Strider 3 Rumors | My Hopes for Strider 3
Strider 3 Rumors
NOVEMBER 10, 2009 - NeoGAF and superannuation revived speculation that GRiN had been working on a Strider installment by connecting two different ex-GRiN staffers' LinkedIn profiles. Eric Lindqvist claims he was working on the pre-production and full production of a project named "Blue Steel" for a Japanese publisher; Anders Jansson says he worked on "an un-announced 2d action platformer for XBLA/PSN". Whether these two things are truly connected or have anything to do with Capcom, much less Strider, remains unknown and unconfirmed.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 - IGN announces Okamiden for the Nintendo DS. What does this have to do with Strider? Nothing, except that Keiji Inafune indicated no interest in following up on the Clover properties, while saying he did have an interest in Strider. Okami got a sequel. Where's the new Strider, Inafune?
AUGUST 20, 2009 - Kotaku put up screenshots of a Final Fantasy-related spinoff GRiN had been working on, pretty decisively putting to rest any speculation that GRiN's "unreleased masterpiece" was a new Strider installment.
AUGUST 18, 2009 - Famitsu was set to announce a new Capcom game, and someone claimed it was a one-two punch of Strider Hiryu HD and Strider 3. This was quickly debunked and the new Capcom game ultimately turned out to be Sengoku Basara 3.
AUGUST 13, 2009 - Ben Judd denies that Capcom had anything to do with GRiN's closure, over on the BionicCommando.com forums:
You'll notice that the word publishers is used [in the Anderssons' farewell letter] and not Capcom's name specifically. Please don't create negative conjucture if you don't have any fact behind it. In this case, I can tell you it wasn't [Capcom] they were referring to...
AUGUST 12, 2009 - The LSCM spoke with Rey Jiminez, the producer of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. On the topic of a new Strider, Rey responded with a firm "No comment", but he did say this much:
I will say that we are aware that in any thread that asks what classic game fans would want to see remade, Strider is always near the top of that list.
Also, Gamereactor reported GRiN's filing for bankruptcy. Bo and Ulf Andersson posted a final farewell to the GRiN website:
It is with a heavy heart we announce today that GRIN has been forced to close its doors. This as too many publishers have been delaying their payments, causing an unbearable cashflow situation.
After twelve years of hard work, employing hundreds of wonderfully talented men and women, it is over. It has been a great adventure and the GRIN family has experienced what few have.
Looking back at twelve years of games, titles such as Ballistics, Bandits, GRAW 1 & 2, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Terminator: Salvation, Bionic Commando and our unreleased masterpiece that we weren't allowed to finish; it has been a great ride.
Gamereactor went on to speculate about the "unreleased masterpiece":
Rumours have it that Grin may have been commissioned by Capcom to do a remake of Strider and that this was one of the contracts that got cancelled. Another big Japanese publisher also had a contract with Grin that apparently also fell through.
MAY 19, 2009 - The Telegraph interviewed Capcom's Ben Judd, and he basically repeated his answer from yesterday:
Telegraph: Bionic Commando sees a full reimagining of the game without losing its roots. What other old franchises would you like to see a 'reboot' of, Capcom or otherwise?
Ben Judd: I’m a huge fan of Strider, Legendary Wings, Ghosts N Goblins, Forgotten Worlds, and Trojan. There are just too many awesome Capcom franchises that need a reboot.
Twice in a row. Does he have something up his sleeve?
MAY 18, 2009 - The Guardian interviewed Capcom's Ben Judd, asking him the following question:
Guardian: Capcom seems to be enthusiastically revisiting its back catalogue at the moment, with Marvel vs Capcom, Megaman and Street Fighter all back in various forms. Are there other classic titles you have your eye on? If so, what and why?
Ben Judd: Capcom is all about the classics. Strider, Ghosts N Goblins, Mega Man 2, Trojan, Forgotten Worlds... It just goes on and on. I love them all because they remind me of where gaming came from. A time where games weren't these massive Hollywood-esque productions but rather a nice getaway from the hardships of reality. Where pressing a button just made your character leap over a pit fall... or swing over a pit fall depending on the game...
