Platinum Games says Bayonetta on PS3 is their biggest failure


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.

Bayonetta Saved Anarchy Reigns? SEGA Comments!

Following SEGA West’s announcements, many SEGA fans were immediately left wondering what the new direction means for lesser known and new IPs like Rhythm Thief and Anarchy Reigns. While we don’t know the status of the former, we can comment on the latter. Gaming news site GamingBiz.com reached out to SEGA over the weekend asking what the status is of Anarchy Reigns and SEGA responded:

Anarchy Reigns may appear to be a new IP, but it is actually building on the characters featured in 2009’s MadWorld. In anticipation of the July release, which is still scheduled, expect a series of trailers reminding fans of the MadWorld connection. Also, we know it’s no secret that Bayonetta has been revealed as a bonus character. Given Bayonetta’s popularity, we believe that giving her representation in marketing and on the revised boxart will increase awareness of Anarchy Reigns.

A new title and revised boxart? That’s quite a big change for the game, but it makes sense. SEGA wants to focus on popular established IPs, so putting more emphasis on the game’s MadWorld and Bayonetta connections is a very smart move. This also appears to mean that Bayonetta will not be a DLC character, but rather a guest character much like how Banjo-Kazooie were called out on All-Stars Racing box art. Read the full article at GamingBiz.com and don’t trust everything you read on a day like today, even if it doesn’t sound so crazy.

SEGA Tunes: Bayonetta’s Fly Me to the Moon

Bayonetta had a great soundtrack, but it’s clear the game’s director had an obsession with one, All-American classic: Fly Me to the Moon, one of my favorite songs from the great American songbook. Originally written by Bart Howard in 1954, it’s been performed by all the greats, including Frank Sinatra.

Perhaps the most notable part about this song’s inclusion in Bayonetta is the fact that it was integrated so deeply into the game. It wasn’t just a once used track, or something used in the end credits, but a song heard constantly throughout the game. Bayonetta herself even whispered the song in a scene.

This version, performed by Belgian singer Helena Noguerra, gives this age old classic a nice little SEGA twist. The background music sounds like something that would be perfectly at home in a multitude of SEGA arcade titles. All that said, I must admit I do prefer the version in the end credits, a 1963 by Brenda Lee. That will be getting its own Tuesday Tunes one day.

Below is my favorite version of this song, sung by Frank Sinatra

Bayonetta to appear in Anarchy Reigns

Need a bigger incentive to buy the upcoming Anarchy Reigns? How about everyone’s favorite witch, Bayonetta! Currently, Bayonetta will be available as a playable character through pre-order in Japan. It’s unknown if that same option will be available here in the states, but I doubt Sega would let this pass by.

Anarchy Reigns will be available in July.

Update: Added a scan, thanks Pao!

Kamiya talks Bayonetta spin-off starring Jeanne


Platinum Games has released their 8th director commentary video. Basically Kamiya plays through the game, while he talks about various things. In this video he mentions wanting to make a Bayonetta spin-off starring Jeanne.

“I’m sure those of you who’ve unlocked the special features know about Cutie J. She’s Jeanne as a heroine, who would star in a spin-off game I like to fantasize about.” – Hideki Kamiya, Bayonetta Director

Another idea he spits out in the videos is a prequel to the game, one that would take place before the war between the witches and the sages with a younger Balder. Its too bad that none of these ideas are actually games in development. Shame.

[Source: Siliconera]

Japan can buy Bayonetta replica glasses now

The company that is doing the official replica glasses for Bayonetta can’t keep them in stock, they should be having a new shipment in tomorrow. But that is not stopping them from adding a new product to the line…

Up for pre-order (if you live in lovely Japan) is a replica of Jeanne’s glasses. Jeanne’s glasses are aviliable for pre-order for the price of 26,250 yen (about $320.53). If you think that is pricey, the Bayonetta version runs you back 31,500 yen (about $384.64).

