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BAYONETTA An Action Game by Hideki Kamiya |OT|

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D

Dahbomb

Member
This is hardly a surprise... as superficial as it is for a game of this caliber, having a bad ass male protagonist for Bayonetta instead of a female would've resulted in higher sales.

A lot of these types of games for gamers is an escapism into being a bad ass and slay epic demons/monsters with general bad assery. This is the secret of the success of God of War. It is therapeutic but in order for that to happen the player has to WANT to be like the main character. People want to wield godly powers and be an anti-hero while killing demons to save the world. When the genre appeals to the male demographic the most it only makes sense that they will relate less to a female protagonist.

Don't get me wrong, I am getting Bayonetta Day 0 (pre-ordered) but I could never really relate to Bayonetta nor would I ever want to be like her nor would I like to have a girl friend with the same "qualities" as her. This is going to be like that for many other people so I would tell you guys to brace for it now.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
Fimbulvetr said:
You'd be surprised, I've seen many people who refuse to even play Metroid because they can't "relate" to female characters.
Click to expand...
People have all sorts of weird "If they're not a muscular white American male, I can't relate to them" issues.
 
N

Net_Wrecker

Member
Fimbulvetr said:
You'd be surprised, I've seen many people who refuse to even play Metroid because they can't "relate" to female characters.
Click to expand...

I've seen similar cases as well with friends not wanting to pick female characters in fighting games. Maybe if it was a half naked dude with blades on chains, or a soldier with a chainsaw and bandanna on, or a faceless no personality space marine more people would check for this.
PS, I like all 3 of those games as well so don't jump me
 
Tokubetsu

Tokubetsu

Member
andymcc said:
my friend, who is a manager at a nearby gamestop, told me she is the only worker at the store that has preordered a copy and that everyone that works there refuses to play it because it's too effeminate. :lol

western gamers and their false desire for mature games.



they should of used "bulletproof" by La Roux instead. it fits the game's theme even better. :lol (not to mention it's catchier...)
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No way dude, the tone of bulletproof doesn't match Bayonetta at all. Now if it was for a commercial of Megaman 9/10? You'd be right.
 
Z

Zertez

Member
Korey said:
I've had people tell me this game looks like a "game for chicks". I agree the marketing could be better.
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Personally I dont get this mindset. Given the choice between looking at a guy in a loin cloth that is greased up, or a lady in a skin tight leather outfit, it is no contest. :lol It would be like refusing to see Kill Bill because there is a female lead, then insisting 300 is a hetro mans movie.
 
C

Caj814

Member
Got it preordered but a friend happened to have got it early thanks to a after x-mas sale screw up.I'm tempted to go play it over at his place but I really want to hold off until I pick up mines.
 
N

Naeblish

Member
No contest? I much rather play with Dante than Bayonetta, pretty much for the reasons dahbomb posted. The way Bayonetta is presented in the game, over the top and arrogant, she is all that more a simple game character than the beautiful woman most here seem to drool over. And when it comes to game characters, i feel much more "connected" with the male ones.
 
B

Black-Wind

Member
I think Lady Gaga's poker face would have been a better song for that ad. But I actually liked that song so Im adding that girl to my GrooveShark fav list.:lol
 
T

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
ShockingAlberto said:
People have all sorts of weird "If they're not a muscular white American male, I can't relate to them" issues.
Click to expand...

Mostly because they have insecurity issues. That's nothing new.
 
A

Aaron

Member
Naeblish said:
No contest? I much rather play with Dante than Bayonetta, pretty much for the reasons dahbomb posted. The way Bayonetta is presented in the game, over the top and arrogant, she is all that more a simple game character than the beautiful woman most here seem to drool over. And when it comes to game characters, i feel much more "connected" with the male ones.
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You're talking about Dante here, right? Because the guy RIDES A ROCKET LIKE A SURFBOARD and PULLS A SWORD OUT OF HIS CHEST, each time acting like it's no big deal. Bayonetta is Mother Theresa by comparison.
 
C

Caj814

Member
So. . .was this a problem with Tomb Raider?I'm pretty sure the majority of it's success was because of Teenagers going "huh huh BOOBS!" and ran off to buy it.
 
A

Aske

Member
Net_Wrecker said:
I've seen similar cases as well with friends not wanting to pick female characters in fighting games. Maybe if it was a half naked dude with blades on chains, or a soldier with a chainsaw and bandanna on, or a faceless no personality space marine more people would check for this.
PS, I like all 3 of those games as well so don't jump me
Click to expand...

