They're not reprising starring roles for the PSP sequel, but still, they'll be in there as playable characters nonetheless, along with Lamarre from the anime and two characters (Mitnz and Julius) from the comic as well.

Welcome back, Alicia. It just wouldn't be the same without you.

おなじみのあの夫婦が『戦場のヴァルキュリア2』に参戦決定！[Dengeki]

Seems Sega know that the upcoming Aliens vs Predator is so violent, and packed with so much gore, that they're not even going to bother submitting it to the USK, Germany's classification board.

Rationale being that the USK, with a reputation for being sticklers for the ol' killerspiel, would only force sweeping changes to the game, changes Sega didn't want to part with, so they're instead just going to save some cash and not bother localising or distributing the game in Germany at all.

Aliens vs. Predator: Too gory for Germany? [PC Games Hardware]

Yes, if you thought Europe's special edition of the game was nice, ours is nicer. It includes the same art book and soundtrack sampler, but also includes a replica of Bayonetta's gun, Scarborough fair.

Best part? It's called the Climax Edition.

It'll be available in January.

Bayonetta: Climax Edition Goes For The Money Shot [Kotaku AU]

But not much more, really. Sega Europe has announced the Special Edition of Bayonetta for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and it's exactly the sort of thing you'd expect from a Special Edition. Inside a special slipcase purchasers will find an art book, a soundtrack CD containing all of six music tracks, and a copy of the game itself. Considering the actual soundtrack for the game contains 150 songs spread out over 5 discs, this really isn't all that much.

Oh well. Maybe the game is just so over-the-top and wild that a truly compelling Special Edition would have been too much?

Bayonetta Special Edition revealed [Sega Europe]

The game company recently polled fans, asking them which title should get the XBLA send-up, and ToeJam & Earl took top prize. Series developer Greg Johnson tells game site Joystiq that SEGA "got ahead of themselves a little bit" with that announcement "and didn't realize that they don't have the rights to the property." Johnson does, and SEGA offered "very little money" to include the charaters in the upcoming Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing.

"TJ&E will not be included...and the option for including them as downloadable content is still open," Johnson said. "Sega said they're not ready to talk about that yet because they haven't started making any definite plans, but they promised to give me a shout when they get there – so hopefully we'll be able to work something out." Ditto for an XBLA port.

Johnson hasn't given up on ToeJam & Earl and even pitched around a DS version, which didn't garner much interest from publishers.

"Right now my studio is pretty busy with other stuff, but I plan to get back to seeing if I can't make TJ&E games in the future."

Check out the concept art in the link below.

ToeJam & Earl creator says XBLA port not so certain; future games in franchise still a possibility [Joystiq]

In this short online promo clip title "Rio's Film Set! Part I?", there's a short street interview with the blue movie actress by Noa Mizutani — questions include, are there lots of men at the filming and do you get nervous before your "performance". Rio replies that there are female staffers, but it's mostly men. She does get nervous before her "performance".

The question about her "performance" has a double meaning, since the word "honban" can mean the sex act. And she's a porn actress. GEDDIT?

Mizutani then visits the set, where at the end of the clip, she goes "wow" and then asks if this is honban. Stay tuned for further wink-wink, nudge-nudge from the folks at SEGA.

Rioの撮影現場！ 前篇？ [Official Site]

PEGI listed the game with a content indicator for "depictions of violence." There is no ESRB rating as yet. The negotiations to republish this game must have looked like Red Rover played by 24 lawyers.

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Coming to Virtual Console? [Nintendo Life via Go Nintendo]

Here's the deal - once you register (free) for a Sega Pass, go back to this site on Nov. 9 and register to get your code. Registration for early access will be open until Nov. 13, but given the first-come, first-serve nature of this offer, my guess is it won't last that long.

Again, this offer covers the Xbox 360 version of the Bayonetta demo.

Bayonetta Demo Offer [Official Site, via Ripten]

In upcoming tri-Ace developed, SEGA published role-playing-game Resonance of Fate, the game's models are designed to take advantage of HDTVs, but the text is SDTV friendly. Yay!

Other good news: You can quick save any time in the game, there's a handy battle retry option and Resonance of Fate is disc-swap free.

Resonance of Fate reveals new features [Sega Nerds]

From classic scooters and teddy bears to Furbies and Cabbage Patch Kids, this Good Housekeeping list documents the hottest of hot toys that were hot in their day. And unlike People Magazine's 80s special, they've gone and given Nintendo and Sega their rightful props as hot toys.

