Ben-DutkaSadly, some games that can be considered creative triumphs simply don't fare well on the sales charts.
God Hand , the cult classic from 2006 that received decent review scores and really resonated with a certain group of gamers, was one such title. Now, Resident Evil creator and current Platinum Games boss Shinji Mikami explains why his "obscure" title failed when it released: he was actually granted too much in the way of creative freedom. Speaking to Edge magazine , Mikami said that the abundance of freedom to make the game "just as he liked" just didn't translate to financial success. This is one of the reasons why Platinum is now pursuing Vanquish , a slick, sci-fi shooter that Mikami describes as "more mass-market." Said Mikami:
"We're definitely going for something a little more mass-market that will appeal to a wide audience. Certainly a bigger one than God Hand had. We [Platinum and Sega] knew that these were points we had to address from the very beginning, and Vanquish is a result of that."
Platinum's last game was the critically acclaimed Bayonetta , which sold very well and although the ignorant will claim it sold based on the main character's sexuality, the realists know that the combat mechanic in the game was one of the most impressive ever seen. That, and nobody actually spends $60 to watch an ass all day long (at least, we hope nobody does). Anyway, Vanquish is most certainly more appealing to a wide audience when compared to God Hand but the question is, would the hardcore gamers have preferred something more "obscure?"
Related Game(s): Vanquish
I could be wrong, but is that audience the brain-dead Halo audience?
As long as it's a quality game the genre doesn't matter to me. That said stuff like lbp, flower, and Heavy Rain are truly more memorable in the long run.
Sadly that's the audience that make up the bulk of today's gameing culture.
Are you saying a game that sold 3 million isn't remembered (LBP) or a recent game which just sold 1 million-Heavy Rain
Doesn't it ever get tiresome calling people "ignorant"?
Some people ARE ignorant. Ben made a good point about it too; if someone has a narrow-minded view on a subject and then critisize it without bothering to know more about it first (other than the basic), that person is ignorant
Last edited by sonic1899 on 4/6/2010 12:22:54 PM
I'd like to point out that this may be the very first time I ever put that word in an article…and that's not an exaggeration.
Jack, lighten up.
God Hand now that was a fun game, I still have my copy. I hope Vanquish is a good game and does well. After all you need to spend money to make money.
I didn't dig on Bayonetta, I don't mind an action game, GOW 3 being all I need for that fix however.
Yea i didn't like Bayonetta either. It seemed generic and over hyped to me.
I didn't like it that much either.
Last edited by tlpn99 on 4/6/2010 1:25:39 PM
bayonetta was sub-par at best. so many better quality games to spent your 60 bucks on.
It seemed like a cheap attempt at remaking DMC with sex appeal. I'll admit, i only played the demo, but having played it a few times and experiencing all the flaws that came along with it being ported. Platinum wasn't going to get my money.
God of War > all other actions games.
@ jawknee
don't worry you didn't miss much. that game was over hyped. the demo pretty much sums it up
I'm not saying anyone needs to like Bayonetta, but I need to question the anti-Bayonetta attitude some people of this site has.
"Sub-par and generic"
How is it subpar or generic? I've yet to play any other game that let you play as a witch that kills angels (how many games lets you kill angels anyway?), summon boss-sized monsters to kill enemies, slow-down time by dodging, torture your enemies AND the bosses, have bosses as big as a fricken building with an epic chorus in the background (except GOW of course), and have so much sh*t that goes on on-screen. You can even make your own combos; but I wonder how many people knew that. 😛
Bayonetta may have similaries to DMC in terms of control, but the differences far outweigh anything that's similar. And besides, they have the same creator anyway. He can make Bayonetta EXACTLY like DMC, male protagonist and all, if he wanted.
"Sex appeal"
What's wrong with sex appeal? Flaunting your sexuality doesn't make you explotiable. In fact she's hardly explotiable at all with the design she has. There IS nudity in the game, but it only lasts for less than a second. It's not like she's running around butt-naked the entire time. Its interesting to note that the God of War series also has nudity and you even engage in sex with topless women (compared to the harmless half-second nudity in Bayonetta). I've yet to hear anyone complain about that.
"I don't like the style"
Different strokes for different folks. It's okay if you don't like the 'feminine' style. I know it won't appeal to everyone. But honestly how can you say a game that has a large amount of depth sucks just because you don't like the style? Do people only notice the style on anything and overlook everything else? I was too bothered getting into the gameplay to even care if she was nude or not. 😛
I'm guessing this hate is stemmed from the fact the PS3 had a bad port. Like I stated before, Platnium is a new company that didn't have a lot of experience with PS3 hardware. Not only was Bayonetta their first multiplat, it was also their first PS3 game. At least they're the type of company that admitted they made a mistake and tried to make up for it; they improved the game with an install option and made the PS3 as the primary platform for their next title. Give them a break, guys. You can't expect every new company to meet the same criteria older ones have.
Last edited by sonic1899 on 4/6/2010 3:48:22 PM
I'm actually looking forward to seeing more on this game but I hope they don't take away all of his creative freedom.
The more Mikami talks about this game, the more interested i become. As long as it doesn't have an screen tearing, ill keep an open mind.
