Related Sections: Interviews
Killer 7 developer Goichi Suda reveals secret sauce of game design
Goichi Suda, also known as Suda 51, is the subversive genius behind Killer 7 and No More Heroes. Game Set Watch published a short interview with him, in which he sheds a little light on why the games he creates at Grasshopper Studios are the way they are.We create games not by crafting individual parts and building them up like blocks, but by first considering what sort of emotional response we want to get from the player. That's a big part of what makes a game Grasshopper-like, the message we try to send.
Not to get all McLuhan here, but I'm delighted to hear a developer put the message before the medium for a change. I love gameplay as much as the next guy, but I wish developers would more often think at a different level.
Then, in a twist as random as anything I experienced in Killer 7, the discussion turns to wrestling at the end of the interview. Next time I interview someone, I'm going to randomly ask him if he follows knitting or fly fishing.
By Charles at 9:07 AM ON 04/24/09
Hmm, I'm not sure you're using McLuhan correctly here. To his thinking it was impossible to put the message BEFORE the medium because the medium WAS the message.
By CWheeler at 10:35 AM ON 04/24/09
It's not totally out of nowhere to ask Goichi Suda about wrestling. Wrestling (luchadore) masks have featured prominently in many of his works (Killer 7 and No More Heroes, and he was known to only appear in public while wearing a luchadore mask before Killer 7 was released.
By HVO-Jetfire at 11:06 AM ON 04/24/09
I'm oddly pleased that Suda 51 is a wrestling fan, and one who knows what he's talking about as well, rather than plugging something for an ad. If he's interested in the "strong style" wrestling, which is what he was describing, he's likely a fan of the New Japan promotion. It's kind of odd for the question to show up in the interview, though - even though he had worked on a wrestling game beforehand.
HVO-Jetfire:
I'm oddly pleased that Suda 51 is a wrestling fan, and one who knows what he's talking about as well, rather than p...More »