Sega Puts Bayonetta 2 in Stasis

[Therumancer]

Not really applicable here. A conspiricy theory requires a large group of people to be working covertly towards a specific end that would otherwise be opposed. What I'm saying isn't really covert as Obama and Hillary have been quite public on using video games as a scapegoat:

And you follow up with a bunch of links one needs to piece together some hidden truth, though the links themselves hardly support anything close to that which is alleged.

In other words: Conspiracy theory.

Untrue, as nobody is conspiring.

Obama and key members of his staff are on record as being anti-video game. This is true. He's moving into a second term presidency where if he is elected he won't have to worry about re-election... also true.

Yes, I am espousing a theory that Sega and other video game companies are making policy based on the expected climate, which is something businesses in general tend to do. You might not agree with my theory, but it is not a conspiricy theory or even especially whacked.

Now, if I alleged that Obama was working behind the scenes with a bunch of other people to get this game in paticular banned, it would be what your alleging. In this case though he's in a position where as the President he doesn't NEED to engage in conspiricies for this kind of thing.

 

[Therumancer]

Bayonetta was an interesting game, I liked it more than I thought I would.

That said, having just finished listening to Bob's "Big Picture" video for this week, I have gaming politics on my mind, and I wouldn't be surprised if finances have less to do with it than you might think.

Bayonetta was actually pretty well received, it didn't have majority dislike, just a lot of vocal people who like to QQ about the artwork of women in fantasy and games like the DOA franchise who jumped on this game as well. It rated well, sold really well in Japan apparently, and made money internationally. A sequel would be safe money under most circumstances.

However a second term by Obama might be a very unfriendly enviroment for any kind of video game with potentially touchy content. He won't have to worry about re-election, and his still carrying around Hillary with him apparently. Video games are one of his favorite scapegoats to avoid other issues when discussing everything from social policy to children's health. The president can't set policy but he CAN influance it, and a second term of Obama will have him looking to set down a legacy, and going after video games are a "safe" target for him to try and do so.

So basically I wouldn't be surprised if Sega and other publishers are laying low with projects like this until theyknow what is going to happen. Elections favor the incumbant, so the odds are things could go badly for a game like this.

If Mitt wins, you'll probably see this project and others picked up again by coincidence. Not so much because Mitt is some bastion of tolerance for extreme and fringe media, but being in his first term he won't be willing to throw down on issues like that in a big way for four years at least.

Yeah, that's pretty much complete horseshit, sorry. This is straight up about money, as it usually is with Sega.

Edit: Also, if you think that people in either camp (Obama or Romney) are even aware of Bayonetta's existence, you're on crack. Metaphorically speaking. If a game is going to be their whipping boy, they're going to choose one that has general name recognition in the public - a Call of Duty, or Grand Theft Auto. Something where they can talk about "how many kids are playing it" and how it's more accessible than movies. Bayonetta, tiny little game that it is, doesn't further their cause in any way.

Well, I disagree with you. They wouldn't make a position out of Bayonetta specifically, but if the Obama/Clinton alliance decides to take a solid anti video games position in Obama's second term and push for more regulation/censorship/standards, ANY game that is based around sex or graphic violence would be in trouble.

It's unlikely those pushing for this would ever mention Bayonetta by name, but it's an expensive product with a niche audience that might wind up getting hammered in the crossfire due to it's content, meaning that if it does, they stand to lose the money invested.

A game can be affected by policies, without being directly targeted.

I'd agree with you, if I knew SEGA was doing something similarly based on titilation around the same time period that was still going through, but I don't see that at the moment.

Basically, I think Sega is playing it safe given it's relatively vulnerable position and the possibility for a change in the market based around game content over the next couple of years.

 

[Therumancer]

However a second term by Obama might be a very unfriendly enviroment for any kind of video game with potentially touchy content. He won't have to worry about re-election, and his still carrying around Hillary with him apparently. Video games are one of his favorite scapegoats to avoid other issues when discussing everything from social policy to children's health. The president can't set policy but he CAN influance it, and a second term of Obama will have him looking to set down a legacy, and going after video games are a "safe" target for him to try and do so.

