Clover Studios is ANGRY at you for not buying Okami (or Godhand)
 

So some of you may remember a little game developer called Clover studios, some of you may never have heard of them. Inaba and co moved on and started a new group called Platinum Games. Seems like Sega's going to publish their first titles.


Wii is getting the hyper-violent black-and-white cartoon action game MadWorld

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...GFF/Plat01.png

YouTube Video
Error; are you sure that's a YouTube link?

While PS360 is getting an equally hilarious looking Bayonetta.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...GFF/Plat02.png

Teaser on gametrailers.


I have no doubt these games will be fun and fresh, but you can't help wondering if this is their way of begrudgingly conforming to what target audiences want, all the while taking the piss on us. These games look really freaking awesome, but I wonder how much of MadWorld stems from frustration and the age-old joke that gamers just want violence in their games.



EDIT:

Oh, and a sci-fi RPG for the DS, called Infinite Line!

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.jo...concept490.jpg

Infinite Line RPG announced for DS - Joystiq

OOOOOOOhhh all 3 look good.

eh, I pirated both titles in the thread title.

Given that the dude doing Infinite Line also produced Clock Tower and worked on Steel Battalion, shit will be awesome. Bayonetta is done by Hideki Kamiya, so if you liked Devil May Cry, chances are adding tits to the equation or video game overlay won't leave you too upset. As for MadWorld, that shit looks off the hook. Chainsaw arm, rargh.

tl;dr: I'd say the games look fine... but we haven't seen any footage of them in action, now have we?

So wait I thought the Clover heads disbanded and formed Seeds, not Platinum Games. I thought their plan was to become a developer/publisher too. So, what happened to that?

Oh wait nevermind. Found the article on Joystiq. Well either way glad to see their development is back.

Uh, this all somehow isn't development/publishing, Southjag?

Considering the developer, all of them could be interesting... I don't have a Wii yet, so that reduces my options by one. I'm most interested in Infinite Line anyway. The most interesting thing to me is that I keep on hearing that nobody bought Okami, but everyone talks about it so... who exactly didn't buy it?

The same thing happened with Beyond Good and Evil, Soluzar. So who didn't buy it? I'd wager to say the majority of consumers. There's a lot of talent behind all three of these games, and (not directed at you, Soluzar) really nothing is out of line with Clover's development philosophy so I don't see the need to complain about the visual direction when we all expect good games from them. It isn't like they've turned Viewtiful Joe into Viewtiful Bayonetta. There's no betrayal here at all, just a butt hurt hipster it seems.

Well, that the gaming media and three message boards praise a game sadly doesn't mean everyone else bought it. As much as people will always gush about Sands of Time, Beyond Good & Evil and Okami, they all did relatively poorly. Same way "everyone" will tell you they freaking loved Shadow of the Colossus, but it won't show in the sales.

Alternatively, the level of internet banter regarding GTA4 is completely at odds with just how many people have bought the game.

A> Godhand was shit. Give me an etch-a-sketch, pen and paper, graphing calculator, whatever and I'll prove it.

B> Okami was pretty. That's about all it had going for it. Otherwise it was pretty dull.

That means that Clover can be mad all day long. Doesn't matter. I'll give them props for doing something graphically, but if that's their aim then they should get out of the gaming business. Same shit happened with WARP.

Depends on what you mean by "begrudgingly conforming". What would you rather them "conform" to? Your tastes or mine? I'd prefer them to "conform" to my tastes. Make a solid game by the means necessary. Seems like they're on the right track.

I'd like for you to explain a bit. Seems like you're repeating an in joke that I'm not aware of.

The impetus of Clover "conforming" was set in motion the moment they set out to make "Zelda with Water Color" and "Quirky Otaku Game with Plenty of Anime Cliches".

I don't care about that Bullet Witch game. Never really got into Devil May Cry, so DMC with tits and deadly stilettos probably isn't gonna do it for me. I imagine it'll disregard subtlety and grace for an all out action fest similar to the cheaply produced anime that litters late night TV.

MadWorld looks... interesting. Looks like a take on No More Heroes and God Hand. Wacky humor? Check. "Distinct" art style? Check. Beat 'em up? Check. Will I check it out? Probably.

Infinite Line sounds promising. Attention to detail, stupidly large scale drawings of the games ships with indecipherable highlights, ship customization, exploration, ship to ship battles. The director has strong ties to good story telling (Clock Tower) and great simulation (Steel Batallion). This is the most promising of the three games announced.

And it's on the DS.

That means it has the biggest chance of being profitable and has the largest market to adopt it. That's the best way to "conform". Release a space sim RPG on a little white glossy handheld!

I pirated Godhand and rented Okami.


But I bought Okami second-hand off a goon. ~$25 and it had what look like dog bite-marks on the cover. Cute ='D

I'd think not. Platinum Games will be developing those titles, but Sega's taking care of publishing them. Much in the same way Free Radical's developing Haze and Ubisoft is publishing it for them.

Ah, quite right. Right as you are, I will say that outsourcing development is cool with me though, since it actually means Sega has its name attached to more things potentially awesome these days.

