Lollipop Chainsaw Message Board

Lollipop Chainsaw, a game where cheerleader Twilight Sparkle Bubbles Timmy Turner Juliet Starling (or all of the above, since they're all voiced by the same person) slices and dices undead hordes with her trusty chainsaw, has surpassed one million sales worldwide. Developer Grasshopper Manufacture announced the news Friday on Twitter.

It's an accomplishment that took more than a year and a half, but developer Suda 51 and his team at Grasshopper Manufacture seem more focused on the positive; they're celebrating with deep discounts on the game's digital version in Japan. Everything's sunshine, lollipops and rainbows here! [Image: WB Interactive]

Running through a dark heavy world, wielding a katana and cybernetic arm, and battling shadowy twisted freaks. You are Mondo Zappa, executioner for the Bryan Execution Firm, out to kill criminals and assassins. Welcome to the world of Killer is Dead, the latest game from the mind of Suda 51. The game is currently scheduled for release in the US on August 27th and Europe on August 30th, but here in Japan, the game is already out (one of the few things we actually got earlier over here… Meanwhile, I still have to wait until next week to see Star Trek: Into Darkness) so here is a look at what the game has in store.Read more...

#warrenspector Warren Spector, one of the most respected game designers out there and the lead creator of the revered Deus Ex, did something unusual for a game designer today. At a talk at the DICE convention in Las Vegas, he named a name... or at least he let one of his slides name the name of a game that, he says, "should just not be made." More »

#lollipopchainsaw Cult game, attractive (and scantily-clad) protagonist, you'd have bet the house on someone coming out with an official Lollipop Chainsaw figure. And, eventually, someone has. Though they really shouldn't have bothered. More »

#culturesmash The pigtail, or as they're called in Japan "twintail", is not a new hairdo by any stretch. It's not new in the West, and it's certainly not new in Japan. But in the last few years, it's become more popular than ever. Earlier this year, the Japan Twintail Association was created to promote and celebrate the hairstyle. The country's geek subculture is officially gaga for the twintail. More »

We're not sure if y'all are aware of this, but Valentine's Day works way, way differently in Japan than it does here. Boys traditionally don't give Valentines to girls, for instance; women are the primary gift-givers, and generally speaking giving anything other than chocolate is atypical.

There's also two new Lollipop Chainsaw special editions coming out exclusively in Japan this Valentine's Day, but that's less of a cultural difference and more of a marketing thing. The game's new "Premium Edition" will cost ¥3,980 (about $48) and will include codes to unlock costumes and additional character voices.

Meanwhile, the ¥4,980 ($60ish) "Valentine Edition" includes a "Happy Valentine Disc," which contains a PC desktop Juliet clock, wallpapers and various gravure pictures of the game's official cosplay models. It also comes with a "Premium Movie Disc" full of trailers and cinematics, as well as a Lollipop Chainsaw manga and the Premium Edition's unlock codes.

No word yet on a potential North American release of either version, but we have learned that the Japanese phrase "義理チョコ" (giri-choko) means "obligatory gift chocolate," which is probably more entertaining in the long run.

#nsfw You know the rule: If it exists, there's a porn of it. Well, video game Lollipop Chainsaw exists (we have the review to prove it). And now there is the inevitable adult video version of it. More »

#lollipopchainsaw Like a foamy, flaccid force of nature, she came tumbling into my life. No discernable shape, fluffy, mildly offensive. But somehow, some way—like a tapeworm—she burrowed herself deep into my existence. I know she'll be mine forever. She is indispensible, an irreplaceable part of my world. 2012 has been a big year for me, an important year, and I honestly don't know how I could have gotten through it without my Lollipop Chainsaw Juliet Starling Japanese Hug Pillow. More »

Lollipop Chainsaw shipped over 700,000 units worldwide, making it the most shipped game in Grasshopper Manafacture's history. Grasshopper CEO Suda 51 and Japanese publisher Kadokawa Games proudly announced the figure at the game's 'Summer Appreciation Event' in Tokyo. The news comes a year after Shadows of the Damned only sold 24,000 units in its first week of US retail, so success for Grasshopper's major release of 2012 must come as welcome relief.

Suda 51 also used the event to show off a new trailer for Killer is Dead, the studio's latest work in progress, which apparently will star a katana-wielding cyborg. That's something to look forward to when the game releases on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next year.

'Silver Lining' is a column from freelancer Taylor Cocke dedicated to highlighting moments of real potential in less than perfect games. This week he examines Grasshopper Manufacture's Lollipop Chainsaw. The following may contain story spoilers.
There's an idea on the Internet called Poe's Law. Basically, it states that if a satirical piece is indistinguishable from the subject it is trying to mock, then it's a failure. It was designed to relate to extremist ideologies like those of the Westboro Baptist Church, but the idea can be extrapolated to just about any attempt at satire. And in the case of Lollipop Chainsaw, it's absolutely applicable.

