Bayonetta Design: Beauty And Danger

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What you're looking at is the fine backside of Bayonetta, the lead character in Platinum Games' upcoming action title, not coincidentally entitled, Bayonetta. Yes, there is a point to this.

Those of you who are into game design should definitely check out the Platinum Games website, where a new entry called, "Modeling Bayonetta" has been added by designer Kenichiro "Yoshi" Yoshimura. As you can see, it's a brief rundown of how Bayonetta went from his imagination to a wire-frame model, to the final product that exudes both beauty and danger. A great deal of effort went into this character, and Yoshimura explains a bit about the process; here's an example:

"Bayonetta’s face: She is really attractive, yet dangerous, so I wanted to get that across without over-doing it. She is beautiful, but she can’t be pandering. Those sorts of things are really hard to pull off, let me tell you. So I would draw some sketches as I worked and eventually arrived at a final design as I was modeling.

I really wanted to get Bayonetta’s backside perfect. I guess I am into that sort of thing..."

Yes, well, the majority of the male population will likely agree that you hit the mark, Yoshi. Bayonetta is undoubtedly gorgeous but of course, we're still going to need a kick-ass gameplay mechanic in order for the title to be successful. This ain't the movies; people aren't going to flock to the stores just because there's a hot chick in the production. And by the way, before the raving feminists freak out, let me remind you that unrealistic heroines came loooong after the unrealistic heroes. The ladies can whine all they want about how the Dead or Alive girls are completely ridiculous and it demeans women and blah blah blah.

I'll just point you towards the impossibly chiseled features of Duke Nukem and just about every other cliched male hero of the past 25 years of gaming. We don't wanna play as a middle-aged, paunchy, balding dude and we don't wanna play with a female who isn't attractive. Sorry, but them's the breaks. ;)

Related Game(s): Bayonetta

4/24/2009 Ben Dutka

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