Suda 51 wants to remake Grasshopper Manufacture's 'Michigan'
Not the state -- we don't know how he feels about that, nor do we think he'd have the power to remake it. Michigan (the game) was a 2004 PS2 adventure developed by Suda's Grasshopper Manufacture and directed by Contact's Akira Ueda, in which the player controls a cameraman who follows, and indirectly influences, a reporter investigating mysterious phenomena."There's a Spanish horror film called REC," Suda told Gamasutra, "and when I watched it, I realized it was pretty much Michigan, right there. I still have a lot of ideas along those lines, and I'd love to work with Spike sometime to make a new Michigan or a remake." Interviewer Brandon Sheffield discussed talks he'd had with US publishers about the game, who told him Sony declined it due to a lack of gameplay. So a remake would probably include more direct gameplay or ... would be for another platform.
Suda also said that he never expected to become a superstar game designer as a kid. "I wanted to become a sushi chef or an astronaut."






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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Discotheque @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:14PM
OMG please happen. [REC] is awesome, Suda51 is awesome. This game I haven't played surely must be awesome.
Suda51 best Japanese developer, and one of the best developers out there at the moment. I'm dying to play any new game from him.
Dr. steve brule @ Oct 24th 2009 2:16AM
wasnt there a wii fatal frame game coming out soon from grashopper?
Mr Khan @ Oct 24th 2009 12:13PM
A dispute between Nintendo and Tecmo is keeping that game in Japan, pretty much permanently.
Chromekreeper @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:15PM
meh, never heard of it, and probably for a good reason
MRLN (The Comment God) @ Oct 24th 2009 6:17PM
meh, never heard of you, probably for a better reason.
Reuben @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:16PM
This is it, right? This is that game with the vagina monsters, I just know it is. I watched an episode of X-Play a while back dealing with f'ed up games. Yeah, vagina monsters.
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:42PM
One question: Are teeth involved?
Reuben @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:53PM
Indeed!
Also, I saw that movie.
Reuben @ Oct 24th 2009 12:00AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GLaqV-sxo
Not for the faint-hearted, but the voice work is pretty "lol" worthy.
DreamingDarklyRobin @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:17PM
Well, I'm sure it'll be better than the state anyhow.
I know, I live there.
Dr. Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 24th 2009 1:14AM
You have my pity. But surely it's not as bad as Chicago?
samfish [is sad there is no Gene in Tats v Cap =( ] @ Oct 24th 2009 11:11AM
Chicago is awesome.
...especially compared to Cleveland, the poor man's Detroit.
Bar = lowered.
RenegadeRSO @ Oct 24th 2009 7:00PM
Michigan is doing way worse than Chicago. On topic: this game seems great and a remake sounds even better if it can be done well and scary.
DreamingDarklyRobin @ Oct 24th 2009 7:41PM
Yeah, right now Michigan is probably the worst economy in the country. The last time Detroit was actually worth living in was............never?
On topic: this game was terrible, and probably shouldn't be remade, even by someone like Suda.
gatotsu911 @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:26PM
I dunno... I love Suda, but I've heard some pretty unsavory things about this game.
And FROM this game... http://audioatrocities.com/games/michigan/index.html
Discotheque @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:28PM
ROFL that's almost as bad as Square Enix's dubs (original and English folks).
Special Agent Steve @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:32PM
http://audioatrocities.com/games/michigan/clip3.mp3
Special Agent Steve @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:32PM
OH MA GOD
Discotheque @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:37PM
Hahahaha that "Oh my Gawd" line had me laughing so much. That's terrible. Sometimes I think these "actors" do it on purpose.
Beaverius @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:23PM
Rec is very awesome, i am curious to see the US remake - would love a game in the same vein
Discotheque @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:23PM
US remake of Rec? Quarantine. It wasn't very good.
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:44PM
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/5-second-movies/11036-5secquar
Autobot @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:24PM
Oh my fucking god.
CaramelZappa @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:39PM
I don't know, I've never played Michigan. I'm pretty obsessed with the idea of him porting Killer 7 to the wii though, and using the wiimote for the rail-shooter like controls. I just feel like it would work so much better for the game than the GC controller did.
2nd Lieutenant Gunther (PSN: helghast102) @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:44PM
[REC] was amazing, otherwise i dont have much to say on this topic, keep scrolling...