While I can't name anybody who'd be glad to get a jar of Play-Doh this year, I can think of a lot of people who would be thrilled to see a Sega Dreamcast or an original Nintendo Entertainment System under their X-mas tree this year. Sadly, none of them are kids.

What classic entertainment system would you want under your tree this year?

The Best Toys of All Time [Good Housekeeping by Yahoo! Shopping]

An ad for Sakura Taisen 2 has been repurposed by television host Conan O'Brien. Watch the original ad here and the compare below:

Segata Sanshiro ad used on Conan O'Brien show [Sega Nerds via GameSetWatch]

A Japanese TV special provided a behind-the-scenes look at the character design, revealing that character artist Mari Shimazaki did over a hundred drawings of Bayonetta before the current design was finalized.

Those early prototype drawings included a blond hair Bayonetta and a red-head Bayonetta.

10.31 BAYONETTA　-ATSUKONETTA- [YouTube]

But that's nothing new for the market. Compare Bayonetta's sales to these other games to see just how much day-one sales favor PS3 over 360 in Japan:

Devil May Cry 4
28,000 (17 percent of sales) on 360 / 140,000 (83 percent of sales) on PS3
Soul Calibur IV
35,000 (38 percent of sales) on 360 / 57,000 (62 percent of sales) on PS3
Street Fighter IV
28,000 (33 percent of sales) on 360 / 58,000 (67 percent of sales) on PS3

See the pattern? I know I do, and I'm bad at economics.

Rock on for not being the nail that sticks up, Bayonetta!

PS3・Xbox360「BAYONETTA」好調な滑り出し、映画「THIS IS IT」紹介、他 [Ameblo]

I suppose the characters could be living in some sort of nightmare world, where traditional games are bypassed in favorite of name-driven racing games. Where Ryu from the Shenmue series can drive a motorcycle and a forklift, yet still can't break out of this hellish existence into some sort of Shenmue 3. When I think about it that way I get chills. Someone hold me.

Sega wants to make Bayonetta the first triple A video game title of 2010, and they've got the release date to do it. The game drops in North America on January 5th for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with Europe getting in on the action come January 8th. Sega CEO Mike Hayes believes the delayed timing is perfect.

"PlatinumGames set out to deliver a game that redefines the 3D action genre, and we feel that they have set a benchmark for future games in the genre to aspire to," said Mike Hayes, CEO of SEGA America & SEGA Europe. "We chose a January ship date for BAYONETTA as we firmly believe that it is the best time for SEGA and our retail partners to launch this exciting new IP in the West, and push for a number #1 retail slot. BAYONETTA is a huge title for us and the perfect start for the New Year, both for SEGA and gamers across Europe and America."

Of course PlayStation 3 owners can opt to spend $20 more and snag the English-language import a few months earlier, but then they'll miss out on...well I suppose they aren't missing out on much of anything. Good for you, region-free gamers!

Previously, it was revealed that the game would have unlockable costumes like a P.E. uniform. The day after tomorrow Bayonetta will be released in Japan.

『ベヨネッタ』コスチューム集、チアガール姿もあり [オレ的ゲーム速報＠刃]

The degree of help Sega's website can give is relatively minimal, unfortunately. Suggestions include wearing a skin-tight cat suit, crafting butterfly wings so you can pretend you are always jumping, and making sure you get the attitude right, or no one will believe you are the witchy heroine of the upcoming game the website is actually an advertisement for. Here's an example of a helpful hint:

When it comes to defining characteristics, you'll be hard pressed to find another action heroine whose eyewear alone could be used to identify her. While you can't buy the butterfly-adorned sides of her frames over the counter, thin rectangular black rimmed glasses should do the trick.

Thin, rectangular black glasses? I've got those! Now all I need is the cat suit, some weapons, an attitude, and Crecente's hair and I am all set to scare the living hell out of children who dare knock on my door Saturday night. Thanks, Sega!

Sega's Make-A-Witch Foundation [Sega]

That is, until next year when it's released in the West. Will people still be interested when the publicity machine starts up again?

『ベヨネッタ』コスチューム、ベヨ姉のブルマ体操着姿もあり [オレ的ゲーム速報＠刃]

Starting on November and continuing through the 12th, 19th and the 26th, fifty-thousand individuals will receive demo code for the game that can be used only for one week. Demo? In my day we called this a beta test.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 features online multiplayer, making it possible to playing with play and chat with fellow players across Japan.

Featuring double the voice acting and text as compared to the prequel, the game system has evolved as well, featuring quick escape, charge shot and new countering measures. There are new character designs as well.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 takes place 3 years after the previous title and is due out in Japan on December 3.

