Bayonetta

[NeoPlayStation]

And X360:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/215352.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puYi9rvTOFk

The trailer is too short. But SEGA + Platinium Games (Shinji Mikami) could give to us a little of the Sega's "age of gold" again.

[Xclusion]

videos pulled down?

[LaLiLuLeLo]

And so it was.

[yoshaw]

Damnit, what was it? A horror game? Strategy? What?

[masteratt]

Colourful things with sparks.......I didn't really get what was going on.
Some kind of action thing I think, it wasn't a gameplay footage so it was hard to tell.

[NeoPlayStation]

Bayonetta video - Youtube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PW7T3bF5nk

Rapidshare link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/114620546/get_video.flv.html

[yoshaw]

New scans

http://akayuki.com/wp-content/bayonetta_1.jpg
http://akayuki.com/wp-content/bayonetta_2.jpg

[Xclusion]

looks interesting most of the scans look like cgi so ill wait for better in game footage.

[the boney king of nowhere.]

wow, they really don't want the trailer getting out.

[yoshaw]

Anybody wanna mediafire.com the flv trailer. Rapidshare hates my ISP.

[Z]

Rapidshare hates everybody. I swear; I have no idea how anyone can use it. it is garbage and NEVER works for anyone I know. piece of shit.

by the way, i am not getting excited since Sega has been long dead. that and countless games tried to ride the Devil train and most failed. this may be another Chaos legion or Nanobreaker; cheap, quick, low level Devil copies. we need a real effort here!

[FantasyGhost]

They've all blocked the trailers :(

[Z]

really and I mean really short CG trailer. bullets fires, a monster gets its head ripped off and high heels show up. that is all. the monster getting its head ripped off is the only good part. try youtubing it.

[yoshaw]

by the way, i am not getting excited since Sega has been long dead. that and countless games tried to ride the Devil train and most failed. this may be another Chaos legion or Nanobreaker; cheap, quick, low level Devil copies. we need a real effort here!

Err Z, It's not just sega for this one bro. Did you see the two men in the scans? Those are the top of the top developers that made Devil May Cry(and the other Okami) a living phenomenon!! Duuuude, seriously lol ;).

[yoshaw]

Bump, Some direct feed love from Ex-Clover Studio now named Platinum Games.

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_6489_en.html

Funny crotch shot. Dem the Japanese h-lovers.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh156/ACEfromRUSSIA/Untitled-8.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh156/ACEfromRUSSIA/Untitled-2.jpg
^Err, wearing glasses, means phail!!

[Passive]

Nice and big for you all ^^

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/gallery/00-single/Bayonetta-995.jpg
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/gallery/00-single/Bayonetta-996.jpg
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/gallery/00-single/Bayonetta-997.jpg
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/gallery/00-single/Bayonetta-998.jpg
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/gallery/00-single/Bayonetta-999.jpg

Edit: and im getting the DMC vibe off this trailer? could we see a new game from that genre? I certainly hope so. It's a favourite of mine and there aren't enough good games in it to saticfy me :P

[the boney king of nowhere.]

it's up at gametrailers now in HD.
i have no idea what the hell i just watched, but i need to play this.

[D3adcell]

it really does look like a DMC game mixed with bulletwitch.

[jako]

I don't think that there is any second of gameplay in this trailer, this is pure CG.
But I like it :)

[cliffbo]

Impressions: Bayonetta

Posted Jul 21st 2008 2:45PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: Hands-on

There's a lot of attention being placed on Sega's recent partnership with Platinum Games, and for good reason too. Platinum Games comes from the ashes of former Capcom devs Clover Studios, which met an untimely death after the lackluster sales of its critically acclaimed Okami. With a resume that includes games like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, Platinum Games has a strong legacy to live up to.

So what did we think about their first PS3 game, Bayonetta? It looked strangely familiar -- probably because it's from Hideki Kamiya, the creator of the original Devil May Cry. His new creation looks almost like a carbon copy of the recently released DMC4. In fact, the engine and textures look identical, especially with the way the game renders light and particle effects. (We wouldn't be surprised if Kamiya "borrowed" some tech and assets from Capcom before he left.)

The gameplay looks rather similar too, as its focus is on kicking ass in the most stylish way possible. We have no complaints, but seeing angel-esque characters circle around the main character, as she dishes out combos had us recoiling in a bit of rather recent nostalgia (DMC4 released earlier this year. You also fought angel-like enemies in that game).

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.ps3fanboy.com/media/2008/07/bayonetarte3.jpg

There are a number of differences to be noted in Bayonetta that separate it from its DMC heritage. Instead of playing as a bishonen, you play as a well-endowed witch with a wicked sense of style. Her hair literally comes to life, as it can turn into a variety of death traps for monsters to fall victim to. This is where Bayonetta can show its devilish originality. There are a number of ways for enemies to die: we saw her behead enemies with a guillotine, kick a few into a deadly spiked coffin, and more. Once, we saw a giant monster simply land on an enemy, ripping it apart. These over-the-top animations are far from believable, but that's where the game gets its charm. Somehow, Capcom's games have lost their ridiculous sensibilities. Bayonetta reminds us the campy charm quirky Japanese games can have.

While the five minute presentation acted as a mere tease, we're intrigued by the potential of Bayonetta. The battle system seems to encourage a more risque kind of play style than DMC, especially with its focus on dodging and countering enemy attacks. For example, if you're able to successfully dodge an enemy's attack, the action will slow down as you move at lightning speed. This kind of risk-taking encourages style, and allows players to rack up 100+ combos rather easily. Hopefully, we'll be able to see more of the game before Tokyo Game Show later this year.

http://www.gametab.com/news/2672083/

[VG Aficionado]

I'm stealing all this from NeoGAF:

http://xs230.xs.to/xs230/08316/bayonetta1hothot408.jpg


• The names of Bayonetta's guns are Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.Together, they're known as Scarborough Fair.

• Enemies drop weapons, which Bayonetta can pick up and use for a limited time.One of this is a tuba, wich functions as a bazooka.

• When Bayonetta jumps or double-jumps, gossamer butterfly wings temporarily sprout from her back.When she lands, dozens of tiny butterflies appear at her feet.

• Bayonetta's outfit isn't actually leather despite the stitching you see in the CG art - It's magical hair that covers her entire body, and it's used in her attacks.The most powerful ones render her almost completely nude.

• Similar to how Devil May Cry used red orbs, Bayonetta features angel halos as currency, wich you use to power up your weapons, unlock skills, or buy items.

• When Bayonetta fires her guns, the bullets ricochet off walls, causing additional damage to nearby enemies.

• Bayonetta's most powerful attacks summon a giant, smoky dragon or a giant, smoky stiletto heel out of the sky to stomp on her enemies.But again, it's not smoke that surrounds these summons - It's a hair.So, yes, that dragon is a giant, slithering hair dragon, and that stiletto heel is a giant, sexy hair boot.You have to enter specific button commands in order to summon the hair monster, though, adding an element of skill.

• When one of these powerful summons exits the area, it's punctuated by the appearence of purple sparkles.

• Control comes in the form of a shoot button, a punch butto, and a kick button.But you can purchase others, stronger combinations.

• Bayonetta uses "Witch Time" - Bayonetta's sense become especially accute, and the environment (and enemies) around her slows down.

• Sometimes, an onscreens button prompt appears during combats, wich means it's time to mash buttons in order to inflict extra damage on an enemy.Tapping the button fast enough results in over-the-top supermoves - such as guillotinedropping from the sky on your enemy (with predictable results) - called Torture Attacks.

• Bayonneta ahs a spinning jump attack that fires her guns in 360 degrees.She can also perform a handstand and aim the guns on her feet at enemies.

• Bayonneta also wields a katana, but Platinum Games won't reveal the name yet.You can charge this blade for a more powerful attack, which causes a heart to appear on the pommel.The heart beats as you charge it up, and dark fumes billow from the sword.

• More weapons will be added and revealed closer to the game's release.Each weapon has a monster spirit, which makes it stronger, and the context of the combat situation dictates which hairy summon appears.

• Miniboss battle: Angelic foe at the end of Big Little City zone.It's got some huge attacks courtesy of its giant two-handed ax - and this baddie pauses for a dramatic split second with every swing.Luckily, Bayonetta can jump over these attacks with or without Witch Time.Humorously, the giant miniboss has pathetically tiny angel wings, gold piercings, and the requisiet angel's halo.

• A fine mist covers the ground during the miniboss battle, designed to create a "holy atmosphere".The battle ends with an onscreen button prompt, which summons a giant hair dragon who bites the angel miniboss in half.

• The reward for besting this miniboss is a gold record with the descriptor "Angel Singing Voice" but we're not sure whether it unlocks a music track or some other feature.

• Bayonetta has a huge chain and sickle that she uses for both ground-based and airbone attacks.

• You can equip all four guns at once, or you can opt to swap out the pistols in her hands with the sword and use the guns on her feets as well.Certain weapons are specifically designed to be equipped on her hands, feet, or both.

• Bayonetta has been in development stages for a year and half - work started a little after Okami shipped.

• As Bayonetta attacks the enemy angel forces, she breaks of layers of their outer armor.

http://i38.tinypic.com/2wq64ux.jpg

It sounds like Devil May Cry reinvented, and it's done by the original creator of Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 2, Viewtiful Joe and Okami: Hideki Kamiya.

Eurogamer preview here (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=203290)

Teaser trailer here (http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=10432)

[GTAce]

I will comment when i see gameplay.
IT doesnt sound really origina,

[AC!D]

They say she is supposed to look sexy wearing her hair? Wow she only creeps me out.

[VG Aficionado]

It sounds more interesting than DMC4 to me. I want to get the DMC1 vibe again.

