EA publishing new action horror 'franchise' from Suda51, Shinji Mikami

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Aug 14th 2008 at 5:30PM }

EA has just announced a publishing agreement with eccentric No More Heroes developer, Grasshopper Manufacture. The deal concerns an "all-new action horror game" produced by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and directed by the master of self-referential weirdness, Goichi "Suda51" Suda. The mysterious title, which also boasts the involvement of Q Entertainment, is slated for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Wii.

Goichi Suda has nothing but good things to say about EA Partners in the press release, praising the group for sharing Grasshopper's "commitment to quality and innovation," all the while respecting its "independence as a studio, which is very empowering." EA Games' Frank Gibeau is equally polite, saying, "It is an honor for EA to sign Grasshopper Manufacture and help bring their new franchise to gamers worldwide. Franchise, you say?

Of course, neither of them say anything about the actual game. Way to leave us hanging, guys!

Tags: BreakingNews, EA, EA-Games, Ea-Partners, Grasshopper, Grasshopper-Manufacture, Horror, no-more-heroes, Shinji-Mikami, Suda-51

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Noshino @ Aug 14th 2008 5:34PM

hey samfish, I guess Mikami is working exclusively for the Wii after all...

Anyway, this partnership is just missing Kojima (after that show, it was clear that they are amazing together, that would make this the game of the forever...

samfish @ Aug 14th 2008 5:49PM

Maybe Mikami will show Suda how to make a good beat 'em up and No More Heroes 2 will be...more enjoyable.

Noshino @ Aug 14th 2008 5:59PM

lol, I meant "isn't"

Anyway, I don't know dude, I only played it a little, but I read reviews about it, and it seems that it lacked polish. Hopefully now that they have a budget and both Mikami and Mizuguchi are working alongside him, he'll do a much better job...

samfish @ Aug 14th 2008 6:46PM

I was totally let down by No More Heroes. I thought the boss fights were fun, (shit, they were awesome!), but the sandbox parts were just miserable and are ultimately what killed the game for me.
The combat was crap, too. Not as bad as Devil May Cry games, but there was still basically nothing to it...very shallow and repetitive.

And it did lack polish, but I don't think you can hold that against the game too much, all things considered.

Anyway, we still don't know what game he's making under Platinum is for. For the LITTLE we know about it, it kinda suggests the Wii, but if it's still really early, things like a smaller team size don't necessarily mean anything, either.

The OTHER good news about this is that if he's making a game for EA, that strongly suggests that the Platinum guys ARE NOT contractually tied to Sega, which means we might get an Okami II!
KEEP HOPE ALIVE!

Anticrawl @ Aug 14th 2008 6:53PM

He originally wanted to bring No More Heroes to the 360.

Noshino @ Aug 14th 2008 6:53PM

Damn you woman, I loved my DMC (except for 4, I would rather play 2 than 4) style gameplay!

Anyway, dude, I don't really think that there is hope for Okami 2 based on what Kamiya said about DMC sequels

"I wanted to do the sequel. I used to want to do a sequel, but now it's like some other guy's chick. It's not my chick anymore. And that chick got fooled and played all around from all over, so I don't want her anymore. I'm only concentrating on my current chick [bayonetta]"

But yah, one can hope, Okami 2 and Viewtiful Joe 3!! PLEASE!

Superstar90 @ Aug 14th 2008 7:03PM

@samfish
I don't know the terms of it all, but if I was fired from a company I wouldn't really want to go back and make a game for them.

But of course, I don't know the conditions, so it could happen. And if it did, VJ3 should come out first :P

Phil @ Aug 14th 2008 7:54PM

Ugh, No More Heroes was FINE. It had its flaws but you shouldn't nit pick at it like you do with most other games people...

Give credit where credit is due, the style, the violence, the gameplay, it was all FUN to some degree.

And at the cost of the gameplay being repetitive, we got some real over the top finishers. Gameplay can suck all it wants but if I can off my enemies in a unique and stylish way (A la Kingdom Hearts with the Drive Meter, various finishing abilities and other slashers) then it's fine.

Again, it's not like the game was unplayable... At times the camera was shitty but that's REALLY it...

Superstar90 @ Aug 14th 2008 5:35PM

:O It should be awesome. I hope it's cel-shaded too, and full of over-the-top action.

Also someone tell him that he need to make a sequel to Contact goddammit.

Highcharity @ Aug 14th 2008 5:45PM

Resident evil and No more heroes? Travis Redfield anyone?

zelderman @ Aug 15th 2008 3:54AM

I like chris touchdown

Nigeria @ Aug 14th 2008 5:46PM

I never liked that England shirt. The umbro logo is almost as big as the three lions.

samfish @ Aug 14th 2008 5:47PM

YAY! Automatically the best news of the day!

theturtle363 @ Aug 14th 2008 6:56PM

My ability to detect sarcasm is offset by your avatar

oldmeme @ Aug 14th 2008 5:50PM

This just made my day. Thank you.

deaftly @ Aug 14th 2008 5:55PM

"Goichi Suda has nothing but good things to say about EA Partners in the press release, praising the group for sharing Grasshopper's "commitment to quality and innovation,"

Translation

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

@tomic @ Aug 14th 2008 6:00PM

Pretty much guaranteed to be awesome.

danny. @ Aug 14th 2008 6:01PM

Now EA just needs to pick up Double Fine to become the best publisher out there...

theturtle363 @ Aug 14th 2008 6:59PM

ha! just weeks ago no one would have had a second thought about characterizing EA as the typical corporate mega giant throwing hundreds of games with rehashed and unpolished gameplay, now they acquire one developer who has a quirky style and they're the best thing ever. How fickle gamers are

theturtle363 @ Aug 14th 2008 6:59PM

theturtle363 @ Aug 14th 2008 7:06PM

DOUBLE POOOOOOOOSST!!!!

danny. @ Aug 15th 2008 9:01AM

It's not being fickle. They aren't just releasing one decent game, they've really stretched into new and interesting IPs and started working with developers like Valve and Grasshopper. I don't really worry about publishers much, but it becomes worth mentioning when a company turns a corner like this.