After the release of the PlayStation, there've been more games like Biohazard and Metal Gear Solid that take place in an overseas setting. Well, even before then, I mean Mario's Italian, right? From the get-go, the Japanese audience has been used to playing with foreign characters. There's no sense of incongruity.

That isn't to say western characters are always the stars. "The Japanese fans are very important to me too," said Suda. Even so, he's got huge plans for Grasshopper; he wants their company to make a breakthrough someday. To achieve that, "it's not enough for us to just focus on the Japanese market. I can't give you an exact percentage, but the Western market is extremely important."

Suda51's vision is worldwide. Not content with limiting Grasshopper games to satisfy the Japanese gaming fix, he said:

When I make games, I always put in a lot of effort toward making them with an image of the Western audience in mind. The Western market is that important to me. I don't make games with only the Japanese in mind, I treat it as though people from all around the world are going to play my games.