SEGA rips our hearts out: Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U exclusive

[MadeManG74]

What annoys me about the decision is that unlike something like JSR moving to Xbox for JSRF, which was a step up in terms of graphical power, this feels like a lateral move. Not to mention the Dreamcast was dying, whereas with this the existing consoles are alive and well.  The only real thing Wii U has going for it is the control scheme, and thats the last thing I want implemented into a Bayonetta 2. I'm sure they'll work in a map or use it for the QTEs, but nothing that is going justify the exclusivity.

I agree it's definitely not the console I wanted the game for, just because the controller looks like it won't be suited for it.

I'm sure the reason was that Nintendo made some great offer with either support (less licensing fee) or a lump cash amount to secure exclusivity on this title, I can't see any other reason that it wouldn't be a multi-platform release.

I'm kind of interested in that Wonderful 101 game as well, so there's 2 games I could play on Wii-U.

[Barry the Nomad]

Who knows, by the time the game actually releases (which could very well be a year from now if not longer) the Wii U might have more worthwhile exclusives to justify a purchase.

If Wii U got an exclusive Sonic title that was at Sonic Colors levels of quality, and if Kingdom Hearts 3 emerged as an exclusive (which seems likely after Dream Drop Distance, Recoded and 358/2 Days), and if a 3D Mario game released that was a true HD epic, then that would be enough for me to get a Wii U. Another plus would be if the Wii U actually improved the visuals of Wii titles some.

Though, as somebody who has yet to get a PS3, I'd feel like a butthole for getting a Wii U to play this when I've yet to get a PS3 to play the HD Yakuza titles. To be honest, Yakuza 3,4,5 and Dead Souls sounds far more tempting than Wii U + Bayo 2. Plus PS3 has 6+ years of games to discover.

Argh! Why can't SEGA have a console so we don't get stuck in these situations!?

[nuckles87]

Great, but we still have no idea what the fiscal relationship between Sega and Pg was.  Also things have changed drastically since this interview.  The past year has not been kind to Sega and Platinum Games is now developing for other companies.  What I'm getting at is Bayonetta 2's cancellation is not far fetched.   

Exactly. We KNOW SEGA canceled many titles during their restructuring. We know that people within SEGA and PG wanted to turn Bayonetta into a franchise. And it seems pretty clear that Platinum Games' relationship with SEGA isn't what it used to be. There have been rumors that Bayonetta was in development, then canceled. A proffesional cover artist had been contracted to do a Bayonetta cover for a console that wasn't Wii U.

I don't see how cancellation isn't just as likely. If Nintendo was willing to pay money for exclusivity, why Bayonetta? Why not Yakuza? Why not Sonic? Why not Aliens? Heck, why would Nintendo even go to SEGA to begin with when they could probably ink a deal for a much bigger title somewhere else?

I don't know. Nintendo inking an exclusivity deal with a game that met with moderate success just seems...weird to me, when they'd be better off paying more money for heavier hitters.

Anyway, in time we may very well know for sure, provided some scant details from this report pan out:

http://spong.com/article/26926/Rumour-Bayonetta-2-Has-Been-Cancelled

Given that the reporter is my TSS boss, I feel inclined to believe him. He doesn't BS.

[Radrappy]

What annoys me about the decision is that unlike something like JSR moving to Xbox for JSRF, which was a step up in terms of graphical power, this feels like a lateral move. Not to mention the Dreamcast was dying, whereas with this the existing consoles are alive and well.  The only real thing Wii U has going for it is the control scheme, and thats the last thing I want implemented into a Bayonetta 2. I'm sure they'll work in a map or use it for the QTEs, but nothing that is going justify the exclusivity.

This is a crock of crap.  The xbox was about as much as a jump from the DC as the wiiu is supposedly to the current systems.  You're just mad because you don't want to shell out for a wiiu.  When kids were complaining that Sonic 4-2 wasn't coming to wii even though the first installment was on the wii, almost every forum member here essentially told them to suck it.  Enjoy your karmic punishment!

[Pao]

I don't see how cancellation isn't just as likely. If Nintendo was willing to pay money for exclusivity, why Bayonetta? Why not Yakuza? Why not Sonic? Why not Aliens? Heck, why would Nintendo even go to SEGA to begin with when they could probably ink a deal for a much bigger title somewhere else?

