Bayonetta's Got It, Flaunts It:
Without a doubt, Bayonetta was the high-amp vamp of gaming in 2009, and she hasn't even hit North America yet. In Japan, the ass-kicking, pistol-packing, hair-whipping witch with the naughty librarian look earned critical acclaim from no less than the Japanese director of the cinematic tour de force "Would You Like To Get An Enema Until You Poop?" Stateside and elsewhere, she emerged from relentless early comparisons to another gun enthusiast MILF, Sarah Palin, to become the undisputed cosplaying rookie of the year.

GTA: The Schlong and the Damned
The year's first major NSFW story came out of Rockstar, which broke new ground in Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned by becoming the first video game to show flaccid congressman dong. Fahey then bravely examined the historical importance of this depiction by providing a recap of nudity in games, "the good, the bad and the ugly." Hey, two out of three is bad.

Cussing-Outs and Swearing-Ins:
NSFW doesn't just mean T&A. Bad language also qualifies, and we had hilarious highlights for that, too. Grandma Hardcore, the game-playing senior citizen, spewed filth-flarn-flarn-filth-flarn over Brütal Legend. Ice-T (in a video featuring his NSFW wife, Coco) went apeshit playing Modern Warfare before demanding a Snapple to quench his thirst. And Ozzy Osbourne, talking to Fahey at Blizzcon, was just, well, Ozzy.

Just Two Words: Demon Tits
BioWare RPG's are eminently serious affairs, but the sex factor in Dragon Age: Origins' pre-release publicity got a little silly. The game gave us gay hookups with elves, brothel encounters with livestock, and everyone doing it with their underpants still attached. And, of course, Demon Tits.

Sheva-va-voom
Bayonetta and Dragon Age were far from the only titles ramping up the sex appeal. Resident Evil 5 opened the year with Sheva, and enabled gamers to instantly center the camera on her chest. This is especially useful once you unlock her secret tribal costume.

Boob! Headshot!
In October, two elite Counter Strike teams from Russia face off, but the event's promoter throws in a little "force multiplier" - a room full of strippers, disrobing and gyrating beside, over and on their monitors. The team forZe kept its focus and defeated rival Virtus.pro.

Attachments and Oddities
A product called the "Joydick" needs zero introduction, and I'll spare you from the description. And a tiny title offered over the Xbox Indie Games channel, which turns your controller into a rumbling vibrator, added console peripherals to the list of hiding-in-plain-sight sex toys. Slightly less sexy: The handcrafted Pokémon menstrual pad for $8 whose up-side I couldn't correctly identify. Finally, a lawsuit over virtual sex toys in Second Life gave us a darkhorse candidate for the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year: "Fuck Coffins."

Things Seen and Never Unseen
Mario and Peach made a tape that, like much of porn, has sex but is soooooo far from sexy. The Mushroom Kingdom's top plumber also laid some pipe with Lara Croft in this unaccountably weird video from, where else, Germany, which also featured Pong sex. In that vein, have you ever wanted to see a Tetris piece masturbate? No? Too bad, here it is.

The Second Sexiest Game of 2009
Left 4 Dead instantly spun off a robust modding community; too bad it chose to use its powers for evil, giving us the Nude Zoey Mod. Because, hey, nothing's hotter than blasting apart the leprous undead with a saucy deshabille look. It wasn't L4D's only brush with the naughty-naughty. Horny infected took to the personal ads for our Valentine's Day prank, where they hooked up with a horde even more mindlessly disgusting - the Craigslist casual encounter lurkers. Finally, porn gave the zombie FPS the ultimate compliment, a sex flick punning the title, named "Left 4 Head."

Munn's the Word
G4's "Attack of the Show" co-host took (most of) it all off for Playboy in June, despite a relentless haranguing from a Playboy stylist to try going commando under imaginary pants. Munn refused, saying the outfits they had in mind would have made her vadge "look like a Honeybaked Ham." Way to work it, Olivia! Geeks were in high dudgeon, because there is no other kind of dudgeon, over Playboy's beyond-the-pale exploitation of their hormones. Or just that it was a Tuesday. Many made the shocking declaration that she just wasn't hot enough, although Munn, as of press time, had no plans to do any of them.

