In a Q&A session with Gamespot, the folks at Sega detailed some of their plans and expectations for the recently announced four-game publishing deal with Platinum Games. The agreement, which grants Sega exclusive rights to Mad World (Wii), Bayonetta (PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360), Infinite Line (DS) and a mystery title from Resident Evil designer, Shinji Mikami, was officially announced during a special event last week.

"The guys at Platinum are just at the top of their game right now, and what they've delivered is so clearly AAA in every way, when they started to show us product, we had to have it," said Sega of America president, Simon Jeffery. When asked about the marketing challenges inherent in starting up three (possibly four) new IPs, Jeffery notes that Sega is in it for the long run. "What we've seen today is the starting point, but all of those games--Bayonetta, Madworld, Infinite Line--won't be one-offs," he explained. "They're all uniquely different enough from everything in their space to build complete franchises out of. The whole foundation of PlatinumGames is built around that long-term strategy."

Though talk of franchises this early in a game's life would normally elicit concern, the ex-Clover talent at Platinum Games could certainly do with the commercial success to match their critical acclaim. Y'know, aside from the Devil May Cry and Resident Evil guys.

Posting on the official blog of his new studio Platinum Games, Okami director Hideki Kamiya, who developed the original PlayStation 2 version with the now defunct Clover Studio, addresses (in English) Capcom's "incredibly disappointing" decision to cut the original credits. Capcom says the cut was made because the original staff roll, which is a pre-rendered movie, contains the Clover logo (at the very, very end), and since Clover was not involved with the Wii port directly, Capcom had "no right" to leave the old logo. Capcom claims it couldn't remove the logo (at the very, very end) because it didn't have the source file. What, couldn't pick up a phone or fire off a few emails?

Kamiya explains that it's not simply the removal of his name and the staff names from the credits that upsets him. "Of course, we all have pride in our work; we all want to stand up and say 'I made this!' Yet more importantly, I find it extremely regrettable that the omoi that went into the staff roll is gone from the game as well." (A translator's note explains "omoi" is "best defined as a combination of thoughts, emotions, and messages.") Kamiya stresses the importance of this post-game omoi, specifically describing the relevance of Okami's original credits in relation to the epic length of the game. "It was a special staff roll for a special moment," writes Kamiya. "And now it is gone."

Jeez, after the watermark debacle, Wii's Okami seemed transformed into a "comedy of errors." Now it's just a true tragedy, huh?

[Via Kotaku]

Contrary to what has previously been stated, the Nintendo Wii port of Okami will have some extra frills. A listing on Capcom's website reveals that Clover Studio's masterpiece will now support widescreen (16:9) and 480p progressive scan support. That should give you more than enough reason to finally splurge on some Wii component cables.

Developer Ready at Dawn, who is responsible for the port, had previously said the game would be an "exact port" with only Wii remote support added during brush stroke moments. While this isn't new content, the technical improvement is a welcome addition to this visually stunning title. Okam-Wii (not an official title) is due out March 25.

"YEEEeeeees!!!"

We couldn't agree more with Shinji Mikami's recent exclamation on his blog, where he announced that work had finally begun on a new, untitled project. The blog entry (translated by IGN) explains that the Resident Evil creator has managed to assemble a development team for his first endeavor under the Platinum Games banner. Though he says that more staff will be required to complete the game, we don't expect the lack of creative talent will pose much of a problem considering the company he's keeping at the studio.

Mikami, eventually joined by Viewtiful Joe's Atsushi Inaba and Devil May Cry's Hideki Kamiya, departed Capcom in 2006 to form a new company, Seeds. In September 2007, it was announced that Seeds had merged with ODD Incorporated and ruined changed its name to "Platinum Games." NOOOooooo!!!

