Bayonetta Creator Says Older Games' Unavailability Is "Holding Game Culture Back"

Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya (studio creative director) commented on the frenzy and the sky-high prices attached to certain "vintage" video games, expressing understanding but also pointing out the problems obscenely high prices attached to older games causes--it makes it harder for players to experience classic titles, and this is in his view, "holding game culture back."

In an interview with VGC, Kamiya stated, "As a collector myself, I understand the lure of wanting to have that game in the sealed package," Kamyia stated. "People want the value of that package and not necessarily of the game itself. But as a fan, it's a problem if somebody wants to play a game but they can’t get it because it's being traded in these ridiculous marketplaces."

He continued, "And the responsibility for keeping those games available belongs to the company that owns the IP. If people want to play a classic game and they can't, because it's not available on new platforms and can't be found in its original form either, that's like a threat ... it's holding game culture back. The people who own the rights to these games should be actively making moves to preserve game culture and making games available to everyone who wants to play them."

In the same interview, Kamiya and Platinum Games' Atsushi Inaba (studio head) covered other ground, including the question they both probably expected: Any Bayonetta updates? Short answer: No.

It largely sounds out of Inaba and Kamiya's hands on what Bayonetta details--including an approximate timeline--they can reveal. Kamiya commented, " … If you remember last time, I said that even though everyone was asking about Bayonetta 3, maybe you should tell everyone to forget about it for a while. I kind of need to keep to that stance for now because ultimately, it's not our decision what to say and when to say it."

In other Bayonetta 3 news, original Bayonetta voice actress Hellena Taylor gave a pretty indirect, sort-of, comment on her involvement in the upcoming game. In response to a fan saying that they could not imagine anybody else voicing Bayonetta, Taylor replied, "Well you might have to." Asked to further clarify, Taylor responded, "I'm not at liberty to say." She later replied to another tweet asking about her involvement in the project, stating "I so wanna answer that one but I'm bound by confidentiality agreement."

Sol Cresta--a retro vertical shooter--is Platinum Games' next big release and will launch on December 9. It will retail for $40 and be available on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.