[GTAce]

Well DMC4 was a joke, i never could and will never understand the hype about this one, it looks PS2.5, plays PS1.5 and is just boring.

We will see what Bayonetta can offer, but from the description above, it doesnt excite me at all nor will i keep an eye on it, for now.

[Jay Gee]

I will comment when i see gameplay.
IT doesnt sound really origina,
Racewing from Hardcore Gamer Magazine said he got to see it in motion behind closed doors and was floored. Then they NDA'd him to hell and back.:\

[Red_Eyes]

She doesn't look too good. I vote for a character redesign.

[TEEDA]

She looks like Quistis from FFVIII lol
http://gamecrushes.com/stuf/quistis1.jpg

[Segitz]

She looks like Quistis from FFVIII lol


So thought I^^

But beware America... the mannequin has a PENIS... OMG OUTRAGE!!!

[yoshaw]

Bayonetta's outfit isn't actually leather despite the stitching you see in the CG art - It's magical hair that covers her entire body, and it's used in her attacks.The most powerful ones render her almost completely nude.

SOLD!!

Wait a minute!! Hair!!!??

[the boney king of nowhere.]

sounds completely insane. i like it.

[GTShotoKen]

I don't care what anyone says, this is DMC's true sequel to me. Hideki Kamiya's the brains behind the original DMC and I hope his original vision pours into this game.

Hopefully Bayonetta will show us what DMC2 should have been.

[Hisham]

Haha Hideki Kamiya is crazy.

I like it!

Seeing as Sega is publishing it, and not Capcom, I'd have to think WTF happened. Platnium games (used to be clover studios) is comprised of all capcom employees. I guess Capcom has too much on there plate right now.

I gotta thank Sega for actually publishing this game. It sounds pretty good. And seeing as it is from DMC's orginal producer, I'll probably check it out.

[GTShotoKen]

Well platinum games is completely independent (they also didn't leave capcom on good terms necessarily anyways).

These are the guys I've been looking towards to come up with truly great games.

[Hisham]

Well that is true that they are independant. I am just scared the Sega logo will make people run away on sight lol.

[GTShotoKen]

Well that is true that they are independant. I am just scared the Sega logo will make people run away on sight lol.

I'm still a Sega fan. They came out with alot of original and great games with the Dreamcast.

The Sonic team is truly what's holding Sega back right now. The Sonic game are F'ing up their image.

Edit: Sega can make it big with another Shenmue at this point and time. I just wish they would put time into one (though it would be hella expensive). I next-gen Jet Set Radio wouldn't hurt either.

[Hisham]

^That is true, but when most people think of Sega, they think of sonic. And when you think of sonic, you think of great genesis games, followed by shitty games since.

And no need to tell me about the Dreamcast and a good games sega made for it. I still have one and hook it up from time to time to play games.

[GTShotoKen]

me too...me too.

Anyways, I'm really wondering how Kamiya will one up the classic scene of lifting enemies and suspending them in the air with gun fire that he made popular with the DMC franchise?

[Killing Moon]

Well, the character design is...well...pretty bad, I won't lie. But, all the over the top descriptions (as funky as they may be) may actually give this game some personality.

Whether it ends up being a DMC clone or not remains to be seen.
Kind of how Rogue Trip was to Twisted Metal back in the PSX days, y'know.

We'll see...

[Red_Eyes]

I was skeptical of this game before. But seems like it's in good hand.

In the September EGM, we laid out "25 Things You Need To Know About Bayonetta." Now, we're happy to unveil the full-length interview behind that story.

By James Mielke 08/29/2008

You want Bayonetta info? You got it. In June of this year, we trekked down to Osaka, Japan, to meet up with the latest incarnation of Hideki Kamiya's development group, Platinum Games. The developer, which is comprised of many former Capcom veterans (like Kamiya, and Atsushi Inaba, among others), has evolved over the years in the form of Clover Studio (Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, Okami), and after having parted ways with Capcom, transformed briefly into SEEDS before ultimately re-emerging as Platinum Games. With Inaba focusing on PG's Wii brawler, Mad World, the next big surprise was Kamiya's game, Bayonetta, which was teasingly announced via a short CG clip at a launch event for Platinum's three announced games with Sega as publisher.

In the September issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, we gave you 25 Things You Need To Know About Bayonetta -- peppered with quotes and a short interview with Kamiya himself. Now, we're happy to unveil the full-length interview with Hideki Kamiya and his latest creation, Bayonetta. The setting is Platinum Games' high-rise Osaka office space, and in attendance are various Sega personnel, Yusuke Hashimoto (the game's producer and an ex-Capcom/Devil May Cry veteran himself), as well as Platinum Games' marketing staff. Leading up to the interview, Kamiya himself is demoing one of the first areas of the game, and with that, away we go!

Hideki Kamiya: As you can see, clothes are made out of her hair. So when she uses an attack you can see her skin is revealed because she needs her hair to make the magic happen. You can see a lot of skin there. She's living in a different degrees than where the other human beings are, but they can't see her. But when she does those attacks, they can...
[B]
1UP: They can sense it, but they don't know what's happening?

HK: As you probably already know, she's a witch, and these are angels.

1UP: What are the names of her weapons?

HK: As a set, they're all Scarborough Fair. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme...

1UP: You've got a Simon and Garfunkel song going on. Which is which?

HK: Two are on the arms, and two are on the feet, the whole set is called Scarborough Fair.

1UP: It reminds me of Planet Terror. Remember when the main character had a gun for her leg?

HK: [Points at an item on the screen] And there's an instrument, those are instruments, actually.

1UP: Instrument? Like a music instrument? Oh, it's a tuba! Does her katana have a name?

HK: No, it doesn't have a name yet. We'll reveal that later. Do you see the heart beating on her sword?

1UP: Oh...

HK: There're many types of weapons, and right now we can only show the Scarborough Fair and the sword. But each weapon has a monster spirit, so you use the monster spirit to make the weapon stronger.

1UP: So depending on which weapon you're using, is that what dictates which kind of magical hair summon comes out? Like the boot, or the dragon?

HK: It doesn't depend on which weapon you use. It depends on which situation you're in. So it's like, the boot came out because of which situation you were in, not which weapon you used. Bayonetta's has formed pacts with a variety of monsters, and each weapon has a monster power, so she uses the monster's power to possess her weapon. So when she wants to summon the monster, she uses her hair to summon the monster, which creates bigger attacks.

1UP: And how do you actually use the monster? Do you use some charge-up move? I'm sure there's some kind of limit to how much you can use it.

HK: So the attack has specific combinations, like there's a punch and kick combination. So when you keep on making the combination, it becomes the big monster attack with the hair.

1UP: Okay, so you have to answer specific button commands, so it takes a certain amount of skill under pressure in order to activate it.

HK: Yeah, you need skills. There's a pattern, so you remember the pattern, press the buttons, and create the combo. Depending on the situation or which part of the game you're in, the monster that comes out will change.

1UP: Okay. Is there a more formal name for the giant hair monster? I mean, I don't want to just call it hair monster. I'm sure there's a cooler name...

HK: We haven't decided on a name yet, but we're not too hot on "hair monster." [Laughs]

1UP: I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't a more formal name. I'll come up with a more stylish way of describing it.

HK: [Laughs] We would appreciate that, thanks. Right now, she has guns on her hands and her legs. But you can change it up. Like, you can hold the sword, or she can change the guns on her feet to another weapon. Right now, we can only show one combination, but there are other combinations.

1UP: So she can attack with the swords, but also the guns on her feet at the same time?

HK: [Demonstrating the game] Yeah, so that's what's happening right now. And she can replace the guns on her feet with swords, or different weapons too. She can change the weapons that she's holding too. So, throughout the game, you gain weapons from enemies, and you can arm those weapons on her hands and her feet, which is probably pretty unique.

1UP: Can she only put the temporary weapons on her hands?

HK: She can put on her feet too. It depends on the weapon. There are weapons that are only specifically for hands, or only specifically for feet, but there are some that can work on both.

1UP: [Pointing at tiny gold halos that drop from defeated enemies] What are the halos used for? Are they used to upgrade the weapons to more powerful stages?

HK: It's used kind of like money. There are shops throughout the game, so you can use it to power up weapons and stuff.

1UP: Can you also buy items that are not weapons related?

HK: Yes you can, there are various things. There are more weapons, and also skills that you can buy. Today we were only able to show what she can do with the punch and kick combinations. But there are stronger combinations with other commands, and you can buy those skills at the shop. It's not like a "shop shop," it's more of a "shop'ish" place.

1UP: I noticed that when she's punching and kicking, sometimes purple effects trail behind her movements. And also at different times, butterflies come out. Does it depend on the situation, like if she's punching and kicking, doing melee, do the effects come out? Like, if she's shooting her gun, do the butterflies come out, specifically?

HK: When she does the two-step jumps, she's using the power that only women have, the beautiful power, the beauty in women.

1UP: Beauty power.

HK: So that's why you see the butterfly wings.

1UP: Really? And when you're attacking, is that when the purple stuff comes out?

HK: [Demoing the game] Like that? When the purple comes out, she's sending her hair out to the magic world to get the monster to appear. So the purple means that her hair is disappearing, getting sent out. The effects are going to get much more beautiful, I'm not yet comfortable with what you're seeing right now.

1UP: I don't think you have worry about anything. It looks so beautiful, it's so cool, it's got that signature Kamiya touch. The Kamiya touch.

HK: The name of the area that I just showed you is called "The Entrance to the City." But she lands at a different place at the beginning of the game, but what I showed you is when she arrives at the city and enters the city. It's the little city hall where people relax.

1UP: So the stage is called Big Little City? She begins the stage in a kind of small...

HK: Yeah, a kind of relaxing area.

1UP: How long have you been working on Bayonetta?

