Shinji Mikami
Latest
Vanquish sliding across Europe October 22 [Update: Now with specific date]
Platinum Games' first Shinji Mikami-helmed title, Vanquish, will slide, jumpkick, and then pulverize European retail on October 22, according to a press release from Sega Europe. While no release window beyond "winter" has been nailed down for the game's North American debut, Famitsu puts an October 21 date on the game's Japanese arrival (via VG247). It seems we won't have long to wait before hearing about our own release date, however, as Sega added that it'll be able to talk worldwide dates "shortly." While we wait for that, why not join us in watching this flippy, explosioney trailer for the game, hmm? Sega also announced European pre-order bonuses for the stylish shooter -- a set of three downloadable guns that will be given away with pre-orders from "selected retailers." Update: Release date and pre-order info has arrived via press release and been added to this post. %Gallery-97142%
Interview: Shinji Mikami on Vanquish, evolving game dev locales and ... punching fools
During this year's E3, we had a chance to chat with Shinji Mikami, creative lead on Platinum Games' upcoming boost-em-up Vanquish, about his upcoming game, among other things. For instance, why does the man who created God Hand and Resident Evil believe that so many games are driven by a shooting mechanic? "Purely punching or kicking, for example, that requires a lot more skill and reaction time on the part of the gamer to get the timing right and to sit there and mash the controller forever. And older gamers, adults, don't want to do that. They get tired." As old men ourselves (mid-20s is old, right?), we're not so sure we agree with Mr. Mikami, but that's okay -- this isn't an interview about us, silly! It's about Shinji Mikami. And his new game. Check out the whole interview just below the fold.%Gallery-95221%
Preview: Vanquish
Vanquish was introduced to us at Sega's pre-E3 event as Shinji Mikami's take on Gears of War, and though I only got to play through one brief battle, that's an apt description. The game combines the frantic over-the-top action that Platinum Games is known for thanks to titles like Bayonetta and MadWorld, and brings it into the setting of a high-tech, cover-based third person shooter. The result, as you can imagine, is pretty satisfying. The basic scenario is a future with the world's last two superpowers, Russia and the US, fighting on an American space station designed to harness the energy of the sun (after all of the Earth's resources have already been depleted). Sam Gideon is the game's hero, and it's his job to go into the station with US troops and save the day. Fortunately, he's outfitted with a power suit that allows for all sorts of technological and acrobatic wizardry. %Gallery-95221%
MadWorld director joins Shinji Mikami's Tango studio
Even as work progresses on Shinji Mikami's Vanquish for Platinum Games, Mikami's own studio, Tango, is growing toward Mikami's stated goal of around 100 staffers. Platinum's Hideki Kamiya revealed via Twitter that Shigenori Nishikawa, who directed MadWorld for Platinum and did design work on Resident Evil 4 and Dino Crisis 2 and 3 at Capcom, has left Platinum for Tango. Nishikawa was one of the founders of Platinum. Nishikawa will join former Grasshopper Manufacture sound director Masafumi Takada and art directors Ryosuke Kaiba and Naoki Katakai at Tango. The new studio has yet to announce any projects. [Via Develop]
Vanquish screens show the game's acrobatic side
Click image to slide into our gallery We're still waiting to see the first gameplay footage of Shinji Mikami's latest, Vanquish, but at least these new screens give us hope that the protagonist super-soldier isn't just some lumbering tank guy. It appears you'll be able to have acrobatic battles with giant mechs. If these pair of screens are any indication, there will be ballet-like air dodging maneuvers you can pull off, which can culminate in driving a giant spike (or is that a huge bullet?) into the thing. The other new screens Sega sent over depict more of what we've already seen in the first batch of screens: shooting stuff, trying not to get shot by stuff and a bit of both at the same time. Check 'em all out in the gallery below. %Gallery-92103%
New Grasshopper Manufacture project not called 'Closer'
After cyber spy Superannuation shed light on a U.S. copyright document, filed by Grasshopper Manufacture in August 2008, internet speculation concluded that the idiosyncratic developer's next game would be called "Closer." However, Grasshopper's international representative has told Joystiq that the name is no longer being used for any projects currently in development. "As for 'Closer,' we currently don't have any projects under that name in development. Closer was one of the names considered for a project, but that name has since been abandoned." Grasshopper's most mysterious project -- announced in August 2008 -- is an action horror game empowered by the mind-boggling collaboration of Suda 51, Shinji Mikami, Akira Yamaoka and EA Partners. And Unreal Engine 3. Sadly, the quelling of this rumor also brings the demise of hopes that "Closer" was to be the name of Suda 51's edgy re-imagining of Kyra Sedgwick's television drama, "The Closer." It would have all of the show's intense confrontation, but Kyra's face would be an 8-bit parody of commercialism and she'd save the game by clipping her nails over an empty wastebasket. Oh well.
