PlatinumGames teases new game

Update: The timer on PlatinumGames' website has been changed, and now appears to count down to Monday 1st February rather than this Friday. The first two digits, which we assume to be days, read "04" last night but now read "26".

Original story: Bayonetta and MadWorld developer PlatinumGames has put a hypnotically spangly countdown timer on its website which will reach zero this Friday.

It's a safe bet that this is counting down to the unveiling of the developer's next project - and that this will be the new game directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.

Back when PlatinumGames signed its publishing deal with SEGA in 2008, three games were revealed: Bayonetta, MadWorld and Infinite Space, a sci-fi RPG for DS that's out in Japan now and due for a Spring 2010 release in the West. A fourth game, directed by Mikami, was also mentioned but not named.

Mikami's last game was 2006's God Hand, the anarchic PS2 brawler from Clover Studio, Platinum's predecessor under the Capcom banner. Clover's games received critical acclaim but sold poorly.

Platinum's Wii debut MadWorld looked set to repeat the trend, but Bayonetta, the action game from Devil May Cry director Hideki Kamiya, has been met with sky-high review scores and strong sales in Japan. The Friday unveiling of the new project coincides with Bayonetta's release here in Europe.

"A blast of creative brilliance, both technically accomplished, strategically deep and infused with rare imagination," said Simon. Go get.