Issue #51: The Killer Career of Suda51 – March/April 2021

Get ready, everyone, for a very special issue of Nintendo Force! Are you surprised it even exists? If so, I wouldn’t blame you. Theming an entire issue around the career of a developer who doesn’t even work at Nintendo may seem like a diabolical curveball, but it actually falls right in line with the spirit of NF. Like Goichi Suda (a.k.a. Suda51), our little publication is a scrappy underdog that, through a bold combination of heart and hardheadedness, “forced” itself into existence, despite longshot odds and plenty of naysayers.

Also like NF, Suda makes a habit out of using his unique anti-mainstream machinations to fill the gaps in the gaming landscape left by Nintendo and other big-name game publishers. If Nintendo put out a string of family-friendly party games, he’d put out a single-player, M-rated action title that uses motion controls in unabashedly family-unfriendly ways. If the AAA industry became obsessed with gritty games about grumpy men shooting things, he’d release a game about a sparkling, giggling high school cheerleader with a chainsaw. When everyone else is going by the book, he takes a step back and writes his own, just as we here at NF decided to write our own magazine, right after Nintendo turned away from the business and the world at large declared that print was dead.

But going against the grain doesn’t mean pushing against game players themselves. Every step of the way, Suda has always worked to produce the most honest, well-made products possible, even when working exclusively for niche audiences. Again, just like Nintendo Force! It really is like we were separated at birth.

In fact, we’ve been connected with Suda for more than a little while. It was back in 2019, shortly after he turned 51, that we first starting talking to Suda about making this issue. Even though it took a while to get it together, it’s been a match made in “heaven,” and it makes us “smile” knowing that you’ll finally be reading it soon. Just as Nintendo Power helped introduce the Western world to Suda’s games with their Killer7 issue in 2005, we’re hoping that this issue helps to newly expose a whole new generation to Suda’s unique life story and creative vision.

Wait one minute here folks! Isn’t it a little strange that it’s been almost exactly 16 years since Suda’s first cover story in a full-sized Nintendo magazine, and that Nintendo Force itself just turned 8 years old? Hmm, let’s see here, 16 divided by 2 is 8, which is a little too exact to be just a coincidence. Dig a little deeper and you’ll discover that 16 minus 2 is 14, and if you divide that 14 by 2 then you get 7. Then if you add that 7 to the 8 from earlier, you’ll get 15. Then flip that 15 around backwards if you want to get . . . 51??!!

Whoa!!! What does all that mean?

Honestly, we have no idea, and that mystery is half the fun of Suda’s best games. Not knowing, but still believing, that there is meaning to be found in his cryptic mythologies keeps your wheels turning and heart pounding for what might lie just under the surface. We hope this issue gives you that same sense of anticipatory excitement. Thank you for taking a chance on it. We’ll do our best to make you glad that you did.

Viva Santa Destroy!