EA has just announced a publishing agreement with eccentricNo 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!
Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:
In my last column I suggested that, if Microsoft is to make a Wii-like controller, it should still continue to focus on the "traditional" types of games that have so far made the 360 a success, because Nintendo had already basically wrapped up the "casual" crowd. I also mentioned that the only Wii games that are apparently selling are Nintendo games and some casual games. And with that in mind, the New York Timespublished an article on Monday detailing that, while the Wii hardware is selling well, even seemingly popular Wii software still has some trouble continuing to sell to the Wii audience.
Zero Punctuation discovers that we could use another hero (and a way home) in this week's review of Suda 51's No More Heroes. Rightful finger-pointing at Suda 51's pretentiousness starts the review, but it soon gets slashed away by Yahtzee's belief that No More Heroes does offer something "different." As we all know, "different" is this industry's version of the Monopoly "Get Out of Jail Free" card. It won't save a game from nasty reviews, but the cuts are certainly less deep.
Thunderdome your way to this week's NSFW review of No More Heroes after the break.
Grasshopper Manufacture's Masafumi Takada presented a discussion of his music (and fire prevention, he joked) to a welcoming crowd after an introduction by Tommy Tallarico. For thirty minutes, he discussed his process in Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, God Hand, Killer7, and then No More Heroes. The theme for his music design was "translation:" taking some aspect of the game, or some feeling, and putting it into the music. In addition, he relies on unique, catchy phrases that are repeated throughout each game's soundtrack, to "imprint the world" of the game on the player.
An Edge interview with Grasshopper CEO Goichi Suda has recently been reprinted by NextGen, and features a few insights into Suda51's development of No More Heroes, as well as the punk-rock designer's future plans.
Regarding the Wii, Suda51 felt that No More Heroes was a unique opportunity to appeal to the wide user base for the console, and set out to make the title appeal to both hardcore gamers, and those that might be experiencing their first action game.
Beyond No More Heroes, Suda51 expresses interest in developing for the Xbox 360, citing the console's tremendous performance in the States. According to Suda, America is the "Major League" of game development, and it's a market he'd most definitely like to conquer. We'll just have to wait and see what his crazy brain cooks up next.
We know already that the European and Japanese versions of Suda51's No More Heroesare a tad less bloody than their American counterpart. But exactly how much blood are they missing out on?
As the above comparison video shows, there's certainly a lot of blood in the American version that's absent from the others, but whether you'll actually miss it depends on your preference for riotously excess gore. We already know that Suda51 believed the American version simply needed more blood than the others; whether the game is actually better with fountains of ruby will ultimately depend on personal taste (or, apparently, your country of residence).
No More High-Definition Heroes was almost a reality, had Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda not been privy to some Wii whisperings during his project's planning stages. "Originally, I'd wanted to make this game for Xbox 360, actually," he told MCV. The No More Heroes designer, also known as "Suda51," explained that he was swayed by Marvelous Interactive president Yashiro Wada, who shared "information about the new Wii and how the new controller would work before it came out."
Suda51 admitted to being pleased with his choice, feeling that the distinctive wack 'n slash worked well with the Wii's control system. We're inclined to agree ... but then we wonder if anybody's ever expressed concern over the Xbox 360's "hardcore" audience.
The critical consensus on No More Heroes has more or less quelled our fears: It plays nothing like Suda 51's last cel-shaded bizarro-fest, Killer 7. Though the stylized characters and unrelentingly quirky atmosphere remains, Grasshopper Manufacture's wack 'n slash seems to benefit greatly from frenetic fighting and gallons of comical blood (at least if you're playing the American version). Looks like we'll be wanting that sequel after all, Suda.
GameSpy (80/100): "Its controls aren't always as solid as the visual and narrative experience, however; driving around Santa Destroy is a little clunky, and some of the mini-games get old fast. But the visual experience, zany storytelling and quirky moments make it more accessible than Killer 7 ever was, though it's certainly not a game for everyone."
IGN (78/10): "No More Heroes isn't the most polished game out there, and it certainly has its fair share of quirks all around, but it deserves to keep its place in the libraries of the more serious Wii gamers just the same. Suda 51 promised a violent, stylistic spectacle, and he delivered."
X-Play (100/100): "Death is hilariously over the top, bodies collapse in sections, heads pop like released balloons, amidst a symphony of screams from larynx free throats. Travis plays sweetly on these organs, the moans are applause. We love Suda and the imaginative commitment to No More Heroes, from the brown zep-dropping humanity of save points, to the incredible characters, story, and fight mechanic, we give No More Heroes a 5 out of 5."
