SEGA releases 8-Bit Bayonetta on Steam

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SEGA hears that you want Bayonetta on PC, so instead of putting in the work for a full PC port, why not release 8-Bit Bayonetta on Steam? Of course its not the title we all wanted, its at least free with no ads, so its a nice little surprise from SEGA coming up on April 1st. Platinum Games released the 8-Bit Bayonetta ‘flash game’ last year for fans to play and was originally posted online for Platinum Games to advertise that they were hiring new staff.

Now SEGA has published 8-Bit Bayonetta on Steam with the following features:

  • Jumping!
  • Double jumping!
  • Shooting!
  • Scoring!
  • Achievements!
  • Wicked chip-tune Bayonetta theme song!

Download the game here, via Steam! 

8-Bit Bayonetta weighs in at 60mb, which means its a tiny game. This is the first time SEGA has actually published a Bayonetta game since the first title back in 2009. If you play the game, 8-Bit Bayonetta teases a countdown page with a promotional image from Bayonetta 1. Maybe SEGA wants to revive the franchise? What is your thoughts on 8-Bit Bayonetta and what do you think it means for the future of the franchise? Sound off in the comments below.

If you play the game, you are lead to a countdown page here. The countdown ends on April 11th and has a promotional photo of Bayonetta‘s foot used for the first game. Putting my detective skills to work, I will safely assume that SEGA has a Bayonetta PC port to announce.

The SEGA Five: SEGA published games that deserve more attention

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If you discuss Streets of Rage, Super Monkey Ball, or even anything Sonic, chances are you can hear that 90’s jingle of retro goodness (SEGAAAAAAAAAAA!). The company helped create some wonderful games and franchises and are still going strong to this day. That being said, most of the games published by SEGA are sometimes often forgot about and usually sit on store shelves to collect dust and/or be pauper’s pennies.

While I haven’t played every single game SEGA has helped publish, some of those games stick out to me in a very unique and interesting way. And SEGA, being the quirky company they are, brought me wonderful memories and breathes a one-of-a-kind charm to those certain games. So in no particular order (with the first one being my favorite out of the five), here are some games that rightfully deserve more attention than they get!

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Platinum Games Teases Possible Vanquish PC Port

1290338-dtihgkIts coming up almost six years since Platinum Games released their console title Vanquish which received a positive score from critics but sadly didn’t result in a high seller for either SEGA or Platinum Games. Now Platinum Games co-founder Atsushi Inaba is teasing of a possible PC release. If you didn’t know, Vanquish was one of the games asked for by the folks behind the ‘SEGA PC Ports’ fan movement that garnered the attention of SEGA.

When asked during a interview Inaba said“If you stop recording, I can talk about that.” referring to the PC port ofVanquish. But then said it would depend on the publisher (SEGA).

“[W]e’re good friends with Valve and often go to their studio. We go there, hang out, talk about many different things, and we are very interested in Steam and would definitely like to release games on Windows. Right now, we’re at a place in which publishers ask us to make titles. So, if the publisher doesn’t want to release a PC version, then there won’t be a PC version. It really comes down to that.”

So while he is up for Platinum Games to port the game, he is pretty much saying that the ball is in SEGA’s court. SEGA on the other hand have been teasing more PC ports and even considered the PC port of Vanquish a high priority. After the success of the PC port of Valkyria Chronicles, which sold almost a million units, don’t be surprised if SEGA announces a port of Vanquish very soon. I just don’t expect Platinum Games to be the one to port it, mostly due to their busy schedule.

What do you think? Are you waiting for a PC port of Vanquish? What other SEGA games do you want to see on PC?

Infinite Space getting a reprint by Canadian retailer

infinnite_space_esrbRemember that Nintendo DS game by Platinum Games called Infinite Space? No? I don’t blame you since not too many people picked it up. Now that Platinum Games has become more popular over the years, many fans have been trying to find a copy of the game but it is now considered rare. Don’t worry it seems that Canadian retailer VideoGamesPlus has ordered reprints of the following game titles:

These are considered the last Nintendo DS carts to be produced and all come brand new and sealed. Each game (except GTA) costs $49.99 CDN (39.46 USD) and according to the store page are ‘region free’. But even if they aren’t, American systems can play Canadian DS carts. The site is also running a free shipping promotion this month on all orders over $40 dollars!

[via: Tiny Cartridge]

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Bayonetta is coming to Super Smash Bros

Seems that Nintendo really wants to push Bayonetta, not only did they pick up funding and publishing for Bayonetta 2; but they are now adding her as a DLC character in Super Smash Bros on the Wii U and 3DS.

Bayonetta will join other big DLC characters like Cloud (Final Fantasy 7), Ryu (Street Fighter) and the newly announced Corrin (Fire Emblem). Nintendo is aiming for a February release. The character and new Bayonetta stage will be $5.99 for one platform (3DS or Wii U) but if you want it bundled on both it only costs $6.99.

So what do you guys think? Good choice for a DLC character? Any other SEGA owned properties that you would like to see in Super Smash Bros?

Sammy announces Bayonetta themed pachislot machine

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Sammy aka parent company of SEGA, has launched a teaser site for their upcoming gambling pachislot machines based on the ever popular Bayonetta IP. It seems that pachislot machines get a negative reaction but most people don’t understand that most of these products have nothing to do with SEGA Games division. This is nothing new, considering that Sammy has been using SEGA (and other) IPs to sell Pachislots for over a decade. It has been a very profitable business for ‘SEGA-Sammy Holdings‘.

Before everyone complains in the comment section about how “SEGA should have just funded Bayonetta 2 instead of this”, please understand that this is like saying “Sony should fund a new Tomba! video game on Playstation 4 instead of making The Interview”, both projects are competently different and the cost of doing a Bayonetta themed pachislot machine is way lower than creating a HD game from scratch.