『ファンタシースターポータブル2』体験版のマルチモード利用権が20万人に配布 [ファミ通.com]

And the fliers have all be peeled off, revealing Bayonetta wrapped in hair and a nation eager to pull off fliers to see what's underneath. Thanks tsukasa1288 for the pics!

The Japanese internet, bless them, has created this comparison. The little girl is 100 centimeters — we don't know this for sure, but, as I mentioned earlier, let's say. A female is then 160 centimeters and a male is, just for example, 170 centimeters.

And by the totally unscientific, totally unfounded assumption, that Bayonetta would be 250 centimeters high — That's over 8 feet tall! Eight feet or over 11 heads high. Eleven heads? Even SNK characters max out at about 8 or 9 heads high.

ベヨネッタは身長２ｍ以上の巨人であることが発覚！？ [オレ的ゲーム速報＠刃]

Don't expect to see too many of these classic Sega consoles lighting up butts. They're only available for order until November 6 and for the steep asking price of 10500 yen, about $114 USD, each. Of course, if you light your cigars with hundred dollar bills anyway, we're sure you won't mind dropping that much on a Sega lighter.

We've already seen this lips-lickin' glasses lady before and are merely revisiting for the purposes of comparison. That is all!

And, of course, here's the multi-platform advert — much of which Sony seems to be recycling.

Dunno, but the fliers have access info for a special Bayonetta cell phone site. The posters are over six feet long each and feature phrases like "If you didn't peel it off, it would have been a peaceful day" and "This women, she's the scent of taboo". The posters will be on display from October 26 to November 1.

Bayonetta is out in Japan on October 29. Wonder what's underneath the fliers... Hair, probably.

The tri-Ace developed title will be released January 28 in Japan. No word about the Western release.

As we mentioned earlier, the game is set on the man-made spire of Basel. That's where the residents of Earth live in the future, now that we've polluted the planet to the point that it can no longer support human life or even vegetation.

As with most future societies, Basel has an easily understood hierarchy of placement on the spire. The rich rest comfortably near the top, the dirt-poor peons near the bottom. Your team of Private Military Firm employed heroes-Vasheron, Zephyr and Leanne-naturally live closer to the bottom, amongst the gears and levers that power the giant machine that is Basel.

エンド オブ エタニティ、カウントアップ中の発売日がバレて公式サイトが自虐に走る [読みゲー ]

The creator of Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe and more has officially asked, nicely, that Sega get around to bringing After Burner Climax to home consoles. He's not rich enough to afford an arcade cabinet, he says. Nor am I, and it would be kindly appreciated. The 2006 arcade game from Sega AM2 seems like an unlikely candidate at this point, but stranger things have happened.

As for Kamiya, who says he has no idea what his post-Bayonetta project will be—"I'm an empty shell," he admits—but doesn't seem willing to tackle the After Burner Climax port on PlatinumGames' time. Guess he's used up all his "climax action" energy on his own game.

(Note: This is the same episode of "Hideki Answers" that mentioned Kamiya's choice for a live action Bayonetta, but it's After Burner. It's worth mentioning!)

Hideki Answers Vol. 2 Part 2! [PlatinumGames Blog]

Whatever the case, such sights are possible in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, a title that's notable for a couple reasons: It again pairs two of the most iconic characters in video games (and their supporting casts), and its juxtaposition of the words "Olympic" and "winter" seems strangely off-putting (why not Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, hmm?). Regardless, the premise, which builds on 2007's Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, remains simple: Take ten characters from Mario's world and ten from Sonic's and let them compete in two dozen or so events from the Winter Games. Players can take part in a Festival mode–-either alone or with up to three others—that walks you through two "weeks" of events (two or three per "day"), or they can compete in stand-alone single-player or group matches.

And now, the judges' scores.

Loved
Dream Events: While progressing through Festival mode, every so often you'll have to participate in a Dream Event, which takes one of the main events, puts an arcade spin on it and transports it to a Mario- or Sonic-themed environment. In Dream Ski Jump, for example, you glide on skis through the Good Egg Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, collecting goodies for points along the way. They're nice diversions, especially when you nail a triple axel while leaping a Goomba, as in Dream Figure Skating. I found many of the dream events to be preferable to their reality-based counterparts.

More than Mini-Games: Though some events got annoyingly repetitive, there were a few worth the extra play-throughs. Hockey, with its one-minute halves (they're called "periods," but there are only two of them) was face-paced and fun, as you control the four-on-four action by pressing the A button to pass and flicking the Remote forward to shoot or body-check. Another was curling, which was surprisingly intricate and made for a decent primer on a sport I knew little about.

