As part of their weeklong special on Grasshopper Manufacture and Ubisoft's upcoming Wii action title No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, 1up interviewed NMH2's director and creative mastermind, Goichi Suda, known to all of the heathens as Suda 51.

Check out the source for the full interview, but here are some tidbits:

• With Bayonetta and No More Heroes 2 both release in January in North America, Suda hopes that his and PlatinumGames' titles both sell well. And perhaps make January a month to play Japanese games. A Sexy Action Month, if you will.
• Travis's (NMH's protagonist) story is over in NMH2.
• Suda said that he was misinterpreted when he said before that the next No More Heroes title wasn't going to be on Wii. While Travis's story is over, he wants to continue the franchise with a new character, on the next generation Nintendo platform. A No More Heroes Solid, if you will.
• The first "punk" games that stood out to Suda were Heiankyo Alien, Elevator Action, Tower of Druaga, and Xevious.
• Suda signs the online petition to bring back WrestleFest.

Japanese game developers tend to fall into one of two categories: the reticent, modest, sometimes brooding types, and the more outrageous kinds who are willing to tell you about many more things than just their latest project (and usually dress a little crazier). Goichi Suda, founder and overall big brain at Grasshopper Manufacture, definitely sits in the latter spot. Though his games don't typically reach the levels of polish of games from bigger companies, they all have a visible passion, and he commands a significant hardcore following. And that said, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is looking like it could be Grasshopper's best production yet.

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with Suda at Grasshopper's office to discuss not just No More Heroes, but many different things that make up the "Suda51" persona. Yes, that includes talking about pro wrestling games. I've enjoyed Suda's work for quite a while, so it was a great opportunity to finally ask some of my burning questions -- some certainly nerdier than others, but all of them given good answers.

Akira_EX via 1up.com »