Kotaku has a nice write-up on a recent Bayonetta showcase in New York City:
The last time, I had a reporter sit next to me, watch Bayonetta high-kick and unwrap her skin-tight (made of hair!) outfit so she could turn it into a giant boot weapon, and he said: “I really like the glasses.” She’s got the sexy librarian glasses, you see.
After that last demo, a Sega public relations person asked me if I thought Bayonetta had potential as a crossover character. Maybe, I said, though her game might make her too weird a persona to bring her to that Lara Croft virtual celebrity status. Croft’s Indiana Jones in a porn star’s body and short shorts. Bayonetta fights angels to a jazzy soundtrack while colorful butterfly imagery springs off her body.
What’s Bayonetta’s potential There is no other female game character that I’ve observed elicit such a reaction from my reporting peers, and it’s not like she’s been the only one of such gender, measurements and posture to possibly draw such comments.
One answer could lie in the fact that, the better you do at killing people, the less clothes she ends up wearing. Sega is publishing this title for a holiday release, and we’re still on the fence about the potential success of this game.
Does anyone remember Bloodrayne The main character there had crossover potential that meted out to an abysmal, straight-to-DVD release, and is now just an afterthought.
The problem will come in marketing a ridiculously-dressed (not that it’s bad) ass-kicking lady that has the potential to get naked with every combo you execute. We d probably stick with some R-rated theatrical trailers that let her loose (and make it onto YouTube) than heavily-edited commercials that will make this look like just another heroine game.
This should also give us all a chance to see how much impact word of mouth and the blogosphere have on one game s release. Could be great (District 9), but there’s always the chance to overvalue the Internet’s opinion (Snakes on a Plane).