Balance Board: Unlike the previous Mario & Sonic title, which was released before Wii Fit came out, this game supports the Wii Balance Board. I included it here simply because it makes the sledding events more enjoyable, allowing you to sit to steer. (Hey, when they're appropriate, I'm a sucker for alternative control schemes.) However, the Balance Board is not without its drawbacks. It's compatible only with a handful of events, and it's debatable whether it makes those sports – skiing, snowboarding – more enjoyable. Moreover, anyone with a Balance Board should also have Wii Fit, which also includes ski slalom and ski jump games. Finally, the Balance Board is not supported in Festival mode; it's a separate option, alongside Single Match, Festival and Training.

Hated
Rival Challenges: In Festival mode, after about every other day, a rival will challenge you in one of the events, which you must win in order to advance to the next day. Some rivals are ridiculously easy; others are more difficult. (Of the latter category, I seem to recall jotting something down in my notes … oh, yes, here it is: KING BOO – GIANT SLALOM – DIE! DIE! DIE! This was in reference to how, in order to beat King Boo, you must ski a nearly flawless giant slalom race while surviving the multiple times that the grinning bastard bumps you on the way down the course, including the many instances when he would knock me off balance a few feet before the finish line, causing me to lose and igniting an overwhelming desire to rip that flailing red tongue out of his ghostly freakin' throat. See also: BIG BULLET BILL – SKELETON RACE – MUST … NOT … PUNCH … TV.) But back to the point: Overall, the challenges seemed little more than an artificial way to extend the Festival mode by making you repeat something over and over again until you get it just perfect.

Movin' and Shakin': While the controls for some events seemed intuitive (or, like skiing or snowboarding, were already familiar from similar games), others were less so. In the speed skating 1000-meter short track, for instance, you must shake the Wii Remote on the straightaways and tilt it around the curves. But your time on the straightaways or curves lasts maybe a second or two, so your motions end up a jumbled mess. Furthermore, some of the motions just aren't that responsive. In the ski cross or snowboard cross events, for example, when approaching jumps, you're supposed to jerk the Remote and Nunchuk upward to make your character jump. It worked maybe a quarter of the time for me (and, making me feel doubly dumb, I kept whipping myself in the forehead with the Nunchuk cord).

Length: You can sail through single-player Festival mode in as little time as a few hours (or more if, like me, King Boo or Big Bullet Bill trip you up). In order to unlock all the Dream events, you'll have to play through Festival mode, but, after doing so, I'm not sure there's much incentive to keep repeating it.

Aside from the novelty of seeing Mario, Sonic or their acquaintances competing in winter sports, there's just not a whole lot to Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. The various iterations of skiing, snowboarding and speed skating events make the game seem too repetitive, and the few noteworthy sports – hockey, curling – don't justify the full cost of the game. The game does provide a "shopping" area where you can use in-game cash to buy music from the game or outfits for your Mii, but, again, are you going to get the game just for that? You could probably rent this one and get what you need.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games was developed and published by Sega for the Nintendo Wii and DS on October 13. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Completed Festival mode and tested the game with the Balance Board on the Wii.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

BAYONETTA Witch of Vigrid features high quality pix of Bayonetta in action taken with a high quality camera. Priced at ¥2,100 (US$23), the book is slated for October 22 in Japan.

Witch of Vigirid is published by Enterbrain, which also publishes Famitsu. This week, Famitsu awarded the game a perfect 40/40 score for the Xbox 360 version.

絶頂感がブッ続く「ベヨネッタ」の写真集 [アキバBlog]

See, those "perfect" Famitsu scores are generally granted very infrequently—although that frequency has definitely increased over the years. Bayonetta was noteworthy for being the first multi-platform game to be awarded that score. It would also set a record for the number of 40 out of 40 scores awarded in one year, assuming that Final Fantasy XIII will, out of courtesy, achieve the same.

Now we know it's also the first time a game has been awarded a 40 and a 38 by the mag, according to what appear to be shots of Famitsu's review section from 2channel.

How so? Well, that quartet of 10s awarded by the Famitsu editorial staff is only for the Xbox 360 version. The PlayStation 3 port handled by SEGA, clearly lagging behind its more perfect sibling, was granted a 38 out of 40 from Famitsu. That's obviously still quite good, if you put any weight into magazine review scores. But it's sure to lead to some squabbling from the console camps people have aligned themselves with.

Don't worry about it too much. Just call it another reason to get the Xbox 360 version, if you have the means.

Today, only eleven, well, now twelve games have been awarded the perfect score. The latest is multi-platform title Bayonetta. Multi-platform Bayonetta is the first game to appear on the Xbox 360 to receive this score.

