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Sega picks America's next top Bayonetta model in Maxim competition

by Justin McElroy { Nov 23rd 2009 at 1:30PM }

Sega and Maxim.com have selected a winner in their search for a model that best captures the lead character from forthcoming action title Bayonetta. The young lady, Andrea Bonaccorso, walks away (slowly, considering she has guns for shoes) with an Xbox 360, a copy of the game and a 50-inch Panasonic TC-P50X1 HDTV Plasma TV. She'll also appear on Maxim.com, in a sensible, dignified outfit, we're sure.

So how did she qualify for such an honor? This is really what it says in the press release: "While some entrants perfectly mirrored the outfit of the character and others simply donned librarian glasses, Andrea married both elements to come out on top."

So, there you have it. We're rewarding this girl for wearing both clothes and glasses.

Meanwhile, Joystiq and Joystiq.com selected a loser in Sega and Maxim.com's Bayonetta Model Search and it's all of us.

Bayonetta demo available in North America and Europe Dec. 3

by JC Fletcher { Nov 23rd 2009 at 11:30AM }

Finally, a chance to play Bayonetta for those of us who never got around to setting up Japanese PSN accounts or Sega Passes. Sega announced that the demo for Platinum Games' torturiffic action game will be available on Xbox Live and PSN, in North America and Europe, on December 3.

With this demo, you'll be able to gauge the limits of your Bayonetta fandom. Maybe you'll like it enough to buy it. Maybe you'll like it enough to buy the PAL limited edition. Or enough to import the PAL limited edition (for North American gamers). Or maybe you'll freak out about Bayonetta and feel compelled to import the Australian limited edition. This is why demos are so important: you can make sure you actually like the game before you bring yet another fancy plastic foot-pistol into your home.

Gallery: Bayonetta

Super Monkey Ball 2 goes bananas on iPhone this year

by JC Fletcher { Nov 20th 2009 at 11:30PM }

Sega is preparing a sequel to its App Store launch title, Super Monkey Ball, due out sometime before the end of the year. According to Touch Arcade, Super Monkey Ball 2 will add 115 new levels, multiplayer functions, and, perhaps most importantly, minigames. Monkey Bowling will be included in the download, with Monkey Golf and Monkey Target (also known as the greatest achievement in human history) to follow as free updates.

Okay, actually, while great, the minigames aren't the most important part of this sequel. That would be the improved controls, which may render this game playable. Check out Touch Arcade for gameplay footage!

BBFC: Sega compiling Sonic games for DS

by JC Fletcher { Nov 20th 2009 at 5:45PM }

The BBFC classification site lists a "Sonic Classic Collection" coming to DS soon. Normally, with these ratings, we'd be left to speculate as to the identity of the games on the collection -- however, the BBFC helpfully provided a list of games on the cart!

According to the rating, it'll feature Sonic 1-3, plus Sonic and Knuckles -- with the ability to virtually "Lock-on" and play as Knuckles in the older games. Also included in the shockingly specific list of in-game content: Sonic Chronicles and "The History of Sonic" video content and the art gallery.

We can only hope it turns out better than Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis on GBA.

[Via Kombo]

Bayonetta's magical torture fetish explained

by JC Fletcher { Nov 19th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Bayonetta has the magical ability -- and macabre desire -- to conjure torture devices for use against her enemies. But why does the hair-clothed, gun-toed heroine of Platinum Games' action game do this? Is she just a horrible person?

In a new developer diary (after the break), Director Hideki "Viewtiful" Kamiya explains that Bayonetta and her fellow witches have suffered through torture themselves, and so she fights not only for survival, but for revenge. Her sadism is a direct result of her own experience previous to the game's events. Plus, as Kamiya says, "It is important players enjoy seeing enemies sadistically destroyed." Do try to enjoy the torture. Otherwise you'll be doing the cruelest attack of all: hurting Kamiya's feelings.

Congratulations to Jonathan on being the first to comment. You've been emailed a free Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta code. Click here, for more information on this giveaway. Official rules apply.

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Sonic 2 soon to be Xbox Live Deal of the Week

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 19th 2009 at 3:45PM }

According to Sega, the XBLA version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will soon become an Xbox Live Deal of the Week. The deal is scheduled to begin November 30 -- just in time for the holidays -- and will see the game's price drop from 400

($5) to just 240

($3). That's an absolute pittance for one of the best Sonic games out there, and with Project Needlemouse still a long way out, you'd be hard-pressed to do much better (seriously).

Unlock skins with Aliens vs. Predator pre-order at GameStop

by David Hinkle { Nov 18th 2009 at 9:30PM }

Click image for full-size action pose

Aliens vs. Predator is kind of a misleading title. Aside from the titular extra-terrestrials, mankind's future badasses, the Colonial Marines, will also be able to get some in Rebellion's upcoming FPS romp. And for some of your pre-sale cash at GameStop, you'll be able to use one of the more badasserer (we're still working on that one) humans around: Sgt. Kaneko. This dude "wrote the book on small-scale Xeno containment," which is great because we hear there's a lot of Xeno in the game that needs, uh, containing.

Joining Kaneko are Number Six -- the blue thing on the left that looks like it's from The Darkness -- and Alien Head Predator, the "most successful Xenomorph Hunter of all time." That's how he ~~she~~ it got that neat Cylon mask! Both are very adept at being super scary-looking and can be yours if you pre-order at GameStop. Unless you live in Germany, in which case you get nothing.

