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No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

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I just finished No More Heroes for the second time there yesterday.. despite having other games to start/continue/finish :heh:

 

It was nice to get into it again.. I was only on it to have a quick go but I ended up playing it for a week or 2 as I was enjoying it :yay: I'm really looking forward to the sequel now :smile:

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That price is an absolute steal. Everyone should pick this up. If you have the money and see a copy and don't buy it...

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Hmm, I wonder if any other games that I want will be going for prices like this. I already picked this up, just before Christmas.

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1up! Interview - Suda 51: No More Heroes Sequel at "the Very End of Production"

 

While some Japanese game companies are keeping their best brains at home out of swine flu concerns, one popular developer made his way out of the country to attend an industry event. Goichi Suda, a.k.a. Suda 51, was on hand at the Nordic Game Conference in Sweden to present a talk entitled "The Birth of No More Heroes." Before the presentation, we got a chance to chat with him about the status of the sequel to No More Heroes, as well as any possible updates on the secret game he's working on with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, and how an adventure game like Flower, Sun, and Rain could be perceived in America.

 

1UP: Why did you decide to speak at the Nordic Game Conference, and what can you tell us about your presentation for tomorrow?

 

Suda: I'd received an offer from the Nordic Conference organization as a speaker a couple years ago, but the schedule never worked out. I thought that this year it would be good to visit. The things I will talk about tomorrow -- actually, at GDC two years ago, during the [development] process of No More Heroes, I had a speech that had a little bit about [the first game]. And then I also had a speech at a Japanese game conference based on No More Heroes 2 as well, but it's not the whole thing. So this will be a talk just based on [the first] No More Heroes, how I was influenced to create that game, and putting in all the elements about making the game.

 

1UP: You're working on No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle for release early next year. Can you give us an update on the game and the development process?

 

Suda: It's the very end. If I had to say one word, I'd say it's at the very end of production.

 

1UP: When will we see more of the game? Will it be playable at E3?

 

Suda: No, not playable.

 

1UP: Will it be shown off at E3? Will there be a presentation?

 

Suda: I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully...

 

1UP: Do you envision the No More Heroes series hitting another platform in the future, whether it's another console or even a handheld system?

 

Suda: Actually, a lot of the fans were dying to play the game on other consoles, so I think it'd be great if I could do it, but there's no plan yet. [if so,] I would match the content to [fit] the other consoles. No More Heroes could be a big title, like a big IP, so it'd be good to have a chance to release the game on other consoles, and that would maybe maximize the market.

 

1UP: The game Flower, Sun, and Rain is finally coming to North America next month on the Nintendo DS. How do you think American gamers will react to it?

 

Suda: I can't really imagine how the market will react, because the North American adventure game market is not doing well, and Flower, Sun, and Rain is an adventure game. I can't really see whether people will accept it or not. And especially because the first time I created the game was nine years ago [on PlayStation 2], and we've ported the same content to the DS, so of course the market is different from nine years ago. So that's another reason why I can't imagine how people will react to it. And even for an adventure game, that game is very unique and very distinguished from other adventure games, so I really want to see how people will react.

 

1UP: You're working on a game with Shinji Mikami and EA. Can you give us any updates on when we might see something from that game? Maybe at the next Tokyo Game Show?

 

Suda: It's up in the air whether we're going to show something at TGS. EA has the right to decide to do stuff like that. We can only say that we're working hard with Mikami-san, and trying our best to create the best game.

Edited by Dante

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Fucking gaming journalists trying to take our exclusives away!

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Heh, aye. Still, as long as I get to play the game, I'll be happy. If it suddenly gets moved to 360 only or something, then I'll be mad.

 

Can't wait to see how this game turns out. No More Heroes felt like...an experiment, in a way. It seemed very abstract at times, and it didn't seem to all "fit" together in the right places. There wasn't even a story or any reasoning until the final segment of the game, and even then it was a bit of a piss-take, haha.

 

Still fucking loved it.

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1up! Inteview 2 - Nordic Game Conference: No More Heroes' film influences

Suda 51 detailed how movies like Spaceballs and Dirty Harry were an inspiration.

 

 

We spoke with No More Heroes creator Goichi Suda (a.k.a. Suda 51) early on at the Nordic Game Conference in Malmö, Sweden, but when it came time for his scheduled presentation, titled "The Birth of No More Heroes," we made sure to be in attendance. Luckily, it didn't disappoint, as Suda delivered a multimedia presentation of the many diverse films that inspired some of his games -- most notably last year's No More Heroes.

 

Suda started by noting a couple of key films that inspired previous works. His 1999 import-only PSone adventure, The Silver Case (currently being remade for the DS), was inspired by Nouvelle Vague, a 1990 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard about a female hitchhiker taken in by a rich man. He later took inspiration from the 1973 Japanese yakuza film Battles without Honor or Humanity: Hiroshima Deathmatch for one of his best-known titles, 2005's Killer 7.

 

When it came to No More Heroes, Suda showed clips from no fewer than six films that directly inspired some aspect of the game design; though some of the included flicks might surprise you. Suda played a clip from Jackass: The Movie of Johnny Knoxville being beaten up by pro boxer Butterbean in a Japanese clothing store first, and explained that Knoxville's antics helped provide a basis for NMH protagonist Travis Touchdown. Later, when discussing specific inspirations for several of the game's characters, he showed another clip from Jackass in which a baby alligator bites Knoxville's nipple for some time. Suda said he showed this particular clip to his team regularly, claiming, "I wanted my staff to understand the kind of person that Travis is."

