- I'm Suda51.
I'm the CEO, game designer, and scenario 
writer at Grasshopper Manufacture.
I feel the main reason we've been 
able to come this far and survive
is we've continued running. 
We've been running the whole time.
We start a game, we develop it,
we finish it off,
and we pretty much immediately 
go onto the next thing.
We immediately come up with the next idea,
keep coming up with new ideas,
keep continuing development.
And over the years, there's been a lot 
of change.
I feel that in general every five years, most companies have some kind of milestone or turning point
and we've had a few of those so far.
It's been 20 years and now I come to GDC and I see  people that I knew from back in the day,
people that used to work at Grasshopper.
And it's really kind of amazing 
being able to see each other here.
And we talk about this stuff a lot. It's 
been 20 years, and we've managed to keep surviving.
And it's really warm way to think of it that way.
But basically, I think the reason we've been able
 to continue is just constantly running.
There was a game that we made way
 back in the day called Flower, Sun, and Rain
and there were a lot of changes  going on 
at the time, both in and out of the company
And I'd say right 
around the time that we made the game
that was probably one of the most difficult periods we've had so far in Grasshopper's history.
We spent an entire year working on a game,
 and that game ended up being cancelled.
And after that we worked on a series of 
smaller games back to back
But things were really kind of rough at 
the time, and as CEO,
I felt responsible for the company, for everyone. 
And that  was the first time I really
felt that if we don't do something big and 
drastic now, then the company is not going to survive.
After that came Killer7. That was a
big turning point for us because it was
the first experience we had releasing a game overseas.
And then the  Grasshopper name became a lot more well-known outside of Japan.
Pretty much immediately after that, we started 
working on and then released No More Heroes.
So, that was a really full-on period. 
We were constantly working.
and it felt like the time went by really quickly.
Just being busy, doing so much stuff at once. 
But that was when Grasshopper really
started getting more known globally,
and some of our biggest titles were born.
Yeah, there have been a lot of changes 
over the years actually
as Grasshopper has evolved and a lot of stuff  has changed in the company culture.
Our working style has changed. Back in the day, 
we started as a relatively small company
where I could be a lot more hands-on.
Directing and writing at the same time.
I was able to be a lot more hands-on with 
the staff.
The company gradually started growing. 
We put out Shadows of the Damned with EA
and the company really started getting a lot bigger.
Around that time, we had about 5 different teams working on different projects all at once.
And about 150 people at the peak.
And since then,  things have changed. We've had people come and go, shaking up the company.
Right now, the way we work is a lot more similar to the way we used to work back in the day.
We've got a smaller core team, and we work on a single project at once.
And I'm able to work the way we used to work.
I'm able to be more hands on. I'm able to speak with each individual staff member.
Give them more finely 
detailed instructions and ask them what they need,
and work more closely with them, which is great. Making Travis Strikes Again was fun to make
Some of our goals were adding a lot of the Travis legacy and mythology.
One of the main goals for me personally in
developing Travis Strikes Again was team-building:
creation of teams within the company,
making sure that we could get a team working together and held together.
That was probably my biggest goal. 
Proper team-building.
This helped lay the foundation for the way Grasshopper will make games from now on.
We have a core team of about 20-30 people, 
and everything revolves around this team.
And the team did such a great job working 
together and working on the game
that from here on out, that's how we're going 
to be doing games. One team at a time.
- My photo.
One of my favorite parts of the book is 
this Killer7 art here.
I was really happy to be able to make cover of Game Informer.
and I was really happy with the art.  I've really got a soft spot for that particular art.
- This is actually the first iOS app 
that we made at Grasshopper.
This was made way back in the 
beginning of iOS game development,
And I thought it was a really great game. 
But unfortunately now it's no longer available.
There's this really beautiful kind of forest-looking 
area, and you tap on different parts
to kind of rustle the grass, and frogs will jump out. 
You feed the frogs, rustle some more grass,
get some more frogs out. And basically the point 
of the game is gathering a whole bunch of frogs.
- Yeah, I do like baseball, but what I especially 
like is going down to the batting cages
and just hitting balls, and throwing them 
sometimes, too.
That's always been the biggest draw for me. I've been playing and watching baseball since I was a kid,
So it feels really familiar and close to me.
Actually, I come for a combination of those things, 
but this time the main reason I'm here
is an announcement that was released this morning, that for the first time in 25 years
I'm going to be coming back to a series 
known as the Fire Pro Wrestling series.
I'll be coming back to the Fire Pro world 
again for the first time in 25 years.
Yeah, it's the third batch of DLC 
for thenew  version everyone's playing right now.
There was a scenario that I wrote way back 
in the day known as Champion's Road.
The scenario I'm writing right now is going to be a direct 
sequel to that called Champion Road Beyond.
As far as staff from back in the day, 
There are a few people who are not  in Grasshopper now.
But are in the same company group, in Gung Ho.
There are people at Grasshopper now who worked on Killer7, that's probably as far back as it goes.
Unnecessary overtime is not allowed at all.
So, if you work too much overtime,
first you get a warning saying, hey, chill a bit. 
Be sure to take off Saturday and Sunday,
and go home on time and everything. So, you know, 
we have a set schedule, set working hours,
and it makes it easier to automatically 
hit that work-life balance
because even if you wanted to, you'e not allowed to do all the work that so many developers
are forced to do, 
just by the nature of their work.
So, at Grasshopper, it's a bit easier to keep that 
work-life balance than it is at a lot of companies.
I've really been trying for a while but 
especially right now, I'm trying my best to
make Grasshopper has an environment in which people 
can have fun developing and creating games.
I want people to be able to think, wow, 
working at Grasshopper is fun, you know?
Working on games, developing 
games here is actually fun.
I'm trying my best to realize that sort of 
environment for a company.
