Shadows of the Damned director Guarini leaves Grasshopper, forms Ovosonico
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Though the marquee names associated with Shadows of the Damned were Suda 51, Shinji Mikami, and Akira Yamaoka, it was Massimo Guarini who actually directed the stylish shooter for Grasshopper Manufacture. He'll have a chance to amend that crediting oversight with his new studio, the just revealed Ovosonico Productions. Grasshopper confirmed to us that Guarini has left Suda 51's camp-heavy dev house.
GameSpot noticed the site and dug through its source code, which revealed the slogan "Games, Music, Films with an attitude" -- not exactly a surprise given Guarini's multi-disciplined media production past. The main site also characterizes the company's work as "The sound of bold ideas," ambiguously hinting at its future.
It's not exactly a huge surprise that Guarini left, given the depressingly low initial sales numbers of the excellent Shadows of the Damned, but it is a surprise he's starting his own studio -- Guarini's worked for a variety of studios across the industry, originally getting his start at Ubisoft. It's currently unclear where Ovosonico is based, but we've followed up for more info.
GameSpot noticed the site and dug through its source code, which revealed the slogan "Games, Music, Films with an attitude" -- not exactly a surprise given Guarini's multi-disciplined media production past. The main site also characterizes the company's work as "The sound of bold ideas," ambiguously hinting at its future.
It's not exactly a huge surprise that Guarini left, given the depressingly low initial sales numbers of the excellent Shadows of the Damned, but it is a surprise he's starting his own studio -- Guarini's worked for a variety of studios across the industry, originally getting his start at Ubisoft. It's currently unclear where Ovosonico is based, but we've followed up for more info.
Reader Comments (29)
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 8:42PM Typhonic said
Up with Yamaoka, down with this dude. C'est la vie.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 8:45PM tendoboy1984 said
Grasshopper Manufacture is a Japanese company right?
That guy looks Italian.
That guy looks Italian.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 8:55PM tendoboy1984 said
@Arsenic13
But most Japanese people hate working with western folk.
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But most Japanese people hate working with western folk.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 9:16PM Epoque said
Your preconceived notions have been shattered by the mere fact this man has been working in close cooperation within a Japanese company. That's all there is to it. Perhaps he is the exception to the rule, or perhaps you've made a gross generalization of Japanese people.
Reply
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 11:15PM Heisenberg said
@tendoboy1984
Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami are one of the few Japanese developers, that I at least know about, who want to break out of Japanese game development conventions. So I'd venture to guess that they don't hold a bias when it comes to westerners helping develop their games.
But I think all Japanese game studios have western people in them. At least the big ones. I know Q-games, the pixel junk guys, have a bunch of westerners at the top.
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Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami are one of the few Japanese developers, that I at least know about, who want to break out of Japanese game development conventions. So I'd venture to guess that they don't hold a bias when it comes to westerners helping develop their games.
But I think all Japanese game studios have western people in them. At least the big ones. I know Q-games, the pixel junk guys, have a bunch of westerners at the top.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 12:19PM gatotsu911 said
@tendoboy1984
Grasshopper has an unusually high number of foreign employees for a Japanese studio, it's true. But foreigners working in the Japanese games industry is hardly unheard of. Just look at Dylan Cuthbert, Shane Bettenhausen, and Ryan Peyton, to name a few.
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Grasshopper has an unusually high number of foreign employees for a Japanese studio, it's true. But foreigners working in the Japanese games industry is hardly unheard of. Just look at Dylan Cuthbert, Shane Bettenhausen, and Ryan Peyton, to name a few.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 8:45PM Shogan said
Kinda hot.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 8:50PM Special Agent Bob said
i dont why but this guy he..scares me.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 8:54PM tendoboy1984 said
@Special Agent Bob
His father is Al Pacino, and his cousin is Robert DeNiro. :-P
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His father is Al Pacino, and his cousin is Robert DeNiro. :-P
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 8:53PM tendoboy1984 said
But why would an Italian guy work for a Japanese company? Most Japanese developers don't like working with Western folk.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 9:01PM Assmar said
Chad Ovosonico?
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 10:05PM Pure Black World Tendency said
More studios = more games = good good good
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 10:14PM Startingline13 ArmlessOctopus said
I guess he saw the writing on the wall.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 10:37PM esbeekay said
Shadows was the sleeper hit of 2011 for me. I had a little interest, picked it up, and ended up loving it. Easily a contender for my goty
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 11:46PM CapiCoco said
I'll buy Shadows of the Damned in August along with No More Heroes Paradise; I didn't have the money when it launched but I intend to fully support original games like this.
Besides the game has very good reviews and I've heard nothing but praise, a real shame many people is waiting for a price drop but they do buy many generic crap like Fifa and CoD day one... it should be the other way around.
Besides the game has very good reviews and I've heard nothing but praise, a real shame many people is waiting for a price drop but they do buy many generic crap like Fifa and CoD day one... it should be the other way around.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 1:10AM darkhellmutt said
@CapiCoco
Here here. Shadows was awesome. Dialog is good and campy. There's a boner joke every other sentence, but they always nod to it. The music, also superb. I was never a Suda fan, because I never played No More Heroes. Eagerly awaiting that next month.
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Here here. Shadows was awesome. Dialog is good and campy. There's a boner joke every other sentence, but they always nod to it. The music, also superb. I was never a Suda fan, because I never played No More Heroes. Eagerly awaiting that next month.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 12:34AM Meghterb1985 said
Wish he stayed at GH.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 7:32AM (Unverified) said
Shadows of the Damned was genuinely amazing - game of the year so far easy. Most game reviewers were too busy trying to prove they're smarter than dick jokes to get that the joke was on them
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 8:20AM Xenobite said
This guy shouldn't bother with a videogame start up. Just go into modelling while he's still young.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 9:23AM Spartan050 said
Incorrect. Many Japanese comPanies love working with westerns. Together they brought us Silent hill Resident evil Street fighter and many I can't remember at the mo.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 9:52AM blessrok said
SotD was meh to me, but good luck to this guy.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 10:48AM Dracorian said
Not really surprised. Checked out this guys website. He is very ambitious at what he does. Which is pretty much everything! Shadows is an awesome game. Will be looking out for him in the future.







