Dante Posted May 16, 2006 Posted May 16, 2006 The wire has interview Suda51. The Wiire sat down in an exclusive interview with Grasshopper Manufacture Director Goichi Suda (known as Suda 51, maker of Killer 7) and Product Manager Nobuhito Nakamura at E3 2006 about the studio's Wii project, known currently as Heroes. Readers should note that Nakamura acted as Suda 51's translator. Grasshopper Manufacture did not have a booth at E3 this year, giving The Wiire the first breaking news on the project. As The Wiire reported in March, Nakamura intended Heroes to be shown during E3 2006. However, the game trailer may not be available until this summer. Suda 51 responded, "I'm afraid to say this, but we don't know actually why the Heroes wasn't revealed at this show." When asked if the Marvelous Interactive and Spike, Heroes' publishers, made the decision to withold the game from the show, Suda 51 stated, "Maybe. We don't know that. I think [the] publishers also don't know why." "We are thinking about the reveal date. So, we are planning now," Suda 51 mentioned. "So maybe this summer... we are going to show the world." When asked how many members of the development team from previous Grasshopper titles are working on Heroes, Suda 51 said the studio is approximately divided in half between Heroes and a new PlayStation 2 title called Blood+, with members of each half going back and forth to work on both titles. However, the team working in tandem with Grasshopper Manufacture's first DS title Contact is now an independent studio called Audio, meaning the Contact team will not be helping create Heroes. Although members of the Killer 7 team are involved with the new Wii title, Suda would not say how many developers are from the team. The Wiire asked if Heroes is a sequel to Killer 7, to which Suda 51 responded, "No. Heroes is not sequel to Killer 7. [it is a] completely new story and new game of Grasshopper," emphasizing its originality. Killer 7 sparked controversy due to plot focus on politics, religion, among other topics. When asked if gamers could expect the same social and political commentary from Heroes, Suda 51 commented, "You can expect social matter, not political. You can expect a various theme in the game." As for the extent of obscene material such as strong language, violence and swearing in Heroes, he noted, "We want Heroes to be more wide-ranged... want more range of ages. Maybe include some violence and language." On that note, Suda 51 mentioned that he doesn't want it to carry the "M for Mature" ESRB label as Killer 7 received. In regards to the look of Heroes, The Wiire asked if the game would be cel-shaded like Killer 7, but Suda 51 did not want the visual style disclosed to the public. He reiterated that Grasshopper Manufacture is thinking of the best way to reveal Heroes, and when asked if he's considering revealing the title at Tokyo Game Show, he laughed and simply said, "We can't say." Moving on to Wii hardware discussion, Suda 51 mentioned Nintendo's helpfulness in Wii development procedures. "First, we developed Killer 7 for GameCube so we are very familiar to Nintendo this time with Nintendo Wii," stated Suda 51. "Nintendo is very helpful for us to develop a Wii game... Nintendo gave us [technical] support and we develop it similarly." However, when asked if Nintendo had a hand in the game's actual development outside of providing tools, he responded, "Only we, Grasshopper, [are] developing Heroes. Nintendo gave us [a] developing kit and we developed." Suda 51 also noted that it was relatively easy to work with the development kit. Suda noted that the Killer7 GameCube code was not ported over to Wii for Heroes, but rather that "the style of Grasshopper is to create [a new] engine for each game," he stated. "So the engine of Killer7 and Heroes [are] totally different; we created [Heroes' engine] from scratch." Regarding the Wii controller speaker functionality, Suda 51 and Nakamura were made aware of the speaker during, not before, Nintendo's press conference. Suda 51 said he is already planning on how it could be implemented into Heroes. As for whether Heroes might find its way to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as well as Wii, Suda 51 responded, "We are very sorry about that... that question is very hard to answer because we are developers and [with] publishers, they decide." The Wiire asked which of the controllers he likes most out of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii, Suda 51 laughed and replied, "Wii. Wii." According to Suda, last autumn Spike President Mitsutoshi Sakurai and Marvelous Interactive Yasuhiro Wada approached Grasshopper Manufacture about crafting the title. Suda 51 had worked with Sakurai and Wada on past titles, and both company presidents held the Killer 7 producer in high regard. After some discussion between the three men, the companies decided on making a title. Production on Heroes began sometime after the agreement made last fall. As a final message to gamers, Suda had the following to say: "After publishing Killer 7 in North America and Europe, [we received] very many e-mails from fans. So please look forward to Heroes. [it] will be extreme game that no one has seen before. Everyone can be surprised about Heroes... want [the game] to make [a] big piece. So many people can play Heroes, but [it's] a completely new game. Many people can play, but extremely new." Any other information regarding the title was asked to remain confidential until the unveiling of the game. Stay tuned to The Wiire for further exclusives with Grasshopper Manufacture's titles.
