Suda 51 on independent games, Home, and No More Heroes

Goichi “Suda 51” Suda, the main man behind independent videogame studio Grasshopper Manufacture, is worried. “I’m 39 years old now,” he confides during an interview with GameVideos. “Now, in Japan, there are no young, twenty-something year-old stars in our industry. That worries me. So you’ve only got older game creators. If we don’t do something to bring the young guns into the fold, our industry will fail.”

While Suda 51 concedes that big-budget titles like Gears of War and Resistance: Fall of Man (“the Hollywood blockbusters of the industry,” says Suda 51) are an important part of the market, he also believes that indie games with small budgets are just as vital.

“The industry needs independent games with small budgets,” said Suda 51. “The industry needs to foster an environment where indie developers can make games that cost less without threatening the developer’s very existence.”

During the interview, Suda 51 also revealed his hopes that Sony would release the graphics engine that powers the PlayStation Home as middleware. “If Sony allows outside developers to make games based on that, I think it would be really beneficial to the industry. Developers like us could make more PS3 titles using that engine and at a smaller budget. If Sony chooses to do that I’d be very excited.”

Of course, the indie developer also talked a bit about Grasshopper Manufacture’s upcoming title for Nintendo’s next gen Wii videogame console. Talking about the gameplay system in No More Heroes, Suda 51 revealed a few basic moves that players should learn.

“The basic slash is on the A button on the Wii remote, and you can do a finishing move by doing a slash motion with the Wii remote.” And then, in Suda’s own words, “there goes the enemy’s head.”

You can check out the full video interview below.

Goichi “Suda 51” Suda, the main man behind independent videogame studio Grasshopper Manufacture, is worried. “I’m 39 years old now,” he confides during an interview with GameVideos. “Now, in Japan, there are no young, twenty-something year-old stars in our industry. That worries me. So you’ve only got older game creators. If we don’t do something to bring the young guns into the fold, our industry will fail.”

While Suda 51 concedes that big-budget titles like Gears of War and Resistance: Fall of Man (“the Hollywood blockbusters of the industry,” says Suda 51) are an important part of the market, he also believes that indie games with small budgets are just as vital.

“The industry needs independent games with small budgets,” said Suda 51. “The industry needs to foster an environment where indie developers can make games that cost less without threatening the developer’s very existence.”

During the interview, Suda 51 also revealed his hopes that Sony would release the graphics engine that powers the PlayStation Home as middleware. “If Sony allows outside developers to make games based on that, I think it would be really beneficial to the industry. Developers like us could make more PS3 titles using that engine and at a smaller budget. If Sony chooses to do that I’d be very excited.”

Of course, the indie developer also talked a bit about Grasshopper Manufacture’s upcoming title for Nintendo’s next gen Wii videogame console. Talking about the gameplay system in No More Heroes, Suda 51 revealed a few basic moves that players should learn.

“The basic slash is on the A button on the Wii remote, and you can do a finishing move by doing a slash motion with the Wii remote.” And then, in Suda’s own words, “there goes the enemy’s head.”

You can check out the full video interview below.