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GDC 2013: Catching up with 'Killer Is Dead' and Suda 51

Posted 4/2/13 2:54 pm EST by in GDC, Interviews, Killer Is Dead, Suda51

Miguel Concepcion

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The more I learn about "Killer Is Dead", the more I think Suda 51 is making his "Mission Impossible 2". In other words, I'm not yet convinced it will present anything new that I haven't seen in his other games, not that's automatically a bad thing. Like John Woo's 2000 film, "Killer Is Dead" feels like a greatest hits collection of  themes, characterizations, and visual stylings of Suda 51's previous works. It calls to mind the assassins of "No More Heroes" and "Killer 7" and the love story of "Shadows of the Damned". More than anything, it feel like the darker sibling of "Lollipop Chainsaw", both in tone and gameplay. This is something I can go for, though I hope the emphasis on thoughtful swordplay implies that "Killer Is Dead" is an improvement over the unremarkable combat of "Lollipop Chainsaw".
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'Killer is Dead' Still To Be Published By XSEED

Posted 2/4/13 10:14 am EST by in Grasshopper Manufacture, Killer Is Dead, Xseed

By joseph Leray

XSEED -- a publisher that specializes in localizing and distributing Japanese games in the States -- made news late last week when they announced a North American publishing line-up for 2013 that includes Goichi Suda’s slick, stylish action game, “Killer is Dead.” That’s well and good, as is the news that the game will be released in the States this summer.

The first inkling of XSEED’s plans came last month when the company registered a few “Killer is Dead”-related web domains, including “killerisdead-game.com.” Here’s the twist: in the time between XSEED’s domain registries and official announcement, Grasshopper Manufacture, the studio developing the game, was acquired by GungHo Entertainment Online.

GungHo is primarily focused on publishing MMORPGs, particularly the uberpopular “Ragnarok Online,” though they’ve made a habit over the years of buying small, innovative companies -- their subsidiaries include Acquire Corp., known for the “Tenchu” series, and Game Arts, who made the “Grandia” and “Lunar” RPG franchises. GungHo also opened a North American division last year, which originally piqued my interest as a potential way for “Killer is Dead” to make it stateside.
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'Killer is Dead' Includes Tiger Vs. Motorbike Jousting

Posted 1/23/13 5:23 pm EST by in Grasshopper Manufacture, Killer Is Dead, PS3, Xbox 360

By Joseph Leray

When it rains, it pours: Goichi Suda, CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture, and director of “Killer7” and “No More Heroes,” is back in this week’s Famitsu Weekly spilling details on “Killer is Dead,” nary a week after his last outpouring.

“One thing we got to with this game is you fighting against a yakuza guy riding a tiger,” Suda explains to the mag (as transcribed by Polygon), in what’s got to be the best pull-quote of the year so far. “You’re in Kyoto, among all these old-style buildings, and Mondo is on this motorbike fighting against a yakuza on a tiger.”

Yes.
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'Killer is Dead' English-Subtitled Trailer

Posted 1/18/13 10:10 am EST by in Grasshopper Manufacture, Killer Is Dead, News

By Joseph Leray

Nary a day after “Killer is Dead” details hit the web, Japanese trade magazine Weekly Famitsu has posted an English-subtitled trailer for Grasshopper Manufacture’s newest futuristic bloodbath.
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New 'Killer Is Dead' Details Include Cyborgs And Drill-Arms

Posted 1/17/13 9:50 am EST by in Grasshopper Manufacture, Killer Is Dead, News, Suda51

By Joseph Leray

Details about "Killer is Dead," a new action game from the developers of "No More Heroes," are spilling out of the most recent issue of Famitsu Weekly. “It’s the first game in the ‘assassin’ series that Grasshopper Manufacture has worked on in a while,” wrote lead designer and industry gadabout Goichi Suda (translated by Polygon), noting that Killer is Dead “picks up where 'Killer7' and 'No More Heroes' left off.”

That’s perhaps most evident in "Killer is Dead’s" cel-shaded, futuristic art direction. “It’s not trying to regress into the past. We’re trying to make a game that we’d only be able to make right now, at this point in time,” Suda writes. “The result is seen in our unique high-contrast shading seen in the graphics, as well as the high speed wrestling-like action."
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