So basically I wouldn't be surprised if Sega and other publishers are laying low with projects like this until theyknow what is going to happen. Elections favor the incumbant, so the odds are things could go badly for a game like this.

If Mitt wins, you'll probably see this project and others picked up again by coincidence. Not so much because Mitt is some bastion of tolerance for extreme and fringe media, but being in his first term he won't be willing to throw down on issues like that in a big way for four years at least.

You're blaming Obama for Bayonetta 2 being put on hold?

More accuratly I'm saying that his attitude towards video games and approaching second term has a chance of changing the market as far as the availibility of games with "extreme" content goes. We've already seen this battle going on right now, back and forth, but what happens when Obama doesn't have to worry about re-election? Is he going to try and make a legacy out of one of his favorite whipping boys?

Businesses are heavily based around trying to predict the market, and whether it happens or not this represents a risk, as companies need to be thinking now about what the market is going to be like in a year or two. Having a Bayonetta on the market when there is potentially going to be a huge game content fiasco could very well be a bad thing even if the game itself is not directly targeted. It's easier to wait a year and then start development when they feel more confident of the product not running into any indirect problems.

Really, I think people should think about what I'm saying a bit more. You and Susan seem to be under the impression that I'm saying there is a personal crusade by Obama against Bayonetta, when that's hardly the case. There is however a tendency for Obama and his administration to use video games as a catch all boogie man, and if he wins he's going to be in a second term, which is when Presidents are most likely to try and set lasting policies. I don't think it's a stretch that he, and his people, might very well go after video games since it's already one of their "go to" bad guys.


I mean fine, feel free to disagree with me, but please, don't try and inject a level of insanity into what I say that isn't actually there.

 

[Therumancer]

He won't have to worry about re-election, and his still carrying around Hillary with him apparently.

The president can't set policy but he CAN influance it, and a second term of Obama will have him looking to set down a legacy, and going after video games are a "safe" target for him to try and do so.

If he won't have to worry about re-election why would he need a "safe" target to try and set down a legacy with? Not really following your logic here friend.

Because he wants to try and do something, and if he picks a battle that he doesn't think is in his favor it can taint his entire legacy through him failing.

See, if Obama decides to try and make the streets safer by say getting a lot of the whackos off the street so kids can go outside and play or whatever, he's going to run into all kinds of massive civil liberties protests, from the people (his own party) that helped create these problems to begin with. National pressure to do something as simple as make Drug Dealers easier to convict can cause a lot of problems.

On the other hand video games don't have any kind of civil liberties connotations in the same way. What's more there is already a pretty substantial group of people primed against them and ready to support him, what's more it's an issue that goes accross parties. He throws his support behind some variety of game censorship and wins, he can claim he's responsible for improving society through everything from the crime rate, to children's health, due to all the allegations against video games. It's a valid target, and one he's been using before.



The point here being that from the position of SEGA they probably don't want to take the risk of a game like Bayonetta being on the market at the time Obama might be pushing this. I'd guess they figure that they can always pick it up later if the market seems like it's not going to be in the midst of content-related turmoil.

 

[Leemaster777]

Dammit. I loved Bayonetta. It's easily my favorite hacky-slashy action game of this generation.

I hope this eventually sees the light of day.

 

[Inkidu]

Yeah, it wasn't that good. Personal taste aside a lot of the actual mechanics lacked polish, balance, and usefulness. Oh, and the story was bollocks.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't really remember the first game, except for a constant, drawn out feeling of "ehhh". The sex appeal (?) didn't really grab me, and the gameplay was always lackluster. So, while I won't be the IP's target, I wouldn't mind seeing if the series improved a little.

And, kind of off topic but still kind of important, didn't she beat god in the last one? What else does one do after that? Go on a self introspective journey while using your body hair to scare demons to death?

 

[80Maxwell08]

https://twitter.com/#!/PG_inaba/status/197167942587252736

I don't think its cancelled.

Um why is Bayonetta photoshopped in front of one of the antagonists of Vanquish? Huh well that would be an odd crossover.

