"I hate the logo of WiiU ver.," tweeted the outspoken game creator in English. "Junk." In Japanese, Kamiya was slightly more salty, tweeting, "The Bayo 2 package is shit. Who's the damned bastard who changed it..."

When asked why he was upset, Kamiya replied, "They removed the crescent behind Bayo & put full moon & changed the color of "2" in red. JUNK."

Source

Here's Hideki's original cover art next to the version shown at E3:

Well, Kamiya isn't exactly known to hold back when speaking in public.

He's not wrong.

It does look worse, though my biggest issue with it is the big ugly "BONUS BAYONETTA INCLUDED" sticker.

Yeah, he's right too. I have no idea why they made the changes they did.

He is right. The one on the left is way better. All that yellow is uuuuugly.

I wouldn't call it junk, but the original art is certainly much better.

It's a downgrade cetainly, but I wouldn't call it junk. I do respect Kamiya's opinion, though.

The composition is way better on the original. But i'm sure they did that to fit it on the wii u box, they probably changed it to a full moon to avoid confusion with the logo and her leg since they had to move her down some. If he personally did the art, he didn't think about the size of the box and the other shit they force on their when he designed it in the first place so i don't think he can really complain about it.

Unless he made it himself, dude needs to chill. Doesn't seem healthy to get that worked up about cover art.

Don't get why they added feathers, though. Makes me kinda angry, actually...

It's his character. They changed it without consulting him. And even if he didn't draw the original piece, there's no way he wasn't involved in the process of it.

That sure is some junk... in the trunk, gurrrrrrlll.

I'm sorry.

It's not a really drastic change but the one on the left looks cleaner.

@jesus_phish: Something which the publisher retain the right to do. I'd be surprised if this is the biggest compromise he's had to make while developing this game, and if it is, he most definitely needs to take a deep breath. Not saying it doesn't suck that someone painted a moon on his drawing, but Hideki, dude, damned bastard is a bit strong.

I think they're both bad.

But I do respect that he actually came out and said that he doesn't like the new one.

It's the addition of the yellow shit on the bottom that's really ugly. Which is a strange coincidence because it reminds me of this:

The original cover art for TOEE didn't have that yellow mist at the bottom, but Atari added it against the wishes of the developer and to the dismay of the original artist.

@sharkethic: And you're absolutely right, the publisher has the last say. But he's not wrong. The newer cover art looks worse and as the creator of the character and the game he's allowed express his dissatisfaction with the newer art.

after reading through the bayo artbook and watching the dvd its quite clear that he has always been very very protective of the art and fearlessly vocal about it. i totally agree here. colors also look much more saturated.

@jesus_phish: I mean, there's a fine line between expressing dissatisfaction and loosing your shit, calling people bastards, because of a - let's face it - fairly minor change to your box art. I don't know dude, something inside me tends to wanna not side with people throwing hissy fits.

The final art looks worse but it's more noticeable due to brighter colours. One of the reasons could possible be to stand out in the shelf.

The original is better. But frankly that cover looks like shit too.

Is she diving into a Scrooge McDuck-style pile of gold on the new cover?

"Who's the damn bastard who changed it"
Probably a designer who was given the original work and told to make it stand out on the shelf more, and inform people that the original Bayonetta is included and that actually had no ill intent towards you Kamiya.

I can't get over how bad that headline is. Nintendo changed the box art without any permission from the artists, and they decide to focus on Kamiya's tweets. No surprise that it's from Kotaku. He's not even working on the game. He's only speaking in defense of his coworkers.

@sharkethic: I wouldn't take Kamiya too seriously. His tweets are all kind of like this, he likes his profanity.

The original looks a bit better but his response seems a bit hyperbolic.

Personally, looking at the covers, I couldn't give a shit either way, but I don't see what reason there could have possibly been for the change. If the original had Bayonetta buck-naked, spreadeagle in the dead center of the cover, then okay, I might be able to grasp why a change was made. This though just seems like some bullshit change from a group of people higher up in the food chain for some inane reason that no one besides them would ever really care about.

Wait a minute, isn't there only one version of Bayonetta 2?

Still can't believe that Nintendo's putting this on shelves without censoring the shit out of it.

I feel like they picked this up in desperation, and won't publish anything this saucy again after. I mean look at everything else at their Digital Event. Tailored towards kids. Even MS Paint. Bayonetta sticks out like a sore thumb, lol.

Also if the cover's the worst thing he has to complain about working with Nintendo, then that's pretty fucking awesome.

Yeah man, just look at this kiddy shit!

(I'm aware this was not in the Digital Event, but it' still a WiiU exclusive game)

I don't think the new one looks horrible, but I do think it looks worse purely because the yellow put it doesn't fit with the yellow of the moon before.

Also, I think those feathers are dumb.

Kamiya is the best.

The new design makes me feel patriotic.

I dunno, there's something very "amber waves of grain" about it.

@probablytuna: 3DS version confirmed.

It looks like shit regardless.

I like the new one. It's fine. If that sticker about Bayonetta 1 was smaller, it would be way better.

Someone should tell him that Bayonetta's new mom hair is junk.

@probablytuna: I thought the same thing when I read that quote. Possibly a slip of the tongue when saying "the wii u version".

It's a lot uglier but also more eye-catching so... I can't blame Nintendo's marketing department.

Even if it's a lot uglier.

Maybe EU and Japan will get better ones.

If it has her fat bum on the cover, that's all that matters.

I'm surprised that the cover for a game they developed is something outside of their control. Granted - I'm not super versed in the publisher/developer relationship, but I thought the developer handled stuff all the way to the very end, including box slips and promo bubbles.

I feel all the additions were added so that the uneducated gamer who is just browsing the shelf of games at the electronic store. Will see the explosion and think that the game has the" call of duty's" in it.

Honestly, the 2nd one doesn't look that much different from the 1st. Yeah, yeah, it's yellow at the bottom but it's still the same art.

They both look pretty bad.