February 16, 2007 - You may not recognize the name Goichi Suda, but you probably know his handle: Suda 51. The moniker is a play on the word Goichi; in Japanese, 'go' is five and 'ichi' is one. Suda is president of Grasshopper Manufacture, which has made such titles as Super Fire Pro Wrestling for Super NES, Contact for DS, and perhaps most memorable of all, Killer 7 for GameCube. The latter effort -- a gruesome, surreal adventure title -- received critical acclaim for its stylized visuals and engaging storyline. It remains one of the most violent projects available for any previous generation console. Now, Suda and his 40-plus-man team at Grasshopper are working on No More Heroes for Nintendo's new Wii system. The game is set to be every bit as original and brutal as its predecessor. We recently had the chance to chat with Suda about his game design philosophies and No More Heroes. Here's what he had to say:

IGN Wii: is it true that you worked as an undertaker before breaking into game development? What prompted you to try your hand at game design?

Suda: Yes, it is true.¿ My former job was as an undertaker .¿ I used to work in the flower shop, mostly preparing flowers for the funerals as well.¿ When I worked as an undertaker, a¿game studio called Human, which produced "Fire Pro-Wrestling," the most popular pro wrestling game at that time, was recruiting staff members.¿ I had a strong confidence due to¿my knowledge¿of professional wrestling and thought that¿I could¿probably¿create pro wrestling games.¿¿So, that's how I¿started my career as a game designer.¿

IGN Wii: What is your favorite videogame of all time and why? On the same note, what is your favorite movie of all time and why?

Suda: My favorite game is Out of this World.¿ I was shocked and impressed¿by the game by Erick Chahi. My favorite movie is Paris, Texas.¿ I was¿very moved¿by this movie, and that feeling still remains today.¿

IGN Wii: In your opinion, are developers telling good stories in videogames?

Suda: I think videogames¿telling "good" stories do exist.¿ However, I feel that there are still few videogames that actually¿tell good stories in the game.¿ Not to cause any misunderstandings, but what I would like to say is¿that¿it is probably because most of the time, not many publishers look for and¿request or expect developers to tell/focus on¿good stories in the game.¿ Unlike the movies, I think people are not expecting to hear "good" stories when playing the game.¿ So, there are only few opportunities¿for the developers to tell good stories in the game.

IGN Wii: Do you consider games an art form?

Suda: I assure you¿that¿videogames are an¿extension of an art form.¿ In my opinion, the highest form of art is the existence of videogames.

IGN Wii: You have been a big Nintendo supporter -- first on GameCube and soon on Wii. Why have you decided to put your games on Nintendo platforms?

Suda: I find Nintendo's support to be very satisfying.¿ Since GameCube was an ideal platform as a developer, I decided to develop a new game on Wii as well.¿

IGN Wii: We loved Killer 7. Would you ever consider doing a sequel?

Suda: I am¿happy¿to hear that you loved Killer 7.¿ Thank you! I don't exactly know whether¿there will be¿a sequel, because the Killer 7 IP belongs to Capcom.¿ I am not at all opposed to the idea of developing sequels to the game at all, but I always want to challenge and create games with new ideas if possible.¿

IGN Wii: Please explain the premise for No More Heroes.

Suda: The main character, Travis Touchdown, was born from my imagination -- an idea that Johnny Knoxville (an actor from Jackass)¿is a Japanese anime otaku (animation freak) and this led him to be interested in Japanese martial arts.¿ Then, he finds himself talented in martial arts.¿¿Johnny is also a Star Wars freak, and happens to purchase¿a lightsaber on an Internet auction.¿ After that, he starts to make his living as an assassin using this lightsaber.¿¿This is how Travis¿was born, and after that I started¿to work on planning¿No More Heroes.¿

The story begins when Travis is ranked at the eleventh place of the killer association by an unexpected coincidence.¿ Travis is now a qualified¿assassin on this ranking list, and aims to become the ultimate, strongest¿assassins of all.¿ It is sort of like a growing-up story of a young assassin/kid which progresses by defeating all other assassins from 10th to the 1st place.¿¿ This ranking match with other assassins is the main part of the story.

IGN Wii: Killer 7 was an "on-rails"-style adventure game. How is No More Heroes different in terms of what you can do and where you can go?

Suda: No More Heroes¿is not an¿"on-rails"-style adventure game.¿ It is a free¿running/roaming style action game.¿ The title is set in a small fictional town called Santa Destroy, located on the US West Cost.¿ Story missions (Killer ranking rounds) and submissions (money earnings) are scattered throughout the map.¿ The game progresses after players choose missions. No More Heroes is a genuine action where players control main character, Travis, but it hardly uses the wireless remote controller, which is one of the characteristics of Wii.¿ The basic tactic is to attack with A button.¿The finishing move/attack is made by using the motion of the Wii controller.¿ It is totally a different type of game from Killer 7.