I was trying not to underline the obvious "So you guys want more blood, huh" explanation. I see one or two people didn't see it that way :(

Well, the guy who's been on the Devil May Cry team is making a Devil May Cry-esque game.

Atsushi Inaba, the guy who did Okami and God Hand, is heading up MadWorld. A visually striking action/beat'em up game.

So, by "obvious" do you mean, "These guys are making games for a new company largely in line with the games they made for the old company?"

Seems like they made the jump to SEGA without much of a problem. One would think that, you, a fan of Okami and God Hand, would be happy that the creator is working on a new title that is very much keeping with his design aesthetic.

EDIT

Ohhai.

That Infinite Line game is based on an Arthur C Clarke story.

Epic Win.

^ I am totally happy with God Hand, Okami-esque games. Infinite Line sounds fantastic! A pity Madworld is for the wii...that means I won't pick it up.

Whoah whoah, I am happy they're making new games, where does it say I'm not? I wouldn't make a thread for a game if I wasn't excited about it.

Help me out here someone, I mean I put the potted plant there and everything. Was I supposed to use more winking smilies or what? :(

Calling them sellouts carries negative connotations.

Just sayin...

I.. didn't?

You did.

I really didn't, but I mean obviously I must be in the wrong here what with my words and all and no one's misinterpreting anything.

So let's reshape it into something even you can grasp.

Since when has "conforming to the masses" not been selling out?

"Begrudgingly conforming?" "Taking the piss on us?" That's cute, exactly how do I interpret your statements? "Clover had to reform into Platinum studios, guys. They're possibly, at least I think so, mad at us, so they designed visually striking games but [still somehow not] to the standards of today's brown next generation visual market because they had to close down at Capcom because their artsy games didn't sell", is that how I'm supposed to interpret it? Your wit would work here if you didn't have a very curious, hipster-esque statement going on up there, especially when someone already asked for an explanation and you're showing how good you are at reverse bicycle riding.

Ok, I don't know what the hell you want from me.

He asked for an explanation and I explained it. You start yipping at me for trying to make excuses when there's a god damn misunderstanding I didn't notice. I guess I worded this hipster-escue statement much worse than I realized and it came out something that really pisses you off.

I worded it for you differently. Shouldn't be any indication of negative feelings towards Clover in that one. If that's backpedaling, then you have deep personal issues you need to sort out somewhere away from me.

If this is the former Clover Studios team being angry at us, I say we start pissing on their family and setting their houses on fire.

THIS IS AWESOME.

I don't want to mingle with you lot too much, but I get what Qwarky meant with the opening statement--it's like they're basically going "you want violence, huh? We'll give you violence, you little ingrate shit, we'll give you your violence, don't worry."

Anyway... it's awesome. I'm pumped. Bring on the media!

Considering they were already giving us violence, these are the guys behind Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, again... whatever. That's a pretty empty statement.

What do I want from you Qwarky? Maybe less damage control and editing, possibly some more meaningful explanation? Exposure works, I guess, in this case. Like old film or a shitty heavyweight boxer in case you're confused. Especially considering how awesome some of those newly edited posts of yours above me are. Yipping? Just consider me sick of video game hipsters.

Since the formation of the english language has allowed us to choose many different words to mean many different things?

I bought and FUCKING adored God Hand. I loved how it was violent but just so much fun and unique in how it played out. I still play it every now and then. Haven't played or bough Okami yet.

I lack both a wii or any other next gen console but more games from Clover people is always a good thing. I'll be watching as any more news comes about.

Man, I saw the picture from MadWorld and I was all jazzed for some classy Film Noir-esque stuff. Looks like that badboy is more in line for the people who liked GodHand, and I'm sure that group will love it.

A Devil May Cry clone with a hot chick. All right, so long as it doesn't turn out like BloodRayne.

And a Sci-Fi RPG? So long as it doesn't turn out like XenoSaga II.

Other than those, hey, always good to see the Clover boys doing something. Even when I don't like their stuff, I can generally appreciate what they were trying to do.

They all seem awesome. The sad part is they're being published by SEGA. They'll somehow find a way to get all three combined selling worse than Okami. :(

Shadow in MadWorld.

Just sayin'.

More violence in computer games is always a good thing and it's nice to see developers taking a different approach to games graphically at least, as they already did with Okami.

I almost bought Okami yesterday, Amazon have it for £15 at the moment. Thing is though, I've got so fucking many games to get through I don't know when I'd ever play it.

Eventually. You would play it -eventually-, and that's good enough. It's seriously worth the pick up, mate. It's an absolute joy to play.

I too haven't gotten around to starting it properly since I know how long it is, how much I want to savour it, and how many shorter games I have around to wade through. But I grabbed it on released just to have it. It's not the kind of game that'll go into the bargain bin here. Quality games that sell poorly tend to disappear entirely here instead of getting price cuts :(

Amazon.co.uk quite often has otherwise rare stuff and a t pretty low prices. They set prices based on sales rather than rareity generally so if it doesn't sell well, you can often get it far cheaper than in a specialised gaming store. Obviously you'd pay a little more to ship it over but with the Euro kicking the shit out of the Pound at the moment the exchange rates work in your favour too. Or I could just pick things up for you and post 'em over...