I don't think it's as simple as that. Female protagonists didn't hurt Tomb Raider or Bloodrayne - in fact the latter probably owes most of its sales to its female lead. I think it has less to do with the lack of Dudebro, and more with the specifics of Bayonetta herself. In spite of her sexuality, she feels like a character designed by women, for women. The glasses, the looonnngg limbs, the comparatively small breasts, the lipstick targeting cursor, the butterflies...These are small aspects of design which carry a lot of weight with people who divide their world down fairly standard black and white lines of gender normity. If Bayonetta looked like Bloodrayne and lost her butterflies, the same guys who feel a bit girly playing her game would be lining up in order to control her. Making her provocative isn't enough - to some, the character (and therefore the game) still feels pink and glittery.

With regard to fighting games, in my experience when they're played competitively rather than alone, the characters seem to become more atavistic for the players. They're more like extensions of specific players than independent protagonists, so some guys feel uncomfortable choosing women like Cammy or Chun Li to represent themselves when fighting their buddy's Guile or Sagat; even if they love using the characters when playing alone.

Hopefuly more kids will grow up without this kind of psychological baggage as time passes. Regardless, I'm glad Kamiya stuck to his artistic convictions rather than tempering Bayonetta to win more gender-normative market appeal. Maybe the upside will be that Bayonetta becomes a surprise gateway drug that draws more female gamers into hardcore titles. Stranger things have happened...
 
K

Klyka

Banned
There has never been a game character that made me wish that I could just grab her out of my screen and do terrible thingsto her/let her do terrible things to me than Bayonetta.

I have no idea how anyone could not like this character because everything about her is over the top. Especially her ability to hand out boners.
 
G

Gr1mLock

Passing metallic gas
ShockingAlberto said:
People have all sorts of weird "If they're not a muscular white American male, I can't relate to them" issues.
Click to expand...

lies..in god of war its a muscular white European male...and im fine with that
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
All I can say is that anyone not willing to play an amazing action game because of it's female effeminate protagonist is just plain retarded. >_>
 
R

Relaxed Muscle

Member
Net_Wrecker said:
Kratos is black son

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNGeHle42I
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I disagree, he is white and european(spaniard)

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

Nemesis556 said:
All I can say is that anyone not willing to play an amazing action game because of it's female effeminate protagonist is just plain retarded. >_>
Click to expand...

Actually I just can't understand it, yeah Dahbomb explained it, but I just can't get it, actually I wasn't sure something like that was even possible, until someone pointed some examples.

What a retarded world....
 
Z

Zertez

Member
Naeblish said:
No contest? I much rather play with Dante than Bayonetta, pretty much for the reasons dahbomb posted. The way Bayonetta is presented in the game, over the top and arrogant, she is all that more a simple game character than the beautiful woman most here seem to drool over. And when it comes to game characters, i feel much more "connected" with the male ones.
Click to expand...
Personally I dont play games to escape life, even though my life does suck at times. I play to blow things up, get shiny things, and kill monsters. For me it doesnt matter if it is a man, woman, animal, robot or ship. Playing Borderlands as Lilith did not make me feel any less "connected" than playing as Brick, Soldier or the Hunter. Same thing with Kameo, Metroid or PD. If a female lead reminds me of a en ex or a friend, I feel just as "connected" as I would if it reminds me of myself.

Most the time Im going to be staring at the character for hours, so if given the choice I would rather look at a woman with a nice ass, than a shirtless guy. I have next to nothing in common with almost every video game character anyways. The majority of the time I play female characters, so guess that is why my gf did not say much when I was playing Bayonetta.

If a movie has a kickass female lead(Kill Bill), it doesnt change the way I feel about the movie going into it. I hope the trend of female leads continue and we see more video games with a diverse main character or the option to design your own. The same old space marine, shirtless roid meathead, and Indiana jones clone for main characters should take a break. Apparently Im in the minority though and most people play games to escape and want a male lead.
 
B

Brobzoid

how do I slip unnoticed out of a gloryhole booth?
Thanks to a trade in deal at Gamestop I get Bayonetta for $0.10 if I give them Skate 1 and Saint's Row 2. :D
 
A

Attack You

Member
Since we're on the subject: Friendgirl of mine is absolutely ecstatic about Bayonetta largely because of its female lead. She only recently admitted that playing beefy male leads in Action games was a bit of a turn-off for her. I became so accustomed to my male friends playing girl toons in online games, that I had to take a minute or two to process what she said there. That, and I totally phased out into momentary bliss after she screamed "I like boobies!"
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
that's actually a pretty good ad. I don't envy the guys at Sega who were tasked with marketing this.
 