The fact that the first Capcom IP out of Judd's mouth was Strider is kinda cool, if nothing else.
MARCH 19, 2009 - In a recent post to Capcom-Unity's "Ask Capcom" forum, Christian Svensson maintains that Capcom isn't currently developing anything Strider-related, but goes ahead and adds something intriguing:
I can say at this exact moment, there is nothing in development, but as Inafune said, we have discussed the potential for such a project. I think there's interest in it from several facets of the company.
He doesn't elaborate on what the "it" is that Capcom's interested in developing, concerning Strider, but the fact that interest is there... "from several facets"... can only be a good thing.
MARCH 12, 2009 - Christian Svensson said in an interview with Videogamer.com that Capcom is considering ways to continue the HD Remix series, "potentially" applying the formula to the fighting games it has in its back catalog:
Are we done doing HD Remixes? No we're not done. But the next ones that we do will be even better, based on what we learned.
JANUARY 13, 2009 - GameInformer.com interviewed Keiji Inafune and he elaborated further on Capcom's strategy concerning their older properties:
GI: Within the past few years, Capcom has done a great job of revisiting older well-known--and maybe some not-so-well known--IPs, and done it in a really respectful way, rather than just doing quick and dirty Xbox Live Arcade ports of things, it's the HD remake of Street Fighter II Turbo, 1942, Bionic Commando, obviously. Is this something that Capcom plans to continue to do? It seems as though it's part of an ongoing strategy--is that very important to the company moving forward?
Inafune: Since I became the head of development for Capcom, there's really three main pillars to my approach to development. The first one is original titles. Every certain number of years we will make a certain number of original titles. Then, sequels for fans of our current series. The third one is using older IP. Really, it's a matter of granting what the fans are looking for. We started making those games and people have continued to look for them, and really there is interest out there. As you say, it's really about respecting the IP and then doing a remake that follows as an extension. Mega Man 9 is one of the games I would add to your list. We'd certainly like to continue doing more of those. The basic idea is that if there's demand out there--if there's interest out there--we will respect the IP and go forward.
DECEMBER 29, 2008 - Keiji Inafune's interview with 1up.com spawned an interesting discussion over on the Capcom-Unity Forums, in which Seth Killian asked the question,
Could a Strider in 3D recapture that same magic? Would it have to invent new magic? I'd love to see the giant mechanical Ape, or the politburo that turns into a giant robotic centipede w/sickle in 3d, but a lot of the best mechanics of the fights were very 2d-centric. I can already think of cool ways you could recreate that in 3d, but what do you think as Strider fans?
DECEMBER 28, 2008 - Christian Svensson acknowledges Inafune's interview and denies anything Strider-related in development at Capcom.
DECEMBER 19, 2008 - 1up.com editor James Mielke interviewed Capcom's Keiji Inafune, and Inafune-san had some interesting things to say concerning a future installment in the Strider franchise:
1UP: So, we've all heard about how the Bionic Commando revival began because some intrepid game journalist had the game's title written on his business card. With that in mind, I'd like to present to you this business card bearing the likeness of long-lost Capcom favorite, Strider.
KI: [Laughs] Capcom has a lot of good characters, both past and present, and I have a strong interest in bringing some of the past characters back. When you're in Japan you don't really think about the popularity and interest in Strider or Street Fighter characters, and so we've kept them on hold. But since making the HD remix of Street Fighter II and Street Fighter IV, there's a possibility that we could make another Strider game. It's one of the franchises that I have an interest in reviving, so I think there's a real possibility that we will make another Strider game.
1UP: [Capcom publicity manager] Kanda-san was asking us -- when we were in Osaka to see RE5 -- what Capcom games should come back, and some of us responded Gunsmoke and Capt. Commander, but all agreed on Strider.
KI: Those are very valuable comments, and I hope that we can make games accordingly based on those comments. I can't promise that we will, but I hope that we can.
DECEMBER 13, 2008 - Christian Svensson says a third time that there's nothing happening with Strider right now.
