Suda tells the Official Nintendo Magazine that the main character of No More Heroes, originally planned as an Xbox 360 title, was inspired by a pants down sit down session.

"I actually came up with the initial idea for a game featuring a [Johnny] Knoxville-style character whilst on the toilet," Suda says. "I decided to use that inspiration as the save game mechanic." Knoxville's penchant for Jackass toilet humor, we assume, was Suda's muse, as it later also fostered inspiration for one of the game's more memorable marketing campaigns.

The Making Of No More Heroes [ONM UK]

I went into my interview with the two Japanese developers with a bunch of questions I knew I couldn’t ask; I lived in Japan long enough to learn that the direct approach is usually not the best. The questions I did ask, though, had some fun answers:

“What do you think of MadWorld?” I shot this one off at Suda directly and he didn’t even wait for the translator. His face lit up and he exclaimed something about how cool it looked – like Sin City. And something about how he had a similar idea, but my Japanese ain’t that great, so I had to wait for the translator to explain that Suda had a similar idea for a futuristic game that now he couldn’t do because it would look too much like MadWorld.

Mikami didn’t seem as thrilled. He’s an “external board member” at Platinum Games, so he probably knows all the guys on MadWorld’s dev team and wouldn’t want to comment on anything of theirs that could be secret. Mikami is the man for horror, though, and that’s how this odd partnership came about.

Suda 51 makes his games with a story first and fits them to genre later. His newest idea (the mysterious new project to be published by EA) seemed to fit well with the horror genre and so he took it to Mikami.

Now we get into globalization business talk. Skip this paragraph if you don’t give a damn. The Japanese gaming industry is mostly closed off from Western gaming; at least, they’re not as chummy as the US gaming industry is with the European industry. The tendency for independent developers in Japan is to find a big studio with a Western presence (Capcom, Sega, etc.) and work through them. But every independent developer is always afraid of having their idea screwed with in the name of brand marketing, and in Japan, the eternal “We’ll think about it” runaround keeps games from getting made for years at a time. Not so with EA. Mikami and Suda pitched their idea and received an instant “When can we start?” which lead to GHM’s new partnership with EA. So while it might look weird on paper to see Mikami paired with Suda and GHM paired with EA – it all makes sense in the global view of gaming politics.

Mikami especially wants to give Japanese developers the chance to go global; and Suda says collaboration is the future of gaming. There are a lot of rock star developers in Japan (Kojima, Miyamoto, Itagaki, etc.) that want to take their ideas to a worldwide audience and that’s always good for the market.

Or at least it’s good for me – I heart Japanese games.

I also heart horror games, so this is going to be an amazing year for me – Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil 5, Dead Space… That’s an awful lot of horror games on the market already.

What do Suda and Mikami think about the possibility of too many horror games? Not much, really. They like horror too – and more horror can only be good. Bear in mind though, that Suda is an action man first and foremost. So whatever we see from the dream team is going to be a blend of action horror; with Suda as the action and Mikami as the horror. We will not see Resident Evil: The No More Heroes Experience, and we probably won’t see Killer 7 Part 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The last thing we talked about in that awkward interview of my lousy Japanese, their lousy English and the translator trying to keep up (don’t you just love language barriers?) was the concept of developing games for multiple platforms. Like Epic Games, GHM doesn’t believe in making a game and then trying to squeeze it onto a system in a watered-down form to fit the audience; but they are determined to bring their game to as many people as possible.

The number one challenge, Suda says, is developing for the Wii. Its audience is less cut-and-dried than the 360/PS3/PC crowd (what with the inclusion of old people, young people and casual gamers) and what appeals to Wii people might not appeal to 360/PS3/PC people. He just has to have faith that his idea is good enough on its own to bring in the fans and not worry so much about maxing out an audience on a specific console.

I’ve got to say I was feeling pretty good about the mystery project when I was ushered out of the door. It normally irks me when a studio gives the “we can’t tell you” spiel, but Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami are guys who know what they’re doing. And hopefully EA trusts them to make an awesome game as much as I do; but then, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have made them partners, right?

Zero Punctuation: No More Heroes [The Escapist]

... With all this high regard would come pretentiousness, and everybody would be too scared to admit that they didn't particularly like - or even understand - Konami's latest FPS based on the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, or Square Enix's RPG adaptation of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, in the same way that nobody in the art community will admit that, really, Damien Hirst's stuff is a load of bobbins.

