Sega has announced a multi-title, multi-platform deal with the studio formed by former Clover Studio members.

Sega said that the new partnership with PlatinumGames Inc. will bring four unique games to market, created by proven Japanese development talent.

Osaka, Japan-based PlatinumGames is an independent developer comprised of former members of Clover Studio, the expired Capcom development house behind titles including Okami and God Hand.

Games that fall under the agreement with Sega include the highly-stylized Wii-exclusive game Madworld (Q1 2009, pictured), the space faring DS RPG Infinite Line (working title, 2009), the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 action game Bayonetta (2009) from Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya, and an unannounced game from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.

PlatinumGames CEO Tatsuya Minami said that his studio' s titles will " contribute meaningfully to Sega' s brand."

Sega of America COO Simon Jeffery said that the deal " underscores Sega' s continuing drive to bring high-quality content to Western audiences."

Sega' s Western initiative has also been marked by significant publisher partnerships with respected Western developers. The Tokyo-based company once known primarily for internally-developed Japanese properties has formed partnerships with Western studios including Gas Powered Games, Gearbox Software, Monolith Productions, Petroglyph and BioWare.

Publisher Sega has officially announced a four-game deal with PlatinumGames, the group made up of Okami, Devil May Cry, and God Hand creators, with ultraviolent Wii title MADWORLD, DS RPG Infinite Line, next-gen action title Bayonetta and one unannounced title in the works.

Gamasutra attended the Sega/PlatinumGames showcase in San Francisco, where Sega U.S. president Simon Jeffery discussed the new four-title deal, calling it " the most exciting partnership in the game business in the last two or three years."

" These guys are some of the most talented, some of the most respected guys in the game business," said Jefferey. " They' re revered - they' re almost worshiped in some parts of the gaming community."

Set for release at the beginning of 2009, Sega says the Atsushi Inaba (Okami) produced Wii-exclusive MADWORLD will feature a black and white style that " straddles graphic novels and 3D worlds." The game, which is directed by Capcom alum Shigenori Nishikawa (Dino Crisis 2, Resident Evil 4) will see players using environment objects like chainsaws and street signs as weapons against enemies with a sports-commentary like soundtrack, " irreverent humor and over-the-top violence."

Inaba is also co-producing DS space RPG Infinite Line along with Nude Maker' s Hifumi Kouno -- formerly director of Capcom' s Steel Battalion, also set for release in 2009. Sega says the game will give players the ability to " control, build, outfit and customize more than 150 spaceships," with over 200 characters, and multiple controllable ships.

Finally, the last announced Platinum title is Bayonetta, a " stylish and cinematic action game," from Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe creator Hideki Kamiya. Again set for a 2009 release on Xbox 360 and PS3, the game will feature " a witch with powers beyond the comprehension of mere mortals."

Sega says the game will see Bayonetta go up against " countless angelic enemies, many reaching epic proportions, in a game of 100% pure, unadulterated all-out action," with " outlandish finishing moves performed with balletic grace" and " stages that are a veritable theme park of exciting attractions."

One more title is to be produced through the deal, though remains unannounced and undetailed, apart from the fact that it will be directed by Resident Evil and God Hand creator Shinji Mikami.

At Sega' s event unveiling the games, Jeffery called the partnership a key part of its ongoing " enormous effort revitalizing its business," as the company has now " completely embraced life as a multi-platform publisher instead of a hardware company."

Said Platinum president and CEO Tatsuya Minami at the event, " I' m very excited and happy to be able to announce this partnership... our company has not been around for very long, but we have a mission to create very unique and very special types of games."

Gamasutra will have more details and interviews from the Sega and PlatinumGames San Francisco press event in the near future.

Gamasutra attended the Sega/PlatinumGames showcase in San Francisco, and, following our earlier more brief report, we now bring you the full transcript of the presentation from Sega U.S. president Simon Jeffery, Platinum CEO Tatsuya Minami, producer Atsushi Inaba, and the creators of each of the three showcased titles:

Simon Jeffery - The Sega Angle

Simon Jeffery: These guys are some of the most talented, some of the most respected guys in the entire gaming business. Their portfolio is incredible, they' re revered, they' re almost worshipped in some parts of the game community. We' re truly honored to have been working with them.

Let me talk a little bit about where Sega is right now. The last three years or so of Sega has spent an enormous effort revitalizing its business -- changing its strategies, completely embracing the life as a multi-platform publisher instead of a hardware company.

In 2004, in North America, we were barely struggling to be a top twenty publisher. This year, we' re third and number six, pretty much every month, and its going to get better and better. We think one of the best years, maybe THE best year of our entire history lies ahead of us.

We' ve got games for kids and families, we' ve got a completely reinvented Sonic. We' ve got movie licenses that are really strong -- a huge hit with Iron Man, thank you Marvel, and, also, we' ve got hardcore games, games with a core audience. We have a really diverse, balanced portfolio.

On the Wii, and the DS, we are the leading non-first party publisher. We' ve sold globally over five million units of Mario and Sonic. We truly believe that the Wii is far more than just a causal game platform that everyone is talking about. The Wii has more than that. There' s millions and millions of Wiis, its the most in-demand hardware system out there. So we have titles that will turn the Wii gaming world on its head.

I want to pass things over now to what you' re all really here for, so I want to hand you over, introduce you to, the man, the president, and CEO of Platinum games, Minami-san.