I just finished Okami for Wii (I also own the PS2 version) and holy god was that a long game. 40 jam-packed hours! I'm totally up for some more wonderful Clover stuff. I'm pretty sure Sega is just publishing and that Platinum Studios is not owned by them or anything so we shouldn't have to worry about anything stupid. I do hope we avoid black and white manuals though.

I'd be awesome if MadWorld came with a full colour manual. :3:

Sorry to say that Wii Okami didn't do impressively in the NPD.

Maybe if they advertised it...

They have no reason to be Angry at ME, I have both :3:

Since I have no PS3, nor do I play to get one, two of these three games look interesting. I just hope the Wii game isn't ALL in black & white. It would get annoying after a while.

--edit--

According to Gamasutra.com, Bayonetta is set to be released on BOTH PS3 and Xbox 360:

Yeah, didn't Qwarky (I typed "quality" at first, a sure sign I'm spending too much time on danbooru) say that in his opening post? Otherwise I wouldn't have cared about Bayonetta, I can't afford a PS3. :D

Well, I wasn't paying close attention, more like skimming what he had posted, so I must have glossed over that tiny detail.

In any case, I can't wait to see what develops! =)

Not to say that the three games lined up don't look pretty spiffy in their own rights, but honestly the art direction doesn't seem all that 'new and refreshing' in a few ways.

I haven't seen the Madworld video yet, the youtube idea is malformed, but from the still picture it seems all they did was take Sin City and slap Hellboy in it as the main character. I mean it looks like the dude has one huge stone hand.

As far as gameplay goes, I have yet to hear one person really badmouth Godhand or Okami, so I suppose you fans best start whoring yourselves out to people and tell em to start buying this shit.

Clover Studios is ANGRY at you for not buying Okami (or Godhand)
 

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/4...onetta1av6.jpg

Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry) is heading up this new IP, backed by other notable names such as Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil) and Atsushi Inaba (Okami; Viewtiful Joe). Their new development studio is called Platinum Games and comprises former members of Capcom and the now defunct Clover.

Anyway, their first big project is Bayonetta - a "Climax Action Game". Bayonetta is a dark sorceress who battles angels using firearms, namely bayonets and custom-made shoes with guns attached!

The game is scheduled for a 2009 release for both the PS3 and 360. Oh, and it's being published by SEGA for whatever that's worth.

Man, I can't wait to see what becomes of this. It's destined for greatness!

Here are the first pics:

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2...onetta3kl8.jpg
Die Angel!!!

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5...onetta4hv3.jpg
Bayonetta May Cry?

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/2...onetta5px2.jpg
A hell of a KICK to the face!!!

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3...onetta6pe9.jpg
Sexy legs

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4...onetta2ln1.jpg
The Moon...?

And the first teaser vid:
GameVideos.com - Bayonetta 'Debut' trailer HD Video

TGS trailer of Infinite Space is on gametrailers

A GARAXY OF POWERFUL RIVALS



Also Baoynetta but it's looking pretty silly........

Infinite Space looks like the most boring game ever created. The trailer was just a succession of badly laid out menus, some generic anime characters and poorly animated spaceships falling apart into gummi blocks. Bayonetta on the other hand looks hilarious. Any game where you can spin on your head firing guns out of your heels can only be great and the comedy slow-mo panning shots across her zip-up crotch only add to the effect. This might be the game that sells me a PS3...

It's coming for the 360 as well though.

Yay!

This could be the game that... er... keeps me playing my 360! I just watched the trailer again and noticed that halfway through her trousers vanish and turn in to hot pants. If this isn't the least subtle game for nerd to fap to I want to know what is.

Her whole suit is compose of her Hair. Yes she's basicaly naked with her hair covering her body to make a suit and every time she use a "magic" she shows more skin since she use her hair to perform those tricks.

That's what I read in an article about the game.

Does that mean that the "MP potion" of the game is bottles of Rogaine?

This somewhat feels like Bullet Witch on steroids. Oh well, worth a look I suppose.

"Climax Action Game". I was expecting something else... Looks good though! Definitely on my to-care-about list. Is any release date announced?

Release window: 2009
nothing more specific

rumored Sept01, 2009

The weird "cone of hair with spiral ribbons" hairdo she's styling keeps on making me think that she's wearing a party hat. Kinda takes the edge off the "climax action game" edginess. Between that, the faux-leather hair bodysuit, the glasses, and the big flappy sleeves, she's really dressed pretty damn oddly. Attempting too many styles at once, I think.

Maybe she can use more belt buckles and zippers.

Or a Soul Calibur style bikini, revealing her lack of nipples every time she raises her arms above her head.

If it plays anything like Devil May Cry or God Hand, it has a pretty huge leeway on how fucking ridiculous it can look. As long as it plays well, I guess. Have to admit, it looks pretty damn stupid.