I hope this means that SEGA and Sammy both find value in owning the Bayonetta IP and haven’t abandoned it. Would be nice to see SEGA do a extended version of Bayonetta 2 on other platforms outside of the dying Wii U.

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Bayonetta 2 demo is up on the eShop right now

Nintendo Europe just suddenly released this new Bayonetta 2 trailer on their Youtube channel that ends with a neat bit of info: a demo will be put on the eShop at 2 PM UK time on October 9th. It also so happens to be just past that time, meaning that the demo should be up on the eShop right now. At least if you live in Europe, where the eShop has updated already.

The demo hasn’t been announced yet for the US, but chances are that it’ll be available there as well whenever the eShop updates in that region. The demo will take up 725MB of your Wii U’s space. As for the full game, it will be out in Europe and the US just a mere two weeks from now on October 24th.

Update: The demo has now been uploaded to the US eShop as well.

There’s gonna be a Nintendo Direct that’s all about Bayonetta 2 today

Update: The Nintendo Direct has aired, you can see it above.

If you wanted to see more new stuff of Bayonetta 2, you’ll be able to see a lot pretty soon. Nintendo announced yesterday that they’ll be streaming a Nintendo Direct showing new Bayonetta 2 stuff later today. You’ll be able to watch it here. As for when it will start:

  • 3PM PST
  • 6PM EST
  • 11PM BST
  • 12AM CET on September 5th

This post will be updated when alternative streaming links are available.

Masami Ueda discusses music in Bayonetta 2 and announces OST

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Masami Ueda, lead composer of Bayonetta 1 & 2,  discusses about the music featured in Bayonetta 2. He talks about composing the battle themes with more of a livelier feel than its predecessor. Ueda tries to have the boss themes divided into movements that went with each of the stage and made it a lot harder to find where to smoothly loop the song, but added impact was worth the effort.

He then talks about stages theme as most of them loops, but some are a single song that lasts from start of the stage to its finish. Lastly, he discusses about the theme song to Bayonetta 2 as it has a connection to the moon similar to the previous game’s theme song, “Fly Me to the Moon“.

Most of the composers of the original Bayonetta returned to help out on Bayonetta 2 with 183 songs composed. The Bayonetta 2 OST has also been announced in his blog due to the warm reception of the first game’s soundtrack. Further details on the OST will be revealed later on his blog post. You can check out his latest blog on Platinum Games site here.

The SEGA Five: Best SEGA games on Playstation 3

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Today is the launch day for the Playstation 4 in America, many people are grabbing up the ‘next generation’ consoles and soon Playstation 3 will be a relic like the Playstation 2 before it. So I think its the perfect time to remember SEGA’s best Playstation 3 games. This is my personal list, if you want to share your favorites let us know in the comment section!

Bayonetta, Rodin, and Jeanne to cameo in The Wonderful 101

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For the first time, to my knowledge, we’re covering The Wonderful 101 news by way of the reveal that Bayonetta characters Bayonetta, Rodin, and Jeanne have been announced to cameo in the Platinum Games developed and Nintendo published game. Hideki Kamiya, director of Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101, made the announcement at PAX today. What is interesting about this announcement is that this is the first time fully owned SEGA characters from Platinum Games have appeared in a game fully owned by Nintendo. So it’s sort of a SEGA, Nintendo, Platinum Games crossover. No further details have been revealed, thus explaining why I’ve been stretching this little bit of news out to a paragraph length.

Bayonetta director interested in spin-off for 3DS starring Jeanne

Jeanne Bayonetta Spinoff
Platinum Games has just released The Wonderful 101 on the Nintendo Wii U, their first game with Nintendo and another game by Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya. At PAX, Siliconera asked Kamiya if he would want to make a game on the Nintendo 3DS and Kamiya said he had two ideas for the handheld.

“Given the chance, I’d like to make a game based on Jeanne from Bayonetta. Something that’s not as big in scale. Something that’s portable, that you could play in quick sessions, where she’s a history teacher and the kind of fun things that could come out of a scenario like that.” –  Hideki Kamiya (Director of Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101)

So what was the second idea? Well, if you are an Okami fan, time to hit that jump button.

Bayonetta 2 will have touch control option and 2-player mode

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Platinum Games is really trying to step up their game for the upcoming sequel to their best selling title. This time around they announced that Bayonetta 2 will have a 2-player mode when it comes out next year.

They said that even though Bayonetta 2 is built around a single-player experience, that they included a 2-player mode with new combat features for mid-air battles. Details aren’t all there yet.

Bayonetta 2 will also feature touch controls via the Wii U gamepad and stylus. Nintendo says this is designed for newcomers to the franchise and is obviously optional. The touch controls are actually playable at the E3 show floor, so expect us to have hands-on previews shortly!

Review: Anarchy Reigns (Xbox 360)

Let’s all take just a second to look back to what feels like an eternity ago: the year 2006. It was in this year that Capcom announced the closure of Clover Studio, a developer of such incredibly unique gaming experiences. It was a move that painted a rather bleak picture for the future of innovation and risk-taking from major Japanese publishers, and fans of Clover and the awesome games they created had little choice but to wait it out and see, eager to learn what, if anything, would happen to this legendary staff.

As it turned out, they needn’t have worried too much. Platinum Games was the ultimate result, and their partnership with SEGA was a surprising and exciting move for both companies. Things are a bit different today, with Anarchy Reigns representing, at least for now, the final game in Platinum’s publishing agreement with SEGA. The question is, is this online-driven beat-em-up any good?