Grasshopper Manufactures

Grasshopper Manufacture, known as the folks behind seminal games such as Killer7 and No More Heroes, are upping their game. Their latest game, Shadows of the Damned was groomed for greatness throughout its development. A collaboration between horror veterans Suda51, Shinji Mikami and Akira Yamaoka – three names being namedropped at any given opportunity. Although the game was warmly received amongst fans and critics, it fared poorly in terms of both charts and sales worldwide.

Even with the recent departures of Yasuhiro Wada (Harvest Moon), Yoshiro Kimura (Little King’s Story) and Massimo Guarini (Shadows of the Damned director), a videogame band made up of Suda51, Akira Yamaoka and Kazutoshi Iida still remains a supergroup. At the pre-TGS Grasshopper gathering I asked why Wada-san and Kimura-san had left. I was told that Grasshopper wasn’t a good fit for them as they were in management roles in the company, meaning they had their fingers in all the pies, but not creatively.

I have to add I’m disappointed that despite Yamaoka stating in the past that he would much prefer to be in a producing role than working on sound design and music, it doesn’t seem like that’s panning out at Grasshopper for the moment. It’s a real shame and a missed opportunity, as an unleashed Yamaoka would surely shake things up with some interesting results. Make no mistake, I know that Yamaoka is among the best videogame composers, but there’s no reason he can’t be a producer too if he has managed it in the past with Silent Hill 3 and 4.

Over the coming year Grasshopper should be releasing at least eight games, and they’re working on much more besides meaning they’re attacking all fronts over the next year.

Grasshopper’s next big PS360 title, Lollipop Chainsaw is a much safer bet than Shadows of the Damned was. If the stateside sales of Atlus’ Catherine are anything to go by, sex sells, so Lollipop Chainsaw should be a hit as long as gamers judge the game by its cover. I had a whirl on the TGS demo last month and I can say without a doubt it’s shaping up to be pretty much exactly what everyone expects it to be: a tongue-firmly-wedged-in-cheek caper that lets you pulverise zombies while you panty flash them.

A remake of Grasshopper’s first game, The Silver Case, was rumoured shortly before TGS but proved to be nothing but fruitless conjecture. After talking to Grasshopper myself I established that no 3DS version is in the works, even though a completed version of the DS remake has been floating around the Grasshopper office for well over a year now. Displeased by this news, I made it a point to ask Suda51 myself for a western release as visual novels have picked up in popularity over here in the west with the likes of the Ace Attorney and Hotel Dusk games.

On the virtual marketplace front they’re aiming to please the old school hardcore demographic with spunky shmup Sine Mora and slashy platformer Black Knight Sword on XBLA and PSN as well as baseball zombie sim Diabolical Pitch for Kinect. These downloadable titles are not to be taken lightly. Sine Mora and Black Knight Sword are being co-developed with Digital Reality, with Grasshopper providing concept art and visuals, as well as Yamaoka’s unique blend of sound and music being added to the mix. The result is some finely blended Grasshopper goodness. Diabolical Pitch is being developed in-house, and their hope is to bring Kinect to the hardcore. All three are aimed at dedicated but niche markets, but niche is what Grasshopper do best.

Rebuild of Evangelion: Sound Impact recently hit stores in Japan and managed to get into the top five of the multi-format charts. A rhythm-action game with Yamaoka remixes of Evangelion tunes and Kazutoshi Iida behind it automatically makes it the best Evangelion game out. Seriously – most of them are fruit machine simulators. It’s a safe bet in Japan where the PSP is the best selling console and Evangelion is a franchise in and of itself. However, it’s unlikely to hit the western market despite Grasshopper wanting it to. A demo of the game was released on the App Store in Japan for iOS, but there is no word of a full release on the platform.

Speaking of which, Grasshopper’s first venture on the iOS platform was with Frog Minutes earlier this year. Quite the departure from the Grasshopper formula as it is a peaceful, calming two-hour game where you collect and feed frogs in the hope of rustling up more. When it hit the App Store as a Universal iOS app all its proceeds went to help with the Japanese relief effort. After having now tested the waters, four more games – No More Heroes, Frog Minutes 2, Alien Busters and Humans vs. Zombies – have been announced for iOS and / or Android devices.

Alongside all this, somehow Suda51 and Yamaoka are still finding time to write and make music for an offbeat radio drama prequel to Snatcher entitled Sdatcher (in Japanese pronounced “Sudatchā”, therefore being a pun on “Suda”). With Hideo Kojima producing it, it’s worth noting just how many big-name friends Grasshopper are making. The unofficial translation is worth a gander if you’re interested in cyberpunk, Snatcher or any of the above names. The original Japanese version will be released as part of a CD set later this year.

No More Heroes 3 is Grasshopper’s failsafe. It has been teased in interviews, but there are no signs as of yet that it is even in the works. The only console that has been mentioned alongside it is the WiiU. I’d say to expect it, as it’s been their most successful franchise to date, but be prepared for a wait.

Grasshopper may be widening their focus, but they’re still keeping their ideas tight. Let’s hope it pays off.