Mikami: Vanquish designed with more mainstream appeal than God Hand
If Platinum Games's Vanquish looks less like the idiosyncratic weirdness we've come to expect from Platinum Games, and more like something targeted at the core games market, well, it is. "We're definitely going for something a little more massmarket that will appeal to a wide audience," producer Shinji Mikami told Edge. Mikami specifically contrasted Vanquish with God Hand, a PS2 brawler he created at Clover Studio. "I've released a lot of titles before," he said, "and I feel that, perhaps specifically with regard to God Hand, I was given too much freedom to make that game just as I liked. It didn't sell too well." While we understand Mikami's desire for commercial success (like he had with the Resident Evil and Devil May Cry games), we'd suggest that the only people who need to change their decision-making process in response to God Hand are the ones who didn't buy God Hand. %Gallery-87352%
Ralph Baer inducted into Inventors Hall of Fame
[SteveO526] At 88 years young, Ralph Baer is one of our favorite adults (or super adults, as we like to call those over the age of 70 among us). After inventing Pong (and resultantly, the Magnavox Odyssey), Baer went on to create the rage-inducing electronic board game Simon, and just this past week was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame for his work. He was the first game developer to have earned the award. According to the event's fact sheet (warning: download link), inductees need to meet two specific criteria before being considered: "[One] The inventor must hold a US patent, and [Two] the invention must have contributed to the welfare of mankind and have promoted the progress of science and the useful arts." The National Selection Committee (representing "various scientific, industry, and professional groups along with a Blue Ribbon Panel of experts") then chooses said inductees. In his bio, the committee specifically notes Baer's accolades in the game industry, calling him "a pioneer in the field of interactive video games" -- an assessment we tend to agree with. We've already got a suggestion for next year, though, guys: Shinji Mikami. Obviously for bringing the world the "What're ya buyin' / sellin'?" guy in Resident Evil 4, forever changing the way we conduct business. Come on, NSC! Aren't we buddies? [Via GameCulture]
Shinji Mikami opening new Tokyo-based studio, Tango
[M for Mature] Shinji Mikami didn't just have a hand in bringing the Viewtiful Joe and Devil May Cry series to gamers. He also helped create the survival horror genre in 1996 through Resident Evil -- so the dude has a pretty impressive resume. Now, he's working with Platinum Games on Vanquish, the upcoming sci-fi shooter set in a fictional future United States in the grip of a cold war with Russia. According to an interview in this week's Famitsu magazine (via 1UP), Mikami's also working on opening a new independent studio called Tango. His current studio, Straight Story, was formed in 2006 (shortly before Seeds shut its doors and became Platinum Games) and is currently contracted to work on Vanquish and that action-horror project with Grasshopper Manufacture. Upon completion of Vanquish, Straight Story will "fold up" and Mikami will focus on the now 13-strong Tango. Mikami wants to see Tango "grow to 100 people or so in five to seven years." After Vanquish, Mikami will relocate from his current digs in Osaka to Tokyo, where he hopes to recruit some of the young up-and-comers Japan has to offer. As for Tango's first project, that's still up in the air. "I'd like to make a choice with the rest of the team as we grow our numbers," he said. "I've been speaking with a number of publishers as well, but we haven't signed any contracts yet."