 

Beyond Jackass: The Movie, Suda noted that Mel Brooks' sci-fi spoof Spaceballs -- not Star Wars -- provided inspiration for Travis' beam katana weapon, while Takashi Miike's Japanese cult film Gozu apparently provided the name Beef Head, the store owned by the Bishop character. Beyond that, Suda simply said, "[Gozu is] a great movie, so if you want to see it, please do," and also, "It's a shocking one." Additionally, the hotel setting of Christopher Nolan's Memento provided the basis for the hotel in No More Heroes, while the grander city setting of Santa Destroy was partially based on the version of San Diego depicted in the Clint Eastwood action classic, Dirty Harry. Grasshopper Manufacture developers even traveled to San Diego to capture elements of the area, though Suda said the film was very helpful for ideas, since the team was usually so far removed from the U.S. city. [Editor's note: Yes, we know that Dirty Harry takes place in San Francisco, but we checked our transcript, and yes, the conference translator, Suda's personal trainer, and even Suda himself said "San Diego." We're going to assume this is a minor gaffe, or maybe Grasshopper really did accidentally go to San Diego, thinking that's where Dirty Harry took place.] Finally, Suda said the bizarre, low-budget 1971 Spanish film El Topo provided the concept of having a set number of assassins to defeat -- though the movie and game vary widely in this respect (it's three in the film and 10 in the game).

 

But that's not all -- Suda also revealed which specific actors or athletes served as the basis for several of No More Heroes' supporting characters. While Travis is mainly based on Johnny Knoxville, he was also partially based on for UFC/Pride champ Josh Barnett, who also served as the primary basis for character Destroyman. Sylvia was modeled after actress Scarlett Johansson, Henry got his looks from late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, assassin Dr. Peace was inspired by actor Charles Bronson, and character Thunder Ryu was modeled after Japanese pro wrestler Genichiro Tenryu.

 

Even the two fake anime series in the game were based on real-life ones, with "Glastonbury" inspired by the 1980 series Space Runaway Ideon, and "Bizarre Jelly" based on the 2004 series Pretty Cure. Suda also said that the work Grasshopper did on a pair of anime-based titles -- Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked and Blood: One Night Kiss (a Japan-only title) -- led towards the development of No More Heroes, and that the three games form a "sword action trilogy."

 

Assuming the upcoming No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle contains even half as many interesting new characters as the original, then we'll hopefully get an encore presentation from Suda in a year or two regarding the numerous disparate influences for that game.

 

Games :

 

"The Silver Case" - "Nouvelle Vague"

"Killer 7" - "Battles without Honor or Humanity: Hiroshima Deathmatch"

"No More Heroes" - "Jackass: The Movie", "Spaceballs", "Gozu", "Memento", "Dirty Harry", "El Topo"

 

Characters :

 

Travis Touchdown : Johnny Knoxville

Destroyman : Josh Barnett (UFC fighter)

Sylvia : Scarlett Johansson

Henry : Ian Curtis (Joy Division singer)

Dr. Peace : Charles Bronson

Thunder Ryu : Genichiro Tenryu (Japanese pro-wrestler)

Glastonbury : Space Runaway Ideon

Bizarre Jelly : Pretty Cure

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Interesting read. The inspirations don't really surprise, you kind of expect them to be all over the place considering how wacky the game tends to get. Was nice to see El Topo there also.

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I love that guy, i'll buy any game he creates, just because they're always such a breath of fresh air to an increasingly stale games industry.

 

And every time I compliment him I hope I move God one step closer to getting Killer7 re-released.

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I came when I saw you posted.

 

Double wielding sabers, random people slashing, subwoofer arms... fucking genius!

 

Translation please!

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Looks good, looking forward to the translation of the article especially the first page with the story part since we know Sylvia is back.

I wonder how you control the dual katanas if it supports Wii motion plus which may be mentioned in the article.

Edited by The-Ironflame

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Oh my god, oh my God, oh My God. I need a fucking translation!

 

Loved the first. Want this.

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- Story : it's been 3 years since Travis became the Number One assassin. Santa Destroy is now at the hand of big companies which thanks to massive investments, transformed the small town into a big city. And not only is it the time Sylvia Christel chooses to suddenly reappear into Travis' life as an organisation agent, but his friend Bishop also ends up being involved in a pinch with some bad guys. Just the time for Travis get back to the grind and face some new battles...

 

- Wrestling moves are back, and along with some fresh dual-wielding swords action, they promise a more varied battle system.

 

- New characters introduced : an afro dude, Nathan Copeland, ranked 50th on the UAA ranking, and which is apparently a Travis fan ; as well as a mysterious beam-weapon wielding school girl, which seems to be related to Travis somehow.

 

- Famitsu's website should have a trailer on May 30th, and they'll also start taking applications for a T-shirt design contest.

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- Famitsu's website should have a trailer on May 30th, and they'll also start taking applications for a T-shirt design contest.

 

:bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:

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Can't wait to head back to the garden of madness.

 

Neither do I... awesomeness is coming again!!! My most wanted title of all in any system :)

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