A new gameplay trailer has emerged of Bayonetta, the upcoming action exploitation title from SEGA and Platinum Games. The video demonstrates the title character’s basic move set, which involves all four limbs and both melee and ballistic weapons. As another foe falls before her onslaught, Bayonetta moans with pleasure. Is she the sassy embodiment of feminine power or just another example of digital pornography? I fear the latter, given players can reduce the amount of clothing she wears by pulling off elaborate attacks. Having said that, I’ll be introducing a similar system here on the blog just as soon as my webcam arrives.

If there is a reason to look forward to Bayonetta, it is that it recalls the feverish ‘anything goes’ creativity that made Japanese developers the envy of the gaming industry in the 1990s. Why shouldn’t our heroin strap guns to the heels of her boots? Why shouldn’t she be able to stomp on enemies using a gargantuan stiletto crafted from her own supernatural hair? Who should she fight? How about a giant head? It’s almost as if Platinum conducted a brainstorming session and decided to employ every single idea that emerged from it, no matter how preposterous.

Bayonetta is due for release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in January 2010.

“It’s so hard to find nice shoes in my size.”