HK: It's been about a year and a half since we started.

1UP: So is that just an effect when she's running through the hallways and the bullets richochet off the walls, or do the enemies suffer damage from the richochet?

HK: Yes it is causing damage. So you can attack an enemy using the walls indirectly. [Points at the glowing poppy seeds rising from the ground] This is angel power, because the angels are coming.

1UP: And each enemy has a layer of deformation, like, you can knock off its armor and another layer of armor appears underneath?

HK: So these enemies are angels, but as you mentioned, when they take damage they drop their armor and stuff like that. That means that they gained a lot of damage, but it also means that there are angels inside of the armor. But once they're revealed, they look like they have something evil or dirty looking inside them, and that's the story behind the game.

1UP: You got an "A" ranking. The reward is a gold record?

HK: This item contains an angel's singing voice, which you can hear by playing that record.

1UP: Oh really, angel's singing voice?

HK: So that's one of the items. This part of the game that I showed you, the part that we can talk about, this is probably the most boring part of the game. I've already made this kind of game in the past. We want to make an extreme game, so in order to do that, we came up with the idea of creating the climax stage first. Like, a crazy atmosphere that you have to fight in, that pumps you up a lot.

1UP: So the opening stage is only just to get people who are familiar with your games into a comfort zone, and then you start busting loose?

HK: The theme is 3D. Fighting on flat stages is normal for action games, but what we are trying to do is a step up from that. A next-gen action game is in 3D, so you should fight in 3D spaces.

1UP: Action games are my favorite genre, because the payoff is so immediate, and this is one of the coolest action games I've ever seen.

HK: Of course, exactly what you said, action games are very direct. You feel it. So that's the kind of game I want to create. So of course Bayonetta has climax scenes, and the regular scenes, and the climax scenes are of course very beautiful, but we aren't planning on creating a game that's just beautiful. I want you to feel like your brain is just connected to the TV, that's the kind of game I want to make.

1UP: I don't know how you do it, but everytime you create an action game, whether it's Devil May Cry or Viewtiful Joe or Okami, it always feels so good to play. And that's something that a lot of developers don't quite get. You take a popular action game like Sankoku Musou, it just doesn't feel good. Ignore the fact that they make like five of them a year, it just doesn't feel satisfying like when you're knocking guys out with Viewtiful Joe.

HK: With Okami, I tried to create an adventure game that a lot of people could enjoy. But for this one, I'm really concentrating on the action. And we are a team that's really good at action games, so we want to create an extreme action game. So when we call a climax scene a climax scene, it's not just a climax scene. It's like, the extreme climax scene. It's not just something that you can sit back and press a button and get through; you have to be really into the game, and sweating, and drying your contact lenses while you're playing. That kind of serious gameplay.

1UP: For serious gamers.

HK: Like you!

1UP: When I first heard the news about Bayonetta, saw the trailer, talked with Sega, and they filled me in on the whole concept, I felt like, "Kamiya is making the game for me." Thank you! It's like, has anybody made a game just for you? A developer going through all of that trouble just for me? It feels so good!

HK: I had a lot of fun when I did the Okami interview, so I was looking for you when we were announcing the title.

1UP: I had a fever the day you had the Platinum Games announcement event.

HK: When I was creating this, I wondered "Will Mielke be happy about this?" Pressure.

1UP: Pressure relief! You should feel good about this game.

HK: I was thinking that I couldn't come back with just any old s*** for you, so I was feeling the pressure.

1UP: Okay, let's start the interview for real. Bayonetta is your latest action game. Okami had more of an action-adventure focus, but Bayonetta looks like it's pure action. What made you want to switch back into doing pure action? Was it that you wanted to keep yourself fresh and not repeat what you had just done?

HK: After establishing Platinum Games, we hadn't yet released any games, so first we had to create a game. But before doing that, we started to study games, study technology, and experiment with technology. That's what the dev people and programmers were doing. So the planners like me were like, "What should we do? Maybe we should focus on making game plans." So we went and did that, and we were thinking of two or three games every week. These days when I look at the market, I see games that are not 'direct' games, but kind of... abnormal? Not abnormal, but, not straightforward either. Everything has a twist to it. So, basically, I think the idea is that people are not confident enough to make straightforward games. That's why they add on stuff to create a game, so they don't have to compete with the people who make straightforward games.

1UP: Meaning, they don't have to compete on the same level. You make a racing game, we make a racing game.

HK: There's always a twist, so you don't have to be viewed as a straightforward racing game. In the beginning, I was trying to think of concepts for using the touch pad, or the motion sensor. I wasn't thinking about a straightforward game, but games that use those kinds of aspects. But back when [Yusuke] Hashimoto-san started at Platinum Games, he was still a designer, and he had designed effects for Devil May Cry. So we've worked together in the past too. He was still a designer, but he came up to me said, "I want to see another 3D action game created by you."

1UP: Good job! So how did somebody with no hair come up with a game based around hair attacks? Did a hair stylist attack you?

HK: [Laughing] Nice question. It's true. The attacks Bayonetta use is something that I cannot use, even if I tried. I can't make a contract agreement with monsters because I have no hair. Right from the beginning, the thing I felt very strongly was that I wanted the main girl to be a woman. Hair attacks are something that only a woman can do, it's a woman's beauty. So that's why I came up with the hair idea. The action games that I've created in the past were Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe, so I already created the male heroes that I wanted to create, so this time I felt strongly that he wanted to create a female main character. But I wanted to make a cool-ass woman doing cool-ass actions, so that was my motivation.

1UP: I like that motivation, it's a good one. It's interesting that you say that because, I'm not gonna bring up Capcom too much, but when I was interviewing Keiji Inafune over at Capcom about some other games like Lost Planet, Devil May Cry, whatever, I asked, "How come you don't have any female action heroines?" Because it seemed like they have all these cool female characters, but they're always supplemental, they're never the main character. And he said that the Capcom execs don't think that a female lead character is gonna sell. Obviously they've never heard of Tomb Raider, but I'm glad to see that you guys are working with a female action heroine, because that's even more fun. There's a contrast. You don't expect a female character to do all that cool, awesome stuff. You might expect that from Dante or something, but I think that contrast makes it even more powerful.

HK: I totally agree with you. You're already used to cool male characters doing cool actions, and what I wanted to deliver through this game was excitement. So when I thought about that, the thing that he came up with was using a cool female character with cool actions. But people have asked me "Wow, you're trying to sell a game with a female character. It has been very difficult in the past." But I don't really care about that because that's not what I think.

The reason I came up with this is that I think it's exciting, something very interesting to see, because I've never seen anything like that before; a cool female character doing something cool. And like, when I was creating Okami too, people in Capcom told him that maybe people will have a hard time feeling sympathy with the character since it's an animal. But that wasn't what I was thinking, I was just thinking, "If the main character is a wolf, that would be cool." And that's how I came up with the idea. But then I looked around and figured out that, "Oh, maybe this is new. Maybe people haven't done this in the past -- like, using an animal as a main character." But I just felt excitement there.

1UP: I can't imagine why people would have a hard time imagining a female as an awesome main character. I mean, women are beautiful. Would you really look at woman or would you rather look at a guy? And if you're playing one for however many hours...that was pretty much the inspiration for Tomb Raider when they were designing Lara Croft. The director of the game, Toby Gard, said, "If I'm gonna have to stare at the back of a character for nine or ten hours playing this game, I'd rather it be a girl." Just saying, this is not a new concept. You are, however, the first guy to create a character who's hair uncovers her body everytime she uses an attack, so you still have an edge.

HK: I strongly feel that women outside should dress like her. Like, when she does a hair attack, you'd see the skin. I want women to wear fashion like that.

1UP: That's a good idea...sometimes. Depends on the subject. Like, if you have a big, old lady, walking down the street, maybe you don't want to see her using flesh-revealing hair attacks. [Points at the laughing Sega and Platinum Games marketing ladies] Those guys over there, they can't control themselves, they're like, "Ahh ha ha!" So, since you're so good at creating action games, I have a hard time imagining a day in the life of Hideki Kamiya being anything but an action fest. When you get out of bed, and it's like, "Action wake-up!" And when you brush your teeth, you brush your teeth with the most action possible. And when you have breakfast, it's an "Action breakfast!" What's your average day like? Am I right?

HK: I basically don't move at all. I agree, in my brain, there are all these climaxes. But on the outside, I don't move. My favorite time is when I'm staying in my room, playing with my toys.

1UP: So, what you're saying is that you're living the life of a Zen Buddhist. Whereas in my imagination, you come to work on a parachute, and you land on the bridge outside, and then you're running around like James Bond, and you run down... And they have to replace the glass on your office everyday because you jump through it.

HK: If I was able to do all of those action moves that you just described, I would be totally satisfied with myself, and I wouldn't feel the need to create a game like this.

1UP: Why do you gotta mess with my fantasy?

HK: Well, you know, because I'm a quiet guy, I was able to come up with an action game like this. Because I have no hair, I was able to come up with this fabulous concept of the chick with the fabulous hair. So you should be happy about that.

1UP: I'm happy, very happy. At the Platinum Games event in May, my drunken coworker [Sam Kennedy] was talking to you, and he was asking you about the game, and you were like, "Oh, it's going to be the best action game ever." And he asked, "Oh why's that," and your answer was, "Because I'm making it." I love that quote. That's a good quote. But the reason that you said that, which you mentioned to him, was that all action games since the original Devil May Cry haven't really expanded the genre like you were hoping they would. Other games haven't picked up the baton and run with it, so to speak, and created new experiences. I guess in your opinion they've just kind of recycled the formula. Can you explain how you're going to reinvent the action genre, and how other games have failed to do what you want them to do?