No More Heroes creator Suda 51 wants to clarify a few comments. In a post on Grasshopper Manufacturer's website (click on "What's New"), the developer points out what he considers is a "misquote" in an interview with CVG. In response to a question concerning the sales of No More Heroes in Japan, Suda 51 said, "Whilst the sales weren't as high as I hoped, other titles for Wii aren't selling so well either. Only Nintendo titles are doing well," adding that this is the case outside of Japan, too.
The clarification posted asserts that "unlike a lot of Nintendo Wii titles currently available, [NMH] is the kind of product which will attract a different kind of consumer to the hardware, i.e. gamers who are looking for a different genre to the products which have been successful on this platform thus far." That "different kind of consumer" we're guessing is a more hardcore gamer, given comments earlier in the CVG interview where he said, "I wasn't expecting that Wii would be a console targeted only at non-gamers. I expected more games for hardcore gamers." Obviously, he doesn't want to comment on the sales of other third-party titles, but do you think he might have a point?
For those looking for a reportedly more hardcore Wii experience, No More Heroes comes out today in North America.
We're happy to report that, for the first time in a long time, the choice for the new release of the week is clear: Burnout Paradise. That said, after playing the paradigm-shifting demo, we wonder if all of the series' fans are going to make the leap to this new iteration. How about you?
Also: Good news for Wii fans this week too, with the sublimely odd No More Heroes also arriving. See the full list after the jump.
No More Heroes isn't even out on shelves yet outside of Japan, most of the reviews haven't even been published, and already director Goichi Suda wants a sequel. The punk-rock Killer 7 creator is already itching to create the next in this bizarre Wii-sclusive action series, despite publisher Ubisoft not yet soliciting for the sequel-itis treatment.
Talking with GameSpot, Suda says he's "really willing" to make a second No More Heroes, and is already asking about moving forward with it as a future project. Suda describes No More Heroes as being unlike any other action game for the Wii, likening it to alternative rock band Arctic Monkeys in terms of its energy (uh, whatever you say, Suda).
Suda 51 is currently working on American localizations of two Grasshopper-developed DS games -- Flower, Sun and Rain and Silver Case -- and is also working on an undisclosed Xbox 360 title for Konami. No More Heroes drops on January 22 in the US, and February 29 in the UK. We'll see then if it's sequel-worthy.
Wasting no time to celebrate No More Heroes' impending release, reader Eric splattered his Wii to celebrate the game. "I'm just hoping this gets around for the masses to see and hopefully we can get more people to show some lovin' to a struggling game and creator," he writes, noting the less-than-stellar sales for the game in Japan. Check out the highlights for today:
We had been a little worried for Suda51's odd action game No More Heroes, nestled as it was in a February release slot, the same month as sure-to-be-mega-hit Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Would the unknown assassin be able to compete with the entire stable of Nintendo characters? Would Wii owners know what to do with themselves if the console got more than one decent game in a month?
Luckily, it seems we can continue with our nearly monthly ritual of trying to figure out which of our disconnected AV cords go to the Wii, with IGN reporting that NMH has actually been bumped up to a January 22nd release. Now, we just need to find two AAs for the Wiimote, as we still haven't perfected Travis Touchdown's unconventional method of charging.
Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Goichi "Suda 51" Suda has made himself a target for fans angered by a recent display of perceived censorship in the European version of upcoming sword swinger, No More Heroes. Much like its Japanese counterpart, No More Euros has been scrubbed clean of blood, rewarding each violent slash with a spectacular gush of coins. In that sense, it couldn't be a more accurate metaphorical representation of the hitman motif that carries over from Suda 51's Killer 7.
Regardless, a statement issued by Goichi Suda and Marvelous president Yashiro Wada hopes to divert the outrage away from publisher Rising Star games, noting that the decision was made "to release in Europe the same version as has shipped in Japan considering the broadly growing Wii market." Apparently, said broadly growing Wii market is entirely separate from that in America, where it's perfectly alright to add blood to the localized No More Heroes. A pretty weak justification then, likely conjured up to avoid a possible BBFC ban-trum.
Director Suda 51 established one cold hard fact with his 2005 sleeper hit, Killer 7: every living person is composed of chunks of blood that explode jubilantly, like a blood piñata, when that person is killed. Though it contradicts the professional opinions of most anatomists, we are stringent supporters of the bloodsplosion ideology -- which is why we were so disturbed by recent gameplay footage for the European version of Suda's No More Heroes.
Click the jump and watch as the game discards the stylish, bloody effects of Killer 7, replacing them with ... what are those? Coins? Vanilla Wafers? Whatever they are, they definitely aren't blood. We know blood when we see it -- because when we see it, we shout "yeah" and give each other high-fives.
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.
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