We've heard from tipsters here in the U.S. and in Europe—Switzerland, specifically—that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game have already shipped to retail and are waiting to be snapped up. Kotaku reader Bryant just snagged a copy at a Wisconsin Toys 'R' Us. We've reached out to some of our local retailers, even the ones that generally sell to us early, but have come up short.

You may have better luck, though, and may be able to secure a surprising Christmas or Hannukah gift for a friend if you do.

Yes, both versions appear to be regional, not import copies. Two good gets for a game that's not supposed to be released for another two weeks or more.

Thanks to Ivan and Bryant for the heads up. And have fun.

Not a lot of free time, but just enough free time to compare two of the breasts and butts in Bayonetta.

Bayonetta Kenichiro Yoshimura has overlaid the tops and buttons of characters Bayonetta and Jeanne in the above image. Here's the break down:

"Even though the bones (the joints needed to make the model move) are shared between the two, and their bodies share the same basic balancw...," writes Yoshimura, adding, "Jeanne's got smaller boobs! ...And a smaller butt, too!"

Now back to work Kenichiro Yoshimura! Break time is over.

The Secrets of Bayonetta's Models (Updated) [PG Blog]

If you have ever wondered what a woman in a spiky outfit playing MadWorld with producer Atsushi Inaba looks like, now you know.

アッキーナを始め豪華ゲストが彩った"チュンソフト×スパイク 大収穫祭09-10" - ファミ通.com [Famitsu]

And here you thought you'd have to wait until January to get your hands on PlatinumGames' saucy hair witch. Not so! On December 3rd, PS3 and 360 owners in North America and Europe will get their chance for a little hands on before the main event on January 5th and 8th respectively.

Bayonetta has recieved perfect scores from both Famitsu (sort of) and Edge Magazine now, so we should be in for a pretty good time.

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]

When I first started talking about it with [producer Atsushi] Inaba, the only starting point we had for Okami was a game that depicted a lot of nature," he told Famitsu. "I couldn't say 'I don't know if this'll be fun or not' because than nobody on the dev team would be enthusiastic about it, so instead I was like 'This is gonna be great! I know it will!' So eventually the discussion shifted to a wolf running around, and we made this minute-long video depicting a wolf running through a field and trees sprouting up behind him and I told the team 'See, isn't that neat?'"

There was no story at the time and no gameplay system. There was an original concept — depicting the splendor of nature.

"Our first test run was incredibly boring to play," he continued. "I was grinding my teeth at night, I was so worried. At one point, we were so far off-track that it had turned into a simulation game — you had hexes and trees sprouted on them. It was total garbage. A couple of devs said to me afterwards 'Something was definitely wrong with you around that time, Kamiya!'"

Read more in the link below.

Platinum Games' Kamiya Reflects on Bayonetta, Okami [1Up]

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]

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!

The PS3 version of the game is region free, and better yet, the voices and the in-game text is in English. The game's manual, however, is not. It's in Japanese.

Bayonetta will not be released in the West until early next year.

Buy Bayonetta (PS3) [Play Asia via Siliconera via Endsights]

The site's official blog calls Bayonetta's revealing hair moves "erotic".

"This right here is high-grade peeping!" says staff blog. And if anyone knew high grade pooping, it would be V — make that peeping.

V（ヴィ）スタッフブログ [NSFW via スピードネーター]

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]

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]

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.

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.

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]

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]

Now keep in mind that these are both demo versions of a game that won't see release in North America until next year, so this is far from a final representation of what the full versions of each game will look like. Judging solely from the video, the Xbox 360 version looks more vibrant and sharp, while tones on the PS3 side are more muddy and the textures less defined. Perhaps I wasn't looking hard enough, but I didn't see any of the slowdown that plagued the original PS3 demo, so perhaps that's all been ironed out.

While I know the Xbox 360 fans and PlayStation 3 owners will be at each other's throats over this, I want to hear from those that own both consoles. Are the differences enough to make you choose one over the other?