HK: I don't know why the baton was dropped, but it is very true that I don't feel that anybody was like, "Oh my god, this guy created a game like Devil May Cry. We have to create something better." I never got that feeling from others, so I really don't know why no one picked up the baton.

Yusuke Hashimoto: Maybe that's because he wasn't creating the other games.

HK: So that's why the action genre hasn't been so good. But out of all those action titles, there's one game that I am paying really close attention to, that I think is a rival game, a good game, which is called God of War 3. So I guess they're working on the sequel? I want to make a game that exceeds God of War's sequel. That's one title that I'm paying attention to.

1UP: Well from what I know, some of the key GOW guys left. Cory Barlog, the guy who directed God of War II, then left, he might be down in Australia now, working on the new Mad Max game.

HK: Mad Max? Really?

1UP: I heard that he's working with George Miller, the creator of Mad Max and Road Warrior. Anyway, since I'm sure that you have opinions on various action games that have come into existence since the original Devil May Cry came out, I'm just going to name the games and I wanna see what your opinion is on each series. So, let's start with Devil May Cry.

HK: I wanted to do the sequel. I used to want to do the sequel, but now it's like, some other guy's chick. It's not my chick anymore. And my chick got fooled, and played all around from all over, so I don't want her anymore. I'm only concentrating on my current chick.

1UP: Shinobi.

HK: I've only played the original, the Mark 3 version, and I was playing it throughout my whole summer vacation because I wanted to see the ending. And then when I beat the final boss, and it just said, "Game Over," and went back to the opening, I was like, "Give me back my summer vacation!" So that's the memories that I have for Shinobi.

1UP: So Bayonneta better have the best ending, make it fourteen hours long. It'll be so long it has to have save points. [Laughs] Uh...Ninja Gaiden.

HK: I've never played Ninja Gaiden, and to be honest, I'm not that interested.

1UP: Why do you not find interest in it?

HK: The things that you get interested in are things that you feel something from them. Like on TV, or a movie, or a song, or whatever. You just feel something, and you get pulled into it, and then that's how you pick something up. But Ninja Gaiden just didn't have that power, so that's why I wasn't interested in it.

1UP: Okay. God of War?

HK: My impression is that it's very carefully made, the details are all carefully made. Devil May Cry was a bit rough, but I think that there's no roughness in God of War. I think that it's very well-made. So there's like a wall for your imagination or ideas, and when you're actually creating something, you don't even see the wall. But with GOW, I felt like I saw beyond the wall. So the GOW dev team's imagination and their ideas were like... beyond. That's something else that struck me. And also, I feel a bit bad about talking like somebody who is evaluating a game. But I felt like they created the game in a very good way which managed to bring in the users, they gave you a huge impactful feeling right in the beginning, and just drew you into the game. So I'm very impressed that they made the game like that.

YH: The level of the game was very high in general. So the things that you see in the game are things that you can't even imagine. The imagination is one step ahead of you.

HK: In this game, they were using a camera system that was on rails. The camera follows the character like they're on rail tracks. And so it makes the game really easy to play, and of course I was impressed by that. And there were people around me who were like, "Oh, you should use that camera." But it's not something that you can easily do. To create that kind of a system, you have to pile up a lot of technology, and study a lot, and research a lot, to be able to make a camera system like that. I was like "Okay, you guys appreciate the technology, but it's not that easy. Everything in the game is not easy to make." These guys were really serious about the creation, and they put in a lot of effort in it, and that's why that game came out so well. So yeah, I played GOW2 and the PSP version, and I feel that they were very well-made.

YH: There's a game that's caught Kamiya-san's interest lately. Would you like to hear about it?

1UP: Yes.

HK: Call of Duty 4.

1UP: Wow.

HK: I haven't even played it yet. But despite the fact that I haven't even played it, I'm strongly attracted to this game already.

1UP: You've gotta play it man. You've gotta play it. You think when you're watching it that it was exciting? When you're playing it you're like...all tense and stuff, because it's so good! There's a reason why it's sold millions of copies, it's because it's so good.

YH: I actually played it, and I felt "next-gen" in the game. Of course, Wii is next-gen too, but not that kind of next-gen. Like, the "real real next-gen," I felt that.

1UP: Between Bayonetta, and Mad World, the first two main console games, not including the handheld game you guys are doing, but the first two main console games that Platinum Games are making happen to be very violent, which is fine by me. Was this just coincidence, or were you guys thinking, "Okay, if we're going to put Platinum Games on the map, we have to come out of the gate swinging. We have to make a big statement."

HK: They don't have the intention of having our first two titles be violent games. We didn't have that kind of thought at all. We're also kind of surprised that both Mad World and Bayonetta are being viewed as both violent games in the same category because our impression of these two titles are totally different. Bayonetta is the very, very mainstream action game that I wanted to create. So after Devil May Cry, I made Viewtiful Joe and Okami, and those are games with flavor. I brought out the flavor of the game. So it's not like a mainstream game, but it's a game with taste. So for this one, I had this feeling that has built up inside me since Devil May Cry. I'm not satisfied with the other mainstream action games that are out there, and I wanted to create a real mainstream action game. So that's how I'm coming into this. Mad World is another flavorful type game, a game with taste in it. So we're viewing it as like totally different titles. Why Bayonetta is viewed like a violent title?

1UP: Well, I'm not trying to classify them together. I don't look at Mad World and Bayonetta and think that, "Oh they're the same game." Mad World looks more like Sin City meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre, whereas Bayonetta feel more like something from Underworld, you know with vampires and werewolves, as an action game. In both games there's obviously conflict. That doesn't mean that people are lumping them into the same category. But they're both action titles, and when you fight somebody, as long as you hit someone, it's violence. So don't read too much into my violence description, though. You getting tired yet? How's this interview going compared to your usual interviews?

HK: I'm having a good time. I like the questions you have.

1UP: Tell us a little bit about the story. She's fighting angels, but she's kind of in a world where she can see humans, but they can't see you. They can see your attacks, and they run in fear. So is she in a kind of purgatory level?

HK: Purgatory...

1UP: The space between heaven and hell. Like, you know, is she dead?

HK: Hmmm...that's a sharp question. That's the only thing that I can answer.

1UP: That's fine. I'm starting to get some ideas about where the story might be going. "Deadly Kiss" is one attack that she has. How many more sexy attacks does she have?

HK: So the whole, the theme of her attacks is "sexiness." So, when I was working on Dante's theme, his theme was "Coolness," and Viewtiful Joe's theme was "Beauty." So, when you punch somebody, you could do just a straightforward punch. But to make it cool, you have this one little move that makes it cool. That's the space that you have, a delay to an action to make that little one move cool. So that's what I kept working on with his previous characters, and it's the same with this one too, with Bayonetta. So what do I want Bayonetta to do, was the question? What I want her to do is to use that little space to make herself look sexy. I'm having fun with the team thinking, "So what should we do with Bayonetta to make her look sexy?" And they're like, "Oh, maybe this move might be good. This motion might be good." So that's what we're thinking right now.

1UP: Does that mean that we'll be able to see what you like in a girl by playing this game?

HK: Yes.

1UP: So if somebody has an idea for a sexy move -- like maybe she does a little hip check or something like that -- if Hashimoto-san has an idea like that, does he stand in front of you and go, "Hey check this out! Boom!" and performs the move for you?

HK: [Laughs] It's usually me that does it. I'm the one who does the actions and the moves and all that. If I'm trying to express a move, I'll do it, but then all the team members are like, "Hmm? We don't see it." I'm usually picturing a steamy hot woman doing the move, and I'm trying to do that, but I'm not actually able to convey that to the team, so it sometimes doesn't get across to the team. I experienced this before when I was making Devil May Cry. When Dante was doing a kick, I was showing it to the motion capture actors, and the actor was doing his kick, and I was like, "No, that's not what I want. I want him to do the kick like this, like in a very cool way." But it just didn't get across to the people, it just wasn't coming through. Then I found a mirror in the studio, and I saw myself doing the kick, and I was like, "Okay, I understand why you're not understanding the cool motion, because it's not coming out." But still, I'm trying really hard to get my thoughts across to people.

1UP: How many times do you have to try a sexy move before they get it?

HK: [Laughs] Seven or eight times.

1UP: Really? Does that make for some awkward moments for Hashimoto-san?

HK: It doesn't make such an awkward moment, sometimes it's just difficult for Hashimoto-san to understand it. He's just like, "Hmm, hmm, it doesn't do anything for me." So it probably comes down to what I like, and what Hashimoto-san likes, we have different tastes. What really strikes me is that when people see a chick from behind, what do they look for? Hashimoto-san and other people look at the ankles, but for me it's totally different. What strikes me is of course the face...

1UP: From behind!?

HK: Well yeah, from behind you can't see the face, but what strikes me is how the woman is standing, or the way they stand, instead of just the ankles.

1UP: You know, I've gotta say, I don't think you're being honest with me. Because when you're looking at a woman from behind, and you're trying to tell me that you're "looking at her face," I don't know if I buy that.

HK: Oh. [Laughs]

1UP: Oh. [Laughs]

HK: But anyway that's how we're creating Bayonetta's moves and all that, and that's actually the most fun part of this game, thinking about all that stuff. So you will be able to see what everybody in the team likes in a girl from the finished project.

1UP: So her outfit is completely hair? Because it looks like leather, but it's completely hair?

HK: Yes, completely hair. That means that she's actually naked, but naked because that's just hair, that's not clothing. She has strong magical powers, she's using her strength, her magical power to keep her hair on her body, to make it form an outfit. So when she gets weak or something, she might just lose her magical power, and if that happens...you know what that means.

1UP: [Laughs] I know what that means. It means players are going to deliberately weaken her half the time. I noticed that she had a different costume in different areas, so does that mean there are going to be costume changes, or other things that you can buy?