NOVEMBER ??, 2008 - Ulf Andersson (the Creative Director of GRIN) said in an interview with Dave Halverson of Play magazine that,
Strider would be a very interesting project to make. I think that amongst other great Capcom classics, it has great potential. Nothing is announced regarding our companies' [GRIN's and Capcom's] future collaboration, but we'd love to work with them again...
If we do get a new installment, I can hardly think of a better way to reintroduce Hiryu than the way GRIN's reintroduced Nathan "Radd" Spencer.
OCTOBER 14, 2008 - Tokyo Game Show is over. No Strider news, and nary a word about another classic Capcom series getting revived. The Bionic Commando viral videos certainly looked cool enough, but still lacked that peculiar verve required to reshape reproductive tissue.
OCTOBER 8, 2008 - Apparently, Quartermann got his rumor from a night of "drunken hypothesizing between three journalists and a PR", in which 1up.com editor James Mielke suggested a new Strider be done DMC-style.
OCTOBER 3, 2008 - Christian Svensson again denies there's any "news to share about anything new in the world of Strider"
OCTOBER 2, 2008 - EGM's Quartermann delivered the rumor that Capcom is eyeing Strider as its next franchise to revive. In particular, he hinted it would be given the Devil May Cry treatment. Several magazines picked up the rumor, notably the November issue of Gamereactor (No. 62, Swedish edition) which went so far as to say Capcom is DEFINITELY giving Strider the Bionic Commando treatment with a new ReArmed-style remake and again, a new game done DMC-style. I'd be slightly more inclined to believe Gamereactor than EGM, considering how GRIN's a Swedish company and Gamereactor's a Swedish magazine.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 - Christian Svensson, Capcom's VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development, denies that there's anything happening with the Strider series.
AUGUST 15, 2008 - Capcom producer Ben Judd, fresh off his Bionic Commando: ReArmed success, kicked the rumor mill into overtime today by some of the comments he made in an interview with Kotaku :
We still have a f***ing ace up our sleeve. It's an ace, a f***ing ace. At [Tokyo Game Show], the Capcom booth stage is going to make people's balls pucker up. It's going to be big.
It's uncertain whether Judd was referring to his upcoming 3D Bionic Commando remake or another series. It's even less certain how, precisely, one's balls may "pucker up".
MARCH 25, 2004 - Capcom's Production Studio 6 closed down. Here's the press release regarding that:
Capcom Closes Tokyo Development Studios
By David Smith
3/25/2004
Capcom is closing down the majority of its Tokyo-based development studios, multiple sources at the Game Developers Conference report.
While that isn't as much of a blow as one might assume, since the bulk of Capcom's development efforts are based in Osaka rather than Tokyo, most of the publisher's in-house PC development section is gone, as well as the Production Studio 6 team responsible for Chaos Legion. The remaining studios that were once directly overlooked by senior managing director Yoshiki Okamoto, like Capcom's Nagoya studio, have also been dissolved, although many of their staff already reportedly left the company to join Okamoto at his new company.
Capcom still has a substantial development base at its Osaka headquarters, so this news isn't quite as bad as it may seem. However, we'll continue to follow more developments in the story as E3 approaches, and Capcom prepares to debut a new round of games for the coming year.
It's doubtful they'd started working on Strider 3, so it's unlikely there was anything left over when the studio closed. It would be cool to see how far the development team got, though. I don't think they got anywhere near done, but I would like to see concept sketches, storyboards, and stuff like that. If there was any.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2002 - Spong.com met with Capcom producers Koji Nakajima and Yoshihiro Sudo at ECTS while Nakajima and Sudo were showing Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Regarding Strider Hiryu, Koji Nakajima had this to say:
We would like to see Strider made in 3D. [Yoshihiro Sudo] would like to see the game on Xbox. It has not gone into development yet, but it might do at some point in the future.
As well as helming Strider 2, Yoshihiro Sudo was part of Capcom's Production Studio 6, the same studio that put out Chaos Legion.
Strider 3 Rumors | My Hopes for Strider 3