Tatsuya Minami - The Company

Tatsuya Minami: Hello everyone, I am Tatsuya Minami from Platinum Games. I am very happy and excited to be able to announce this partnership here today, for the very first time. My company has not been around very long, but we have a mission to create unique and very special kinds of games. We would like our games to create happiness and joy and excitement to people and gamers across the globe.

A lot of people have said, that the development companies in Japan, how do they [indiscernible], but we are different. We would like people of the world, once again, to play high quality, Japanese games.

To realize this dream, we have been looking for a good partner. That' s when we met Sega. Sega had the courage to allow us to make these unique and exciting titles. Sega has a very well-known worldwide brand. Also important is that their headquarters are located in Tokyo, and they have branch offices throughout the world. As a Japanese developer, that has allowed us a high level of communication with our partner. We feel that Sega is the perfect partner for us.

Today we will be talking about three different titles. Each of these titles have different styles and uses different hardware. Each one is unique. There is a fourth title, that we cannot announce just yet. The director on this title is Shinji Mikami. And while we can' t speak about it today, we hope that we can share it with you in the near future.

With Sega as our partner, we hope that we can bring all our original, unique titles to the Western market, in particular America. So here we' d actually like to show you the titles, but before the presentation, we' d like to call Atsushi Inaba to the stage.

Atsushi Inaba - The Producer

Atsushi Inaba: My name is Atsushi Inaba and I am excited to be here, and to be working with Sega. We' ve kind of been in hiding for a while, so we hope no one has been too worried about us. But we' ve been working diligently on games. We can actually show you three of those games we' ve been working on.

These are all exciting, very unique types of games that we feel represent our true loves. Today we' ve actually brought three of the directors with us, and they will be explaining in detail the projects.

While two of developers are Platinum employees, one of them is from a different company called Nude Maker. The person from Nude Maker actually worked with me on Steel Battalion -- I was the producer and he was the director. And just as in that case, we will be working with external developers on many titles, looking forward.

Now I would like to call up the game director, Hideki Kamiya. To be honest, I did not want to bring him with me. But he insisted. So ladies and gentlemen, Hideki Kamiya.

Hideki Kamiya - Bayonetta

Hideki Kamiya: Hi. I am Hideki Kamiya. I am here to introduce to you to my latest creation, a return to the action genre. Seven years ago, I created Devil May Cry. Many of you have said it kick-started the action genre into 3D.

But did it really? Have action games really progressed past what we accomplished seven years ago? I don' t believe they have. We as creators have squandered an opportunity to make things better, smoother, more intense, more engaging.

That is why I have come back to 3D action. It is time to make good on promises of seven years ago. And I think we are the only team who can do it. The era of style and action is over. Today, we take action to its climax. Ladies and gentlemen, Bayonetta.

Bayonetta is actually the name of the main character, and she is a witch that has been reborn into modern times. Using her powers and abilities, she does battles with angels of the world. The battle between angels and witches is what sets the tension of this world.

As you saw clips of it in the trailer, not only does she kick and punch and have two guns in her hands, she actually has guns on her feet. While it would take some training, any human could probably put guns on their hands and feet and fight, but since she is a witch, its given her more abilities.

Unfortunately, we cannot talk about those abilities today. The development is going along very smoothly, so we should be able to show more in the near future. We hope that your imaginations runs wild with the possibilities. Thank you very much!

Hifumi Kouno - Infinite Line

Hifumi Kouno: Hello everyone, I am the director and game designer over at Nude Maker, Hifumi Kouno. And while our company is called Nude Maker, I decided to come clothed today. The title I would like to speak to you about is Infinite Line, a title that is heavily influenced by Arthur C. Clarke' s Childhood' s End. This is a science fiction RPG. Players will become captain of their own ship and travel the cosmos, just like Captain Kirk of Star Trek.

There are two key concepts in this title. The first concept is a highly customizable spaceship. We have very intelligent mecha designers working on the designs of these spaceships, we have prepared over 150 differently designed models.

The innards of these spaceships are build modularly, so you can place the bridge, the engineering room, and the control room as you see fit. We wanted to create a large and expansive world. Players can play a deep and engaging story that takes place across two entire galaxies. In playing through the story, across vast space, the player will discover what it means to be human in this vast emptiness.

And while the DS is a very small machine, we have managed to fit a vast and expansive world into this very small machine. Unfortunately we are only able to show you these placeholder images. Actually, back home in our studio, we have prepared graphics that will blow you away, you will never believe we can get these on the DS.

Inaba: Now let me introduce the director of Madworld, Shigenori Nishikawa. Nishikawa has worked on Dino Crisis 2, the Resident Evil remake, and Resident Evil 4. Sorry, I forgot Dino Crisis 3. I think he' d like to forget that one, too.

Shigenori Nishikawa - Madworld

Shigenori Nishikawa: I wish I could forget Dino Crisis 3. Hello everyone, I' m Shigenori Nishikawa, and I' m the director of Madworld. Madworld is made of two key concepts. The first key concept within Madworld is the stark, black and white graphics. This is to further emphasize the violence, as presented by the stark red blood.

And the other key concept that we didn' t want to create a game that was depraved or perverse, but rather, feature comical, over the top violence so that anyone would enjoy it. [laughs]

Madworld, even as a producer, is a new challenge for me. As was mentioned earlier, we didn' t want to produce a dark and perverse game, but one that was over-the-top and comical. We felt that the Wii was missing this exact type of game in its lineup, so we felt that this would be a perfect fit.

Somebody loan me a few billion dollars so I can buy Sega.