HK: Throughout the game, it's not like she's going to change costumes, to this one and that one. It's not going to go quite like that. But yeah, you had a sharp point there too, her wearing a different costume does mean something. It does have a meaning to the storyline.

1UP: What are you guys doing in terms of the voice acting? Because you're going through all of these efforts to make her very sexy. And usually Japanese voice overs are very, very professionally done, but once they get to America, the results are often inconsistent with the quality of the Japanese versions. And if a sexy chick doesn't sound right, then it just sounds bad.

HK: Actually, we've already finished voice recording, we just finished voice recording. We did it in L.A., and we're waiting for the data to arrive. But it's basically done. I'm very satisfied with the quality, and it seems like the actress pulled it off very nicely. And she did a very sexy job.

1UP: You said that she was very effective. When you were listening to the recording, and since she was so effective, you were having to wipe the sweat from your brow?

HK: Actually, there were times like that, because the actress herself was pretty hot too. A hot voice coming out of a hot woman.

[Jay Gee]

HK: Yes, completely hair. That means that she's actually naked, but naked because that's just hair, that's not clothing. She has strong magical powers, she's using her strength, her magical power to keep her hair on her body, to make it form an outfit. So when she gets weak or something, she might just lose her magical power, and if that happens...you know what that means.
*SCHWING!*

[VG Aficionado]

In the September EGM, we laid out "25 Things You Need To Know About Bayonetta." Now, we're happy to unveil the full-length interview behind that story.

By James Mielke 08/29/2008

You want Bayonetta info? You got it. In June of this year, we trekked down to Osaka, Japan, to meet up with the latest incarnation of Hideki Kamiya's development group, Platinum Games. The developer, which is comprised of many former Capcom veterans (like Kamiya, and Atsushi Inaba, among others), has evolved over the years in the form of Clover Studio (Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, Okami), and after having parted ways with Capcom, transformed briefly into SEEDS before ultimately re-emerging as Platinum Games. With Inaba focusing on PG's Wii brawler, Mad World, the next big surprise was Kamiya's game, Bayonetta, which was teasingly announced via a short CG clip at a launch event for Platinum's three announced games with Sega as publisher.

In the September issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, we gave you 25 Things You Need To Know About Bayonetta -- peppered with quotes and a short interview with Kamiya himself. Now, we're happy to unveil the full-length interview with Hideki Kamiya and his latest creation, Bayonetta. The setting is Platinum Games' high-rise Osaka office space, and in attendance are various Sega personnel, Yusuke Hashimoto (the game's producer and an ex-Capcom/Devil May Cry veteran himself), as well as Platinum Games' marketing staff. Leading up to the interview, Kamiya himself is demoing one of the first areas of the game, and with that, away we go!

Hideki Kamiya: As you can see, clothes are made out of her hair. So when she uses an attack you can see her skin is revealed because she needs her hair to make the magic happen. You can see a lot of skin there. She's living in a different degrees than where the other human beings are, but they can't see her. But when she does those attacks, they can...
[B]
1UP: They can sense it, but they don't know what's happening?

HK: As you probably already know, she's a witch, and these are angels.

1UP: What are the names of her weapons?

HK: As a set, they're all Scarborough Fair. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme...

1UP: You've got a Simon and Garfunkel song going on. Which is which?

HK: Two are on the arms, and two are on the feet, the whole set is called Scarborough Fair.

1UP: It reminds me of Planet Terror. Remember when the main character had a gun for her leg?

HK: [Points at an item on the screen] And there's an instrument, those are instruments, actually.

1UP: Instrument? Like a music instrument? Oh, it's a tuba! Does her katana have a name?

HK: No, it doesn't have a name yet. We'll reveal that later. Do you see the heart beating on her sword?

1UP: Oh...

HK: There're many types of weapons, and right now we can only show the Scarborough Fair and the sword. But each weapon has a monster spirit, so you use the monster spirit to make the weapon stronger.

1UP: So depending on which weapon you're using, is that what dictates which kind of magical hair summon comes out? Like the boot, or the dragon?

HK: It doesn't depend on which weapon you use. It depends on which situation you're in. So it's like, the boot came out because of which situation you were in, not which weapon you used. Bayonetta's has formed pacts with a variety of monsters, and each weapon has a monster power, so she uses the monster's power to possess her weapon. So when she wants to summon the monster, she uses her hair to summon the monster, which creates bigger attacks.

1UP: And how do you actually use the monster? Do you use some charge-up move? I'm sure there's some kind of limit to how much you can use it.

HK: So the attack has specific combinations, like there's a punch and kick combination. So when you keep on making the combination, it becomes the big monster attack with the hair.

1UP: Okay, so you have to answer specific button commands, so it takes a certain amount of skill under pressure in order to activate it.

HK: Yeah, you need skills. There's a pattern, so you remember the pattern, press the buttons, and create the combo. Depending on the situation or which part of the game you're in, the monster that comes out will change.

1UP: Okay. Is there a more formal name for the giant hair monster? I mean, I don't want to just call it hair monster. I'm sure there's a cooler name...

HK: We haven't decided on a name yet, but we're not too hot on "hair monster." [Laughs]

1UP: I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't a more formal name. I'll come up with a more stylish way of describing it.

HK: [Laughs] We would appreciate that, thanks. Right now, she has guns on her hands and her legs. But you can change it up. Like, you can hold the sword, or she can change the guns on her feet to another weapon. Right now, we can only show one combination, but there are other combinations.

1UP: So she can attack with the swords, but also the guns on her feet at the same time?

HK: [Demonstrating the game] Yeah, so that's what's happening right now. And she can replace the guns on her feet with swords, or different weapons too. She can change the weapons that she's holding too. So, throughout the game, you gain weapons from enemies, and you can arm those weapons on her hands and her feet, which is probably pretty unique.

1UP: Can she only put the temporary weapons on her hands?

HK: She can put on her feet too. It depends on the weapon. There are weapons that are only specifically for hands, or only specifically for feet, but there are some that can work on both.

1UP: [Pointing at tiny gold halos that drop from defeated enemies] What are the halos used for? Are they used to upgrade the weapons to more powerful stages?

HK: It's used kind of like money. There are shops throughout the game, so you can use it to power up weapons and stuff.

1UP: Can you also buy items that are not weapons related?

HK: Yes you can, there are various things. There are more weapons, and also skills that you can buy. Today we were only able to show what she can do with the punch and kick combinations. But there are stronger combinations with other commands, and you can buy those skills at the shop. It's not like a "shop shop," it's more of a "shop'ish" place.

1UP: I noticed that when she's punching and kicking, sometimes purple effects trail behind her movements. And also at different times, butterflies come out. Does it depend on the situation, like if she's punching and kicking, doing melee, do the effects come out? Like, if she's shooting her gun, do the butterflies come out, specifically?

HK: When she does the two-step jumps, she's using the power that only women have, the beautiful power, the beauty in women.

1UP: Beauty power.

HK: So that's why you see the butterfly wings.

1UP: Really? And when you're attacking, is that when the purple stuff comes out?

HK: [Demoing the game] Like that? When the purple comes out, she's sending her hair out to the magic world to get the monster to appear. So the purple means that her hair is disappearing, getting sent out. The effects are going to get much more beautiful, I'm not yet comfortable with what you're seeing right now.

1UP: I don't think you have worry about anything. It looks so beautiful, it's so cool, it's got that signature Kamiya touch. The Kamiya touch.

HK: The name of the area that I just showed you is called "The Entrance to the City." But she lands at a different place at the beginning of the game, but what I showed you is when she arrives at the city and enters the city. It's the little city hall where people relax.

1UP: So the stage is called Big Little City? She begins the stage in a kind of small...

HK: Yeah, a kind of relaxing area.

1UP: How long have you been working on Bayonetta?

HK: It's been about a year and a half since we started.

1UP: So is that just an effect when she's running through the hallways and the bullets richochet off the walls, or do the enemies suffer damage from the richochet?

HK: Yes it is causing damage. So you can attack an enemy using the walls indirectly. [Points at the glowing poppy seeds rising from the ground] This is angel power, because the angels are coming.

1UP: And each enemy has a layer of deformation, like, you can knock off its armor and another layer of armor appears underneath?

HK: So these enemies are angels, but as you mentioned, when they take damage they drop their armor and stuff like that. That means that they gained a lot of damage, but it also means that there are angels inside of the armor. But once they're revealed, they look like they have something evil or dirty looking inside them, and that's the story behind the game.

1UP: You got an "A" ranking. The reward is a gold record?

HK: This item contains an angel's singing voice, which you can hear by playing that record.

1UP: Oh really, angel's singing voice?

HK: So that's one of the items. This part of the game that I showed you, the part that we can talk about, this is probably the most boring part of the game. I've already made this kind of game in the past. We want to make an extreme game, so in order to do that, we came up with the idea of creating the climax stage first. Like, a crazy atmosphere that you have to fight in, that pumps you up a lot.

1UP: So the opening stage is only just to get people who are familiar with your games into a comfort zone, and then you start busting loose?

HK: The theme is 3D. Fighting on flat stages is normal for action games, but what we are trying to do is a step up from that. A next-gen action game is in 3D, so you should fight in 3D spaces.

1UP: Action games are my favorite genre, because the payoff is so immediate, and this is one of the coolest action games I've ever seen.

HK: Of course, exactly what you said, action games are very direct. You feel it. So that's the kind of game I want to create. So of course Bayonetta has climax scenes, and the regular scenes, and the climax scenes are of course very beautiful, but we aren't planning on creating a game that's just beautiful. I want you to feel like your brain is just connected to the TV, that's the kind of game I want to make.