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:48PM
"I wanted to become a sushi chef or an astronaut."
What a serious change of career plans, this ever happen to you guys?
Back to the point, I'd like to see how Suda would do this remake. His games are seriously different compared to the regulars we'll always get, but they always sell poorly because consumers are not interested in something so unfamiliar. And that really blows, especially seeing how that kind of mentality ruins creativity. As you can tell, I'm a fan seeing how I bought Contact, Killer7, even Blood+ One Night Kiss (only released in Japan) and plan to buy the other titles released in the states.
Can you name any developers that try to be radical? I'll start:
Hideo Kojima
That's all I got.
Discotheque @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:56PM
Hideo Kojima's the exact opposite of Radical. His stories are non-sensical by accident, not intention.
I seriously got nothing though. Suda51's all I can name. He's like the David Lynch of gaming.
2nd Lieutenant Gunther (PSN: helghast102) @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:58PM
^Maybe if you payed attention to the MGS stories...
Discotheque @ Oct 24th 2009 12:03AM
Oh here we go again. The typical argument MGS fanboys use "you don't understand them so you don't like them".
I understood all 4 game plots. I just think the writing was just beyond awful. It played out like a spanish soap opera. Evil brothers, hands taking over an entire person's conciousness, everybody knew each other in the past somehow in some complicated love triangle/relationship etc.
Just overall bad writing.
Sly @ Oct 24th 2009 12:57AM
i think the MGS series has excellent writing. MGS4 was the first game that ever truly *got* to me emotionally. i really felt like snake and i were one during the microwave hall. and the part in europe was one of my favorite game segments ever. kojima's plots are a bit convoluted, but they just require a bit of thought to make them make sense.
That Fuzzy Bastard @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:48PM
Michigan was kind of disastrous---terrible dubbing, clunky controls, and major graphics problems. But the basic idea was fairly brilliant---I'd actually be all for a remake.
Shadowbender (Nelson Is Behind You) @ Oct 24th 2009 12:03AM
Strange title...To be honest I have never heard of the game. What genre of a game is it?
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) @ Oct 24th 2009 2:25AM
Action-adventure game, survival horror.
Best part of the game is when you're faced with cut-scenes (which are in CG, explaining where the PS2's processing power went to) where you have to make a choice between saving a person (influencing the shot) or letting them die (gotta get those rating somehow!). Depending on your choices, the cameraman revealed in the ending could be a perverted cameraman who likes to film up his reporter's skirts, a pussy that's essentially Hayden Christensen from Star Wars, or an evil dick (I've never seen this one, though) who gets assassinated by the Zaka corporation to keep him from revealing their involvement with the government in the fact they were responsible for the monsters created. Funny though, in order to get the "best" ending, you have to let everyone around you die.
Bowser Rogozhin: England is finished @ Oct 24th 2009 8:26AM
Ueda helmed two of my most memorable games in the last few years, the two being Contact and Shining Soul 2; as well as being involved in Flower, Sun, and Rain, a right enjoyable game despite its sometimes laughable gameplay mechanics. Hopefully Sakura Note will see a Western release, Tiny Cartridge have been pushing that game rather hard lately. And we all know that Suda is one of the few bright spots in the desolate vidya game landscape that we see today.
Having said all that, I have little faith in this game. I don't have the patience to elaborate on my pessimism, it just looks shit. And not in a semi-detached, ironic, so shit it becomes good, kinda thing. It looks shit.
taurus82 (HD ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, Please) @ Oct 24th 2009 10:35AM
I'd take a Heavy Rain-style remake (ie almost a point n click adventure).
Mr Khan @ Oct 24th 2009 12:17PM
It would benefit on any of the modern consoles, pointer control for the camera, or Heavy Rain-style super graphics.
ottoman673 @ Oct 24th 2009 1:12PM
Oh man, the voice acting in this game was so bad, that it was so good.
The main character screaming OH MAH GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD will never leave my head. ever.
Comet @ Oct 24th 2009 5:05PM
Anything Suda does I will keep an eye on.
thedisagree @ Oct 24th 2009 6:28PM
once again, my day was made
taurus82 (Point & Click-Graphic Adventures on PlayStation 3 Please) @ Oct 25th 2009 11:01AM
What JC Fletcher fails to mention is that SCEA declined the game, not SCEE so it's possible that EU will still get a release.