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Having been public for little over a year, this is likely Sammy Studios' biggest announcement thus far. You can take that however you wish. The Seven Samurai 20XX, aside from the postmodern amalgamate title, seems to be a rather stylish game with a varied all star cast.
There was a press conference this morning to unveil the title, immediately after the media breakfast (which was incidentally much better than the media luncheon - I had a plain bowl of rice). But god damn, the thing didn't have to last 45 minutes. All of five minutes of video were shown, the remaining time being taken up by various folks stating just how excited they were about the game. I'd like to issue an edict: from here on out, let us assume that you are excited about the game you're trying to make money with. I take this for granted. Tell me once, if you must at all. This is not a criticism of Sammy per se, but of PR presentations in general.
Hisao Kurosawa has signed his name to the project. He's the son of the legendary Japanese director of the 'original' Seven Samurai. Technically, Hisao has nothing to do with the game, other than the lending of his blessing.
Academy Award winner Ryuichi Sakamoto has composed the opening and ending theme music for the game, and the astoundingly famous French comic artist Moebius created over 100 character designs.
My personal favorite bit; the game is being developed by Dimps. Until recently I did not realize just how much Dimps' head Matsumoto had done during his long stint with SNK. He's responsible for production/work on the Fatal Fury, Last Blade, Art of Fighting series, and quite a few more influential titles. Dimps' Nishiyama was also the head of R&D at SNK for some time.
The game itself is basically a combo-based action game, with great music, stylish action and some semblance of a story. More detailed impressions on the actual gameplay will likely surface tomorrow.
Some interesting elements came up during the Q&A session - Hisao Kurosawa has said that there is the possibility of further Kurosawa properties being adapted to a game world. He also mentioned that the Seven Samurai game is related to the movie more in terms of its treatment of human emotion and the samurai soul, rather than thematic and narrative similarities.
An interesting event, but way, way too long.
Brandon "this article sucks but I'm TOO DAMNED tired" Sheffield
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