1UP: I don't know how you do it, but everytime you create an action game, whether it's Devil May Cry or Viewtiful Joe or Okami, it always feels so good to play. And that's something that a lot of developers don't quite get. You take a popular action game like Sankoku Musou, it just doesn't feel good. Ignore the fact that they make like five of them a year, it just doesn't feel satisfying like when you're knocking guys out with Viewtiful Joe.

HK: With Okami, I tried to create an adventure game that a lot of people could enjoy. But for this one, I'm really concentrating on the action. And we are a team that's really good at action games, so we want to create an extreme action game. So when we call a climax scene a climax scene, it's not just a climax scene. It's like, the extreme climax scene. It's not just something that you can sit back and press a button and get through; you have to be really into the game, and sweating, and drying your contact lenses while you're playing. That kind of serious gameplay.

1UP: For serious gamers.

HK: Like you!

1UP: When I first heard the news about Bayonetta, saw the trailer, talked with Sega, and they filled me in on the whole concept, I felt like, "Kamiya is making the game for me." Thank you! It's like, has anybody made a game just for you? A developer going through all of that trouble just for me? It feels so good!

HK: I had a lot of fun when I did the Okami interview, so I was looking for you when we were announcing the title.

1UP: I had a fever the day you had the Platinum Games announcement event.

HK: When I was creating this, I wondered "Will Mielke be happy about this?" Pressure.

1UP: Pressure relief! You should feel good about this game.

HK: I was thinking that I couldn't come back with just any old s*** for you, so I was feeling the pressure.

1UP: Okay, let's start the interview for real. Bayonetta is your latest action game. Okami had more of an action-adventure focus, but Bayonetta looks like it's pure action. What made you want to switch back into doing pure action? Was it that you wanted to keep yourself fresh and not repeat what you had just done?

HK: After establishing Platinum Games, we hadn't yet released any games, so first we had to create a game. But before doing that, we started to study games, study technology, and experiment with technology. That's what the dev people and programmers were doing. So the planners like me were like, "What should we do? Maybe we should focus on making game plans." So we went and did that, and we were thinking of two or three games every week. These days when I look at the market, I see games that are not 'direct' games, but kind of... abnormal? Not abnormal, but, not straightforward either. Everything has a twist to it. So, basically, I think the idea is that people are not confident enough to make straightforward games. That's why they add on stuff to create a game, so they don't have to compete with the people who make straightforward games.

1UP: Meaning, they don't have to compete on the same level. You make a racing game, we make a racing game.

HK: There's always a twist, so you don't have to be viewed as a straightforward racing game. In the beginning, I was trying to think of concepts for using the touch pad, or the motion sensor. I wasn't thinking about a straightforward game, but games that use those kinds of aspects. But back when [Yusuke] Hashimoto-san started at Platinum Games, he was still a designer, and he had designed effects for Devil May Cry. So we've worked together in the past too. He was still a designer, but he came up to me said, "I want to see another 3D action game created by you."

1UP: Good job! So how did somebody with no hair come up with a game based around hair attacks? Did a hair stylist attack you?

HK: [Laughing] Nice question. It's true. The attacks Bayonetta use is something that I cannot use, even if I tried. I can't make a contract agreement with monsters because I have no hair. Right from the beginning, the thing I felt very strongly was that I wanted the main girl to be a woman. Hair attacks are something that only a woman can do, it's a woman's beauty. So that's why I came up with the hair idea. The action games that I've created in the past were Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe, so I already created the male heroes that I wanted to create, so this time I felt strongly that he wanted to create a female main character. But I wanted to make a cool-ass woman doing cool-ass actions, so that was my motivation.

1UP: I like that motivation, it's a good one. It's interesting that you say that because, I'm not gonna bring up Capcom too much, but when I was interviewing Keiji Inafune over at Capcom about some other games like Lost Planet, Devil May Cry, whatever, I asked, "How come you don't have any female action heroines?" Because it seemed like they have all these cool female characters, but they're always supplemental, they're never the main character. And he said that the Capcom execs don't think that a female lead character is gonna sell. Obviously they've never heard of Tomb Raider, but I'm glad to see that you guys are working with a female action heroine, because that's even more fun. There's a contrast. You don't expect a female character to do all that cool, awesome stuff. You might expect that from Dante or something, but I think that contrast makes it even more powerful.

HK: I totally agree with you. You're already used to cool male characters doing cool actions, and what I wanted to deliver through this game was excitement. So when I thought about that, the thing that he came up with was using a cool female character with cool actions. But people have asked me "Wow, you're trying to sell a game with a female character. It has been very difficult in the past." But I don't really care about that because that's not what I think.

The reason I came up with this is that I think it's exciting, something very interesting to see, because I've never seen anything like that before; a cool female character doing something cool. And like, when I was creating Okami too, people in Capcom told him that maybe people will have a hard time feeling sympathy with the character since it's an animal. But that wasn't what I was thinking, I was just thinking, "If the main character is a wolf, that would be cool." And that's how I came up with the idea. But then I looked around and figured out that, "Oh, maybe this is new. Maybe people haven't done this in the past -- like, using an animal as a main character." But I just felt excitement there.

1UP: I can't imagine why people would have a hard time imagining a female as an awesome main character. I mean, women are beautiful. Would you really look at woman or would you rather look at a guy? And if you're playing one for however many hours...that was pretty much the inspiration for Tomb Raider when they were designing Lara Croft. The director of the game, Toby Gard, said, "If I'm gonna have to stare at the back of a character for nine or ten hours playing this game, I'd rather it be a girl." Just saying, this is not a new concept. You are, however, the first guy to create a character who's hair uncovers her body everytime she uses an attack, so you still have an edge.

HK: I strongly feel that women outside should dress like her. Like, when she does a hair attack, you'd see the skin. I want women to wear fashion like that.

1UP: That's a good idea...sometimes. Depends on the subject. Like, if you have a big, old lady, walking down the street, maybe you don't want to see her using flesh-revealing hair attacks. [Points at the laughing Sega and Platinum Games marketing ladies] Those guys over there, they can't control themselves, they're like, "Ahh ha ha!" So, since you're so good at creating action games, I have a hard time imagining a day in the life of Hideki Kamiya being anything but an action fest. When you get out of bed, and it's like, "Action wake-up!" And when you brush your teeth, you brush your teeth with the most action possible. And when you have breakfast, it's an "Action breakfast!" What's your average day like? Am I right?

HK: I basically don't move at all. I agree, in my brain, there are all these climaxes. But on the outside, I don't move. My favorite time is when I'm staying in my room, playing with my toys.

1UP: So, what you're saying is that you're living the life of a Zen Buddhist. Whereas in my imagination, you come to work on a parachute, and you land on the bridge outside, and then you're running around like James Bond, and you run down... And they have to replace the glass on your office everyday because you jump through it.

HK: If I was able to do all of those action moves that you just described, I would be totally satisfied with myself, and I wouldn't feel the need to create a game like this.

1UP: Why do you gotta mess with my fantasy?

HK: Well, you know, because I'm a quiet guy, I was able to come up with an action game like this. Because I have no hair, I was able to come up with this fabulous concept of the chick with the fabulous hair. So you should be happy about that.

1UP: I'm happy, very happy. At the Platinum Games event in May, my drunken coworker [Sam Kennedy] was talking to you, and he was asking you about the game, and you were like, "Oh, it's going to be the best action game ever." And he asked, "Oh why's that," and your answer was, "Because I'm making it." I love that quote. That's a good quote. But the reason that you said that, which you mentioned to him, was that all action games since the original Devil May Cry haven't really expanded the genre like you were hoping they would. Other games haven't picked up the baton and run with it, so to speak, and created new experiences. I guess in your opinion they've just kind of recycled the formula. Can you explain how you're going to reinvent the action genre, and how other games have failed to do what you want them to do?

HK: I don't know why the baton was dropped, but it is very true that I don't feel that anybody was like, "Oh my god, this guy created a game like Devil May Cry. We have to create something better." I never got that feeling from others, so I really don't know why no one picked up the baton.

Yusuke Hashimoto: Maybe that's because he wasn't creating the other games.

HK: So that's why the action genre hasn't been so good. But out of all those action titles, there's one game that I am paying really close attention to, that I think is a rival game, a good game, which is called God of War 3. So I guess they're working on the sequel? I want to make a game that exceeds God of War's sequel. That's one title that I'm paying attention to.

1UP: Well from what I know, some of the key GOW guys left. Cory Barlog, the guy who directed God of War II, then left, he might be down in Australia now, working on the new Mad Max game.

HK: Mad Max? Really?

1UP: I heard that he's working with George Miller, the creator of Mad Max and Road Warrior. Anyway, since I'm sure that you have opinions on various action games that have come into existence since the original Devil May Cry came out, I'm just going to name the games and I wanna see what your opinion is on each series. So, let's start with Devil May Cry.

HK: I wanted to do the sequel. I used to want to do the sequel, but now it's like, some other guy's chick. It's not my chick anymore. And my chick got fooled, and played all around from all over, so I don't want her anymore. I'm only concentrating on my current chick.

1UP: Shinobi.

HK: I've only played the original, the Mark 3 version, and I was playing it throughout my whole summer vacation because I wanted to see the ending. And then when I beat the final boss, and it just said, "Game Over," and went back to the opening, I was like, "Give me back my summer vacation!" So that's the memories that I have for Shinobi.

1UP: So Bayonneta better have the best ending, make it fourteen hours long. It'll be so long it has to have save points. [Laughs] Uh...Ninja Gaiden.

HK: I've never played Ninja Gaiden, and to be honest, I'm not that interested.

1UP: Why do you not find interest in it?

HK: The things that you get interested in are things that you feel something from them. Like on TV, or a movie, or a song, or whatever. You just feel something, and you get pulled into it, and then that's how you pick something up. But Ninja Gaiden just didn't have that power, so that's why I wasn't interested in it.