Video: Bayonetta gets creative with death

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 18th 2009 at 4:00PM }

Apparently it's not good enough to simply dispatch enemies these days. No, in these modern times, one must also torture them before they die. At least, that would appear to be the stance of Platinum Games' Bayonetta. The latest video released for the game explains the magic system. In short, landing successive blows on enemies without being struck fills the magic bar, allowing Bayonetta to unleash some particularly nasty finishing moves. For example she can summon a guillotine, stomp a foe's head right onto the chopping block and then drop the blade with a snap of her fingers.

Or, if you're not really a traditionalist, you can opt for the giant, spiked wheel of death. Your choice. See the video after the break.

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Sega considering Bayonetta PS3 patch to address long load times

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 18th 2009 at 11:45AM }

We've all seen reports about the PS3 version of Bayonetta's visual inferiority to the 360 iteration of the game, but according to a few forum posters on Platinum Games' site, the title is plagued by a bigger problem on Sony's home console: Lengthy load times. According to one forum post, it takes 25 seconds to load a level, 10 seconds to load a cutscene, five seconds to open the menu and three seconds to pick up an item. In the context of the game, that last one makes sense -- we imagine hair-clothes don't offer the flexibility required to collect an object from the ground.

Fortunately, a Sega representative responded to one such complaint, saying "a patch to correct this issue is under consideration," later adding that there's no time frame as to when a decision about the update would take place. In the interest of universal cross-platform equality, we're sincerely hoping the answer is "before January 5."

[Via 1UP]

Here's a bunch of pretty moving pictures from Resonance of Fate

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 15th 2009 at 9:00PM }

Listen, we don't need to understand the primary language used in a trailer to know that it's completely awesome. After the break, you'll find a six-and-a-half-minute-long Japanese trailer for Resonance of Fate (or, as its called overseas, End of Eternity), and while we don't really understand what's being said, the video possesses plenty of the universal language: Totally rad gun ... shooting. Gun action. Firearm discharging ... coolness.

Okay, there's not really a word for the video's awesome properties, but we trust that you'll know them when you see them.

Gallery: Resonance of Fate (6/29/09)

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Artist plans to turn OutRun machine into real car

by JC Fletcher { Nov 12th 2009 at 12:10PM }

Garnet Hertz's design for an OutRun arcade machine combined with an electric scooter into a real, amazingly impractical vehicle is great, even if it is just a concept for now. But what really turns the idea of a driving game on wheels into something magical (that also plays "Magical Sound Shower") is the software.

Instead of simply running OutRun as you drive blindly into traffic, Hertz is working on an iPhone 3GS app that uses the iPhone's camera and GPS to detect your position and the shape of the road, and translate that information into a live OutRun track. See the software at work after the break.

The artist's goals are the "Un-Simulation of Driving" (instead of using a game to simulate driving closely with high-end graphics like Gran Turismo, this will fuse video game-like graphics with real driving), and "GPS Navigation Parallax & Mixed Reality" (using only GPS information to drive). And not "Making Something That Is Going To Get Someone Killed", which is why, when this does become a reality, it'll be limited to "controlled environments."

[Via Engadget, GameSetWatch]

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Sega: Aliens vs. Predator not releasing in Germany

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 11th 2009 at 2:41PM }

Sega has confirmed that it will not release Aliens vs. Predator in Germany. Following a report that suggested the publisher would avoid the German market altogether, we contacted Sega, which explained that the game wouldn't make it to retail in Germany "without significant cuts that would harm the gameplay experience." The publisher maintained that AvP was "developed to be consistent with the existing content in the Aliens and Predator universes," and added that the "gameplay and graphical and narrative style befit the mature themes" of the franchises.

AvP is expected to receive an "18 rating" (or the equivalent) in territories outside of Germany and an M rating in the US. When asked about the status of the title in Australia, Sega told us that there was no word yet from the region. It would certainly be interesting if the German market was ruled out due to the game's violence (and the threat of not receiving a rating by USK, the German ratings board), but Australia and its similarly stringent board prove more accepting of the content. We'll continue to follow up with the publisher.

The House of the Dead: Underpriced at Newegg

by JC Fletcher { Nov 10th 2009 at 4:15PM }

If you like film grain effects, shooting zombies, and getting cursed at, but you haven't picked up The House of the Dead: Overkill yet, this deal from Newegg is exactly what you've been waiting for. The online retailer has marked the game down to $12.99 (with free shipping).

Be warned, there really is a lot of cursing. Even the first 15 minutes of the game sounds like someone stepped on Samuel L. Jackson's foot. That's what that M rating is about. Well, that and all the disgusting dead people exploding and stuff.

[Via GoNintendo]

Sega Europe announces Bayonetta special edition

by JC Fletcher { Nov 10th 2009 at 9:30AM }

Sega of Europe revealed a new offering for PAL gamers who are way into Bayonetta, but not so way into Bayonetta that they're already buying the crazy five-disc soundtrack from Japan. The Bayonetta special edition, announced for release in the UK, Spain, France, and Australia, includes a single soundtrack disc, along with a hardcover art book. It'll be released alongside the regular edition of the game on January 8.

Sega of America has yet to announce a special edition of Bayonetta, but we won't be shocked when the company does decide to pick up the extra money generated by such a release.

VC in Brief: Wonder Boy III (SMS) and Cybernoid (C64)

by David Hinkle { Nov 9th 2009 at 7:30PM }

This week's Virtual Console update is quite the doozie, giving us one obscure C64 title and one game we've played a billion times. We don't mean to sound bitter, but we're pretty sure there's a baker's dozen Wonder Boy games littering the lands of the Virtual Console. Check 'em out above!

Cybernoid (C64, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Sega Master System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)

Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.