To review, here are the previous 40/40 games:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
2. Soulcalibur (1999)
3. Vagrant Story (2000)
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)
5. Nintendogs (2005)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)
9. 428 (2008)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009)
11. Monster Hunter Tri (2009)

So no games in 2001, 2002, 2004 or 2007 got a 40/40, but three games in 2008 and three games in 2009 have? Either Famitsu thinks games are getting better or is giving out more perfect scores. Discuss!

And for those who care, Final Fantasy X was released in 2001, Resident Evil was released in 2002, Dragon Quest VIII and Gran Turismo 4 were released in 2004, and so on and so forth.

Once the actual scan of the score has hit online, we will add it to this post.

Bayonetta will be released on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 later this month in Japan and early next year in the West.

When asked what actor would make a good live action version of character Jeanne if (big "if") there was ever a movie, Kamiya says he's never even thought about that. Who he has thought about is a live action version of Bayonetta.

"For Bayonetta," Kamiya says, "it would be Elizabeth Hurley."

There, that settles it. Bayonetta is Elizabet Hurley. You can take that to the bank. Not sure what you'll be able to do with it there, though.

Hideki Answers Vol. 2 Part 2! [Platium Games] [Pic]

In a recent forum, the game designer referred to GTA as a game in which you can "kill people or do whatever". It's not that Nagoshi used this forum to trash talk GTA — far from it. Instead, he touched on the larger issues at hand, such as what does it mean to make a game that can let players do whatever they want. Is this dangerous?

"This game," the SEGA R&D head said about GTA, "I thought one day someone is going to have to make something like this. Personally, because I think you must think about the influence games have on people, I would never think about wanting to make a game like this. However, because of this moral issues in this game, I think we should have a healthy debate.

In gaming, if you make a decision, there is a reaction, and it's the most stimulating form of media, I think. And thus, it can asked if it's the most dangerous media... Depending on what you make, perhaps."

Besides developing Yakuza, Nagoshi works on Super Monkey Ball games and his tan.

セガ名越氏が語る『龍が如く』とゲーム倫理の問題 [Famitsu via jin] [Pic]

The Aliens were my faction in the original Aliens VS. Predator game, and they'll be my faction in the new game as well. You can keep your stealthy cornrowed Predators, and the Marines are nothing more than cannon fodder. Give me the relentless, terrifying, ceiling-crawling Aliens any day. They have tongues with teeth! What more could you possibly ask for?

Okay, the real reason I play as the Aliens is because I am so terrified of them that the only way to avoid being killed by one is to actually become one. Either way they win the day.

Instead SEGA launched a count-up clock. There's a Twitter feed for the game's character with tweets from Vashyron ("We can only wait for it to stop!) and Zephyr ("Well, when's that?").

Clever!

End of Eternity [SEGA]

I totally would have cannonballed into that pile.

SEGA's Office Pranks [YouTube, big hat tip thanks to Nightwheel]

The head-stabbing work of Salvador Samano gets an autographed Xbox 360 copy of the January-slated game. And that's without his Bayonetta showing any skin.

The winner of the contest, Niccolo Balce, made Bayonetta look quite a bit hotter. He gets a 50-inch TV, an Xbox 360 and an autographed copy of the game. The winning entry will also be included in Wizard Magazine, which joined with Sega to sponsor the contest.

Judging for the entries was conducted by fan ballot as well as with input from people at Sega and Wizard. Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya of Platinum Games chose the top winner.

See all 11 drawings at the contest's official site.

Sega Announces Winner of the 'Bayonetta Re-Envisioned' Art Contest [Wizard Universe]

As game site Siliconera points out, players can get figures of Japanese Pizza Hut mascot Cheese-kun as room decorations as well as arm themselves with a Pizza Hut cardboard box shield and a pizza pan. The in-game pizzeria also has edibles like seafood pizza for 2,500 meseta (in-game currency), cheese pizza for 1,900 meseta and coffee for 1,000 meseta. The cost of sudden urges for Pizza Hut?

Get Pizza Hut In Phantasy Star Portable 2 [Siliconera]

SEGA is offering a "customer for a day ticket" with Toshihiro Nagoshi, designer of the Yakuza franchise and Super Monkey Ball. We imagine that Nagoshi will visit the winner's hostess bar, spend loads of money on booze and smoke an endless stream of cigarettes. Nice pointer finger ring!

If Nagoshi were our customer for a day, we'd make him bring the last Yakuza game to the West. Oh, we'd probably ask him for eyebrown, sorry, eyebrow trimming advice, too.