I don't know. Nintendo inking an exclusivity deal with a game that met with moderate success just seems...weird to me, when they'd be better off paying more money for heavier hitters.

Uhh, you know this applies to the situation where Bayonetta was cancelled right?
"Why would Nintendo salvage that game?! Why not game *X* and game *Y* which are more popular?"

In both cases, its clear that Nintendo has interest in this game.
I'm sure the good word of mouth that the first game brought helped it reach to a lot more than the official sales numbers (1.35 million)... I mean, the game was trending on Twitter, worldwide... for almost half a day...

Despite everyone taking them as truth, everything regarding the cancellation are just rumors with no real confirmation behind them... Your boss at TSS might not BS... but his source might... it happens.

[Ben]

Also here is the interview where Hayes went and said he wanted to make Bayonetta into a series

Yeah...except the sequel was never announced and he was recently let go.


It's pretty obvious that Sega of Japan didn't exactly see eye to eye with him on the future of the Bayonetta series...or, evidently, the results he's been getting as of late.

To people saying that Nintendo snatched the game away from the 360 and PS3...really? How much money would that have had to take, to convince Sega to not only surrender ownership to their game, but to remove 2 platforms from the equation?

More likely, Sega cancelled the game and auctioned it off. Nintendo was interested.

Nobody posted the trailer yet?

lol...trailer's been on the Segabits front page since this morning. 

[Pao]

To people saying that Nintendo snatched the game away from the 360 and PS3...really? How much money would that have had to take, to convince Sega to not only surrender ownership to their game, but to remove 2 platforms from the equation?

More likely, Sega cancelled the game and auctioned it off. Nintendo was interested.

If they were going to publish the game, and help fund it, then I can imagine Nintendo not paying extravagant amounts of money to "remove 2 platforms from the equation".

Why the hell would SEGA cancel and auction off one of their most successful new IPs in the last few years? Do you realize what you're saying? I can understand some NeoGAF folks who think Sega is on the edge of bankruptcy can say that, but us on Segabits should know better.

The cancellation rumors makes no sense, and its far more likely that Nintendo payed for the exclusivity.
I don't see why Nintendo fans act all offended if someone suggested that, do you think Nintendo is such a pure and holy company that would never "moneyhat" for exclusive games? "Its Microsoft's game" Please...

[Radrappy]

If they were going to publish the game, and help fund it, then I can imagine Nintendo not paying extravagant amounts of money to "remove 2 platforms from the equation".

Why the hell would SEGA cancel and auction off one of their most successful new IPs in the last few years? Do you realize what you're saying? I can understand some NeoGAF folks who think Sega is on the edge of bankruptcy can say that, but us on Segabits should know better.

The cancellation rumors makes no sense, and its far more likely that Nintendo payed for the exclusivity.
I don't see why Nintendo fans act all offended if someone suggested that, do you think Nintendo is such a pure and holy company that would never "moneyhat" for exclusive games? "Its Microsoft's game" Please...

Shrug.  The truth is probably somewhere in between.  Was the game cancelled/considered for cancellation?  Maybe.  Was Nintendo at the right place at the right time to acquire it?  Probably!  Did they pay?  Definitely!.  Did they outbid two companies with relatively endless wallets? Doubtful. 

[MadeManG74]

lol...trailer's been on the Segabits front page since this morning. 

I never visit the front page.

Also, seeing as this thread is turning into a discussion about snatching exclusives and how much nobody wants to buy a Wii -U (me included), can we start another thread to actually discuss the game?

[Shigs]

I love how everyone is upset that a game that was CANCELLED and is then brought back to life by Nintendo is some horrible outrage. Would you rather it die than not get it at all? Every indication said this was not gonna be made. Nintendo wants more hardcore titles on their system, so they picked up a dead game. Is that wrong?

Sure, shame on Sega for not giving enough faith to Bayonetta to put out a sequel on current gen consoles, but nothing but praise to Nintendo for bringing it back to life. Better WiiU than nothing I say.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llk5Pq6aNUI&feature[/youtube]

[Ben]

I never visit the front page.