His suggestion on what to do with Finnegan's Wake is brilliant. I'm not sure the world is quite ready for a Dostoevsky-Squeenix mash-up, but it would make for some interesting reviews to be sure.

Blogs
The Ryan Lambie column: the dawn of literary videogames [Den of Geek]

I want to make a Super Mario game for adults...Maybe Mario could wear an Italian suit and have a machine gun...But Nintendo probably wouldn't like that idea.

With a gun.

Suda wants to make 'Mario with guns' [CVG][image]

Want to see what Wii owners in Europe and Japan are missing out on, in terms of flowing rivers of blood, decapitations and amputations? Then watch xserothx's No More Heroes Death Scene Comparison clips for a study in regional censorship. This is grisly stuff, folks, and not for the faint of heart of virtual murder. Anyone wary of spoilers should skip 'em, as they're essentially every boss fight in the game.

No More Heroes Death Scene Comparisons [YouTube - thanks, Sidepocket!]

No More Heroes Ships Early [IGN]

Killer.

America Has No More Heroes [IGN]

Kojima is quoted in the release teasing that he'll be bringing along a "special guest", one whose identity remains unknown. Could Kojima be referring to an in-game guest? We'll find out in just two weeks. The English version of the press release does reveal that Kojima "will be using the presentation to disclose key gameplay secrets and highlight major additions to the Metal Gear universe."

My guess on the matter is that Konami will show an extended or remixed version of the E3 trailer and that Kojima will deviate from his recent playable demo at the PlayStation Premiere event in Tokyo. However, it's possible that Kojima will wow us all with a whole new hands-on scenario, a brand spankin' new trailer built from the ground up, and show Zone of the Enders 3 for the PLAYSTATION 3 and have Suda 51 on hand to show off the next game in the Snatcher project, just to rub it in my face.

Press release right after this.

Hideo Kojima comes to Leipzig!

Legendary Metal Gear Solid creator heads to Games Convention to show playable version of METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that Hideo Kojima, head of its Kojima Productions studio and creator of METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS, will be appearing at this year's Games Convention show in Leipzig to demonstrate a playable version of Solid Snake's latest adventure.

With interest in the game growing at a phenomenal rate, Kojima will be presenting an early build of the game on the Konami stand (Hall 4, Booth B11). It will mark the first time that METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS has been shown in playable form in Europe, and Hideo Kojima will be using the presentation to disclose key gameplay secrets and highlight major additions to the Metal Gear universe. The latest trailer for the game will also be shown, with Kojima using it to detail key plot points while also revealing exciting news about forthcoming Metal Gear projects from Kojima Productions.

Due for a simultaneous worldwide release early in 2008, METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS is set in a war-torn future where huge conglomerates fight for supremacy using armies of hand-picked mercenaries. This battle-scarred arena is seen through the eyes of an older Solid Snake who has been charged with infiltrating a number of key locations across the globe, including the Middle East and South America.

"When I last came to Leipzig, I promised fans of Metal Gear Solid they would be able to see a playable version of MGS4 - and, to celebrate the special nature of the occasion, I can confirm, that I will bring a special guest with me," commented Hideo Kojima, Director of Kojima Productions. "I love the enthusiasm European games players constantly show towards our titles, and look forward to showing METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS at the most important European gaming event of the year."

"METAL GEAR SOLID" and "GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS" are registered trademarks of Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.

METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS will be released for PLAYSTATION®3 early 2008 and shown at the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig between 22nd-26th August.

While such a listing may simply be an error, it would make a great deal of sense. Killer 7's on-rails gameplay and point-and-shoot action are a good fit for the Wii-remote. Plus, the game would take advantage of the Wii's expanded audience, filling in holes in the console's "mature" category. Still, checking with the usual online retail suspects turns up nothing and recent interviews with Grasshoper honcho Goichi Suda reveal no hints about such a project.

I've got an e-mail in with Capcom to see what they have to say. While this is simply a rumor, something about it smells of truthiness. Michael McWhertor

Killer 7 [Capcom via NeoGAF]

First on the list, though, is a radio serial drama, written by Suda 51. While a radio drama in Japanese that will probably only air in Japan is probably not what Western Snatcher fans were expecting, the future of the "Project S" series is currently unannounced.

I've got my fingers crossed for an upcoming Snatcher cereal announcement. Mmmm. Lightly sweetened puffed corn pops. Michael McWhertor

Suda 51 Reveals Project-S [1UP]

Amid the usual banter and camaraderie, there was as an announcement from Mizuguchi that his next project "is not going to be a video game" but an interesting environmental/convservation themed something. Sounds interesting. I hope that Q? Entertainment can break out of their puzzle rehash rut.

