Interviews// 'A Dream Come True': Working on Lollipop Chainsaw

SPOnG: One of the big themes here is the concept of fetishism, really. Juliet Starling is the typical American Girl Next Door, which is far and away a different kind of schoolgirl sex appeal to that in Japan. Was there any kind of interesting conversation between SUDA, Gunn and yourself?

Scott Warr: [Laughs] That is absolutely... SUDA51 really wanted to make this kind of, you know, ‘super-school’ - but it had to be an American school, and for Juliet, she had to be a cheerleader. He knew that much going in. So during discussion between myself, SUDA51 and Gunn I’d get these... these emails [chuckles] with all these different cheerleader outfits!

The conversation would go, ‘shouldn’t she wear this?’ and we’d go, ‘no, they don’t really wear that. That’s for more for the... uh... young schoolgirl fetish guys’ [laughs]. So understanding that and keeping things authentic on that front was a big part of things - we showed traditional outfits, normal outfits, totally toned down stuff and pieces that would be about as lewd as we would go in America.

So there were those influences, but it was all inspired simply by SUDA51‘s curiosity. He’d say, ‘I’ve done this research, tell me where I’m at in the ballpark.’ That was fun, and for me personally it was important to give him the information to make the best decision that he could. I’m crossing my fingers that I wasn’t leading him astray [laughs]! And it’s very hard because he’s such a nice and easy guy to work with.

It can become overwhelming to think, ‘Oh man, if I say something wrong he’s going to take my word for it and totally run in that direction,’ so there was some overwhelming moments to that degree. But, I know he’s happy with everything and the way that it turned out.


SPOnG: You certainly don’t want to get skimpy outfits wrong anyway, do you? You want to get it right!

Scott Warr: [Laughs] And there is plenty more in the game, I can guarantee that. We start with a cheerleader outfit but of course we wanted to have our fun too. And we definitely went and had fun.


SPOnG: What was it like working with SUDA51? And, it seems that the game itself is reminiscent of No More Heroes, as you mentioned. Do you think this is like a revival of that gameplay concept?

Scott Warr: Working with SUDA? When I saw that game for the first time... it was on my VP’s desk and he was watching a little cinematic. It had cheerleaders splitting a zombie open and this rainbow popping up. I was like, ‘Holy shit, I gotta be on this title!’ So my VP agreed and asked if I knew a guy called SUDA51. And I was dumbstruck to hear this was his pitch. From a fan’s perspective, this was like my frickin’ dream come true!

Talking about gameplay concepts and what came before... you know, it’s hard when you’re not allowed to mention past titles, because they’re not Lollipop Chainsaw. But, as a fan of SUDA51 you’ve got to put it all together. So you will absolutely see No More Heroes elements in this game. From the grading to the combat... but there are other improvements made here too.

We have leaderboards... you know leaderboards in this industry overall is probably not the next huge thing, but for SUDA and Grasshopper it is a huge step. And for me, it gets me excited - if he’s doing this with Lollipop Chainsaw, what’s next? Because I can’t fucking wait. I’m already past that, because I’m just so excited. I’ve seen the company’s growth and I see them growing with every game. The studio hasn’t gone backwards at all, and that makes me very happy as a fan.


SPOnG: Thank you for your time.

Scott Warr: Thank you, I appreciate it!