He's got a weird name, he makes weird, violent games, and he's got really, really cool friends. He's also writing the Snatcher radio drama, which makes him our best friend. Grasshopper Manufacture's Suda 51 applies a punk-rock philosophy to game design, and the results are always interesting.
He seems to have made the Wii his home console for the time being. Do you welcome his contributions? Are you looking forward to No More Heroes as much as we are? The kind of stuff he likes to make is pretty far outside the usual Wii fare, but we feel that the Wii all about shaking up the norm. Is there merit to his disruptive game design ideals, or are they just disruptive for disruption's sake? If you're a Suda fan now, would you still be if he didn't have the glow of Wii association? Can we put some more question marks in here?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-21-2007 @ 11:23AM
Mark D said...
No more heroes is sitting side by side with Super Mario Galaxy at the very top of my most anticipated game chart.
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4-21-2007 @ 2:59PM
Mr Khan said...
Too bad i won't have time to buy it, unless either Brawl or Fire Emblem: Goddess of the Dawn, get pushed back into 08
it looks awesome
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4-21-2007 @ 11:42PM
Blackburn said...
I didn't know who SUDA51 was until Nintendo Power ran a story about Killer7, but he's become one of my favorite developers since I bought that game. Needless to say, I can'twait for No More Heroes.
As far as him and his violent themes on Wii, I think it fits. I'd have thought with all the talk about videogame violence, and how it shouldn't be censored, that SUDA51's style wouldn't be feared, even this slightly. Then there's the idea that Wii is supposed to be all about changing the way we play (and see) videogames, and I don't think anyone has yet to meet both criteria.
Hopefully No More Heroes will change that.
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4-22-2007 @ 7:58AM
Tamakun said...
Suda51 and Grasshoper Manufacture has been one of my favorite devlopers as of late, and I had a blast with Killer7 and I'm still working my way through Contact.
The fact that I absolutely loved the Snatcher game on the SegaCD and now that Suda51 is working on the Radio Drama (!) just continues to sweeten the pot. I'm not fluent in Japanese at the least but you know I'll be importing that CD.
I, for one, appreciate attempting to shed the "kiddie" feel of Nintendo's products, and Resident Evil 4 was a welcome change for Nintendo's systems, and Killer7 just helped that along. I can't wait to get No More Heroes. I wonder if there's going to be any tie-in to Killer7...
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4-22-2007 @ 9:32AM
Tim said...
Maybe it's because I haven't played any of his games yet, but I'm not all that excited about Suda 51's upcoming titles. The whole "added violence = good" idea isn't enough to sell me, I prefer attention to detail in other areas.
Sorry if I'm going off-topic, but what really is the point of the "Wii Warm Up" tag? In this Web 2.0 world where comment systems are abundant, doesn't every post generally become an open discussion?
In the area of comments, why does only Engadget seem to reap the benefits of the Blogsmith integration? Reply threads and email notification are really handy, as is the comment rating/reporting system.
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4-22-2007 @ 11:29AM
Blackburn said...
At Tim: Oh his games are detailed alright. The pidgeons in Killer7 are all named after James Bond girls, The Professor from Contact plays Pong on his computer monitor if you don't do anything for a while...actually, everything from Contact is really detailed.
His works aren't just violence for the sake of violence, they're violent for effect, and to really grab the player's attention. Killer7 would be a weird game without the blood, but it wouldn't be as impactful.
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4-22-2007 @ 11:51AM
student said...
Tim, the Wii Warm Up posts are different because they don't report on a news story. Everything else is open for comments but the post itself is about something new. The Wii Warm Up is about anything and everything pertaining to the wii and is really just a way to discuss the wii.
As for Suda 51, I've never played their games but have always wanted to.
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4-22-2007 @ 12:44PM
JC Fletcher said...
It's not that "added violence= good", but rather that Suda's games are violent AND good. To say that depictions of violence are the only things that Suda gives any attention to is just wrong (and a weird sentence!) It's more that violence is one of the stylistic elements of a Suda 51 game.
And thanks for commenting in my WWU post!
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4-22-2007 @ 12:44PM
myfriendskiba said...
I loved Killer7, and am eagerly anticipating No More Heroes. Suda51 is the greatest thing to happen to gaming, and I simply cannot get enough of his games. Originality should be at the forefront of the industry, and hopefully with the success of the Wii, and the success of Grasshopper games on the Wii, more designers will finally see the light.
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4-22-2007 @ 2:48PM
Mr Khan said...
It's not so much style as attention to detail, i love games that show a great attention to detail
My favorite developers (Sonic Team and Retro Studios) both make games with lots of detail and easter eggs in their worlds, its how they were able to capture the Metroid spirit in an FPS
Plus the "campy" value of this game, the otaku hero, his laser sword, and a british assassin named "Helter Skelter"
its all so awesome
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4-23-2007 @ 12:18PM
DiRT said...
Killer 7 was garbage. The story was terrible and the gameplay was right out of the SEGA CD. No thanks.
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4-23-2007 @ 11:02PM
Tim said...
Well in light of what everyone's said, I'd like to rephrase myself by saying I prefer to hear about how he uses this violence, rather than just the statement that they're violent. What is his style? Does it fit into a certain genre? Is there any other games/movies that have a similar style to what he does? What elements make his games so unique? These are the things I like to hear.
Also, thanks for the info on the WWU tags. I guess I'm just not the type who prefers to single out news from other articles.
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