Mikami explains why Vanquish is single-player only
During the recent Vanquish media unveiling in Tokyo, creator Shinji Mikami outed the action-shooter game's lack of multiplayer functionality. "That's the main reason we're keeping Vanquish as a single-player experience -- to deliver the level of impact, the level of detail and the visuals we want to offer," Mikami offered at the press event, reports Eurogamer. Apparently, due to the fact that the single-player game is "very intense" and "full of action," a multiplayer compo nent would require "shaving a lot of things off" in order to make them work. It would seem that Mikami's more interested in Vanquish's main campaign impressing than the title having legs, though he would argue that a tacked-on multiplayer does little in the interest of serving gamers. "It kind of boils down to whether you have the multiplayer but you don't have that much impact, and end up being like everyone else ... or even below par." Yep, we're just as shocked and appreciative of his refreshing honesty as you are. %Gallery-87352%
Vanquish previews emerge from Tokyo
It seems like a whole mess of outlets took a trip to Tokyo recently to play Platinum's upcoming Vanquish. ... What? Oh, well, no, we weren't there. It's fine though, it is. We're pretty sure that our invitation just got lost in the mail. (Our mail guy's a total Japanophile, so we'd believe it.) Besides, we were really busy that week. Just really busy with various things that we were doing. ... Anyway, we've read all the preview coverage that went up today and these are the broad strokes: You'll play as a government agent named Sam who's using his futuristic battle suit, large arsenal and martial arts skills to recapture a solar-powered space station just used by Russia to blow up San Francisco. (Side note: If you want to make an armor guy mad, attack San Francisco.) As for what its third-person action feels like, we're seeing a lot of descriptors like "intense" and "frenetic," perhaps a move away from bulkier action heroes like Marcus and the Chief. The only character detail we know about Sam is that he smokes mid-fight, which is pretty much all we need to know. One sad note: No online multiplayer. Well, maybe in Vanquish 2: Still Vanquishin'. What's that? You still want more? Well, maybe try Sega's blog or Game Informer or Eurogamer or basically anywhere but here. No, we told you, it's fine. *sniff* %Gallery-87352%
First screens of Platinum's Vanquish aren't doing it for us
It's not that the first screens from Shinji MIkami and Platinum Games' Vanquish look bad necessarily -- far from it. It's just that ... well, they look a little common, don't they? We've flipped through that gallery below a few times but couldn't find an image that got us even a little more excited for the futuristic shooter than we were yesterday. It wouldn't be so bad if that first trailer for the game hadn't seemed like such a breath of fresh air. Oh well, these are just a few still images. Let's withhold judgment until we see it in action, hmm? %Gallery-87352%
Shinji Mikami's Vanquish headed to 360, PS3; 'Winter 2010' release worldwide
As listed in the most recent issue of Famitsu (and translated by Andriasang), Platinum Games' fourth effort for Sega, Vanquish, is headed to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this winter. The game's director, the acclaimed Shinji Mikami, spoke with the Japanese mag recently about how the game is taking shape. Apparently, Atsushi Inaba (ex-CEO of Clover Studios) will be serving as producer on what Mikami calls a "shooter that places importance on the good tempo and feeling of rhythm you get from playing an action game." The game's said to be set in a near future where US/Russian Cold War relations have resulted in a standoff. "There are lots of games where you shoot and kill people, so this time we wanted to try and see how we could convey the good feeling of shooting robots." Truer words, Mr. Mikami. Truer words. Allegedly the game is around 80 percent done at this point, with only "annoying" work left to be done -- Mikami's not a fan of enemy and ally AI development, it seems. Will we see Vanquish on North American shores this winter as well? We're not sure yet, but with the game "developed with overseas markets in its sights," we have to imagine Platinum Games would like its latest title to land in our trigger-happy hands as soon as possible.
Silent Hill composer Yamaoka joins Suda 51's 'video game band'
Akira Yamaoka, composer of every Silent Hill score except one, and producer on every title in the series since 3, has joined Suda 51's studio, Grasshopper Manufacture, following his departure from Konami last month. Yamaoka has already contributed tracks to this month's No More Heroes 2 and is working on music for EA's mysterious Suda/Shinji Mikami action horror game. Though we were once concerned about the long wait time for the collaborative project (or any information about it), now that the wait has resulted in the addition of Yamaoka to its development team, we don't mind. At all. "Ever since I saw a video of Silent Hill 2 at the Tokyo Game Show nine years ago, I've always dreamed of working alongside him," Suda told Famitsu, as translated by 1UP. "That's why I thought I'd invite him over when I started hearing rumors that he left [Konami]." "It was a case of really good timing," Yamaoka said. "I knew about Suda long before I met him; I saw Grasshopper as one of those few Japanese outfits whose games can appeal to an overseas audience. I had a chance to meet him in Los Angeles and we talked about this and that, and once we started discussing how we wanted to do something creative for a world audience, I was hooked on the company." Also new to Grasshopper: Kazutoshi Iida, creator of Aquanaut's Holiday, Tail of the Sun, Doshin the Giant, and Discipline, who will certainly make the already idiosyncratic works of Grasshopper Manufacture even stranger. [Via GameSetWatch]
Platinum Games' fourth game is Vanquish
On this evening's "World Exclusive" laden episode of GameTrailers TV, host Geoff Keighley unveiled the latest game from Japanese development all-star team Platinum Games, a futuristic shooter named Vanquish. From the bit of trailer we saw in tonight's show, the game is set on US soil sometime in the future. Also, hey, there are some mechs -- it's from Japan, right? We've got the whole thing embedded after the break, should you be so inclined. As noted earlier this week, the upcoming game comes from Resident Evil designer Shinji Mikami and marks the fourth title from the development studio -- the last of a four game deal with Sega inked back in 2008. Though we've got tonight's game announce still fresh on our brain box, we have to wonder what this means in terms of a publisher for upcoming games from all those other famous developers sitting around Platinum Games HQ, wondering what to do next. Okay, okay, they're probably not just sitting around. But still! No consoles were named or release windows given -- heck, the whole trailer was live-action -- but we have to imagine that kind of info isn't too far off.
