Strip Bayonetta in These Innovative Japanese Ads

[John Funk]

Strip Bayonetta in These Innovative Japanese Ads

Bayonetta's Japanese launch is right around the corner, and Sega's marketing machine is on the warpath with these ads found in Shinjuku featuring the eponymous main character wearing fliers for the game that can be pulled off.

Imagine if you were hanging out in Shinjuku Station (the busiest train station in the world, according to the Guinness World Records) when you happened across the Bayonetta ads you see here. Each of the ads is six feet long, and features an image of the game's main character (also named Bayonetta) in an alluring pose. That's nothing new, right? Sex sells, after all.

What is inventive - and actually kind of cool - is that Bayonetta's body is covered with tiny little fliers that can be peeled off with information that allows the user to access a special Bayonetta cell phone site, presumably to get gamers pumped for the Oct. 26th release date.

While there's no way to tell what she's got on under the fliers, the bare skin on her arms and legs and the phrases on the ads - "This women, she's the scent of taboo" on the top and "If you didn't peel it off, it would have been a peaceful day" on the bottom - lead us to hazard a guess that she isn't wearing much. But if horny Japanese gamers are going to see it, they've got to take all the fliers off! Which means that they need to get all their friends to take a flier apiece, which means free advertising for the game.

Or, barring that, they could just pull all of the fliers off and dump them in the garbage. Combined with the fact that it probably took a while to put all the fliers on the poster in the first place, I don't know if this ad was the greatest idea. Cool, yes. Practical ... maybe not so much.

Bayonetta, by the way, received a perfect 40/40 score in major Japanese game mag Famitsu earlier this week. Wonder how that'll impact sales when it comes out next Monday.

(Via Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5388353/uncover-these-covered-bayonetta-ads])

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[ae86gamer]

Whoever peels it off first will automatically be called a pervert. XD

 

[Kasawd]

Whoever peels it off first will automatically be called a pervert. XD

Totally worth it.

 

[Cuniculus]

Whoever peels it off first will automatically be called a pervert. XD

Totally worth it.

Nobody cares in Japan. They all hustle to the top floor porn shops together anyway. I doubt anyone would be embarrassed on main street.

 

[Pendragon9]

Not such a good marketing idea, if only because

Or, barring that, they could just pull all of the fliers off and dump them in the garbage

I really can't imagine someone who wouldn't do this.

 

[MovieBob]

Part of me wants to grouse about how this is just more objectification of women in video game culture, but it's overwhelmed by the part of me that senses that the makers/sellers of Bayonetta "get it" and that overt sexualization in this franchise seems to be meant at least partially tongue in cheek... sort of like some of Go Nagai's stuff where the angle is "yes, it's a joke that the girls have to get naked for their 'powers' to work, but is that REALLY that far removed from the gratuitous nudity in the no-parody versions of the same?" I mean, it seems pretty clear that they're somewhat taking the piss out of women-in-genre-fiction fetishism; right down to mounting guns on the standard wholly-impractical-action-girl-heels.

Also, if nothing else, I'll give them credit for making the title character "unconventionally hot" for a game pin-up... at least in the sense that she has hips and features that suggest an actual, healthy woman instead of the "elongated 12 year-old with DD-implants" ideal we typically see (looking at YOU chick-from-"X-Blades.")

 

[protogenxl]

How does she fire the guns on her shoes? I don't see any of the devices hypothesized by Yahtzee, Matt, and Yug.

 

[Textbook Bobcat]

Part of me wants to grouse about how this is just more objectification of women in video game culture, but it's overwhelmed by the part of me that senses that the makers/sellers of Bayonetta "get it" and that overt sexualization in this franchise seems to be meant at least partially tongue in cheek... sort of like some of Go Nagai's stuff where the angle is "yes, it's a joke that the girls have to get naked for their 'powers' to work, but is that REALLY that far removed from the gratuitous nudity in the no-parody versions of the same?" I mean, it seems pretty clear that they're somewhat taking the piss out of women-in-genre-fiction fetishism; right down to mounting guns on the standard wholly-impractical-action-girl-heels.

Also, if nothing else, I'll give them credit for making the title character "unconventionally hot" for a game pin-up... at least in the sense that she has hips and features that suggest an actual, healthy woman instead of the "elongated 12 year-old with DD-implants" ideal we typically see (looking at YOU chick-from-"X-Blades.")

I think you're placing far too much faith in them.

