Platinum Games





Platinum Games, formerly Clover Studios, is a video game subsidary currently aligned with Sega.

Originally, the main creative minds here (including Hideki Kamiya, Atsushi Inaba, and Shinji Mikami) were a part of Capcom as the Research and Development department as Clover Studios, but left Capcom due to creative disputes.

The talent then formed a different company, Seeds Inc., but before anything was produced by Seeds, they merged with ODD Incorporated to form Platinum Games.

Platinum Games moved to ally with Sega, and while their games are still cult hits, they are doing considerably more successfully than they were at Capcom.

Since allying with SEGA, the company's games have seen much more publicity on average. Part of this may be due to the fans expectations of high quality considering the pedigree of the games, which allows SEGA to put more faith in the company due to an increased potential for earnings.

Some characters from the studio would eventually be used in Capcom's newest crossover fighting games. Mikami and Kamiya had stated that they would like to consider sequels to their games, but Capcom's use of these characters has caused them to decide that they cannot continue to identify with their characters. As such, the only game by Clover Studios that may see continuation by Platinum Games is God Hand. However, statements by Mikami that he had too much freedom and got all he wanted out of God Hand, as well as rumors that Gene (the protagonist) would be available as a character reskin in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 make that highly unlikely. President Tatsuya Minami has since stated the desire to see more new out of the gaming industry.

Games made by Platinum Games include:
As Clover Studios, under Capcom:
 * Viewtiful Joe: 2003; the only game to actually have a sequel made by the same developers (Game Cube, PlayStation 2)
 * Viewtiful Joe 2: 2004; the aforementioned sequel (Game Cube, PlayStation 2)
 * Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble: 2005; a Mascot Fighter (Game Cube, PSP)
 * Viewtiful Joe Double Trouble: 2005; hinted at the series finale, but, Real Life Writes the Plot, and has instead become the last game in the trilogy (Nintendo DS)
 * Okami: 2006; considered to be their Magnum Opus when they were in Capcom as Clover Studios (PlayStation 2 and Wii)
 * Platinum Games was not connected to the Wii port or the DS sequel, Okamiden.
 * God Hand: 2006; their biggest Cult Classic (PlayStation 2)

As Platinum Games:
 * MadWorld: 2009; the most violent title, and a Spiritual Successor to God Hand (Nintendo Wii)
 * Bayonetta: 2010; the most commercially successful game so far (Play Station 3 and Xbox 360)
 * Infinite Space: 2010; the Animesque game and only handheld game (Nintendo DS)
 * Vanquish: 2010; the only (third-person) shooter (Play Station 3 and Xbox 360)
 * Anarchy Reigns: slated for July 2012. "Massively Multiplayer Melee Fighting Action... [that] features Jack, the protagonist from MadWorld, and other characters from the game as playable characters." (Play Station 3 and Xbox 360)
 * Metal Gear Rising Revengeance: A spin-off of the massively popular Metal Gear series starring Raiden, roughly based on a now-cancelled Kojima Productions title called Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Scheduled for a 2012 release on (Play Station 3 and Xbox 360).
 * Project P 100 (Working Title): The first Wii U game, published by Nintendo. Trailer here.