Grasshopper Manufacture
 | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 30 April 1998 |
| Headquarters | Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | 140 (2014) |
| Parent | GungHo Online Entertainment |
| Website |
www |
Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. (の株式会社グラスホッパー・マニファクチュア No Kabushikigaisha Gurasuhoppā Manifakuchua) is a Japanese video game developer founded on 30 March 1998 in Suginami, Japan. Grasshopper gained mainstream attention in 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 game Killer7. In addition to Killer7, they have developed Michigan: Report From Hell (released in Japan, Europe) and a number of Japan-only titles. Grasshopper Manufacture was also responsible for the Nintendo DS game Contact, the Wii game No More Heroes and its sequel No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, and Shadows of the Damned. The company is headed by Goichi Suda, also known as Suda51, and is noted for its original and imaginative titles - ones that are also fraught with financial risk. Potential losses are often made up by the development of games based on popular anime franchises, such as Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, Blood+: One Night Kiss, and Rebuild of Evangelion: Sound Impact.
In May 2007, Suda announced during a speech at the 2007 Game Developers Conference that Grasshopper was at the time working on three titles for the Wii, two of which have now been released: No More Heroes and Fatal Frame IV. There is no information on the status of the third Wii game in development then.
Grasshopper was said to be working on an Xbox 360 title, and have presented a concept for a PlayStation 3 game called Kurayami, a non-linear action adventure inspired by the worrying and confused universe of the Czech writer Franz Kafka, whom Goichi Suda admires. This was later renamed Shadows of the Damned.
On 30 January 2013, Grasshopper Manufacture was acquired by GungHo Online Entertainment.[1]
Games developed
| Year | Title | System | Miscellaneous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Silver Case | PlayStation | Only released in Japan; a remake was developed, but not released, for Nintendo DS |
| 2001 | Flower, Sun, and Rain | PlayStation 2 | Japan-exclusive. A remake was released for the Nintendo DS available in all Western territories. |
| 2003 | Shining Soul | Game Boy Advance | Co-developed by Nextech |
| 2004 | Shining Soul II | Game Boy Advance | Co-developed by Nextech |
| 2004 | Michigan: Report From Hell | PlayStation 2 | Only released in Japan, Europe and Australia |
| 2005 | Killer7 | Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 | PlayStation 2 version ported by Capcom |
| 2006 | Blood+: One Night Kiss | PlayStation 2 | Only released in Japan; co-developed by Namco Bandai |
| 2006 | Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked | PlayStation 2 | Only released in Japan and North America |
| 2006 | Contact | Nintendo DS | |
| 2008 | No More Heroes | Wii | An enhanced port was developed by feelplus and released for Xbox 360 in Japan and PlayStation 3 in Japan, America and Europe under the title No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise |
| 2008 | Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen | Wii | Only released in Japan; co-developed by Tecmo and Nintendo |
| 2009 | Flower, Sun, and Rain | Nintendo DS | Remake developed by h.a.n.d. |
| 2010 | No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle | Wii | |
| 2011 | Frog Minutes | iPhone | |
| 2011 | Shadows of the Damned | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | Co-developed by Shinji Mikami and EA Partners |
| 2011 | Rebuild of Evangelion: Sound Impact | PlayStation Portable | |
| 2012 | Sine Mora | PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade & PC | Co-developed by Digital Reality Published by Microsoft Studios for XBLA and Kalypso Media for Windows. |
| 2012 | Diabolical Pitch | Xbox Live Arcade | Published by Microsoft Studios |
| 2012 | Guild01 | Nintendo 3DS | Co-developed by Vivarium Inc. and Level-5 |
| 2012 | Lollipop Chainsaw | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | Published by Kadokawa Games in Japan and WB Games outside Japan |
| 2012 | Liberation Maiden | Nintendo eShop | Published by Level-5 An enhanced port was released for iOS in 2013. |
| 2012 | Black Knight Sword | Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network | Co-developed by Digital Reality |
| 2013 | Killer Is Dead | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows | Published by Kadokawa Games in Japan, Deep Silver in Europe and Marvelous USA in North America |
| 2014 | Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day | PlayStation 3 | Co-developed by Crispy's Inc. and published by Bandai Namco Games |
| 2016 | Let It Die[2] | PlayStation 4 | Adapted from Lily Bergamo[3] |
| 2016 | The Silver Case (remake) | Microsoft Windows | A remake of the original PS1 game, multi-language debut localized by Active Gaming Media and publish by Playism |
References
- ↑ Spencer. "Grasshopper Manufacture Acquired By GungHo Online Entertainment". SiliconEra. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ↑ "Let It Die E3 2014 Trailer: Suda 51's Next Project". Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ↑ "Grasshopper Manufacture announces PS4 title Lily Bergamo". Retrieved 18 September 2013.