Mikami: Vanquish designed with more mainstream appeal than God Hand

by JC Fletcher on Apr 7th 2010 6:00AM

If Platinum Games's Vanquish looks less like the idiosyncratic weirdness we've come to expect from Platinum Games, and more like something targeted at the core games market, well, it is. "We're definitely going for something a little more massmarket that will appeal to a wide audience," producer Shinji Mikami told Edge.

Mikami specifically contrasted Vanquish with God Hand, a PS2 brawler he created at Clover Studio. "I've released a lot of titles before," he said, "and I feel that, perhaps specifically with regard to God Hand, I was given too much freedom to make that game just as I liked. It didn't sell too well." While we understand Mikami's desire for commercial success (like he had with the Resident Evil and Devil May Cry games), we'd suggest that the only people who need to change their decision-making process in response to God Hand are the ones who didn't buy God Hand.

Vanquish

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Tags: clover-studios, god-hand, Microsoft, platinum-games, sega, shinji-mikami, vanquish, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (42)

Heard big things about God Hand, but since i only ever owned a Gamecube and neither of my brothers bothered with the game, i never got the chance to get into it. Might back-track one day and catch up on games i missed.

God Hand was on the PS2.

Nevermind what I said! Downvote. v_v

These are true words. God Hand was friggin' awesome, and everybody who didn't play it missed out on some crazy fun and kickass fighting.

Spanking chicks, kicking crotches, and suplexing a gorilla, then punching Satan in the face? Nothing else compares.

Indeed good sir. I actually stopped going to IGN for a year after reading this review!

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/738/738253p1.html

Of course now I hardly visit IGN because Joystiq is a much better way to consume video game information. Less ads...I mean Jesus that place is 98% ads now.

Holy crap! IGN gave it a 3? WTF?? Didn't the chap get fired just recently though? Damn!

@Naeem, the guys there are slackers, it's hardly ever updated with news or articles. Mainly it caters for the paid subscribers to Insiders. Gaming news trickles in only after the other gaming sites get their mittens on their's first.

IGN is a pretty terrible site that gives horribly inaccurate reviews based mostly off production value and not how fun a game actually is to play (which is sorta' the whole point behind a game). They also gave Deadly Premonition a 2.

It's a shame everyone wasn't creaming over it so much when it first came out. Maybe then it would have sold more eh?

I'm currently playing through God Hand and it is a sublime joy. Let's hope Mikami gets the chance to make more games in future to please himself. It's not looking likely though but maybe the resurgence in interest in fighters like Street Fighter might help.

I have always wanted to get God Hand, but every time I get some money something bad happens.

The only problem with God Hand, I guess, was lack of marketing.

Would it have really helped that game if they put a shit load of money towards it? My guess is that they new that this was a niche game that was for a specific type of gamer, meaning anyone who wanted it probably already bought it.

The only problem I had with God Hand is that it is extremely hard in certain areas... Like right now, I'm stuck at the part where you fight those three recurring bosses at the same time. I believe they are referred to as The Three Evil Stooges, but man I cannot win that fight.

@Doreo: which difficulty are you on? If you really want to pull out your hair, you gotta champ through on Hard mode. That nonsense took me a long time - I spent half my continues (over 100) just trying to get past the first Elvis. Luckily, after a few powerups, the game opens a tiny bit in difficulty.

Not much, though.

Capcom seemed against the game from the start. Even keeping the original cover art would have doubled the game's sales.

I hope PS2 titles will be introduced to PSN sometime (with emulator software of course), there's so much I need to catch up on.

I'm surprised they haven't done it yet, there is a ton of money to be had, possibly even moreso than PS1 games. E3 announcement perhaps? The thing that is annoying though is there are FAT PS3s with software PS2 emulation. Why is that missing from Slims and the last batch of FAT models? Are they tweaking it to ensure perfect results? I read that it is possible to play ISOs of PS2 games on a BC PS3 using a certain version of Action Replay/Swap magic disc, so maybe that is it. However I hope the removal of PS2 BC wasn't in order to cash in on people rebuying games they already have. That would be ridiculous.

Mind you with the success (I'm guessing) of GOW Collection they are likely assesing their options regarding releasing upgraded versions of PS2 classics on Blu-Rays. I am sure the picture will much clearer at E3.

Agreed. It's certainly hard to understand the ways of Sony at times. If I was an executive in the company I would use every dirty trick in the book until every damn PS1 and PS2 game was on PSN. I mean, it's just plenty of profits for games already made!

The only plausible reason I can see is that there either is a problem running such an emulator on the PS3 or that Sony feels it would out-compete with the PS2.

It's more like Sony needs the PS2 to help make up for losses on the PS3.

They took out the Emotion Engine neccesary to play PS2 games to lower the manufacturing costs of the PS3 and sell it at $300. That's why old models are still worth $100 more than Slims. I'm actually still hoping they can get more PS1 titles in like Tomba or Medievil before they move onto the PS2 titles.

I doubt vanquish will have as much mainstream appeal as Madworld though. Madworld = mainstream..

"more massmarket that will appeal to a wide audience"

There is no part of this quote I like, no matter how hard I try.

Not entirely sure why, Super Mario Galaxy appeals to the main stream and that's one of the best games this generation.

Yeah, but so does Just Dance.

Nah, God Hand was a good idea, but extremely boring and repetetive....

Like Madworld then?

If you're point Tuna is that they are both great games that didn't sell well, then you're right on the money :D

According to the person who made God Hand and the company that published Madworld they both failed for very different reasons. Take it from the horses mouth, God Hand failed because there was no restraint on Mikami and take it from SEGA that Madworld failed because it was on the Wii.

Oh, seems like many ppl liked God Hand. Well, all games are not for everyone, i guess :)

"God Hand failed because there was no restraint on Mikami and take it from SEGA that Madworld failed because it was on the Wii. "

oh Tigre.. you never stop do you?

Agreed. God Hand was a stellar, stellar game.

"We're definitely going for something a little more massmarket that will appeal to a wide audience,"

Or...generic.

Surprising considering the reception this game has so far, but I think it looks interesting.

I wanted to love God Hand, but the camera was hard to deal with, and my hands got cramped from all the button mashing. Otherwise it was cool.

i found God Hand a couple years ago for $10 at Fry's. i had heard mixed reviews, but since it was made by Mikami, i figured it was worth a shot. after a few hours, i wanted to love it, but i just didn't. it's not a terrible game, but it is deeply flawed. i would love for him to revisit this game (even though Capcom owns the IP, i'm sure he could make a spiritual successor) and make it as good as it should have been. if that makes any sense at all.

So basically its God Hand minus everything that made God Hand good.

Yeah, no thanks.

Well, if doing the exact opposite of God Hand results in sales that are completely different than God Hand's, then that's their goal and it'll mean a lot of money.

No way! Its almost like I already know that but am saying that I won't buy it since it won't have nearly as much charm as God Hand! Gee whizz mister, thanks for the comment.

So, they're abandoning the geniality of Godhand for a painfully generic look now? What a bummer.

"GENE-iality"...

^_^ I SEE WHAT YOU DID THURR!!!...

Amen to the last bit. God Hand was/is awesome. Wipes the floor with you but you keep coming back for more.

Mikami: Vanquish designed with more mainstream appeal than God Hand

Vanquish

Reader Comments (42)

Posted: Apr 7th 2010 6:09AM Foetoid said

Posted: Apr 7th 2010 12:20PM Evin said

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