Hidetaka Suehiro

Hidetaka Suehiro (末弘 秀孝, Suehiro Hidetaka), known as SWERY or Swery65, is a Japanese video game director and writer. He was one of the founding members of the game development studio Access Games which is based in Osaka. His roles in the company included director, designer, and writer. He is the director of the games Spy Fiction, Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die. He then left the company in 2016, and he founded a new studio, named White Owls Inc.

Hidetaka Suehiro
Born (1973-04-14) 14 April 1973
Osaka, Japan[1]
NationalityJapanese
Other namesSWERY, Swery65
OccupationPresident and CEO of White Owls Inc.[2]
Video game producer, scenario writer, game designer
Known forDeadly Premonition

Career

Suehiro received a degree in film and video advertising at Osaka University of Arts.[3] After graduation he decided to join the game industry and worked at various game companies including SNK. In January 2002 he was one of the founding members of Access Games.[3]

The first game he directed was the PlayStation 2 game Spy Fiction released in 2003.[3] The game is a third-person military themed stealth game and the target audience was Western players rather than Japanese players.[3]

Production began in 2004 on a game titled Rainy Woods, which was then cancelled in 2007. Work was restarted under the new title Deadly Premonition and it was released in 2010. A survival horror game, it also placed emphasis on targeting Western gamers rather than Japanese players.[3] That game made its way to the 2012 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition with the title "Most Critically Polarizing Survival Horror Game" because reviews of the game ranged so heavily.[4]

In 2014 he partnered with Microsoft to develop an Xbox One game titled D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, which utilizes the Kinect motion-sensing device. The game was highlighted at GDC Next 2013 as one of their "GDC Next 10",[5] where chosen developers give talks on the inspiration behind their upcoming games.

In 2015, he gave a lecture in Osaka and at GDC 2015 regarding physical input in video games and the Kinect device. He also opened a booth along with Access Games at Penny Arcade Expo East 2015.

In November 2015 he announced that he would be taking a health-related break from game development in order to focus on recovering from reactive hypoglycemia. [6]

On 31 October 2016, he announced his departure from Access Games. A new video game studio was later founded by Suehiro on 1 November 2016 as White Owls Inc. White Owls was formally revealed to the public on 15 January 2017.[7]

Works
TitlePlatformRelease statusRole
Kizuna Encounter[8] Neo Geo MVS Released in Japan (1996) Scenario
The Last Blade Neo Geo MVS Released in Japan (1997) Scenario
The Last Blade 2 Neo Geo MVS Released in Japan (1998) Scenario
Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return PlayStation Released in Japan and North America (1999), Europe (2000) Designer
Extermination PlayStation 2 Released in Japan, North America and Europe (2001) Writer/Planner
Spy Fiction PlayStation 2 Released in Japan (2003), North America and Europe (2004) Writer/Director
Kidō Senshi Gundam: Senjō no Kizuna Portable PSP Released in Japan (2009) Director
Deadly Premonition Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch Released in Japan, North America and Europe (2010 for 360 & PS3, 2013 Director's Cut version for Windows & PS3, 2019 Origins version for Switch) Co-writer/Director/Designer
Lord of Arcana PSP Released in Japan (2010), North America and Europe (2011) Designer/Co-writer
Lord of Apocalypse PSP, PS Vita Released in Japan (2012) Designer/Co-writer
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Xbox One, Microsoft Windows Released in Japan, North America and Europe (2014 for Xbox One, 2015 for Microsoft Windows) Writer/Director
The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows Released in Japan, North America and Europe (2018) Writer/Director
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise[9] Nintendo Switch Released in Japan, North America and Europe, July 10, 2020 Writer/Director
The Good Life[10] PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch[11] In development Writer/Director
Hotel Barcelona[12] Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Stadia[12] In development Unknown. Working alongside Goichi Suda and Keiichiro Toyama[12]
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References
  1. Sheffield, Brandon. "Deadly Premonition director Swery becomes a Buddhist Monk. What does this mean for his games?". Gamasutra. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  2. "Greeting from the CEO". White Owls Inc. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  3. http://bitsummit.org/2015/?page_id=3388
  4. Tach, Dave (17 October 2012). "How Hideteka 'Swery' Suehiro aims to bring Deadly Premonition to a new audience". Polygon. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  5. "GDC Next, App Developers Conference see nearly 4,000 in attendance - GDC News". GDC News. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  6. http://www.accessgames-blog.com/swery65/2015/11/post-8f7d.html#eng
  7. Yoshimura, Mill. "『レッドシーズプロファイル』、『D4』などでカルト的な人気を誇るSWERY氏が新スタジオWhite Owlsを設立。インタビューでその経緯を聞いた". Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa Duwango Corporation. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  8. https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014594/Game-Design-in-the-Coffee
  9. "Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise". Twitter. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  10. "The Good Life". Kickstarter. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  11. "Nintendo Switch - Indie World Showcase 3.17.20". YouTube. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  12. "Hotel Barcelona". IGN. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
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