Platinum Games' fourth game to be announced on this week's GTTV
Here were are again, folks, for another edition of "Turn a Tweet Into a Full Post." This time we've got word from the always exciting Twitter feed of Geoff Keighley that this week's episode of GameTrailers TV will reveal the fourth game from Japanese developer Platinum Games. So far, after inking a publishing deal with Sega in 2008 for four games, all we've heard of the mysterious fourth title is that it will be headed up by Resident Evil designer Shinji Mikami. Considering the somewhat confusing wording of Keighley's tweet, we asked the man himself to clarify what we're going to see on Thursday evening. "It's an exclusive reveal trailer for the game inside the show this week. The news breaks during GTTV on Thursday night. We're really excited to have the Japanese developers/publishers working with us on reveals like this." He also pointed out that this countdown on Platinum Games' Japanese website has been counting down towards Thursday's reveal -- aha! For all the steaming hot scoops, you'll have to peep the show when it airs this Thursday evening/Friday morning at 12:30AM ET.
Resident Evil 4: Mobile Edition ported to Zeebo
Zeebo, the 3G console available in countries like Brazil, Russia and China, reminds us that right after food, water and shelter, access to Resident Evil 4 should be a top priority for all developing nations. It was revealed yesterday that Capcom will use the MascotCapsule eruption engine to port the well-received mobile version of RE 4 to the platform. You know, it's funny, we know Resident Evil 4 was a classic, but we never expected it to become the new Tetris -- ported to every system imaginable. Which reminds us: Shinji Mikami, be forewarned: You're probably going to have to grow a beard.
EA's Rex Ishibashi talks about missing Suda 51, Shinji Mikami project
Remember when EA announced a new project with No More Heroes' Suda 51 and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami over a year ago? We were surprised to find that it was completely absent from EA's extravagent pre-TGS Tokyo press conference. We talked with EA Japan's Rex Ishibashi about the game's mysterious absence from the show."We'll make the updates when they're appropriate and when we're ready. In fact, EA Japan is now involved in some of the communication, helping EA Global to manage that very important relationship for us," EA Japan's Ishibashi told Joystiq. "We'll make the announcements on those games, but they look very promising."Stay tuned for our full interview later this week. Video produced by Ross Miller
Resident Evil creator Mikami won't play RE5
We usually don't think twice about trusting the judgment of game designer Shinji Mikami -- after all, he did create the Resident Evil series, and executive produced a few Capcom classics, such as Viewtiful Joe and Devil May Cry. However, we did a double-take when we saw a recent blurb from Mikami during an interview with Official PlayStation magazine; a blurb in which he reveals that, unlike many gamers, he "probably won't play" the next installment in his brainchild franchise, Resident Evil 5.Mikami, who's been working under the Platinum Games label since the Great Clover Cleaving of 2006, said he knows he wouldn't enjoy the Africa-centric thriller, explaining that, "it's not going to be the game I would have made." He went on to issue a threat to his former employers, stating, "if I see anything in Resident Evil 5 that isn't done well, I'll be angry!" We'd hate to see what the man behind some of the goriest games we've ever played does when he gets his dander up.
Suda 51's new horror game to use Unreal Engine 3
Remember back when Mark Rein let loose somebody was working on Unreal Engine 3 for Wii? Well, we finally know what game will be using it, we guess. Kind of. We don't really know much about the exact game, per se. What game? The one that EA is publishing from Q Entertainment, Resident Evil co-creator Shinji Mikami and the man responsible for one of our most favorite Wii games, Suda51. Suda says Unreal Engine 3 is a "powerful, easy-to-implement game engine" that is aiding his company to "quickly bring our vision to life." He also added that the "tools and technology" allow him to "create games faster, easier and with less risk." So are we excited? Well, maybe. It's not like the Wii version is mentioned and we would think it should be, considering no title up until now has utilized Unreal Engine 3 technology. But, hey, we'll try to be as optimistic as we can, because we feel confident in the abilities of all involved, to tell the truth. Now if only we could some information on what this game is ...
