, it'll be about people assassinating one another. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise, then, that Suda 51 told attendees at a press conference, "We're aiming to make it the social game with the most blood." We suppose it could be a surprise, given that the original Japanese and European releases of No More Heroes were bloodless, subsituting a shower of coins. So by being even a little bloody, the new social game is bloodier than the real game in Japan. Suda also expressed a desire to give this game enough "power" and "impact" to make it outside of Japan, a lofty goal for a Japanese mobile game. That was a goal that the three previous mobile NMH games, released by Marvelous in 2008, couldn't achieve.
Grasshopper Manufacturing 'Lollipop Chainsaw' for PS3 and 360 [update]
Being a secondhand report of data out of an early leak of Japanese mag Famitsu, it's only right to approach the news of Grasshopper Manufacture's Lollipop Chainsaw for PS3 and Xbox 360 with skepticism. The reports also describe it as a game about a cheerleader raised by zombie hunters, who uses her acrobatic training and a chainsaw to destroy zombies ... which certainly sounds like a Suda game. Additionally, the zombies will spray pink blood on the screen when destroyed, something that Siliconera says is meant to convey a "pop" feel. According to Andriasang, Suda 51 is serving as creative director, with the very busy Akira Yamaoka working on sound. It's reportedly 70% complete, and will be published by Kadokawa Games. Update: Famitsu has posted the first artwork and screenshots of the game, including the above screen.
Kojima announces Snatcher-inspired radio drama, for real this time
This week, Hideo Kojima teased a surprise announcement coming on the latest edition of his Hideradio podcast. The real surprise is that it's something he already announced in 2007: a radio drama inspired by his 1988 cyberpunk adventure game Snatcher, scripted by Suda 51. It's called "Sdatcher" as a pun on Suda's name. This is the long-awaited Kojima/Suda "Project S." The drama will include music by Akira Yamaoka, and will be released to coincide with the 300th episode of Hideradio -- this one is #296, and they are released biweekly, on Fridays. So ... two months or so? Of course, we'll then have to wait for some kind of translation, official or otherwise. We take back what we said earlier. The real real surprise with this announcement is that Kojima actually announced something that isn't Metal Gear.
Suda and Mikami get silly in Shadows of the Damned dev diary
Watch as famous game designers Goichi Suda and Shinji Mikami pretend to strangle each another, act like zombies and generally goof off. The point? They're promoting Shadows of the Damned, the new survival-horror title they're co-developing for EA. Oh, there's plenty of gameplay footage in here, too.
Shadows of the Damned preview: Hardly Hell
As the tall, blood-covered Frankenstein doppleganger leapt from a gigantic flame in the middle of a courtyard, I thought to myself, "Man, this guy could really use a bath." The shock set in when the demon reached into his own chest and ripped out its heart, then ate it, causing him to transform into a gigantic beast-man with a grotesque wolf's head. Howling at the moon, he summoned forth a mouthless steed covered in blood and rotting skin. Mounting his hell ride, he then conjured a trident and spear from the ether and set his sights on me. If there's one thing I can say about the brief 15-minute Shadows of the Damned demo I played this week, it's that the game isn't short on crazy. Also, I wish I got to kill that demon and the disfigured horse he rode in on. %Gallery-121868%
Shadows of the Damned launching on June 21, 2011
At a recent event in San Francisco, Suda 51 from Grasshopper Manufacture announced the new launch date for Shadows of the Damned: June 21. That gives it two weeks to get out of E3's way (the game was originally scheduled for June 7). Shadows of the Damned is a bizarre, horror-themed third-person shooter coming from EA Partners and a trio of well-known Japanese developers. If the names Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil), Suda 51 (No More Heroes) and Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill composer) don't ring any bells, then you really have no idea just how weird this game is going to be.
Suda 51 would like to do No More Heroes 3, it just won't happen anytime soon
It appears that Suda 51 thinks the odds of another No More Heroes game happening in the near future are about nil. During Grasshopper Manufacture's recent streaming event, Suda said (translation via Andriasang) he'd "like to" do another entry "at some point," but it isn't something that would happen anytime "soon." Oh, now you've got JC crying, Mr. Suda. Wonderful. Character designer Yusuke Kozaki also offered an interesting proposition: a new game where Shinobu, the high school student by day, assassin by night who appeared in both No More Heroes and No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle is the main character. Kozaki also revealed that Grasshopper had come up with so many characters, it had enough for two more No More Heroes games. Okay, guys, now you're just being cruel! The remainder of the event then shifted to Frog Minutes, the studio's charity iOS game. We spent some time with it, which you can read all about here.
Grasshopper releases free songs in memory of Japan's quake victims
Grasshopper Manufacture has released a trio of songs produced by its audio team in remembrance of those affected by its native Japan's devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Two of the songs, "Otomodachi, as you wake" and "Otomodachi, before you sleep," were created by Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka. A third, "Otomodachi, in the afternoon," is by his GhM co-worker Tak Hiraoka. The tracks are available for free via the dev's Facebook page. Although they don't cost a cent, consider contributing to the relief efforts of the Red Cross (redcross.org) if you like them -- or even if you don't. It's nice to be, well ... nice.
Voice of the Damned: Suda 51 on being an EA Partner and surviving the Japanese market
At a preview event alongside GDC, EA offered the first playable demo of Grasshopper Manufacture's From Dusk Till Dawn-esque third-person shooter, Shadows of the Damned. Immediately after experiencing its floating skull sidekicks, baby-head gates, and demons in seductive-woman suits, we spoke to Grasshopper's CEO, Suda 51, and asked the first thing that came to mind: how did he convince EA to back such a strange game? Suda, of course, understood the intention, saying that "strange equals compliment for us." And besides, "Actually, EA has always respected our punk rock style. It was really easy, and we had a lot of freedom. EA is not just a giant corporation, but they're very accepting." He said that Grasshopper pitched the game to EA -- though later in the same interview, he told us that it was at EA's request that the game became a shooter. "We wanted to do well with the Western market," Suda said, "and we wanted to have that challenge of creating shooters," and so the studio agreed.
Grasshopper announcing new title next month
Suda51's Japanese dev studio, Grasshopper Manufacture, is working on a ton of stuff. Between Shadows of the Damned, Sine Mora, codename D and an uannounced NGP project, we have to imagine the folks at Grasshopper don't have much free time. Regardless, the studio will take a timeout on March 30 to host a Ustream event, during which Grasshopper will announce a new game -- perhaps that NGP title? Dubbed "Grasstream 2: Travis vs. Garcia" (named for the main characters of No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned), the event will feature frank discussion from Suda51 on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, an acoustic performance of music from No More Heroes, the aforementioned "new game announce," and "hands-on impressions" of said game from "Vanilla Beans and model/gamer Kayo Sato." Yes, really.
Shadows of the Damned blood boss pours its heart out in new screenshots
Maybe you didn't notice, but this guy is made of blood. He's a "blood monster," if you will, and he's just one of many bosses players will face in Grasshopper Manufacture's Shadows of the Damned. More horrific V-Day screens can be found after the break.
