Conan O’Brien went to this year’s E3 to check out the console war, what he didn’t expect was that there would be gorgeous women there. This eventually lead him to fall in love with Bayonetta, who he calls Sarah Palin from the future.
Seems this is the closest thing we will be getting to Conan actually having a SEGA published game on his show. Sad. Would have been pretty cool if he played Sonic Lost World.
This week on the Swingin’ Report Show we have a sort of crossover, Nuckles87 and Shigs from our other podcast; Sonic Talk join in to talk about their experience at E3. We talk about all the SEGA games, new consoles and our favorite games at E3 2013. Listen in and tell us what you think.
This year’s E3 is now behind us and all the talk about what games people liked is continuing. So it is only fair for us here at SEGAbits to have a Round Table telling you which games we are looking forward to getting our hands on! After the break, find out what our writers liked most from SEGA, as well as their favorite non-SEGA E3 titles.
Last generation might not have been the best time for SEGA fans, the start of 2006 was pretty rocky with SEGA totally ruining the image of Sonic the Hedgehog and releasing a slew of blunders through out the generation. That doesn’t mean that beneath the piles of garbage there wasn’t some great IPs, right? This list will consist of five last generation SEGA IPs (this means that they debuted, brand new on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and/or Wii) that I want to return on next generation consoles (be it Wii U, Xbox One or Playstation 4).
I will confess, SEGA’s line up does not exactly blow me away this year. I am out of my depth when it comes to PC strategy games and as much as I love Sonic, I need more to sate my SEGA hunger. After experiencing other E3 lineups that had the likes of Vanquish, Shinobi, Anarchy Reigns, Yakuza, and House of the Dead Overkill: Director’s Cut, the line up at the SEGA booth this year feels sparse and not quite as exciting.
Thank God for Bayonetta.
Platinum Games is really trying to step up their game for the upcoming sequel to their best selling title. This time around they announced that Bayonetta 2 will have a 2-player mode when it comes out next year.
They said that even though Bayonetta 2 is built around a single-player experience, that they included a 2-player mode with new combat features for mid-air battles. Details aren’t all there yet.
Bayonetta 2 will also feature touch controls via the Wii U gamepad and stylus. Nintendo says this is designed for newcomers to the franchise and is obviously optional. The touch controls are actually playable at the E3 show floor, so expect us to have hands-on previews shortly!
Nintendo’s press site just released a load of new screens from Bayonetta 2. Like the recent Sonic screens, a majority comes from what we’ve already seen in video form. However, the screens are big and crisp and full of details that fans are sure to pour over for the coming months. Bayonetta 2 is due out sometime in 2014.
After the break, more screens than you can shake a broomstick at. Due to the file type, the usual gallery mode was not working. So I’ve simply posted all the screens full size. Those with slow internet beware.
The latest Nintendo Direct has finished, and the biggest reveal (outside the usual Nintendo properties) was a new trailer and gameplay video of Bayonetta 2 from Platinum Games. Despite SEGA having limited involvement in the sequel, as far as we know they are only involved as the IP holders, this was too cool not to share. Bayonetta 2 is set for a 2014 release. Also on show during the event was Sonic Lost World for Wii U and 3DS, though little new was seen. Another Super Smash Bros. was shown off, but Sonic was nowhere to be found. Another certain blue mascot did appear, however.
After the break, check out 30 images from the stream as well as the full stream itself! Bayonetta 2 appears at the 29 minute mark.
New teaser footage of Bayonetta 2 was showcased in the latest Nintendo Direct, the first we’ve seen of the title since its surprise announcement this past Fall. For those not familiar with Nintendo’s fan addresses, these are 20-30 minute videos Nintendo releases to communicate directly with their fans and to showcase their upcoming lineup.
The new footage shown is a mostly behind-the-scenes affair, though we also get small glimpses of concept art, locations, and enemies, as well as a taste of how Platinum Games intends to up the ante this time around.
Bayonetta 2, Platinum Games’ first ever sequel (unless you count Anarchy Reigns, which you shouldn’t) is an IP evidently still owned by SEGA, though with Nintendo now publishing. It has not yet been given a release date. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata promises two Iwata Asks features with Platinum Games in the near future; one to discuss Bayonetta 2, the other to talk about their awesome-looking new IP, The Wonderful 101.