Why don't you visit the front page?

Why the hell would SEGA cancel and auction off one of their most successful new IPs in the last few years? Do you realize what you're saying? I can understand some NeoGAF folks who think Sega is on the edge of bankruptcy can say that, but us on Segabits should know better.

Dude, I've got news for you; Sega's future retail plans were GUTTED. They have laid out their plans for their future retail games and they have clearly and succinctly stated that, going forward, they will be Sonic, Total War, Yakuza, Football Manager, and Aliens. That's it. The money that they would traditionally spend on a wide variety of retail software will be poured specifically into these IP. That's just the way it is, it's not even a rumor, it came right from Sega.

Bayonetta 2, needless to say, does not fit into those 5 categories.

Sega had shown no interest in continuing their partnership with Platinum Games, (and their partnership had ended even before the most recent re-structuring) so how would Sega be releasing Bayonetta 2, exactly, if it is not Sonic, Total War, Yakuza, Football Manager, and Aliens, and if they are no longer continuing their partnership with Platinum Games?

Can anyone name a time in history when a multiplatform release's other systems were cancelled in mid-development and made an exclusive? It doesn't happen very often, because such a move would be ridiculously expensive for any company.

Nintendo has money but they're not Microsoft...


From back in March:

SEGA has revealed it's plans to slim down its Western operations and cancel some games to combat an operating loss in the current financial year.

The publisher hasn't stated which games will be cancelled but did reveal its desire to focus on strong-selling IPs such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Football Manager, Total War and Aliens. From our list of SEGA games coming soon most titles on the way to Nintendo are either completed or retro re-releases, so hopefully we shouldn't miss out on too many titles we already know about.

The statement cites the "severe economic environment" in the West and "rapid change in market" as two principal reasons behind the loss.

SEGA will also downsize operations in its North America and Europe video game divisions, likely resulting in redundancies over the coming months.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/03/sega_to_cancel_games_focus_on_existing_ip


And:

"Basically for us it's putting a lot of focus into those studios and into their IPs. So Total War coming out of Creative Assembly, Football Manager coming out of Sports Interactive, so we want to diversify, so we want to have an increased focus on those brands. And we want to become better and more successful with those."

And how does that affect new IP outside of those current brands?

"At the moment for us those are the four IPs we are talking about, they are our AAA IP. At the moment we are looking into options of course, but it's not like we are already developing some other titles in addition to that, no," said Post.
 
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-06-28-sega-closing-european-offices
"It's a focus on those four core IP, and in addition to that we'll have digital. And digital still means 50 - 75 releases every year, so that's still a big number."
 

I know these quotes are mainly focusing on Sega's Western operations but Sega of Japan is too slimming down their retail business, focusing mainly on handhelds and Free to Play games. Hell, they basically named Nagoshi's team "Yakuza Studios."

[Centrale]

Okay, I'm sick of reading so many people making the same mistake in thinking that Sega has announced they are only supporting Sonic, Football Manager, Total War, and Aliens going forward.  The press release says they will be focusing on titles SUCH AS those four.  As in, FOR EXAMPLE.  Not to the exclusion of all others.  Get it together people! 

Furthermore, Sega is a business.  Platinum Games is a business.  Will you all please stop personifying them with some weird soap opera romanticism?  Sega found a way to get some other company to risk the money in this case, and make money off the deal.  I don't know about you but I see Sega's logo right there alongside Platinum's and Nintendo's.

[nuckles87]

Uhh, you know this applies to the situation where Bayonetta was cancelled right?
"Why would Nintendo salvage that game?! Why not game *X* and game *Y* which are more popular?"

In both cases, its clear that Nintendo has interest in this game.
I'm sure the good word of mouth that the first game brought helped it reach to a lot more than the official sales numbers (1.35 million)... I mean, the game was trending on Twitter, worldwide... for almost half a day...

Despite everyone taking them as truth, everything regarding the cancellation are just rumors with no real confirmation behind them... Your boss at TSS might not BS... but his source might... it happens.

How many sequels to popular triple A games were being quietly canceled last year? Very few I'd wager, because these sequels almost always get finished. It's not quite the same thing.