1UP: Okay. God of War?

HK: My impression is that it's very carefully made, the details are all carefully made. Devil May Cry was a bit rough, but I think that there's no roughness in God of War. I think that it's very well-made. So there's like a wall for your imagination or ideas, and when you're actually creating something, you don't even see the wall. But with GOW, I felt like I saw beyond the wall. So the GOW dev team's imagination and their ideas were like... beyond. That's something else that struck me. And also, I feel a bit bad about talking like somebody who is evaluating a game. But I felt like they created the game in a very good way which managed to bring in the users, they gave you a huge impactful feeling right in the beginning, and just drew you into the game. So I'm very impressed that they made the game like that.

YH: The level of the game was very high in general. So the things that you see in the game are things that you can't even imagine. The imagination is one step ahead of you.

HK: In this game, they were using a camera system that was on rails. The camera follows the character like they're on rail tracks. And so it makes the game really easy to play, and of course I was impressed by that. And there were people around me who were like, "Oh, you should use that camera." But it's not something that you can easily do. To create that kind of a system, you have to pile up a lot of technology, and study a lot, and research a lot, to be able to make a camera system like that. I was like "Okay, you guys appreciate the technology, but it's not that easy. Everything in the game is not easy to make." These guys were really serious about the creation, and they put in a lot of effort in it, and that's why that game came out so well. So yeah, I played GOW2 and the PSP version, and I feel that they were very well-made.

YH: There's a game that's caught Kamiya-san's interest lately. Would you like to hear about it?

1UP: Yes.

HK: Call of Duty 4.

1UP: Wow.

HK: I haven't even played it yet. But despite the fact that I haven't even played it, I'm strongly attracted to this game already.

1UP: You've gotta play it man. You've gotta play it. You think when you're watching it that it was exciting? When you're playing it you're like...all tense and stuff, because it's so good! There's a reason why it's sold millions of copies, it's because it's so good.

YH: I actually played it, and I felt "next-gen" in the game. Of course, Wii is next-gen too, but not that kind of next-gen. Like, the "real real next-gen," I felt that.

1UP: Between Bayonetta, and Mad World, the first two main console games, not including the handheld game you guys are doing, but the first two main console games that Platinum Games are making happen to be very violent, which is fine by me. Was this just coincidence, or were you guys thinking, "Okay, if we're going to put Platinum Games on the map, we have to come out of the gate swinging. We have to make a big statement."

HK: They don't have the intention of having our first two titles be violent games. We didn't have that kind of thought at all. We're also kind of surprised that both Mad World and Bayonetta are being viewed as both violent games in the same category because our impression of these two titles are totally different. Bayonetta is the very, very mainstream action game that I wanted to create. So after Devil May Cry, I made Viewtiful Joe and Okami, and those are games with flavor. I brought out the flavor of the game. So it's not like a mainstream game, but it's a game with taste. So for this one, I had this feeling that has built up inside me since Devil May Cry. I'm not satisfied with the other mainstream action games that are out there, and I wanted to create a real mainstream action game. So that's how I'm coming into this. Mad World is another flavorful type game, a game with taste in it. So we're viewing it as like totally different titles. Why Bayonetta is viewed like a violent title?

1UP: Well, I'm not trying to classify them together. I don't look at Mad World and Bayonetta and think that, "Oh they're the same game." Mad World looks more like Sin City meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre, whereas Bayonetta feel more like something from Underworld, you know with vampires and werewolves, as an action game. In both games there's obviously conflict. That doesn't mean that people are lumping them into the same category. But they're both action titles, and when you fight somebody, as long as you hit someone, it's violence. So don't read too much into my violence description, though. You getting tired yet? How's this interview going compared to your usual interviews?

HK: I'm having a good time. I like the questions you have.

1UP: Tell us a little bit about the story. She's fighting angels, but she's kind of in a world where she can see humans, but they can't see you. They can see your attacks, and they run in fear. So is she in a kind of purgatory level?

HK: Purgatory...

1UP: The space between heaven and hell. Like, you know, is she dead?

HK: Hmmm...that's a sharp question. That's the only thing that I can answer.

1UP: That's fine. I'm starting to get some ideas about where the story might be going. "Deadly Kiss" is one attack that she has. How many more sexy attacks does she have?

HK: So the whole, the theme of her attacks is "sexiness." So, when I was working on Dante's theme, his theme was "Coolness," and Viewtiful Joe's theme was "Beauty." So, when you punch somebody, you could do just a straightforward punch. But to make it cool, you have this one little move that makes it cool. That's the space that you have, a delay to an action to make that little one move cool. So that's what I kept working on with his previous characters, and it's the same with this one too, with Bayonetta. So what do I want Bayonetta to do, was the question? What I want her to do is to use that little space to make herself look sexy. I'm having fun with the team thinking, "So what should we do with Bayonetta to make her look sexy?" And they're like, "Oh, maybe this move might be good. This motion might be good." So that's what we're thinking right now.

1UP: Does that mean that we'll be able to see what you like in a girl by playing this game?

HK: Yes.

1UP: So if somebody has an idea for a sexy move -- like maybe she does a little hip check or something like that -- if Hashimoto-san has an idea like that, does he stand in front of you and go, "Hey check this out! Boom!" and performs the move for you?

HK: [Laughs] It's usually me that does it. I'm the one who does the actions and the moves and all that. If I'm trying to express a move, I'll do it, but then all the team members are like, "Hmm? We don't see it." I'm usually picturing a steamy hot woman doing the move, and I'm trying to do that, but I'm not actually able to convey that to the team, so it sometimes doesn't get across to the team. I experienced this before when I was making Devil May Cry. When Dante was doing a kick, I was showing it to the motion capture actors, and the actor was doing his kick, and I was like, "No, that's not what I want. I want him to do the kick like this, like in a very cool way." But it just didn't get across to the people, it just wasn't coming through. Then I found a mirror in the studio, and I saw myself doing the kick, and I was like, "Okay, I understand why you're not understanding the cool motion, because it's not coming out." But still, I'm trying really hard to get my thoughts across to people.

1UP: How many times do you have to try a sexy move before they get it?

HK: [Laughs] Seven or eight times.

1UP: Really? Does that make for some awkward moments for Hashimoto-san?

HK: It doesn't make such an awkward moment, sometimes it's just difficult for Hashimoto-san to understand it. He's just like, "Hmm, hmm, it doesn't do anything for me." So it probably comes down to what I like, and what Hashimoto-san likes, we have different tastes. What really strikes me is that when people see a chick from behind, what do they look for? Hashimoto-san and other people look at the ankles, but for me it's totally different. What strikes me is of course the face...

1UP: From behind!?

HK: Well yeah, from behind you can't see the face, but what strikes me is how the woman is standing, or the way they stand, instead of just the ankles.

1UP: You know, I've gotta say, I don't think you're being honest with me. Because when you're looking at a woman from behind, and you're trying to tell me that you're "looking at her face," I don't know if I buy that.

HK: Oh. [Laughs]

1UP: Oh. [Laughs]

HK: But anyway that's how we're creating Bayonetta's moves and all that, and that's actually the most fun part of this game, thinking about all that stuff. So you will be able to see what everybody in the team likes in a girl from the finished project.

1UP: So her outfit is completely hair? Because it looks like leather, but it's completely hair?

HK: Yes, completely hair. That means that she's actually naked, but naked because that's just hair, that's not clothing. She has strong magical powers, she's using her strength, her magical power to keep her hair on her body, to make it form an outfit. So when she gets weak or something, she might just lose her magical power, and if that happens...you know what that means.

1UP: [Laughs] I know what that means. It means players are going to deliberately weaken her half the time. I noticed that she had a different costume in different areas, so does that mean there are going to be costume changes, or other things that you can buy?

HK: Throughout the game, it's not like she's going to change costumes, to this one and that one. It's not going to go quite like that. But yeah, you had a sharp point there too, her wearing a different costume does mean something. It does have a meaning to the storyline.

1UP: What are you guys doing in terms of the voice acting? Because you're going through all of these efforts to make her very sexy. And usually Japanese voice overs are very, very professionally done, but once they get to America, the results are often inconsistent with the quality of the Japanese versions. And if a sexy chick doesn't sound right, then it just sounds bad.

HK: Actually, we've already finished voice recording, we just finished voice recording. We did it in L.A., and we're waiting for the data to arrive. But it's basically done. I'm very satisfied with the quality, and it seems like the actress pulled it off very nicely. And she did a very sexy job.

1UP: You said that she was very effective. When you were listening to the recording, and since she was so effective, you were having to wipe the sweat from your brow?

HK: Actually, there were times like that, because the actress herself was pretty hot too. A hot voice coming out of a hot woman.
From 1crap.com

I was skeptical of this game before. But seems like it's in good hand

It sounds really interesting, it's like Devil May Cry reinvented by its creator and finally adding something to the genre. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Z]

just show me a video already...
TGS?

[TEEDA]

Oh yeah ! want it too!!! and please make a hardcore frenzy GoD Hand 2 !!! looL I loved this game.

[Jay Gee]

HA! He hates Ninja Gaiden. Take that, Itagaki. Somebody out there has as much respect for your shit as you do for others. It's also cool that he reveres the God Of War games. Knowing that he wants to surpass that series make me anticipate his game that much more.

HK: When she does the two-step jumps, she's using the power that only women have, the beautiful power, the beauty in women.
I wondere if there any other "womanly abilities" Bayonetta has?

[AC!D]

Capcom were really stupid closing down Clover and letting these guys leave. This is gonna be an amazing game!

