The Silver Case
| The Silver Case | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Grasshopper Manufacture |
| Publisher(s) | ASCII Entertainment |
| Designer(s) | Goichi Suda |
| Composer(s) | Masafumi Takada |
| Platform(s) | The Silver Case PlayStation PlayStation Network Nintendo DS Silver Case, 25 Ward i-mode Yahoo! Keitai Nintendo DS |
| Release date(s) | The Silver Case PlayStation
i-mode
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure Visual novel |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Distribution | 1 × CD-ROM 1 × Nintendo DS Game Card |
The Silver Case (シルバー事件 Shirubā Jiken) is an adventure video game developed by Goichi Suda for Grasshopper Manufacture. The game was originally released only in Japan for the PlayStation, although a planned worldwide re-release for the Nintendo 3DS is currently in development.
Gameplay
The player navigates their way through a series of situations in a first-person perspective. The player character can move from node to node on an invisible grid (but with the graphics drawn in real-time 3D), rotating their view horizontally and vertically, and selecting actions to carry out on various items in the environment, or in the character's inventory.
Non-interactive story elements are presented in a unique style dubbed “Film Window” by the game's creators. While the story and dialogue proceeds in written text, other information and images regarding the story or presentation such as real-time 3D displays, real-life photographs, 2D illustrations, video, typography, texts, etc. are constantly changed and displayed in a series of frames that are automatically opened and closed as the main text displays.
Plot
In 1999, there exists an area called the "24 Districts". A series of mysterious and bizarre murders have happened there. Detectives of the High-degree Murder Division (HMD) in the 24 Districts Police Department investigate the case and find that they closely match the profile of a well-known killer, Kamui Uehara, who assassinated many key government figures one after another several years ago. Uehara was supposedly shot and killed by Kusabi, a veteran detective of the HMD, but current events seem to indicate that Uehara is still alive, and at large in the 24 Districts. Has the deadly assassin returned to life?
The plot is separated into 2 scenarios that are titled “Transmitter” (written by Goichi Suda) and “Placebo” (written by Masahi Ooka and Sako Kato). In “Transmitter”, the detectives of the HMD hunt for the killer, and in “Placebo”, a freelance writer investigates the affair.
As the game was directed by Goichi Suda, his distinctive world-view, characters with vivid personalities, and unconventional and unexpected storylines give the game an attractively surreal aspect. Takashi Miyamoto's character designs and 2D illustrations add to this surreal mood, by giving mostly realistic figures and places the look of a slightly artificial, plastic finish. Additionally, Masafumi Takada's music succeeds in imparting a dark, conspiratorial atmosphere to the 24 Districts.
Versions and re-releases
The original PlayStation game was released only in Japan, on October 7, 1999.
Silver Case, 25 Ward
Silver Case, 25 Ward (シルバー事件25区) adds an extra chapter to the original game, and is made up of several scenarios, each focusing on a different character involved in the plot of The Silver Case. The game was developed by Goichi Suda for Grasshopper Manufacture, and was only released in Japan on i-mode and Yahoo! Keitai mobile phones. Silver Case, 25 Ward was also being remade for the Nintendo DS, to be released in a package along with the original The Silver Case,[1] but the expected release date for this version is currently unknown (see below).
Nintendo DS remake
During his "Punk's Not Dead" speech at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, Goichi Suda announced that The Silver Case, as well as Silver Case, 25 Ward, would be remade for the Nintendo DS. During an interview with Gamasutra, Suda initially confirmed that the game would see both an English translation and a worldwide release.[1] However, on the 15th of July, 2009, Goichi Suda revealed that although the DS port was complete, it had not been released as he felt that, "it is certainly necessary to remake it properly to fit in with the current generation of gamers."[2] The release of the NDS port of the game is currently on indefinite hold so that the development team could focus on No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle.
On May 31, 2010, Goichi Suda teased fans by making a live broadcast of himself playing the game on an actual Nintendo DS, via Ustream.[3][4][5]
PlayStation Network
On December 10, 2008, The Silver Case was released as a PSone Classic on the Japanese PlayStation Network.[6]
Reception
On release, Famitsu magazine scored the PlayStation version of the game a 30 out of 40.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gamasutra - Suda51 Talks Emotion In Games, 'Breaking Stuff'
- ↑ Cubed3 - Suda51: More Sumio Mondo, Silver Case 'Up in the Air' at C3 News
- ↑ Tiny Cartridge - The Silver Case's Nintendo DS port, demonstrated
- ↑ A still image of the game in action on the Nintendo DS
- ↑ A still image of the game in action on the Nintendo DS
- ↑ "シルバー事件". PlayStation.com(Japan). Sony. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- ↑ プレイステーション - シルバー事件. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.21. 30 June 2006.
External links
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