As most of you know, while Bayonetta is currently available in Japan, it won't be on US store shelves until January 5. But perhaps this delay will prove beneficial for PlayStation 3 owners…
The debate concerning this hotly anticipated action title revolves around the fact that developer Platinum Games first designed the game for the Xbox 360, after which Sega handled the PS3 port. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in a lesser frame rate for the PS3 version, as reflected in some Japanese publications like Famitsu, which awarded the 360 version a perfect 40/40 score and gave the PS3 a version a 38/40. But perhaps these extra few months will give Sega America some time to even things out a bit. A reader has sent us an e-mail from a Sega America representative, who hints that we should maybe look for some improvements in the PS3 version when it arrives in North America. Essentially, the rep says that when the game was pushed back, the producers asked them "to spend more time on making sure the frame rate would be as comparable to that of the Xbox 360 as possible given the amount of time, budget, and testing available." Now, he does admit that the 360 version still has the better frame rate but the difference isn't quite so pronounced, and other aspects of the game are basically identical.
Therefore, it's going to be interesting to see if PS3 owners get a better Bayonetta than our gamer friends in Japan. It also helps that GameStop and Amazon have lower-than-normal price tags for the PS3 version; it's down to $54.99, perhaps as a result of it being a port. But if the frame rate ends up being very, very similar, that $5 savings might be worth it…
Related Game(s): Bayonetta