Suda 51
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GameQuest Direct offers sales on No More Heroes and Scarface
Those of you who visit this site often probably know that we're big fans of No More Heroes. If you haven't made the plunge to purchase the game yet, though, this might be a good week to do so.From what we've heard, the game is selling pretty well, so it may be a while before it comes down in price. Luckily, GameQuest Direct is selling the title for $8 less than the $50 retail cost, meaning that it will only set you back $41.99. Sweetening the deal is a free shipping promotion through CAG. Once you add the game to your cart, just make sure to type the promotion code CAG1SHIP in the box at the bottom left corner.If you're craving a mature Wii game but No More Heroes is still too expensive for your taste, you can also get Scarface for $24.99. The free shipping promotion applies to this title, too, so make sure to use it if you decide to buy the game.Caveat: These sales end on March 18th, so if you're considering these purchases, make sure not to wait too long.[Via CAG]Read - No More Heroes at GameQuest DirectRead - Scarface at GameQuest Direct
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
Suda51 talks Xbox 360, American market
An Edge interview with Grasshopper CEO Goichi Suda has recently been reprinted by NextGen, and features a few insights into Suda51's development of No More Heroes, as well as the punk-rock designer's future plans.Regarding the Wii, Suda51 felt that No More Heroes was a unique opportunity to appeal to the wide user base for the console, and set out to make the title appeal to both hardcore gamers, and those that might be experiencing their first action game.Beyond No More Heroes, Suda51 expresses interest in developing for the Xbox 360, citing the console's tremendous performance in the States. According to Suda, America is the "Major League" of game development, and it's a market he'd most definitely like to conquer. We'll just have to wait and see what his crazy brain cooks up next.
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
No More Heroes initially planned as a 360 game
Speaking to MCV, No More Heroes director Suda 51 said that in the earliest stages of planning, his game was going to be made for the Xbox 360. It was his producer at Marvelous Interactive, Yasuhiro Wada, who suggested the Wii instead. "Originally, I'd wanted to make this game for Xbox 360, actually. Wada-san had information about the new Wii and how the new controller would work before it came out, so that's why he thought I should produce the game on that format." It's important to remember that back then Suda wouldn't have known about the controller, or really much of anything about the Wii, while the 360 was a known quantity. A very small quantity in Japan, but still something that could be developed for. Of course, once Suda found out about the Wiimote (and, though he doesn't say it, the smaller cost of game development on the Wii) he was on board. Really, though, if No More Heroes tanked in Japan on the Wii, a system that people have, imagine the 360 sales.
Yet More Cosplay
We can totally get behind No More Heroes cosplay. For one thing, it's a cheap and fairly easy pastime, not unlike your mom requiring none of the intricate and potentially expensive items needed for, say, successful Metroid cosplay. For another, the end result generally looks quite good, if you have the right physique to pull it off (we don't), as well as the correct cocksure attitude (again, no).Hit the link below for more photos of Travis Touchdown and Sylvia Christel imitators that you can shake a paper-mâché WarioWare mask at.[Via GameSetWatch]
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]
Metareview - No More Heroes (Wii)
The critical consensus on No More Heroes has more or less quelled our fears: It plays nothing like Suda 51's last cel-shaded bizarro-fest, Killer 7. Though the stylized characters and unrelentingly quirky atmosphere remains, Grasshopper Manufacture's wack 'n slash seems to benefit greatly from frenetic fighting and gallons of comical blood (at least if you're playing the American version). Looks like we'll be wanting that sequel after all, Suda. GameSpy (80/100): "Its controls aren't always as solid as the visual and narrative experience, however; driving around Santa Destroy is a little clunky, and some of the mini-games get old fast. But the visual experience, zany storytelling and quirky moments make it more accessible than Killer 7 ever was, though it's certainly not a game for everyone." IGN (78/10): "No More Heroes isn't the most polished game out there, and it certainly has its fair share of quirks all around, but it deserves to keep its place in the libraries of the more serious Wii gamers just the same. Suda 51 promised a violent, stylistic spectacle, and he delivered." X-Play (100/100): "Death is hilariously over the top, bodies collapse in sections, heads pop like released balloons, amidst a symphony of screams from larynx free throats. Travis plays sweetly on these organs, the moans are applause. We love Suda and the imaginative commitment to No More Heroes, from the brown zep-dropping humanity of save points, to the incredible characters, story, and fight mechanic, we give No More Heroes a 5 out of 5."
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%
Suda 51 clarifies Wii remarks on third-party sales
No More Heroes creator Suda 51 wants to clarify a few comments. In a post on Grasshopper Manufacturer's website (click on "What's New"), the developer points out what he considers is a "misquote" in an interview with CVG. In response to a question concerning the sales of No More Heroes in Japan, Suda 51 said, "Whilst the sales weren't as high as I hoped, other titles for Wii aren't selling so well either. Only Nintendo titles are doing well," adding that this is the case outside of Japan, too.The clarification posted asserts that "unlike a lot of Nintendo Wii titles currently available, [NMH] is the kind of product which will attract a different kind of consumer to the hardware, i.e. gamers who are looking for a different genre to the products which have been successful on this platform thus far." That "different kind of consumer" we're guessing is a more hardcore gamer, given comments earlier in the CVG interview where he said, "I wasn't expecting that Wii would be a console targeted only at non-gamers. I expected more games for hardcore gamers." Obviously, he doesn't want to comment on the sales of other third-party titles, but do you think he might have a point?For those looking for a reportedly more hardcore Wii experience, No More Heroes comes out today in North America.