[Sephiroth_VII]

HK: Yes, completely hair. That means that she's actually naked, but naked because that's just hair, that's not clothing. She has strong magical powers, she's using her strength, her magical power to keep her hair on her body, to make it form an outfit. So when she gets weak or something, she might just lose her magical power, and if that happens...you know what that means.

1UP: [Laughs] I know what that means. It means players are going to deliberately weaken her half the time.

OMG, they read my mind!!! :look:

On a more serious note, this is one of the best interviews I've read recently, very relaxed. It has also officially hyped me for this game.

[cliffbo]

i don't know why (and even to me it makes no sense) i can't get excited about this game. i've read stuff and seen pics and it looks brilliant, but for some reason my enthusiasm is elsewhere at the moment

[VG Aficionado]

You still haven't seen gameplay or a proper trailer. But those who did behind closed doors were impressed.

[cliffbo]

You still haven't seen gameplay or a proper trailer. But those who did behind closed doors were impressed.

that's what i mean... it makes no sense. i don't understand why i'm not excited. at the moment i'm so taken aback with what PSN has to offer and the up-coming LBP that i simply can't think of much else. i honestly would buy a PS3 just for the PSN content and i mean that. no doubt this game will be brilliant though especially with the pedigree of the devs behind it.

[VG Aficionado]

Famitsu scans here (http://www.gamekyo.com/newsfr29147_bayonetta-nouvelles-images.html)

Really looking forward to the first trailer. Please be the true next gen DMC game.

[TEEDA]

Little video preview
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21762

[dnpmakkah]

Does she have that DOA/Ninja Gaiden one tone rubber colored skin?

[Rockmond]

Little video preview
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21762

LOL @ Her walking motions.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

LOL @ Her walking motions.

it's hysterical.

[GTShotoKen]

She gots da phat ass!!! :thumbl:

[yoshaw]

it's hysterical.

[Jay Gee]

Famitsu scans here (http://www.gamekyo.com/newsfr29147_bayonetta-nouvelles-images.html)

Really looking forward to the first trailer. Please be the true next gen DMC game.
sAL5ttCkFrQ
If Solja Boy's right about anything...it's THIS.

[Z]

that's the thing; Capcom games almost always 'look' great. I still remember that dancing sci-fi chick game on the cube. it looked awesome! it turned out so bad they didn't even bother importing it to PS2. also Chaos Legion looked good as well, but it was extremely shallow. I had fun with it, but it was one of those "one sitting and I had my fill" kind of games.

[Z]

okay, watched the vid. I don't understand how her entire body is covered by her hair- as they already said. she has zipperes and leather and what not.

[GTShotoKen]

Have you seen that f'ing walk?

[VG Aficionado]

that's the thing; Capcom games almost always 'look' great. I still remember that dancing sci-fi chick game on the cube. it looked awesome! it turned out so bad they didn't even bother importing it to PS2. also Chaos Legion looked good as well, but it was extremely shallow. I had fun with it, but it was one of those "one sitting and I had my fill" kind of games.

It's not a Capcom game, although it's being developed by the DMC creator and some ex-Capcom staffers.

[Z]

Capcom guys, Capcom published, Capcom game.

[VG Aficionado]

Some ex-Capcom guys, Sega published, Platinum Games game.

[Z]

what? Sega? I thought this was a Capcom published game.
shit, now my 'be aware!' alarm hit 100. I hate Sega.

[VG Aficionado]

I'm not too confident about that either. I guess I'll just trust their Capcom history won't disappoint.

Everyone who saw it behind closed doors had very good impressions, by the way.

[Hisham]

Platinum games has full control over the game (the ex-capcom staffers). Sega is only publishing, so I still have high hopes for the game. I mean, it is the dude who brought us the first DMC, so I think the game is in good hands.

[yoshaw]

I think the game is in good hands.

You are right.

Except for the fcukin walk. LOL, I mean .... jeez. It's gonna be there 90% of the time we move her around. They need to change that. It's not even sexy if you go by claims in the interview of platinum game guys.

[Z]

wha't wrong with the walk? I like the walk. a nice tight big ass swinging left and right infront of me make me feel fuzzy and warm inside. I don't have a problem with the walk. plus, this is what the title supposed to be; over the top Japanese crazy definition of 'cool' and 'out there'. her head hair is tied to her elbows and dangling like a horse's tale, for crying out loud. and I am still fine with that, because I 'get' their design angle.

I do half a problem if she was a guy. this brings to mind the two worst walks in history: TimeShift's hero walking at the end of the opening demo and WKC's hero sissy tip toe in the first video of the game. that, I don't like.

[yoshaw]

Z,
That walk is overblown. It's so overdone that it has lost its purpose. No matter how many times you watch it, wouldn't grow on you. Though, I am feeling like Ima gonna puke. That's not what I should be feeling after watching a fine woman flaunt her cheeks. This walk right here my friend is blasphemy, whereas it could very well be the stairway to heaven if done properly.

'nuff said!

[Z]

look at it this way; you'll be running 90% of the time anyway. ;)

[TEEDA]

Lol. Beauty & the beast in MGS4 walked approximatively the same way.

[Jay Gee]

Z,
That walk is overblown. It's so overdone that it has lost its purpose. No matter how many times you watch it, wouldn't grow on you. Though, I am feeling like Ima gonna puke. That's not what I should be feeling after watching a fine woman flaunt her cheeks. This walk right here my friend is blasphemy, whereas it could very well be the stairway to heaven if done properly.

'nuff said!
LMAO so wrong.:DDD

[yoshaw]

haha, well a lil toning down wouldn't be that bad. If you guys are so intent on having this. Not like I can even ask Kamiya san to alter it. lol

[VG Aficionado]

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/10/04/pc_fc_n_gs/b01.jpg

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/10/04/pc_fc_n_gs/b02.jpg

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/10/04/pc_fc_n_gs/b03.jpg

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/10/04/pc_fc_n_gs/b04.jpg

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/10/04/pc_fc_n_gs/b05.jpg

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/__icsFiles/artimage/2008/10/04/pc_fc_n_gs/b06.jpg

Note the lack of clothes when doing the special attack in the third pic :look:

[Gummy]

don't mind me.
:wank:

[yoshaw]

don't mind me.
:wank:
:lol:

SCANS

[VG Aficionado]

=-o

[Gummy]

i love how she's always kicking.
I'm just going to kick throughout the game.

[GTShotoKen]

From my experience with a few titles, Japanese artists seem to have very odd styles of representing proportion and height. She looks very tall (and lanky at times), but I bet if they made a bio of her; she would only be 5'8 at the most (very prevalent in mangas).

I'm still lovin the hips though (finally, a Japanese guy who admires the right body part).

[Z]

define "bio" this instant!
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa188/shmookins/emos/200772722485114255.gif

by the way, I like over the top boss fights. I need to see a clear and direct gameplay video of this.

2 more days and 13 hours to go!

[LaLiLuLeLo]

define "bio" this instant!
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa188/shmookins/emos/200772722485114255.gif

by the way, I like over the top boss fights. I need to see a clear and direct gameplay video of this.

2 more days and 13 hours to go!

Hey man no need to throw chairs.
Character background/vitals/favorite foods...

[Z]

ah, the only bio in my book is followed by 'hazard'. drum dum dish. http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa188/shmookins/emos/93a594c3351f1251b319a8a2.gif

[LaLiLuLeLo]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v368/Lalilulelo/gifs/But_its_wrong.gif
Fantastic.

[GTShotoKen]

TGS 08 trailer (http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21934)

[Hisham]

LMFAO at rings popping out of the enemies.

I guess that is the currency of the world (like red orbs in DMC).

[Z]

well, it is sure as hell stylized.

[JasonXe]

Her real name is Sarah "Bayonetta" Palin

[Segitz]

Looking good...

I like it how they don't shy away from sex... (like what the american devs usually do, no offense)

When is this going to come out?

[Red_Eyes]

Very intense.

[Gummy]

that laugh she made sounded familiar...
the camera swooped under her vagina... lol wow


looks nice tho

I'm surprised the rings didn't sound like Sonic's rings

[OG_Monkey]

she needs more bust

[Rockmond]

she needs more bust

Indeed.

[Sephiroth_VII]

Here's to hoping for customizable T&A size, I want to bring it down a few notches :(

[VG Aficionado]

I liked the trailer. It doesn't look like a DMC killer, or maybe not yet, but it's pretty much what I expected. There are some screenshots floating around that don't make it justice though.

[Jay Gee]

She's perfect. She doesn't need tits, we got enough of those in games now. There's never been any real focus on hips/ass for female heroines of any 3D game I know of.

Hideki Kamiya, you may proceed...

[yoshaw]

:lol:

[GTShotoKen]

HD direct-feed TGS 08 trailer here:

Gameryde (http://www.gamersyde.com/news_7260_en.html)

[VG Aficionado]

Crotch!

[cliffbo]

why does that trailer end with Xbox 360 LIVE and Playstation 3? has MS struck yet another deal for DLC?

[VG Aficionado]

why does that trailer end with Xbox 360 LIVE and Playstation 3? has MS struck yet another deal for DLC?

Don't see things where they aren't.

[OmniCloud]

Devil May Cry, with scantily clad protagonist, revealing herself throughout the game and encouraging gamers to develop boners from digital erotic devil sluts.

umm..I think I'm gonna spend my money elsewhere:shrug:

[Z]

why does that trailer end with Xbox 360 LIVE and Playstation 3? has MS struck yet another deal for DLC?

every single 360 games is 'live'. it is one of the requirement to put your game on 360. it certainly doesn't mean online multiplayer, but it does mean it has to have some sort of online thing- like leader boards and what have you.

[chartwel]

i cant wait to try this game out. the action looked over the top and i like that. more action games (that are enjoyable) the better. hopefully this one is.