In general I believe the gaming industry to be getting more stupid, both consumer and producer alike. Five years ago I would happily entertain the thought that it's self mocking, but with the likes of Tecmo's marketing campaign and Namco following closely behind I just think the market has learnt to appeal to the idiots.

By becoming idiots themselves.

 

[John Funk]

How does she fire the guns on her shoes? I don't see any of the devices hypothesized by Yahtzee, Matt, and Yug.

Her clothing is made out of her hair.

You're overthinking it a bit, I feel.

 

[protogenxl]

How does she fire the guns on her shoes? I don't see any of the devices hypothesized by Yahtzee, Matt, and Yug.

Her clothing is made out of her hair.

You're overthinking it a bit, I feel.

Yahtzee, Matt, and Yug hypothesized several control devices like a remote in her [EXPLICATIVE DELETED] for the right shoe and a remote in her [EXPLICATIVE DELETED] for the left shoe before we knew that her hair was par.............

Why am I explaining this?

 

[Worsle]

Part of me wants to grouse about how this is just more objectification of women in video game culture, but it's overwhelmed by the part of me that senses that the makers/sellers of Bayonetta "get it" and that overt sexualization in this franchise seems to be meant at least partially tongue in cheek... sort of like some of Go Nagai's stuff where the angle is "yes, it's a joke that the girls have to get naked for their 'powers' to work, but is that REALLY that far removed from the gratuitous nudity in the no-parody versions of the same?" I mean, it seems pretty clear that they're somewhat taking the piss out of women-in-genre-fiction fetishism; right down to mounting guns on the standard wholly-impractical-action-girl-heels.

Also, if nothing else, I'll give them credit for making the title character "unconventionally hot" for a game pin-up... at least in the sense that she has hips and features that suggest an actual, healthy woman instead of the "elongated 12 year-old with DD-implants" ideal we typically see (looking at YOU chick-from-"X-Blades.")

I think you're placing far too much faith in them.

In general I believe the gaming industry to be getting more stupid, both consumer and producer alike. Five years ago I would happily entertain the thought that it's self mocking, but with the likes of Tecmo's marketing campaign and Namco following closely behind I just think the market has learnt to appeal to the idiots.

By becoming idiots themselves.

From watching the demo (I mean it is called the first climax, come on) and all the clips I have seen I would be very surprised if tongue where not very firmly planted in cheeks. Really people are forgetting how it is exactly who is making this game, if okami does not buy you some leeway I don't know what does. Though really if this is not in part taking the piss then it is worryingly close to my sense of humour by pure accident and I am not sure what to think about that.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Well, compared to other recent Japanese game adverts that have articles in the news room, this is downright normal. Then again, compared to your typical TV advert this is still strange.

 

[Teh_Doomage]

Those crazy Japanese with they're awesome marketing style....

 

[Loop Stricken]

From watching the demo (I mean it is called the first climax, come on) and all the clips I have seen I would be very surprised if tongue where not very firmly planted in cheeks.

Yes, but...

which cheeks?

 

[Textbook Bobcat]

From watching the demo (I mean it is called the first climax, come on) and all the clips I have seen I would be very surprised if tongue where not very firmly planted in cheeks. Really people are forgetting how it is exactly who is making this game, if okami does not buy you some leeway I don't know what does. Though really if this is not in part taking the piss then it is worryingly close to my sense of humour by pure accident and I am not sure what to think about that.

Maybe the general overtone of the industry is causing new levels of cynicism to rise in me. I hope I'm wrong.

I hope it is a good game. I know Famitsu rave, but critical opinion has too fallen in my opinion due to the prevelance of varying forms of bribery - direct or indirect.

Sigh, perhaps I'm just becoming a misery.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

I'm tempted to visit Japan when I'm free to go wherever I want, just to see their view on the world and explicit content.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

Ok, ignoring the inventive advertising...

40/40? From Famitsu? This is the twelfth game ever to receive a perfect score from that magazine? Maybe this isn't the derivative DMC clone I had it pegged as since I first heard of that.

 

[The Rockerfly]

I do love Japan sometimes
What a weird and wonderful world

 

[Lordpils]

Unless there's a message hidden underneath that says "You ripped them all off didn't you?"

Honestly that would be worth it.

On the topic of Bayonetta, I'm REALLY skepitcal of how good this game supposedly is I've heard this thing hyped to hard that there is no way I'm going to buy it before renting it.