Sdatcher, stylized as SUDA 51'S SDATCHER -INSPIRED by "SNATCHER"-, is a radio drama serving as a prequel to the video game Snatcher, originally directed by Hideo Kojima, who reprises the role for this project. Sdatcher is written by Goichi Suda and scored by Akira Yamaoka. When initially announced, the radio drama was said to be the first installment in a series of Grasshopper Manufacture Snatcher projects,[1]. However, it is unclear if further projects are still planned.
Plot
The plot focuses on Jean-Jack Gibson, a fellow JUNKER operative from Snatcher who meets his demise early on, and his robotic assistant Little John. Four years before the events of that game, JUNKER has not yet been established (having not yet had reason to be), and Gibson, separated from his wife Alice Gibson, is working as a police detective in Neo Kobe. Having been sent to investigate a strange series of incidents, Gibson meets an informant named Cristian Gainsbourg at a restaurant, where his friend Lisa Nielson works as a waitress. Gainsbourg directs him to a Russian ship, where he investigates with the help of a cowardly security guard, Steevo. There they meet the mysterious Robin Goodman, who taunts Gibson about "bioroids" before disappearing. With only this new information, Gibson seeks the help of Dominic Blackhead, and eventually uncovers what will ultimately become the conspiracy with which Neo Kobe deals in 2047: Dangerous humanoid robots are murdering powerful individuals and, through advanced technological disguises, taking their place in society. As Goodman has already introduced the Snatchers to the city, Gibson is unable to halt the plan, but does manage to report his findings to the government. In response, it creates JUNKER, a special task force meant to deal with the menace. Thanks to his skills and newfound experience fighting Snatchers, Gibson is made one of its founding members.
Development
The roots of Sdatcher can be traced back to an April 2007 announcement from Weekly Famitsu, that Grasshopper would be developing a series of projects based on Snatcher. The parent project was initially labelled Project-S, with the first instalment being a radio drama, potentially titled Snatchers, written by and co-starring Suda.[1] Before its announcement, Project-S had been rumored as early as February 2007.[2] While promoting No More Heroes in an IGN interview, Suda was asked to elaborate on Project-S, to which Suda could give no comment.[2]
On August 19, 2011, the official Sdatcher website went online.[3] The first act of the radio drama surfaced here and on Kojima's blog on September 2, 2011.[4] The drama was also released in a two-disc set, disc one of which contained the drama itself and disc two of which contained the soundtrack.[5]
Many of the voices were provided by personal friends of Kojima's, as well as he and Suda themselves.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Suda 51 Reveals Project-S. 1UP. Yoshi Sato. April 18, 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Interview: Suda 51 on No More Heroes. IGN. February 16, 2007.
- ↑ HIDEORADIO WEBRADIO DRAMA - SUDA51'S SDATCHER. Konami. August 19, 2011.
- ↑ HIDEOBLOG. September 2, 2011.
- ↑ https://vgmdb.net/album/29007