Also hinted at was that Kojima and Grasshopper's Suda 51 may be working on a Snatcher related project. Will it be a sequel to the Sega CD classic from Konami? We don't know! But we're anxiously awaiting the next Hidechan podcast to see what Kojima has to say about it. Michael McWhertor

Kojima Meets Mikami in Snake vs Zombie Event [1UP]

Critics darling and Killer 7 producer Goichi Suda talked about artistry and business at last week's GDC. He explained that there are two types of creators: Business-oriented and art-oriented. For business devs, the client's wishes and expectations are priority numero uno. But the arty-types, it's their vision. (Though, Suda does admit that basically all game developers must be business-oriented, because, well, it is a business!) But at the end of the day, he says that he and his company Grasshopper Manufacture hold art in the highest regard thanks to, and we quote, "punk spirit." Not so much anti-authority, but rather, he's talking about doing something different from others. Take Killer 7, which he made with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. Suda explains:

There are so many big games and big titles, but most of them are copycat... these games are important, but it's really hard to find a [different kind of] game. ...I really hate doing things that other people do... We need to create that kind of game... I'd like to ask publishers to help us and support us [to make more punk games].

Yeah, 'cause do we really wanna be sedated with pedestrian games? Check out the trailer for Suda's upcoming title here.

Hey! Ho! Let's Go! [Next-Gen]

As previously mentioned, the title is being whipped up by Suda 51 (Killer 7) and should be out next year. Here's a couple screenie scans from Famitsu. The game looks 31 flavors of sweet. And those in-game T-shirts we talked about? Gnarly. If there is one man who understands exactly what I want in a video game, that man is Suda 51.

More shots after the jump. Brian Ashcraft

Upcoming Wii game Heroes has been retitled to No More Heroes. The irony is divine. The game was developed by Suda 51, who also brought us the stylized Killer 7 and sounds intriguing. The plot? You're geeky Travis Touchdown, who wins a Light Saber-type weapon called a Beam Katana and kicks off a new career as a professional killer. It takes place in a fictional city in the Western United States. There's a French chick. It's a sandbox-type game. And the game's hero wears otaku-type shirts which were created by Okama, the character designer behind TV hit Densha Otoko's opening scene (above). Cool t-shirts and Light Sabers, can Suda 51 read minds or what?! Brian Ashcraft

Another Rad Grasshopper Game [VGB]

Here at Kotaku, we don't have a cracker jack team of proof readers. When we fuck up, it's because we, and we alone, are checking each of our posts. Ourselves. But, when big companies make an boo-boo, it's because groups of people screw the pooch.

Take the GameCube box for Capcom's Killer 7, which apparently lists the game's website as www.killer7.com, a NSFW site that has nothing to do with video games but everything to do with interracial gang bangs. (The actual game's site is www.killer-7.com.) Whoops! Brian Ashcraft

Eds. Note: Capcom just dropped word that when the game was originally released, www.killer7.com was the game's official site. Since then, it was not able to renew the URL. Another company did instead.

Capcom's Nudie Link [iBloggedThis]

Killer 7 in one word: Cool. The game's designer Suda 51? Anyone who turns up at a promotional events for his games wearing a lucha libre mask is, likewise, cool. Currently at work on a new title for the Wii, Suda, who previously worked as an undertaker and a woman's hand bag salesman, also Game Informer how he broke into the industry:

I love Pro Wrestling, there was a company called Human that has already gone bankrupt, and they were making some very popular pro wrestling games in Japan. They were looking for some new people for a new Pro Wrestling game. I didn't really have any game experience, but I really loved Pro Wrestling, so I just applied and I got it. Since then I've been in the game industry.

And like that, the nutty lucha libre bit makes perfect sense. Gosh! Brian Ashcraft

Suda Talks Heroes And Funny Masks [GayGamer]

While the visual style is nothing short of impressive, the voice over work is, in a word, awful. Obviously the biggest question on most gamers minds, especially those familiar with the ups and downs of K7 is "How does it play?". Details are scarce, but we'll know better when the game ships in Q3 of 2007. Keep your eyes peeled for more details and check out The Wiire for more. Michael McWhertor

[Editor's note: If you're having issues viewing the video, VLC media player comes highly recommended.]

Heroes First Footage and Details [The Wiire]
YouTube Version [Yep, The Wiire couldn't handle it]