[Ben]

Okay, I'm sick of reading so many people making the same mistake in thinking that Sega has announced they are only supporting Sonic, Football Manager, Total War, and Aliens going forward.  The press release says they will be focusing on titles SUCH AS those four.  As in, FOR EXAMPLE.  Not to the exclusion of all others.  Get it together people! 

Then where are the others?

Usually companies don't let KEY IP go to other publishers. This is not the same thing as letting Nintendo distribute Rhythm Thief in Europe, this is an outright relinquishing of rights to their game. Kellie from Sega's response when questioned about Bayonetta 2 was "We have nothing else to say on the game, we are not its publisher."

Furthermore, Sega is a business.  Platinum Games is a business.  Will you all please stop personifying them with some weird soap opera romanticism?  Sega found a way to get some other company to risk the money in this case, and make money off the deal.  I don't know about you but I see Sega's logo right there alongside Platinum's and Nintendo's.

And Sega has confirmed that they are neither publishing nor developing Bayonetta 2....usually a publishing partnership doesn't mean you suddenly lose all input on your game. Sega are "advisors" but otherwise they have no input on Bayonetta 2.

[Chaosmaster8753]

Here are statements from the Platinum president, the game's director, and Kamiya himself:

http://platinumgames.com/2012/09/14/bayonetta-2-joins-the-wonderful-101-on-wii-u/

On September 13, 2012 Bayonetta 2 was announced as an exclusive title under development for the Wii U during the Nintendo Direction presentation held on the same day.
As game developers, we are incredibly excited to be able to announce a new title to all of our fans; however, we are aware that the announcement may have come as a shock to many of you.
As with Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 is under development and production here at PlatinumGames, and is a true sequel to the acclaimed first game in the series. Bayonetta is one of our most beloved titles, and it played a large part in establishing PlatinumGames as an emerging game studio in the minds of users worldwide. Bayonetta has fans the world over, and we would never dream of alienating them from participating in the future of PlatinumGames.
That being said, the console games market is in a state of upheaval, so establishing a new game franchise requires a considerable amount of will, determination, and love. Bayonetta is a brand that we want to see become stronger, reaching the hands of more and more gamers, so we have continued to consult with SEGA, the previous game’s publisher, on how we can make sure this takes place. Our answer was a new partnership with Nintendo.
Along with their new hardware, Nintendo, as a company, is dedicated to establishing a new future for the games industry, as you can tell by their record of passionate support for gaming. Alongside Nintendo, we hope to grow the Bayonetta brand beyond where it stands today, allowing even more gamers around the world to experience the action of our beloved witch. As developers, we are working hard to make this a reality.
We hope that you will look forward to what we have in store.

I’m Yusuke Hashimoto, director of Bayonetta 2. It has been three years since Bayonetta, a title I was also a part of… I’m incredibly happy to be able to announce that we are working on a sequel. Alongside Bayonetta’s creator, Hideki Kamiya, I’m working on everything from creating a compelling world to character designs (I will be designing the enemies again), and everyone on our talented team is united around the core of Bayonetta, Climax Action, in an effort push the series forward. For empowering our heroine with incredible new action to introducing new characters (which you may have noticed in the teaser trailer), Bayonetta will further expand on the mythology of the Trinity of Realities – Inferno, Paradiso, and our human world. I can’t wait to take the journey with you.

After Bayonetta was released, I was coming back on the bullet train with Yusuke Hashimoto, pondering various ideas for sequels or spin-offs to Bayonetta over a beer. I never thought we’d actually get to announce a sequel to her story, so I am absolutely over the moon.
Even though there has been a bit of a gap since the release of the last game, but I still got lots of request for a sequel from gamers. We were secretly making one the entire time. While I am not the director of this game, I am still supervising the world, story, characters, etc. in close coordination with Hashimoto, and I have been from the very beginning. You have nothing to work about on that end. And of course, plenty of members from the first Bayonetta are on-board and working hard under the direction of Hashimoto, so I look forward to work every day, coming in and seeing all the progress they have made on the game. With new hardware, we look forward to expanding on the Climax Action of Bayonetta, so sit tight and get ready!