Porn O'Plenty
In September, Vivid Entertainment's CEO says his firm is interested in getting its seminal works (ha ha, get it?) available for download over the PlayStation Network, an offer Sony ignored discreetly (in a plain brown wrapper.) But he's far from the only figure in adult entertainment to make the games crossover in 2009. Bobbi Starr, the X-Rated Critics Organization's regining "Superslut" finds work at E3 as a booth babe for Dirt 2. Porn legend Ron Jeremy joins actresses Krissy Lynn and Andy San Dimas (taking the whole use-your-address-as-a-porn-name motif a little seriously) in Fairytale Fights trailer promos of a viral nature, but not the one that sends you down to the free clinic. Finally, adult star Raven Alexis, an avowed World of Warcraft enthusiast, closes out the year with her five-step plan to winning the heart of a gamer girl - provided, of course, you know one in real life.

Desperate Escape, due out on March 3rd for the Xbox 360 and March 4th for the PlayStation 3, sees Jill Valentine, recently recovered from mind control and looking fine, escaping the Tricell facility with the help of Agent Josh Stone, who is also looking fine if you're into that sort of thing. The pair must fight through hordes of biological weapons in order to make it to the final confrontation between Chris, Sheva, and Wesker.

The release coincides with the release of Costume Pack 2, which we showed you earlier. Josh Stone, along with Heavy Metal Chris and Business Suit Sheva will be playable in Mercenaries mode, leaving just three of the eight new characters still to be revealed.

And don't forget, all of this DLC will be part of the Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, due to be released on March 9th.

G4 spoke to a company rep who confirmed that lack of dates for PC versions was no accident. "No plans for PC at this point," said Capcom. And that was that.

That means no costumes, no new episodes, no new Mercenaries multiplayer, zip. You want that, grab the console version, or wait for Capcom to change their minds, I guess.

Resident Evil 5 Downloadable Content Not Planned For PC Version "At This Point" [G4 via VG247]

The decision comes after a poll the company held, with users overwhelmingly voting in favour of picking up the game as DLC when it's released next year, rather than opting for a boxed copy.

Interestingly, instead of simply leaving it at "well, the people have spoken", Capcom's Chris Kramer has specifically urged on the company's blog for customers to hold off "thinking about selling RE5 back or handing it off to a friend" in the meantime, which makes it sound like the decision had a lot more to do with saying "fuck you, GameStop used game sales" than bowing to the will of the great unwashed.

Capcom offered the following as one of its strategies for the second half of its fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2010.

Use digital distribution to maximize opportunities to sell software
-Sell game software by using network downloads in order to give users more options.
-"Marvel vs. Capcom 2", "Fate / unlimited codes" (overseas), and others
-Constantly offer upgrades and earn profits by using PSN and XLA [sic] to distribute additional content.
-Constantly sell "Resident Evil 5", "Street Fighter IV" and other additional content

Paid downloads for Street Fighter IV from earlier this year included $4 packs containing five alternate costumes for the game's fighters. (Check out a full list and reader reaction.)

Resident Evil 5's prominent paid download was its $5 competitive multiplayer mode add-on. While some gamers complained that the modes should have been included in the base $60, Capcom countered by explaining that the additional content was budgeted and developed separately.

Capcom was unable to provide Kotaku with sales figures for any of that content.

Capcom's next releases on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are Dark Void, Lost Planet 2, Super Street Fighter IV, and Resident Evil: Alternative Edition. No concrete DLC plans have been issued yet for any of those games.

Be sure to check out Isaac's photos of Gears of War figures, Assassin's Creed figures and Isaac Renteria.

Resident Evil - a set on Flickr [Flickr via GameWatchImpress]

"Here's where we're at," says Chris Kramer:

In Japan, Alternative Edition will be released as a new physical package, with all that entails: new box art, new manual, new shiny disc, another plastic box to add to a tottering stack of console games. This makes absolutely perfect sense for the Japanese gaming market, where the uptake of digital content is a bit behind the western markets. However, based on the success of the RE5 "Versus" downloadable content, as well as digital-only titles like Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Marvel VS Capcom 2, we know that the demand for DLC in the west is huge. More and more, gamers in North America and Europe want content immediately and are less inclined to be tied to boxes and packages.

They're flat serious about putting this up to a poll on the Capcom-Unity site, although it should be said, nothing implies the final tally is binding. But if it matters to you, make your voice heard. You'll need to have a Capcom-Unity account, or register one, to make your vote count.

"We're gonna let the poll run for a few weeks, then present the team with the results and our recommendations," Kramer says, "Once we get it all sorted, we'll report back with an official announcement."

Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition: How do YOU Want the New Content? Tell Us! [Capcom-Unity]

Both will be out early next year, and expect both to be on the pricey side.

1/6 scale Resident Evil 5 figures get the retro treatment [Tomopop]

Starring Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the new mission is another 2 hours of content and takes place three years before the main plot line of Resident Evil 5.

The updated version of RE5 will be released next spring in Japan.

"Honestly", RE5 and Lost Planet 2 producer Jun Takeuchi told Kotaku, "the producer for Resident Evil 6 hasn't been decided yet." Takeuchi has previously expressed interested in a fresh take on the RE series. With Resident Evil 5, he spearheaded the implementation of a dual control scheme that allows players to play with more traditional RE controls or newer, tweaked ones.

"I think, while Resident Evil 4 is a great game, its appeal was limited somewhat to maniac players," Takeuchi said. "With RE5, I wanted to bring the series to a larger audience. I think its important to do the same for the next RE."

Part of Capcom's plan to bring the franchise to a larger audience includes the Wii Resident Evil titles. Since Resident Evil 5 is coming to the PS3 with wand motion controllers, it would make sense for Capcom to bring the title over to the Nintendo Wii.

Wii ports might be possible, but according to Takeuchi, "With the difference between hardware specs for the Wii and the PS3, porting might be hard. We currently have no plans."

The gameplay begins at 2:50 (unless you speak Japanese, skip to that part, it's all presentation dialogue up to that) and lasts to the six-minute mark. It looks smooth enough, but the demonstrator also is holding a regular PS3 controller. Can't tell if that's because this is a prototype, or if that's how this game will be operated when it releases in the spring of 2010.

[TGS 09] PS3 モーションコントローラ バイオハザード5 [EyeToy] [YouTube via VG247]

"I guess the news is already out," Jill says. It is? First I've heard of it. I've emailed Capcom to see if they have anything to say about it. Might she have bigfooted an upcoming reveal at TGS?

VG247, which first spotted this, speculates she might be talking about a DLC episode. That sounds plausible.

Voice actress Patricia Ja Lee outs Resident Evil 5 "Director's Cut" [VG247]

Luckily, Capcom's supplied me with a list of what they're planning on giving away or offering at their store on the weekend of PAX. That should make my attack strategy planning a bit easier.

The first 250 people to hit up their booth on Friday and Saturday score passes to a Resident Evil 5 PC launch party. At said party, Capcom will be giving away:

—Customized TriCell ID badges (meh)
—RE5 snow globes of dubious snowiness (I thought the game took place in quasi-Saharan Africa?)
—Majini makeovers (I'm not sure if that means they make you look like one or they let one go to work on your face.)

The booth, meanwhile, will have tons of stuff from the Capcom Store that you can pay real money for – like the Street Fighter Femme Fatale sticks Fahey blogged. I might seriously consider forking money over to them, having seen the giant-sized Poogie plush from Monster Hunter. Hopefully, though, some of what's at the store might be part of the giveaways Capcom plans to do throughout the day, so I'll just keep checking back. If my swag bag doesn't fill up, that is.

Oh – and they'll have games, too:

RE5 PC, Spyborgs, Fate/Unlimited Codes, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Lost Planet 2, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, and more!

See you on the floor, Kotakuites. Like last year, I'm pulling a Plebian act, so you'll probably have an easier time spotting me than Fahey or Totilo.

Capcom @ PAX: SWAG, RE 5 Party, Demos, and Exclusive Merchandise [Capcom Blog]

Guns, for instance.

The character of Sheva, however, was based on Australian model/TV actor Michelle Van Der Water.

Sheva Calender [Official Site via Gaming Bits via Capcom]

So without further ado, here are the system requirements (along with recommended specs) for the game. Note that we have our own benchmarks for the game: we require at least two zombies on dirtbikes, but recommend at least four.

OS
Windows XP: Required
Windows Vista: Recommended

CPU
Minimum Requirement
Intel PentiumD Processor
AMD Athlon64 X2

Recommended
Intel Core2Quad Processor or better
AMD Phenom X4 or better

RAM
Minimum Requirement
Windows Vista (1GB)
Windows XP (512MB)

Recommended
Windows Vista (2GB or more)
Windows XP (1GB or more)

HDD
8.0GB or more

Monitor
Minimum Requirement
800×600

Recommended
1280×720 or larger

Disc Drive
DVD9 compatible drive

Graphics Card
Minimum Requirement
VRAM (256MB)
DirectX9.0c/Shader 3.0
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro

Recommended
VRAM (512 or more)
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 series or better
ATI Radeon HD 4800 series or better

Sound Card
DirectSound Compatible (DirectX9.0c or higher)

Interface
Required
Mouse & Keyboard

Recommended
Xbox360 Controller for Windows
InternetBroadband Connection

Oh, and if you're wondering, the game's out on September 15.