Nintendo streamed another Nintendo Direct today, and briefly touched on Bayonetta 2 for the Wii U. While not much of the game was shown off in a finished state, a lot of behind the scenes footage was shown including wireframe models, concept art and a peek at Bayonetta in a new outfit and sporting blue guns. It was also mentioned that the game will kick off with a scenario that gives the feeling of fighting the final boss of a game. Unfortunately, SEGA did not get a mention, aside from a logo at the end of the trailer, which personally made me a bit sad. Bayonetta 2 might very well be an awesome title, but it is looking to be much more of a Nintendo/Platinum Games effort with SEGA only attached by way of owning the IP.
The Bayonetta 2 segment begins at 19:25 in the video above.
Today, Platinum Games showed off their 2013 line up in a trailer also highlighting their best games of the past. Yea, yea. Only a few of these games are Sega related and even then, published by Nintendo, but I’ve loved Platinum Games ever since their move to Sega. Even if they seem to be moving away from them now. Just look at all that onscreen action! If you are a fan of high intensity action games, pick up Vanquish, pick up Bayonetta and by all means, pick up Anarchy Reigns which is out today for $29.99! Sega affiliated or no, Platinum games is awesome!
If you didn’t notice, there has been quite the outcry online due to Bayonetta 2 being released exclusively for the Wii U. Here is a comedic clip from the boys at MEGA 64 which actually reads like some forum posts I have read online. Well, if Bayonetta 2 comes out on the Wii U, i’ll close down this site and never write about SEGA again.
Actually, I take that back.
Platinum Games developed an instant classic on the Xbox 360, one which received great reviews. The Playstation 3 version on the other hand wasn’t received so kindly. According to Atsushi Inaba, that port was their biggest failure. Not bad, considering that they didn’t develop the port and it was done by an in-house team over at SEGA.
“The biggest failure for Platinum so far, the one that really sticks in my mind, is that port. At the time we didn’t really know how to develop on PS3 all that well, and whether we could have done it… is irrelevant: we made the decision that we couldn’t. But looking back on the result, and especially what ended up being released to users, I regard that as our biggest failure. One thing I will say is that it wasn’t a failure for nothing. We learned that we needed to take responsibility for everything. So on Vanquish we developed both versions in-house. We learned, so it wasn’t a pointless failure, but it was a failure nonetheless.” – Atsushi Inaba
Sadly the team isn’t going to try again on Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360 for that matter, since Bayonetta 2 was announced as a Wii U exclusive.
Much hullabaloo has been made about Bayonetta 2 being a Wii U exclusive. Comments have ranged from fans cheering that the game is getting a sequel months after rumors circulated that the game had been canceled, to disinterest or disappointment from fans who don’t want to buy another platform for just one game they really wanted, to finally and most famously, immature and over the top Twitter rage from fans screaming of betrayal and thievery.
Well as it turns out, Platinum Games did not “betray” anyone, nor did Nintendo steal the game from other platforms. In an interview with video game website Polygon, Platinum Games executive director Atsushi Inaba explained in no uncertain terms how critical Nintendo’s involvement was to Bayonetta 2’s existence.
“Would Bayonetta 2 not exist without Nintendo? The answer is yes.”
In the interview, Inaba goes on to say that the game’s core game play won’t be affected by the move from Xbox 360 and PS3 to Wii U, “We create the basic framework of our games on the PC, so even though the hardware changes it doesn’t influence the creation of our games. We’ve already developed our own engine to work with multiple platforms.” In the interview, Inaba goes on to discuss the Wii U platform and SEGA’s handling of Anarchy Reigns, among other things. Click the source below to read all about it.
Update: Nintendo producers are also involved with Bayonetta 2’s production, as revealed by Hideki Kamiya on Twitter.
Nintendo (not SEGA) will be publishing Bayonetta 2, which was just announced exclusively for the Wii U. This time it appears that Kamiya will not be in the director’s chair, presumably because he’s been busy with Platinum’s other Wii U exclusive, P-100, which has now been named The Wonderful 101.
No other details were given at Nintendo’s conference this morning aside from a small teaser with no gameplay footage, but more will be sure to come.
Update: SEGA has just spoken out about this announcement on Twitter, replying that they will be working with both Nintendo and Platinum Games as an “advisor” to the project. In light of this, I’m re-branding this post as SEGA news, as it looks like SEGA is still involved in some capacity.
That said, it’s fairly clear that Bayonetta 2 is really Platinum and Nintendo’s show. This more than anything seems to signal the end of SEGA and Platinum Games’ partnership.
What do you think about SEGA letting one of their most iconic characters and franchises of this console generation slip away? Or are you just too excited about Bayonetta 2 to care? Hopefully the latter, we need games like this to sell.
Update 2: Post updated with trailer.