We knew that Suda51 and the gang at Grasshopper Manufacture were working on a whole bunch of stuff, despite recent staff changes, but we didn’t know details about the whole lot. Now, it looks like we do – or at least, we know details about everything we know details on.
There’s Sine Mora, Rebuild of Evangelion: Sound Impact, Lollipop Chainsaw, Black Knight Sword and three titles for mobile platform Mobage.
Then – as revealed at Tokyo Game Show, there’s Diabolical Pitch. It’s the Kinect game formerly known as Codename D, and it’s nothing that we ever could have imagined – the Japanese punk developer has turned his talents to the classic all-American pastime: Baseball.
…we’re serious. You become a baseball player in a demon-filled world (of course), which sees you both pitching and hitting balls at monsters. Of course.
It’s been described as a little bit like Wii Sports, but for the Xbox 360 and lavishly splattered with blood. So, not really like it at all, then. Gameplay involves a lot of waving one’s arms around (by one’s self or with a friend), as “demonic funpark creatures” lurch towards you in a sort of bizarro shooting gallery. And, in case you didn’t gather, it’s a pretty tiring endeavour.
Diabolic Pitch also features unique attacks, special effects and the usual Suda51 eye-candy. It’s by no means the “serious” motion game we’ve been waiting for, but it’s definitely something special.