It's a blog post that's a bit too sensitive and an argument that's a bit too convenient and dramatic for my taste, but the Houston Chronicle's Game Hacks blog tees up the Big R in a color-by-numbers mainstream look at something - which is, more or less, that any three can make a trend. In this case, the writer takes controller-dropping offense at participating in a story as a Confederate sympathizer (Juarez).

The game that really inspired this blog entry was Ubisoft's "Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood." The game starts out with players assuming the role of Ray, a Confederate officer, working to save his brother, Thomas, who's pinned down by Union soldiers. I nearly dropped the controller. I have so much respect for President Lincoln — he wanted to preserve the Union and ended up freeing the slaves — and have just as much respect for the Union Army.

This guy may legitimately feel that way. Fine. I think if Call of Juarez was overtly sympathetic to Confederate aims of slavery, instead of just framing the story of two mean-ass brothers in the context of soldiers of a failed cause, we'd have a different discussion. Similarly, it'd be a big problem if Left 4 Dead 2 was explicitly about Katrina and the institutional racism that fueled such a listless response and collective shrug at a disaster we thought only could happen in the third world.

But this sort of rumination seems to me to be picking a fight where none exists. And it points up the difference between sensitivity and tolerance. Not everything has to provide a teachable moment or avoid an uncomfortable subject altogether. Look at film.

Racism in Video Games: The New Norm? [Houston Chronicle via Trueslant]

New costumes, an improved Mercenaries mode, and support for NVIDIA's new GeForce 3D Vision tech will have PC gamers lording their superior versions of Resident Evil 5 over console players come September 15th, as long as their rigs are packing the juice needed to get the job done. To that end, NVIDIA is offering up a benchmark tool at its Resident Evil 5 downloads area, along with a 3D Vision technology demo for those interested in seeing the game's cut scenes in full 3D.

Capcom will be showing off the PC version of the game to the public for the first time at the San Diego Comic-Con next week, so if you're planning on attending, drop by the Capcom booth to check it out in the flesh.

Part of the company's August toy catalogue, we can see a range of new stuff, from new Final Fantasy "Creatures" mini-statues to new Trading Arts mini-figures (vol. 4 being new, vol. 3 being re-stocks) to the main attraction, a revamp of the "Play Arts" line of "realistic" figures, starting with Chris and Sheva from Resident Evil 5.

Square Enix reveals their Kai lines with Resident Evil 5 and new Final Fantasy goods [Tomopop]

Capcom's Masachika Kawata has told gamesTM:

Hypothetically speaking, the Resident Evil 4 engine would work perfectly for replicating the gameplay but we would never be able to recreate the graphical quality. A gun shooting game like Darkside Chronicles makes much more sense for Wii so, in short, Resident Evil 5 Wii Edition isn't likely to happen. Having said that, Cavia has surprised us with the quality of graphics in Darkside Chronicles, so it may actually be possible after all…

So Resident Evil 5, no. Resident Evil 5: African Dirtbike Zombie Guided Experience, maybe.

gamesTM [via Go Nintendo]

According to Capcom's Takeuchi, when Capcom was developing Devil May Cry 4, he thought this was the Xbox 360's limit. But again, when they were making Resident Evil 5, the game fit within those boundaries, and ditto for the upcoming Lost Planet 2. "I was like," says Takeuchi, "'This hardware is deep!'" He goes on to say that he was surprised and that "This is good hardware."

While From Software's Masanori Takeuchi is not disparaging about the Microsoft hardware — but rather, the situation it puts Japanese developers in. According to Takeuchi, developing for the Xbox 360 is "difficult". "Japanese game makers want to make games for Japan," he explains. But things like the low install base in Japan mean that developers must think about creating titles for a larger audience. "The fact that you must make games for a global audience," he explains, "makes the Xbox 360 a difficult platform."

Hey, in this sluggish Japanese game industry, making hit games at home isn't easy either.

カプコン竹内「Xbox360は深い」、フロムソフトウェア竹内「Xbox360はキツイ」 [はちま起稿]