pedrocasilva Posted May 16, 2006 Posted May 16, 2006 ^ Didn't finished reading yet... but... bummer, I really wanted a Killer 7 sequel, I find that game perfect to be maped for the wii-mote Nintendo only gave them a devkit? one devkit? But yeah... I'll probably buy it, I like Grasshopper work.
opentarget Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 I never got a chance to play killer7 but the visual style is really appealing to me. odiously this developer has some balls to release such a bizarre and complex game, this bodes well for Heroes, im looking forward to seeing it although I don’t think it will be cell shaded. On a side note is killer7 worth tracking down?
Fierce_LiNk Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 I never got a chance to play killer7 but the visual style is really appealing to me. odiously this developer has some balls to release such a bizarre and complex game, this bodes well for Heroes, im looking forward to seeing it although I don’t think it will be cell shaded. On a side note is killer7 worth tracking down? If you like games with a powerful story, or games that are quite strange, then Killer7 is well worth tracking down. Am i gutted about there not being a sequel to Killer7? Not really. Killer7 is a great game that stands well on its own. I prefer it if they just left that series how it is. We need more new and original games.
raven_blade2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Good, bring on the new and original games for Wii.
gorrit Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 "The Wiire asked which of the controllers he likes most out of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii, Suda 51 laughed and replied, "Wii. Wii.""
Nintendork Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Their style is to do things the hard way. I like them because of that- with bookerman, it's bought.
The fish Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Good all the same, but Killer7 2 would have been good with that controller..or even the light gun/rifle!
Jamba Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 "make a new engine for each new game" That's what I like to hear. These people see their games as an overall concept that have a feel and a presence. One of the reasons I didn't want to get a PS2 was because everything seemed to have the same feel, probably cos they were all using the same middleware. I'm all in for any Game Artists.
FalcoLombardi Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Haha, a Killer7 sequal would have been nice, but seeing as how the first one didn't sell, I can see why. Really complex game though. Possibly the best twists ever in video game history. And I'm now a fan of Suda51, so I can't wait to see what Heroes will be.
Konfucius Posted May 18, 2006 Posted May 18, 2006 I'm somehow glad it's not a killer7 sequel. It's so unique, a sequel could destroy that status. I'm very happy Suda51 makes a game for Wii, a certain must-have for me too.
Dante Posted June 28, 2006 Author Posted June 28, 2006 another interview by N-Philes. On the last day of E3, N-Philes had an opportunity to talk with Goichi Suda, the President/Director of Grasshopper Manufacture in Japan, and Nobuhiko Nakamura, the company's product manager. Grasshopper is best known for their game killer7, a cult-favorite game which was published by Capcom for the GameCube and Playstation 2 in 2005. Most recently, Grasshopper worked on Contact for the Nintendo DS with Marvelous Interactive, the creators of the Harvest Moon series. Contact is being released in North America by Atlus, and it is currently slated for a release in either August of September of this year. N-Philes sent in Curtis Brunet and Steven DeSiena to meet the acclaimed director Mr. Suda, and Grasshopper product manager Mr. Nakamura. Eschewing the private booths where most E3 interviews took place, they met the director beneath a stairwell in South Hall, found Mr. Suda a chair, and began shooting off the questions. N-Philes: Hello! If it's OK, we'd like to start off talking a bit about killer7. First, could you tell us a bit of history on how your relationship with Capcom began, and how the thought-process of creating the game killer7 came about? Suda: Shinji Mikami and myself actually met to talk, and killer7's concept came about. N-Philes: Was it always visioned and created as a GameCube title exclusively? Could you tell us about why it was ported to the Playstation 2? Suda: We only developed a GameCube project when creating killer7 and later Capcom and Grasshopper decided to publish it for the Playstation 2. This was done because we wanted to create a wider audience for killer7 so more people could experience it. N-Philes: OK, moving on, could you speak a little bit about Contact for the Nintendo DS? Could you tell us about the relationship between Grasshopper and Marvelous Interactive? Suda: You know, Marvelous Interactive used to be called Victor Interactive. So, together we published Flower, Sun, and Rain for the Playstation 2. We created a very good relationship with Victor through this game. So, Marvelous Interactive's president, Mr. Wada, and myself, met and talked casually and Mr. Wada said, "How about we create a new project on the Nintendo DS?". Then the Contact project began. N-Philes: Could you tell us a bit about Contact's story, and maybe a bit of the