GDC 2007: Suda 51 and No More Heroes, “Punk’s not Dead”

 

Japanese game designer Suda 51 of Grasshopper Manufacture, best known for his dark cult hit Killer 7, gave a speech at the Game Developer’s Conference entitled “Punk’s Not Dead.” He espoused his game design philosophy and at the same time urged others to create their own paths in the game industry.

IGN informs that Suda 51 started with a six-minute long trailer that details the history of games developed at Grasshopper Manufacture. The trailer showed off Japanese only releases like The Silver Case; Flower, Sun and Rain; and Gunmachine. Suda 51 then talked about the three main slogans that Grasshopper adheres to when making games: Call and Response, Crash and Build, and Let’s Punk. He didn’t explain much on the first two, but he does define the last slogan, Let’s Punk, as going beyond the established framework of larger companies.

Suda 51 notes his worry regarding the direction the games industry is headed in Japan. He states that the Japanese market is steadily shrinking, and that American and European developed games are vastly superior to their Japanese counterparts. He hopes that Grasshoppers effort to make globally targeted, yet conceptually original games can help change this noted trend.

He ads that Japan needs “a new games culture.” He admits that he draws inspiration from Mario designer and gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto, and he laments that because there a few young Japanese game designers, he and other older designers “need to continue this inspiration into the next-generation”

Suda 51 announces that there will be a Grasshopper centric event called “Hoppers” and it is set to feature dialogues between special guests Hideo Kojima and Shinki Mikami. He also announces that there will be DS ports for the text-heavy graphic-adventure game The Silver Case and its mobile phone version, The Silver Case Word 25. Still no word though if the games will make it to the US.

Suda 51 ends by announcing that aside from the ultra violent No More Heroes, Grasshopper has 2 more games lined up for the Wii.

 

Japanese game designer Suda 51 of Grasshopper Manufacture, best known for his dark cult hit Killer 7, gave a speech at the Game Developer’s Conference entitled “Punk’s Not Dead.” He espoused his game design philosophy and at the same time urged others to create their own paths in the game industry.

IGN informs that Suda 51 started with a six-minute long trailer that details the history of games developed at Grasshopper Manufacture. The trailer showed off Japanese only releases like The Silver Case; Flower, Sun and Rain; and Gunmachine. Suda 51 then talked about the three main slogans that Grasshopper adheres to when making games: Call and Response, Crash and Build, and Let’s Punk. He didn’t explain much on the first two, but he does define the last slogan, Let’s Punk, as going beyond the established framework of larger companies.

Suda 51 notes his worry regarding the direction the games industry is headed in Japan. He states that the Japanese market is steadily shrinking, and that American and European developed games are vastly superior to their Japanese counterparts. He hopes that Grasshoppers effort to make globally targeted, yet conceptually original games can help change this noted trend.

He ads that Japan needs “a new games culture.” He admits that he draws inspiration from Mario designer and gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto, and he laments that because there a few young Japanese game designers, he and other older designers “need to continue this inspiration into the next-generation”

Suda 51 announces that there will be a Grasshopper centric event called “Hoppers” and it is set to feature dialogues between special guests Hideo Kojima and Shinki Mikami. He also announces that there will be DS ports for the text-heavy graphic-adventure game The Silver Case and its mobile phone version, The Silver Case Word 25. Still no word though if the games will make it to the US.

Suda 51 ends by announcing that aside from the ultra violent No More Heroes, Grasshopper has 2 more games lined up for the Wii.