So, Goichi Suda, how would you describe making No More Heroes?
There seems to be some sort of inextricable link between No More Heroes and toilets. Previously, it was revealed that we'd all be saving our progress in the game by perching on the john. Then there was that novelty No More Heroes themed toilet paper that was handed out at the game's launch party in Japan, and which director Goichi Suda would later give away on the streets of Akihibara.Now, Suda has told Eurogamer that the creative process behind the game was comparable to ... pinching a loaf. You know: making a deposit at the Porcelain Bank. Taking the Browns to the Super Bowl. Defecating. We're struggling, so we'll let Suda take us from here: "When you take a shit, everything you've consumed is all mixed together, there are all sorts of things in that -- and that's the same kind of idea, I think."That's ... charming.
Suda 51 wants more No More Heroes
No More Heroes isn't even out on shelves yet outside of Japan, most of the reviews haven't even been published, and already director Goichi Suda wants a sequel. The punk-rock Killer 7 creator is already itching to create the next in this bizarre Wii-sclusive action series, despite publisher Ubisoft not yet soliciting for the sequel-itis treatment.Talking with GameSpot, Suda says he's "really willing" to make a second No More Heroes, and is already asking about moving forward with it as a future project. Suda describes No More Heroes as being unlike any other action game for the Wii, likening it to alternative rock band Arctic Monkeys in terms of its energy (uh, whatever you say, Suda).Suda 51 is currently working on American localizations of two Grasshopper-developed DS games -- Flower, Sun and Rain and Silver Case -- and is also working on an undisclosed Xbox 360 title for Konami. No More Heroes drops on January 22 in the US, and February 29 in the UK. We'll see then if it's sequel-worthy.
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%
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]
Comic book manual makes No More Heroes even cooler
Perhaps "cooler" isn't the best word to use, since comics tend to be associated with, well, nerdy lifestyles. Fortunately, though, this is a video games blog, meaning that we completely eat up geek culture like it's delicious candy. The folks over at Grasshopper Manufacture seem to understand this, and have therefore decided to incorporate a comic book motif into the No More Heroes instruction manual. We can only hope that Ubisoft decides to use this style as well, but in case they don't, check out some pictures provided by Siliconera's Spencer Yip after the break.
Suda 51 approved Europe's bloodless No More Heroes
Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Goichi "Suda 51" Suda has made himself a target for fans angered by a recent display of perceived censorship in the European version of upcoming sword swinger, No More Heroes. Much like its Japanese counterpart, No More Euros has been scrubbed clean of blood, rewarding each violent slash with a spectacular gush of coins. In that sense, it couldn't be a more accurate metaphorical representation of the hitman motif that carries over from Suda 51's Killer 7.Regardless, a statement issued by Goichi Suda and Marvelous president Yashiro Wada hopes to divert the outrage away from publisher Rising Star games, noting that the decision was made "to release in Europe the same version as has shipped in Japan considering the broadly growing Wii market." Apparently, said broadly growing Wii market is entirely separate from that in America, where it's perfectly alright to add blood to the localized No More Heroes. A pretty weak justification then, likely conjured up to avoid a possible BBFC ban-trum.
Suda and Wada behind bloodless No More Heroes
A recent announcement that Europe would be getting a bloodless version of No More Heroes didn't go down well with many of our bloodthirsty commenters. At the time, PAL publisher Rising Star Games refused to reveal what was behind the decision, but more light was shed on the omission earlier today, in a joint statement from director Suda51 and producer Yasuhiro Wada (pictured above unsuccessfully trying to give away free toilet roll and autographs on the streets of Akihabara).Turns out that it was Suda and Wada themselves who decided to drop the outrageous levels of gore from the European version, citing the "broadly growing Wii market" in the region.Not that this affects many of you, as the U.S. version still contains plenty of the crimson stuff. Buckets of it, in fact.
No More Heroes themed Wii makes us sad no more
Hearing about No More Heroes' unsuccesful launch in Japan was enough to break our Suda-loving hearts, and make us really believe that the world is severely lacking in heroes. Fortunately, we were wrong. Kotaku reader Frank decided to show his support and respect for Suda51 with this Wii, which is all kinds of excellent. This fan tribute won't heal the wound of disappointing sales, but it's certainly a nice gesture. Like sending one of these custom Wiis to each of the Nintendo Wii Fanboy staff would be a nice gesture. (You can't blame a blogger for trying.)Another picture of this heroic Wii can be seen after the break.
No more blood in European version of No More Heroes
While we're glad that Rising Star will be distributing No More Heroes to Europe and Australia, some European (and yes, probably Australian) gamers might be peeved to know that the version of the game they get will be blood-free.Games Radar asked publisher Rising Star if this decision had anything to do with the recent Manhunt 2 BBFC fiasco, to which the company replied a telling, "Maybe."This certainly isn't the worst news in the world, and Japan is also playing the blood-free version, but we can understand if European gamers are a little disappointed by this development. Check after the break to see examples of the bloodless version versus the ridiculously bloody, Kill Bill-esque North American version.