game's unique gameplay system? Just a basic explanation of the concept. Suda: In Japan, the RPG is a popular genre. So, Contact is also, of course, a role playing game. In Japan, we wanted to make Contact a great hit. But, Contact also includes various new innovative features. We wanted to create a dynamic way of playing the game. For example, the player is outside the DS. We wanted to create a game where you're the player controlling, interacting, and giving commands to an independent character within the game. Nakamura: Actually, we don't know the name of the hero in the US version of Contact. Did you get to play it? N-Philes: Yes, we did! Actually, the name of the main character in the game is "Terry". Nakamura: Terry! In Japan, the hero's name is "Cherry". Suda: Ahh! [laughter] Nakamura: We are wondering why "Cherry" is not acceptable in the US. N-Philes: We believe it's simply because "Cherry" is not a very common name and perhaps Atlus felt "Terry" is a much more common and recognizable American name. Nakamura: Thanks! N-Philes: Also, we just recently read that there's a sequel to Contact in the works. Is this true? Suda: We don't have any comments on that, so please wait for information on a sequel to Contact. We can't say if that is correct or not right now. N-Philes: Well, it wasn't anything official, it was just a rumor. Nakamura: Well, you can contact Marvelous Interactive in Japan to talk about that. Suda: Actually, you know, Grasshopper had two main minds behind Contact: myself and Akira Ueda. Mr. Ueda is the director Contact and I am the producer. Contact is a very different taste of game. So, I created killer7 and Ueda created Contact and, say, Shining Soul. Nakamura: Mr. Ueda has actually left Grasshopper to form his own studio. It's called Audio. Please look after Audio and keep an eye on them. N-Philes: We'll definitely look out for their games. Nakamura: If possible, please interview Mr. Ueda. N-Philes: Oh, is Mr. Ueda here today? Nakamura: Oh no, he's currently in Japan. N-Philes: I see. So then, would you like to comment on the Nintendo Wii and the new controller? Suda: Hmm, well, it's an absolutely new device. I feel the possibilities of the controller creates a new market. For example, people who haven't played TV games before can play Wii games and enter the market, and the market expands. N-Philes: Yeah, people who haven't played games before might be able to do so now because the new controller makes games more accessible and simple for non-gamers. Nakamura: Yes! This is exactly what we were saying yesterday. [laughter] N-Philes: Regarding the Wii, for the longest time I've been reading about a title from Grasshopper called ProjectS, and just recently we heard about a new Wii title from you, Mr. Suda, called Heroes. Are they the same project? Nakamura: ProjectS and Heroes are two different projects. Suda: Yeah, two different games. N-Philes: And are they both currently in development? Suda: We only started developing Heroes. Project S is just in the planning process. N-Philes: And Heroes is designed by you? Suda: Heroes is entirely my game, yes. N-Philes: We heard a rumor that Heroes was supposed to be playable on the floor this week. Is that true, or is the game too early in development to show off? Suda: We don't know exactly why Heroes wasn't revealed on this floor. So, we can't answer. Grasshopper, Marvelous Interactive, and Spike, the three companies creating the game, are now thinking about when the best time to reveal Heroes information to the world would be. Please wait until, possibly, this summer. N-Philes: Perhaps we'll find out a bit at the Tokyo Game Show? Nakamura: Ahh... we don't know exactly when. But, please look out for more Heroes information. N-Philes: Oh, of course. What do you think of the titles currently being displayed today for the Wii? Like Super Mario Galaxy... Nakamura: ...or Zelda? N-Philes: Yeah, or Zelda! Have you had a chance to play them? Suda: The Nintendo booth is very crowded! N-Philes: Yeah! [laughter] Suda: We'd have to wait a long, long time. We didn't have enough time to wait in the lines since we're busy with meetings and interviews, so actually, we couldn't play any Wii games. N-Philes: Yeah, we waited in lines for many hours to play the Wii. Nakamura: Many hours! How many hours? N-Philes: We had guys waiting in line for at least three hours yesterday. We heard the lines got up to five to seven hours long! Suda: Wow! The day is over by that time! [laughter] N-Philes: Yes! Well, we don't want to take up much more of your time, so thank you so much for sharing this information with us, and thank you both very much for taking the time to talk with us. Suda: Thank you! Special thanks go to Mr. Suda and Mr. Nakamura for translating.
system_error Posted June 28, 2006 Posted June 28, 2006 A few weeks ago Gamasutra talked to Goichi Suda and he said the "Heroes" will be unveiled at the end of june. 2 days left and he does not mention anything in that new interview he even denies that we will see more at TGS. Looks like that game is far away from being shown to people. Too bad I really liked Killer7 and was eager to find out more about Heroes.
DCK Posted June 29, 2006 Posted June 29, 2006 Sounds interesting, can't wait to see it announced. Maybe it can already be presented at the TGS?
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