[Source: Product Page]

Why SEGA should stick with PlatinumGames

The closure of Clover Studio several years back was a sad day for the gaming industry, not only because they had just developed a multiple Game of the Year award winner (the beautiful Okami) but also because it was such a shame to see the developer of some of Capcom’s most interesting and innovative content getting the axe. It was a dose of reality: a reminder that originality and innovation doesn’t always pay off (and SEGA knows that probably better than anybody) in an industry that’s rapidly becoming more and more hit-driven and sequel-based.

The good news came shortly after, when it was revealed that the heads of Clover Studios had no intention of folding back inside Capcom. Instead, key developers Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya, and co. formed what would eventually become PlatinumGames, taking many former Clover Studios developers with them. In a move of pure brilliance, SEGA picked up the partnership, what turned out to be an incredible fit.

Ninja Gaiden III producer calls Bayonetta outdated


Bayonetta was awesome, developer Platinum Games wanted to set a new bar for action games and I think they set it high. What does producer Yosuke Hayashi think?

“Bayonetta has some good stuff but Bayonetta is old, game design wise, already.”

For Ninja Gaiden 2 fans, he says that the game was also outdated. Is he correct? A bit. Hey Yosuke Hayashi, you know who used to talk crap about the competition? The old head of Team Ninja, Tomonobu Itagaki. Have to say, it’s a pretty outdated tactic.

[Source:Play-Mag via SEGAShiro]

Bayonetta and Aliens vs. Predators finally hitting Games on Demand

SEGA has been hinting at something like this happening for awhile, but now its official, at least on Xbox 360. You can download Aliens vs. Predators on demand right now, but you will have to wait till February 22nd to get Bayonetta.

According to Microsoft’s website, Aliens vs. Predator costs $29.99 and I assume the price will be the same for Bayonetta. AVP weighs in at a 6.12GB.

Destructoid talks females in games, has Bayonetta as guest


Constructoid is a show that discusses the ‘issues’ in video games. This one features Princess Peach and Bayonetta as examples of bad stereotypes in games.

The video basically shows everything that’s negative about Bayonetta, yet doesn’t take the time to shed light on what’s positive about her character. Is she ‘sexy’? Yes. Is she a whore? No. You would have to have sexual intercourse to do this or even ‘touch’ someone sexually. Bayonetta didn’t do this. But she did have character, especially her relationship with Jeanne. Also I don’t see Bayonetta, a character who isn’t ashamed of herself and who defends herself, as a negative for the feminist movement. (I talk more about this here).

I think that people, especially men, overthink this ‘sexual’ issue with women in video games. Why is it always men that whine about it? Girl gamers don’t seem to mind it, seeing as how Bayonetta is being cosplayed so often.

SEGA comes 9th in Metacritic 2010 Game Publisher Rankings


SEGA came in 9th place for the 2010 publisher rankings over at Metacritic. They take the publishers’ MetaScore for their 2011 line up and place them in order. SEGA averaged 67.4%, with their best rated title being Bayonetta (90%) and their worst being Iron Man 2 (41%).

SEGA delivered some really great software. Some of our favorite titles included After Burner Climax, Phantasy Star Portable 2, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Sonic Colors and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. So for SEGA fans, it was a pretty good year. Next time SEGA should trim the crap, leave the good stuff.

Check out the full list here.

Inaba: Platinum Games would like the “challenge” of making a sequel

As a developer, Platinum Games has, from the start, focused on creating new IP. That’s not to say that doing a sequel down the road isn’t ever going to happen, Platinum Games founder Atsushi Inaba told Famitsu this week.

” It’s not that we don’t want to make sequels. We’re strongly attached to the things that we created ourselves, after all,” Inaba explained.  “If asked ‘which,’ we tend to take up original productions, but we’d also like to challenge making the kind of sequel that expands the worlds.”

Though some may have been disappointed that Anarchy Reigns wasn’t actually Bayonetta 2, (not me, though,) it seems that people looking forward to a sequel to one of their favorite Platinum Games titles shouldn’t give up hope entirely.

[Source: Andriasang]