Grasshopper Manufacture

Grasshopper Manufacture Inc.
Native name
 株式会社グラスホッパー・マニファクチュア
Kabushikigaisha Gurasuhoppā Manifakuchua
Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Founded 30 April 1998 (1998-04-30)
Headquarters Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
Number of employees
 35[1]
Parent GungHo Online Entertainment (2013–present)
Website www.grasshopper.co.jp/en/

Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. (株式会社グラスホッパー・マニファクチュア, Kabushikigaisha Gurasuhoppā Manifakuchua) is a Japanese video game developer.

History

It was founded on 30 March 1998 in Suginami, Japan. Grasshopper gained mainstream attention in 2005 for the 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 2: 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 cancelled and reincorporated ideas were put into the game Shadows of the Damned.

In 2010, Yashuhiro Wada he joined Grasshopper Games as Manufacturer COO. He then left Grasshopper, and founded the company Toybox in 2011.[2]

Employee count doubled in the span of 18 months to 140 by 2011.[3]

On 30 January 2013, Grasshopper Manufacture was acquired by GungHo Online Entertainment.[4] They have since released Let It Die.

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, published by Sega in Japan, by Atlus in the United States.
2004 Shining Soul II Game Boy Advance Co-developed by Nextech, published by Sega in Japan, by Atlus in the United States.
2004 Michigan: Report from Hell PlayStation 2 Only released in Japan, Europe and Australia.
2005 Killer7 GameCube, PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 version ported by Capcom.
2006 Blood+: One Night Kiss PlayStation 2 Only released in Japan; co-developed by Bandai Namco Games.
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 Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse 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, by WB Games internationally.
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[5] PlayStation 4 Adapted from Lily Bergamo[6]
2016 The Silver Case Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 A remake of the original PS1 game, multi-language debut localized by Active Gaming Media and publish by Playism.
2017 Sine Mora EX Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch An enhanced port of the original game. Published by THQ Nordic.
2018 The 25th Ward: The Silver Case Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 A remake of the sequel to The Silver Case, published by NIS America.
2019 Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes Nintendo Switch

References

  1. ↑ "Company Fact Sheet". Grasshopper Manufacture. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Yasuhiro Wada On How Happy Birthdays Is More Game-Like, And Why He Left Grasshopper - Siliconera". Siliconera. 14 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Guarini, Massimo. "Shadows Of The Damned And The Global Revamp Of Grasshopper Manufacture" (Interview). Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  4. ↑ Spencer. "Grasshopper Manufacture Acquired By GungHo Online Entertainment". SiliconEra. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "Let It Die E3 2014 Trailer: Suda 51's Next Project". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Grasshopper Manufacture announces PS4 title Lily Bergamo". Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
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