Suda 51 talks what works with Japanese and western gamers

Some of you guys may not know Goichi Suda, aka Suda51, since most of his games never made it out of Japan. Nonetheless, this is the man behind Killer7, No More Heroes, and other various titles full of style and substance. The folks over at Gamasutra were lucky enough to have a chat with this ingenious, Grasshopper Manufacture‘s big man.

Among the topics discussed, Suda gave his piece on western versus Japanese gamers. We all know that Japan never embraced Halo as much as the US did, while American gamers simply can’t keep up with hundreds of run-of-the-mill JRPGs popping all over the place. 

Grasshopper Manufacture looks at both scenes when developing their games. According to Suda:

After the release of the PlayStation, there’ve been more games like Biohazard and Metal Gear Solid that take place in an overseas setting. Well, even before then, I mean Mario’s Italian, right? From the get-go, the Japanese audience has been used to playing with foreign characters. There’s no sense of incongruity.

That isn’t to say western characters are always the stars. “The Japanese fans are very important to me too,” said Suda. Even so, he’s got huge plans for Grasshopper; he wants their company to make a breakthrough someday. To achieve that, “it’s not enough for us to just focus on the Japanese market. I can’t give you an exact percentage, but the Western market is extremely important.”

Suda51’s vision is worldwide. Not content with limiting Grasshopper games to satisfy the Japanese gaming fix, he said:

When I make games, I always put in a lot of effort toward making them with an image of the Western audience in mind. The Western market is that important to me. I don’t make games with only the Japanese in mind, I treat it as though people from all around the world are going to play my games.

What’s the difference between east and west, exactly? Aside from cultures and tastes, Suda thinks that “the American and European audiences are more receptive to new games. They welcome change. The Japanese are more close minded and the market is showing signs of rejection towards new games.”

Some of you guys may not know Goichi Suda, aka Suda51, since most of his games never made it out of Japan. Nonetheless, this is the man behind Killer7, No More Heroes, and other various titles full of style and substance. The folks over at Gamasutra were lucky enough to have a chat with this ingenious, Grasshopper Manufacture‘s big man.

Among the topics discussed, Suda gave his piece on western versus Japanese gamers. We all know that Japan never embraced Halo as much as the US did, while American gamers simply can’t keep up with hundreds of run-of-the-mill JRPGs popping all over the place. 

Grasshopper Manufacture looks at both scenes when developing their games. According to Suda:

After the release of the PlayStation, there’ve been more games like Biohazard and Metal Gear Solid that take place in an overseas setting. Well, even before then, I mean Mario’s Italian, right? From the get-go, the Japanese audience has been used to playing with foreign characters. There’s no sense of incongruity.

That isn’t to say western characters are always the stars. “The Japanese fans are very important to me too,” said Suda. Even so, he’s got huge plans for Grasshopper; he wants their company to make a breakthrough someday. To achieve that, “it’s not enough for us to just focus on the Japanese market. I can’t give you an exact percentage, but the Western market is extremely important.”

Suda51’s vision is worldwide. Not content with limiting Grasshopper games to satisfy the Japanese gaming fix, he said:

When I make games, I always put in a lot of effort toward making them with an image of the Western audience in mind. The Western market is that important to me. I don’t make games with only the Japanese in mind, I treat it as though people from all around the world are going to play my games.

What’s the difference between east and west, exactly? Aside from cultures and tastes, Suda thinks that “the American and European audiences are more receptive to new games. They welcome change. The Japanese are more close minded and the market is showing signs of rejection towards new games.”