Bayonetta might need a backpack for all those guns
by Ben Gilbert 
{ Nov 4th 2009 at 2:15PM } 
It's also just plain nice to see a trailer for this game that focuses on how the gameplay works, rather than on its hyper-sexualized main character. Also: she fires a bazooka at a demon wearing a tuba. If that's your kind of thing.
Gallery: Bayonetta
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dirty @ Nov 4th 2009 2:19PM
She doesn't need a backpack, she just hides them in her monster bush.
4c4c14 @ Nov 4th 2009 2:23PM
lol at :14 sec
Torque_AOD @ Nov 4th 2009 2:25PM
DAT ASS
NevilleThegame @ Nov 4th 2009 2:25PM
has their ever been a female lead character who is not white?
ChuckBartowski @ Nov 4th 2009 2:33PM
For some reason, japanese game makers like to use americans in their games. I mean, have you seen a lead game character that actually looks asian?
ComicShaman @ Nov 4th 2009 2:45PM
Well, Sheva from RE5 would be one.
ComicShaman @ Nov 4th 2009 2:48PM
That is, Sheva is not white. Not that she looks Asian.
Rinoa from FF8 looks Asian to me. I assume you're not counting fighting game characters in this survey.
MrAlex @ Nov 4th 2009 2:54PM
@Chuck: Also noticed that.
Off the top of my head I can't think of any black female leads, and only few black male leads at that.
Hmm...
S. Tiger @ Nov 4th 2009 2:55PM
Bayonetta sounds British. And the more appropriate term is "caucasian" or "white", since "American" is a nationality.
But...wasn't the lead for Beyond Good and Evil an Asian woman?
MrAlex @ Nov 4th 2009 2:56PM
@comic
I thought shiva too but I think he means a lead, lead. Shiva was controllable though so...
I guess it counts.
Preston @ Nov 4th 2009 3:04PM
Faith from Mirror's Edge immediately springs to mind.
ducttapeBigSexy (PSN&XBL: ducttape12) @ Nov 4th 2009 3:08PM
Maybe it's just me, but, generally speaking, racism only seems to be found by those actively looking for it.
ComicShaman @ Nov 4th 2009 4:48PM
@ducttapeBigSexy
I would hesitate to oversimplify it in that way. The other side of the coin is that it's easy to not notice racism (or any form of prejudice) when you aren't on the receiving end.
In terms of female protagonists in games, I would say that what's in operation here is not racism so much as what we perceive as the operative beauty standard of society. In general, people want to play a game with appealing-looking characters. So in general, game designers like to make beautiful protagonists (especially for women--men can be ugly so long as that ugliness reflects toughness). And in general, there's a kind of Caucasian standard for beauty that is pervasive in our culture, to the point that even an African woman (Sheva in RE5) is depicted with fairly Caucasian features in order to give her a Halle Berry-style beauty.
How racism shapes this standard of beauty is a difficult question. It's noteworthy that you're not going to find many female protagonists who look like they are older than 25, or are overweight, or have large noses, or are bald, or don't have huge stonking bosoms. None of those are race-based factors, yet they are reflective of the standard of beauty. And while I think you will gradually see a broader depiction of racial diversity in video game characters, you may be in for a long wait before you get a homely-looking grandmother taking the lead in a video game.
dood @ Nov 4th 2009 6:20PM
Its still weird though when I hear Japanese characters speak english in games even though they look caucasian. Hmm, maybe because they usually have a strong American accent like in Devil May Cry, Bayonetta feels right at home with that english accent though, that sexy english woman's voice, I'd bang her so hard.
S. Tiger @ Nov 4th 2009 8:34PM
@dood: One reason I want the game, I mean...er...what? Hahahaha...
We are all sick, perverted men.
At least we have healthy minds.
Kindrik @ Nov 5th 2009 1:15AM
Jade from Beyond Good and Evil says hello.
ChuckBartowski @ Nov 4th 2009 2:29PM
wait.... since when did witches carry guns.... or have huge boobs?
Knight Marquise @ Nov 4th 2009 2:35PM
Uh..my wife does, does that count? :P
216 @ Nov 4th 2009 2:35PM
you can use the tuba-rocket launcher in the Japanese Demo, such a great game
and yea, for some reason, Witches are hot now, and have katana blades
Preston @ Nov 4th 2009 2:50PM
Are you kidding? Witches being hot has been around since at least the 60s. I take it you've never seen Bewitched before. Or how about that one movie, what's it called, The Craft?
Marco le Polo @ Nov 4th 2009 2:45PM
Hurray, it's in English!
Kdiggy @ Nov 4th 2009 3:22PM
I had to watch it twice just to catch the guy waring a tuba. It was worth it.
Konrad @ Nov 4th 2009 3:59PM
I was insanely interested in this game at first. And now I'm just slightly less and less interested each time the game is brought up. I think I might give it a whirl during the slow season and just go rent it from Gamestop.
SirCut @ Nov 4th 2009 4:35PM
I would be really interested in this game, but I get so turned off from it because the lead character reminds me of Sarah Palin.
DaRabidDuckie @ Nov 4th 2009 4:41PM
Just to name a few:
Alyx Vance
Sheva Alomar
Jade (Beyond Good and Evil)
Faith (Mirror's Edge)
Nariko (Heavenly Sword)
Zoe Castillo (Dreamfall)
Farrah (Prince of Persia, and on that note Elika)
Kasumi and Ayane (DoA)
Might not be leads, but also:
Chun-Li, Crimson Viper (Street Fighter)
Black Orchid (Killer Instinct)
Lisa/El Mariposa (DoA)
Mai Shiranui (Fatal Fury/KoF)
DaRabidDuckie @ Nov 4th 2009 4:42PM
Dangit, that was a reply to NevilleThegame's comment about there not being any non-white videogame leads.
Blasted comment system...
Anemos @ Nov 4th 2009 5:31PM
If wearing a tuba is mandatory in heaven, then I'd rather go to hell.
As long as hell is not like the one in the Dante's Inferno game.