S

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
...Bayonetta is the most over the top, powerful-feeling character I've played in a game recently. One remark I made about the game to a friend, was that I've never seen a game that goes out of it's way to make me feel the main character ia as AWESOME and DOMINATING AS POSSIBLE.

Ther gameplay still seems challenging, but you get the feeling that Bayonetta thinks she's so superior to what she's fighting, that it's an ego trip to control her. DMC's Dante is still cocky and arrogant, sure, but I feel that there's so much subtle work going on, to make Bayonetta a more grand character than even Dante. The fact that the bosses end up fearing her by a battles end, is so much more satisfying than simply ripping them a new one. And I'm much more sold on a boss fearing her hair demons, than Death fearing Dante, in Dante's Inferno, yes. Her fight, which includes ripping the armor from the boss, and breaking him down to the point where he's defenseless and forced onto his knees, does such a great job of selling Bayonetta's strength.

I'm suprised anyone can feel Bayonetta to be a feminine game after playing the demo. What she does is neither masculine nor feminine, it's just badass.
 
K

Klyka

Banned
I agree.

And then she throws out the occasional line like "Tentacles? It just had to be tentacles!" which just puts a smile on my face.
 
K

Kolgar

Member
I got my copy at Best Buy on Sunday. East side Madison, Wisconsin.

Checked online first. Game showed as "preorder" but then listed all the stores in my area when I clicked to check availability for store pickup.

The game is pretty fantastic so far. The action is really, truly frantic and fun.

Also one of the better-looking HD games I've seen recently.

The game comes with a pretty large side helping of cheese, especially in the dialog and cut scenes, but I find it easy enough to dismiss the dopey stuff when a game looks and plays like this.
 
M

Matt_C

Member
I wish the Sega Marketing could go for the Miss January angle for the core gamers. ;)

Heck I am pimping this game on my Facebook.
 
N

Naeblish

Member
Woa, i didn't mean to come off like i dont like the game because the lead character is female. It just that when characters like bayonetta or dante are presented in such an extreme way, so 'game like', I prefer to play a male, but it doesn't make me enjoy the game any less if its a female.
Something like this:
Most the time Im going to be staring at the character for hours, so if given the choice I would rather look at a woman with a nice ass, than a shirtless guy.
Click to expand...
doesn't interest me in the slightest when the character is so non-real. And how anyone can compare them to movie characters is beyonth me.

Personally, female attraction only plays a role in games when the character is very well written, like Alex in half-life.
 
C

Corto

Member
To those with problems relating to Baynetta as a strong over-the-top female character try to imagine that she is a Dominatrix mistress and that although you are pushing the buttons that is really only an illusion and she is the one really in control... Submit to the ma'am!

I need to wait a few months until I buy a 360 to play this but I wil... I will! :D
 
J

JPB 1973

Neo Member
They had this available at the Best Buy near my house in Atlanta, GA last night for 360 and PS3, I was shocked (especially considering it usually takes several days for new releases to be put on the shelf there usually)
 
G

george_us

Member
Many of the quirks people seem to take issue with Bayonetta are the reason why I love her as a character so much. So, in a completely male dominated genre, we have a librarian-esque woman with a british accent who...fights with her hair and blows kisses to disable barrier? What?
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
Captain N said:
I just don't get the love for that trailer. Probably the most overrated trailer of the year here on NeoGAF.
Click to expand...
It's pretty fucking terrible and AMERICAAAAAA FUCK YEAH if you ask me. >_>
 
M

Miburou

Member
Damn, found the EU PS3 version, but no 360 version. It sucks how piracy is rampant where I live; it's very hard to find legit 360 software. Regarding region locking, the JP version is definitely region locked, but after MW2 and ACII, I was hoping the EU version of Bayonetta wasn't.
 
Z

ZAnimus

Member
It's not uncommon for the Western pressings of a game to be region-free even though the Japanese one isn't. And if memory serves most (if not all?) Sega-published 360 games thus far have seen region-free US and PAL versions.

I'm really, really hoping the US version of Bayonetta isn't locked, as I'll need to import if I want to get to play the game before late January :/
 
D

Dartastic

Member
ryuen said:
For all the Sacramento GAF'fers, there are 2 copies of Bayonetta on 360 and 1 on PS3 at the Elk Grove Best Buy.
Click to expand...

Goddamnit. I'm in San Fran. Anyone have any luck here? Maybe I'll get the Elk Grove one to call the SF one... :lol
 
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