Mikami Cuts Off Head to Promote New Studio

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
14,499
0
0
Mikami Cuts Off Head to Promote New Studio



Japanese developer Shinji Mikami is allowing the world to decapitate him in an effort to promote his new studio.

Creator of Resident Evil Shinji Mikami is supposedly hard at work on third-person shooter Vanquish [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98885-Mikami-Gives-First-Details-on-Futuristic-Shooter-Vanquish] at Platinum Games, but recently announced the formation of a new studio called Tango. As a way to drum up interest in the new project he's currently recruiting for, Mikami has created a flash game that requires players to help him commit suicide.

Back in the days of the samurai, a friend would often help commit seppuku or harakiri (suicide) when a warrior felt it was necessary to die with honor. As the usual technique of cutting into one's own abdomen wasn't the most enjoyable, the helper would stand by and cut off the head to speed up the process. This was the samurai's way to "help a brother out."

Mikami's flash game is pretty simple. Players take on the role of the helper samurai that must cut off Mikami's head. However, the goal is not just to cut off the head, but to cut it off so powerfully that it flies as far as possible. As the head is flying through the air, the background is littered with celebrities from the game development community. I was able to spy Metal Gear's Hideo Kojima hiding behind a crate, though sadly he wasn't sitting atop a duck [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/images/view/55463]. Believe it or not, this harakiri game really is meant as a recruiting device, as a link takes users to a page listing positions needed for Tango.

What better way to spend your April Fools day than by cutting off the head of a Japanese developer? That is, if you can figure out exactly how to click properly, as I really couldn't because the instructions are in Japanese, but then again maybe my laptop isn't made to decapitate people. The game isn't terribly graphic, but does have some blood, so the super sensitive might want to skip it, unless they really, really hate Shinji Mikami. Check it out here [http://mikami-project.com/].

Source: Andriasang [http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/04/01/shinji_mikami_project_site]

Permalink
 

Icecoldcynic

New member
Oct 5, 2009
1,268
0
0
This sounds incredibly bizarre. No doubt if the media got hold of it they'd use it as another way videogames promote violence (and now suicide).

EDIT: So i tried it, and apparently, getting max causes his head to decapitate another guy who is about to kiss some girl, and land on his shoulders. I am now baffled beyond belief.
 

SnootyEnglishman

New member
May 26, 2009
8,308
0
0
This is interesting..An odd way to promote a game studio though. I can only imagine what fox "news" and C"N"N will have to say when one of their bored staff members gets a hold of this.
 

hansari

New member
May 31, 2009
1,256
0
0
is the seppuku in relation to him leaving the studio to start his own??

Still seems extreme/dumb....I mean this is a minigame that should be created for epic failures like Duke Nukem Forever or Daikatana....
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
5,237
0
0
Interesting little way to recruit, by allowing your employees to decapitate their boss before he punishes them.
 

hopeneverdies

New member
Oct 1, 2008
3,398
0
0
That duck, it still haunts me.

Also the page isn't working for me.

EDIT: Started working, got the home plate ending for max.
 

MetaKnight19

New member
Jul 8, 2009
2,007
0
0
Thats interesting enough, but if the new studio is called Tango surely this would be the best thing to do to promote it

 

Outamyhead

New member
Feb 25, 2009
381
0
0
Icecoldcynic said:
This sounds incredibly bizarre. No doubt if the media got hold of it they'd use it as another way videogames promote violence (and now suicide).

EDIT: So i tried it, and apparently, getting max causes his head to decapitate another guy who is about to kiss some girl, and land on his shoulders. I am now baffled beyond belief.
Not as bad as the head landing on a family dinner table, try again, it's different every time.
 

Icecoldcynic

New member
Oct 5, 2009
1,268
0
0
Outamyhead said:
Icecoldcynic said:
This sounds incredibly bizarre. No doubt if the media got hold of it they'd use it as another way videogames promote violence (and now suicide).

EDIT: So i tried it, and apparently, getting max causes his head to decapitate another guy who is about to kiss some girl, and land on his shoulders. I am now baffled beyond belief.
Not as bad as the head landing on a family dinner table, try again, it's different every time.
I got that one, but all I kept getting afterwards was the couples one about 5 times before i got bored.
 

Godhead

Dib dib dib, dob dob dob.
May 25, 2009
1,692
0
0
Nice little thing. If you get max power on the beheading his head replaces some guys making out with some lady.
 

The Random One

New member
May 29, 2008
3,310
0
0
The strangest part is that I'm pretty sure commiting harakiri is the utmost punishment for being dishonorable in Japan. I don't get what he's trying to say, here. Wait, I never get what the Japanese are trying to say when they're within their inscrutable cultural codes. Never mind.

But I keep imagining him using that to try to haggle their games' prices with you. 'C'mon, buy it for $60, how about it? I'm cutting my own head over here!'
 

Quadtrix

New member
Dec 17, 2008
835
0
0
Lame. He should promote his studio by actually letting someone decapitate him in real life.
 

Kermi

Elite Member
Nov 7, 2007
2,538
0
41
The Random One said:
The strangest part is that I'm pretty sure commiting harakiri is the utmost punishment for being dishonorable in Japan. I don't get what he's trying to say, here. Wait, I never get what the Japanese are trying to say when they're within their inscrutable cultural codes. Never mind.

But I keep imagining him using that to try to haggle their games' prices with you. 'C'mon, buy it for $60, how about it? I'm cutting my own head over here!'
This ritual suicide isn't exactly a punishment. It's how you preserve the honor of your family when you've screwed up so bad that the entire country is ashamed of you.
 

CopperBoom

New member
Nov 11, 2009
541
0
0
This is super rad, love the music.

I played this a lot longer than I thought I would.
By the by, 108.59 KM