If you were hoping that the recently announced Wii version of Okami would lure you back into its beautiful world with new environments, bosses, weapons and so forth, you're about to have your somewhat optimistic viewpoint obscured by one Didier Malenfant. In an interview with IGN, the president of Ready At Dawn explains that Okam-Wii (see what we did there?) will be an "exact port of the PS2 version," save for the magical brush strokes which will now correspond to motions of the Wiimote. Malenfant argues that messing with the game in any form would simply draw ire from Clover devotees.

Strangely, the same crowd is currently wagging their fingers at Ready At Dawn for failing to pretty up the port in some way. While Malenfant's reasoning may appear to hide some reticence to retool, one has to consider that the game in question tanked on the platform with the largest install base. The Wii version isn't aimed at gamers who bought and enjoyed Okami -- it's aimed at the millions of idiots people who didn't. If anything, we think Clover's masterpiece would be better served by having some of that bloat excised.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

Shortly after producing the strikingly beautiful Okami and relentlessly challenging God Hand, Capcom's Clover Studios was duly rewarded with cold commercial apathy and prompt liquidation. In February, the studio's lead designer trifecta -- Viewtiful Joe's Atsushi Inaba, Resident Evil's Shinji Mikami and Devil May Cry's Hideki Kamiya -- formed a new studio, Seeds, and began the process of hiring new employees.

Just over seven months later, it appears that Seeds will wither before producing even a single game. The company's recruitment website now states that Seeds will undergo a merger with a company called "ODD," resulting in a change of name to "Platinum Games" as of October 1st. No upcoming projects are mentioned, though one would hope that the new title becomes reflective of the success that's eluded Clover for so long.

[Via IGN]

Okami is deeply beautiful to our eyes, and it's a superb game. Twilight Princess, we feel, is a deeply brilliant game. But is Link's most recent adventure also beautiful? Okami's Director, Hideki Kamiya, was in Tokyo last week to pick up an Entertainment Award (for his work on Okami, natch) at the 10th Media Arts Festival, which is an event held annually by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. (And that must have felt good, after Capcom's no-show at the AIAS awards.)

Kamiya was asked how he felt about Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and he explained: "To be frank, I was disappointed when I saw [Twilight Princess'] visuals. I'm a Zelda freak -- it's no overstatement to say that I created Okami because of Zelda. I really wanted [Twilight Princess] to have that regal aura, because Zelda was what we were aspiring to. I wanted it to show me things that were surprising, but..."

So, which game do you find to be more beautiful?

[Thanks, pokemogu]

The New Gamer has posted a provocative take on Clover's Okami that's worth considering. The review suggests that the game is built on a seesaw of excess, teetering between gorgeously overworked themes and useless redundancies, concluding:

"[When] the excess doesn't add to the characters, when it doesn't showcase the story or the world design, when it just causes me to mindlessly increase quantities of items I'll never need, then I can't help but remark that not all of Okami is as rich as it could have been."

Okami easily stretches 30 hours of gameplay, but a huge chunk of New Gamer's time was spent hoarding unnecessary items. Would Clover's game have benefited from trimming the fat?

[Via Game Set Watch]

Quality doesn't always pay the bills, as Clover Studio found out today. Capcom's Board of Directors has elected to dissolve the promising studio, which was formed in July 2004 and brought us the acclaimed Viewtiful Joe series before unleashing its masterpiece, Okami, just last month (in North America). Clover's latest project, God Hand, was released just this week! Here's Capcom's cold official explanation:

"Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has met the goal of developing unique and creative original home video game software, however, in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group, the dissolution of Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has been raised and passed at a Board of Directors' meeting."

But it may not be all doom and gloom. Wired's Game|Life blog reports, via anonymous sources, that the superstars behind Clover have decided to up and make their own independent development studio. So, if Game|Life is correct, then Capcom's dissolution of Clover could simply be because Clover had jumped ship, eager to get out from under Capcom's oppressive thumb and finally make the creative and unique games they'd always dreamed of ... err, wait a second.

[Thanks to everyone that sent this in]