The Silver Case
| The Silver Case | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Grasshopper Manufacture |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Director(s) | Goichi Suda |
| Artist(s) | Takashi Miyamoto |
| Writer(s) |
Goichi Suda Masahi Ooka Sako Kato |
| Composer(s) | Masafumi Takada |
| Engine | Unity (PC) |
| Platform(s) |
Microsoft Windows (remaster) |
| Release date(s) |
PlayStation October 7, 1999
Microsoft Windows
|
| Genre(s) |
Adventure Visual novel |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Silver Case (シルバー事件 Shirubā Jiken), also known as The Silver or The Silver Incident,[note 1] is an adventure video game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by ASCII Entertainment. The game was originally released only in Japan for the PlayStation. A remaster of the game for Microsoft Windows was announced on May 2016 for release later that year in both Japanese and English, the latter for the very first time.[1]
Gameplay
The game is a point-and-click adventure game.[2] 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,[3] 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.[4]
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 (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. 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.[5] 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."[6] 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.[7] He later stated that the game was cancelled. In the Grasshopper Manufacture Artbook released in 2015, he stated that a Spanish localization company initiated interest in translating the game and would see where it takes the project from there. During an interview released in July 2015, he stated that Grasshopper is now definitively considering to release the game and he hopes it could happen very soon.
On December 10, 2008, The Silver Case was released as a PSone Classic on the Japanese PlayStation Network.[8]
On April 23, 2016, Grasshopper opened a teaser website called believeintheinternet.com,[9] featuring glass fragments shaking which resembles the ones featured on the title logo. The videogame press site nichegamer stated that the website is indeed a teaser for an upcoming PC remake of the game, which is going to be released on Steam worldwide. Although the news had been removed from the website, on the same day, Suda51 posted a teaser picture on his instagram account, featuring artworks of the original game in the background and the game title written in Caesar Cipher.[10]
On May 6, 2016, it was announced that The Silver Case will be remastered for Microsoft Windows, using Unity, for release on online stores Playism, Steam, and "other platforms" in fall 2016. The remaster of The Silver Case marks the first time the game will be released in English. The English localization is being undertaken by Active Gaming Media, the parent company of Playism.[11][1][12]
Reception
On release, Famitsu magazine scored the PlayStation version of the game a 30 out of 40.[13]
References
- 1 2 Romano, Sal. "The Silver Case Remaster Announced for PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ↑ "Hopping Mad: The Inspired Oddness of Grasshopper's Early Games". 1UP.com. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- ↑ Low, David (April 18, 2007). "Suda51 Talks Emotion In Games, 'Breaking Stuff'". Gamasutra. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- ↑ Greenhough, Chris (February 4, 2008). "2008's Biggest Blips: Flower, Sun and Rain / The Silver Case". Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- ↑ 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
- ↑ "シルバー事件". PlayStation.com(Japan). Sony. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- ↑ "believeintheinternet.com".
- ↑ "Suda51's Instagram".
- ↑ "The Silver Case". Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ↑ "『シルバー事件』PCリマスター版が今秋配信決定。グラスホッパー・マニファクチュアの原点となるアドベンチャーゲームが蘇る" (in Japanese). Famitsu. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ↑ 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.
Notes
- ↑ The game translates the Japanese title in multiple ways: "The Silver," "The Silver Incident," and "The Silver Case". "The Silver Case" would officially be adopted at a later time.
External links
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