On its face, Lollipop Chainsaw has all the makings of a solid parody title. First off, it's a Suda51 joint, meaning it has a certain lighthearted over-the-top attitude that lends itself well to parody. It was also penned by James Gunn, who has made his career mocking movie tropes with films like Dawn of the Dead, Super, and the vastly underrated Slither. These are guys experienced in making weird, hilarious stuff.

The game itself obviously doesn't take itself seriously. Just take a look at the cover: a scantily clad young woman carrying around a chainsaw while the head of her boyfriend hangs off her belt. It's an undeniably silly image, and one that seems to be making fun of the roles women traditionally inhabit in games. Here's a clearly over-sexualized young woman, carrying a massive chainsaw, and essentially dehumanizing her male counterpart.

But it never quite makes the turn that satire must make to work. In a gaming landscape that involves a whole lot of problematic images of women, pointing out the absurdity of these portrayals could have been something incredibly valuable. Instead, we get the same old tired jokes about sexuality that we've been hearing for years and years.

#lollipopchainsaw "You need to start taking better care of yourself. You need all the help you can get. Men don't go for women like you." More »

You read our review. We read your comments. Let's discuss!

Should you take zombie slasher, Lollipop Chainsaw, to prom?

#bestofmetacritic Welcome to "Backhanded Box Quotes," a collection of super pissed-off user reviews from people just like you! Whoa, whoa, don't take that personal. More »

Maybe you felt like you didn't get all of Tina Amini's thoughts in her excellent review of Lollipop Chainsaw. Well, now you can catch her discussing Grasshopper Manufacture's latest cheerleading zombie apocalypse release on the Revision3 webshow right here. Tina knows her Suda51 so you should watch. More »

We talk about the dirty, funny, disappointing action game from Grasshopper Manufacture.

It's not clear how pigtails aid in zombie fighting, but it is clear Grasshopper Manufacture had a hand in this.

Wrangle the undead and aim for the head in Lollipop Chainsaw.

Suda51's newest game stars a zombie hunting cheerleader wearing her boyfriend's head like a fanny pack. See the nuttiness in action.

We tear through zombies, swinging around a stripper pole and shooting three-pointers, in Lollipop Chainsaw.

Reviews of mediocre games are generally the hardest to write. While it's as effortless to dole out shining praise as it is to spew acrid condemnation, elucidating the merits of something that is neither great nor awful is considerably more difficult. Normally, that would be the case for Lollipop Chainsaw, which neither truly excels or completely fails in any particular area.

As I said, that would be the case - if only developer Grasshopper Manufacture hadn't already delivered excellent examples in the character action genre, giving us the perfect lens with which to suss out Lollipop Chainsaw's faults.

Lollipop Chainsaw is out right now, but it wouldn't be complete without some aural stimulation: The Lollipop Chainsaw soundtrack, featuring tunes from Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill), is available today as well. The soundtrack includes collaborations between Mindless Self Indulgence's Jimmy Urine and Yamaoka, and a few licensed tracks from Five Finger Death Punch, The Chordettes and others.

Check out the album's full track list, launched in North America by WaterTower Records, right here:

#review You could pick Suda51's work—like Killer7 or the more recent No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned—out of a line-up. The art style is cartoonish, as are the characters. Memorable protagonists like the vulgar-mouthed tough guy Garcia "*crag*ing" Hotspur or the lascivious Travis Touchdown turned juvenile humor into compelling, tongue-in-cheek delight. And the combat in said games was always fun. More »

Juliet's pissed because the zombies decided to attack on her birthday in

Juliet uses her chainsaw to make zombies burst into showers of blood and... sparkles?!

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, everything that's wonderful is what I feel when I'm chainsawing a zombie into bite-sized chunks.

#lollipopchainsaw After spending months parading about multiple live-action versions of Lollipop Chainsaw heroine Juliet, the game's marketeers dress up four models in cheerleader outfits and bad zombie makeup and have them pile on each other. I can't believe it took this long. More »

#onechanbara Zombies. They are everywhere, and Japanese games are no exception. However, while in the West a shotgun blast to the head seems to be the most efficient way of killing them, the Japanese have instead found the "natural enemy" of the walking dead: schoolgirls. More »

#lollipopchainsaw Lollipop Chainsaw has two image characters: Jessica Nigri for the West and Mayu Kawamoto for Japan. Kawamoto is a black belt in karate, but Nigri has, I guess, a black belt in revealing cosplay. More »

#lollipopchainsaw In fact, said special edition doesn't actually exist, but if it did the ESRB rating would be through the roof. More »