HA…'Ignorant' is the best world to use for some gamers. Me and my girlfriend talk about ignorant people all the time (this is outside of gaming), its great comedy if you ask me. Without idiots, life would be boring, but less annoying too.
without the idiots blindly supporting it, there wouldnt be a 360, so there wont be any competition in the market. Of course i'm talking about those 360 owners that had their 360 broke more than 2 times and still think its the best system out there.
Well since I've been told a hundred times on here that sales numbers don't mean much, I tend to believe Bayonetta sold based on the main characters sexuality.
So CALL ME IGNORANT.
As for their new game. Let's just say that two epic fails equals not buying their third game.
i agree. no matter how people try to cover it up bayonetta sold cause of its sexual nature. the game wasn't even that good. so call me ignorant also. it's just a pervert version of DMC. they could have had a female character without all the sexual crap.
Ok, then Alienange & cochise313. You're ignorant. I'm guessing the DOA xtreme series and BMX XXX sold millions and won GOTY awards more times than I can count if sex sells as good as you say it does.
Last edited by sonic1899 on 4/6/2010 2:59:14 PM
well, why do you think DOA extreme series would sell for? the girls of DOA playing beach volleyball or whatever. yeah, people bout that for the gameplay. its not about sales numbers at all since it was clear that most people bought that game because of its sexuality. i dont even want to go to bmx xxx at all. If you bought DOA extreme for the gameplay, then you my friend are an idiot in denial.
Let me ask you this, if bayonetta's main character wasnt the sexual "icon" whats her face (yeah, i dont know who she is) and just another guy with weapons. do you think it would sell as much as it did especially when it came out close to dantes inferno and god of war 3?
@ sonic
bayonetta is has decent gameplay but nothing we haven't seen before. if it didn't have the sexual presentation or "artistic" is what you call it; it would have just been another darksiders.
@johnld
Well the sex appeal is the obvious reason why DOAX would sell (there's nothing else redeeming about it), but I've yet to see anything that solely relies on sex appeal manage to sell a million copies. Everything Bayonetta offers outweighs the sex appeal; I'm trying to figure out why some people are stuck on the sex appeal of this particular game and criticize it for it, but when other games display it more graphically, it's not a problem.
Last edited by sonic1899 on 4/6/2010 3:54:31 PM
Bayonetta didn't do anything for me. Shooters aren't my thing.
Company makes bayonetta then makes shooter.
I pass.
hahaha, they lost me at crappy port.
FINALLY, a sci-fi shooter set in space!!
Looks like it will be good regardless of the "mass market" approach.
and whats with all the jaded attitudes?
Something special died with Clover.
Bayonetta's sex appeal probably did have something to do with the purchase of the game. However, like Ben said, most people don't buy games to stare at a characters arse. Game-play, longevity, fun-factor, hype, graphics, storyline, genre, and the featured world design are some of the core reasons people purchase certain games. I'm pretty sure the developers and creators of Bayonetta's character probably designed her with sex appeal in mind in order to draw in the audience for the core game-play and what the game had to offer.
Basically, Bayonetta's sex appeal is like a fishing lure to the consumers and to the gaming audience. It makes sense to me, the same reason you wouldn't approach a girl you're not attracted to and ask her out on a date. This very principle caused Platinum to alter their approach specifically to the character design (first impression) of Bayonetta to make her more appealing to the eyes.
This is just great marketing and a hint of common sense. Why would a market buy crappy-looking-but-possibly-tasty oranges from one supplier when another supplier offers phenomenal-heavenly-looking oranges at the same price of the crappy-looking oranges? Obviously the consumers who purchase from a market would buy the oranges that appear to be more appealing because well, we only know as much as the surface suggests, so we go with our first impressions. Would anybody have liked Heavenly Sword as much if Nariko was heavily overweight? I…think…NOT!
Bayonetta is my favourite action game of all time, I haven't played GOWIII so Bayonetta will be sitting #1 on my list for the moment.
I'm interested in Vanquish, we need more 3rd person shooter.
I still want to play Bayonetta but does the patch fix all the loading times on the PS3 ver. If so I would buy it… But I don't think I would enjoy it as much. For now I just gotta get back to play Assassin's Creed 2 and Continuum Shift XD
No we don't but since this is Mikami, Ill give it a pass.
@MysteriousMagus
The patch fixes Bayonetta's loading screens dramatically. …and on a side note, Continuum Shift isn't even out yet; in America or Japan. I don't think the console port is even finished :/
Last edited by sonic1899 on 4/6/2010 9:30:02 PM
Bayonetta is definitely worth your $60 for the 360 version.
Whether or not the sexual stuff in it is over the top, that doesn't change the fact that it's one of the most satisfying action games out there.
meh vanquish is just another shooter till they prove me wrong.
honestly what do i have to do to get a different game? something were not saturated in!
honestly if i had a cent for every shooter coming out this year i would be the worlds richest man!
i thought the first step to making a game was to look at the market and see where theres going to be a market for your game?
well its going to be hard to reach that market if theres another 550 companies going for the same one!
ill say it again, thats why i enjoyed heavy rain so much because for the first time playing my ps3 i can actually say i have not played this before.
every game is the same as another game, what happened to variety?
god im starting to think im talking about the 360 here!
can some one PLEASE! build me a time machine so i can go back to the 90s with their brilliant side scrolling and 2D platforming games?
ps1 era = best era in video game history!