 

[KingofallCosmos]

Well, loved the first one, but I wasn't waiting for a sequel. Bring on the kool new IP's, go Platinum!

 

[SanguineSymphony]

and there was only one song,

The Actual OST is 5 Discs in length... Quite a bit more content than One Song.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

I never played it, but it did seem really interesting. It's too bad, I would have probably tried the sequel.

It might be worth pointing out that over here in Europe at least, you could find first hand copies of Bayonetta going for ?15 or less a year after launch, so you could give it a try pretty cheap by now if you still want to give it a whirl.

 

[Xiroh86]

Now I did not see anyone mention this, but Platinum Games is currently working with Kojima Production, and Kojima himself, on Metal Gear Rising: Revengance, and like him or not (and I do), Kojima is going to make sure, by any means necessary, that the story he has in mind will be delivered!

How this relates to Sega "selving" Bayonetta 2: Sega could easily look at the Bioshock 2 situation where a separate developer made Bioshock 2, and received very little praise. Sega could simply be waiting for Platinum Games to be free to develop Bayonetta 2, or they could even be waiting to see how well Metal Gear Rising is received.

That's my take on the situation.

 

[GeorgW]

I never played it, but it did seem really interesting. It's too bad, I would have probably tried the sequel.

It might be worth pointing out that over here in Europe at least, you could find first hand copies of Bayonetta going for ?15 or less a year after launch, so you could give it a try pretty cheap by now if you still want to give it a whirl.

I may do that sometime, but I've just got too many games to play right now. First world problems!

 

[boag]

Damn shame, worst yet they still keep making SANIC DA HEGEHAG games.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

Nooooooooooooitwasthebestdevilmaycrygameever!!!!!!

Of course, I'm used to being disappointed by the actions of Sonic Team, so....business as usual.

 

[J.d. Scott]

This is sort of depressing. The story was reprehensibly stupid, but the ludicrously over the top heroine, and delightfully quick hack and slash action (at higher difficulties, it's almost insanely fast) made the game a lot of fun (it didn't hurt that Sega/Platinum put enough fanservice in to choke a horse - both of the costume removal variety, and the two levels that were obvious Sega references).

It definitely deserves a sequel. Maybe Sega will let the IP loose. I'd love to see what they do under another umbrella (with more titles to reference...)

 

[TurtleCannon]

There are no words to describe my anger and disappointment in that. Bayonetta is one of my top 3 games I've ever played and i was uber excited for the sequel. I did have my doubts there actually would be a second game, but that's only because of the whole fighting the creator of the universe thing.

 

[Something Amyss]

Untrue, as nobody is conspiring.

Conspiracy theories usually feature nobody conspiring. For example, you have to take articles you've posted as anti-video games when the quotes really aren't. I had friends try and parse the quotes for any real anti-video game sentiment and there is none. You're assembling a litany of quotes which only work if there's some double-secret hidden meaning.

 

[Therumancer]

Untrue, as nobody is conspiring.

Conspiracy theories usually feature nobody conspiring. For example, you have to take articles you've posted as anti-video games when the quotes really aren't. I had friends try and parse the quotes for any real anti-video game sentiment and there is none. You're assembling a litany of quotes which only work if there's some double-secret hidden meaning.

If they feature nobody conspiring then they are by definition not conspiricy theories, despite the general desire of people to want to slap that label onto just about anything they don't like to discredit it by negative association.

As far as the articles I posted, and there are plenty more in a similar vein, they speak for themselves. If you and your friends want to try and spin them in your own minds in a way that doesn't have the Obama administration taking an anti-video game position, then nothing your shown is going to matter because you will not accept it by definition. Hillary was running point on Hot Coffee, and Obama has come out as using video games as a scapegoat for youth issues, there really isn't any way around that, what they've done, and what their message is, no matter how you want to try and "parse" or spin it.

Of course I don't expect much said in message board to really influance the love the general population of this sit has for the left wing and current administration. I just bring things like this up when I feel it has some relevency. In this case I do not think SEGA agrees with you, and in forecasting the market is deciding to play it unusually safe with their content given the odds being on Obama's administration entering a second term.