New Releases 1/3-1/9: Back in the Saddle Edition

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenJanuary 3, 2010
78 883 1 minute read

Alas, the freeze spell placed upon new releases has been nullified after a grueling three week duration. With stores shelves emptied during the holiday interterm, a fresh salvo of diversions has seen sent to tempt us. A new year has emerged with a tidy handful of titles sure to relinquish gift cards from the clutches of gamers. That is- if you haven’t already picked up Bayonetta.

360
Bayonetta
Darksiders
Divinity II – Ego Draconis

PS3
Bayonetta
Darksiders

Wii
My Fitness Coach 2: Workout and Nutrition

DS
Fast Food Panic

PSP
No Releases

PC
Divinity II – Ego Draconis

DesertEagle’s Pick: As much as I hope to lose myself in Divinity II- Ego Draconis, the recent demo had me a bit worried. From the frequent load times to text that was outside the border of the screen, the trial had some of the earmarkings of a quick and dirty PC port. As such, Darksiders gets the nod this week. When I last saw the title, the combat was gratifyingly visceral and the art design was inspired.

SeanNOLA’s Pick: The constant barrage of Bayonetta information and propaganda over the past year has found me bored with the franchise before the first title has even seen the Western shores.  Luckily, I had all but forgotten about Darksiders, one of my most anticipated titles from E3, which I shall lovingly dub my first pick of the new decade.

TideGear’s Pick: I get to be rather unoriginal this week, as I mostly agree with Sean. As much as I tend to appreciate “weird” in games, Bayonetta doesn’t really seem to be my kind of weird. I’ve heard mixed things about Darksiders, but I appreciate what it’s going for and I’m hopeful.

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenJanuary 3, 2010
78 883 1 minute read
Photo of Robert Allen

Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

78 Comments

  2. I’m glad to see New Releases are back. I might pick up Darksiders based on reviews

  4. So what the final word on Bayonetta? I want to get the PS3 version for the controller, but I hear it’s worse that the 360 version.

  8. Happy new year to Desert, NOLA, and Tide!!!
    I might get Bayonetta, if I see it for 50 or less.

  26. I saw you guys have reviewed some fitness title. I hope you put My Fitness Coach 2: Workout and Nutrition through its paces.

  34. Only one new DS and Wii game. I predict 2010 will be the start of Nintendo’s decline.

  35. Bayonetta hasn’t got nearly the amount of hype that other (uh, Halo ODST, MW2, games have.

  47. I’m really surprised you guys have little interest in Divinity II. Specially you, Deagle!

  55. Sony stepped in to clean up the PS3 version for the US release. The Japanese version had some frame rate issues and didn’t look quite as crisp. We’ll see how the US version turned out.

  56. “Hate” is a strong word. I’m just glad that it’s finally out, so I can stop hearing about it. So help me, if she becomes the new Lara Croft…

  61. Actually, this is what IGN says:

    The PS3 version has a lot of problems, primary among them being the excessive slowdown and loading. During certain scenes of high action, Bayonetta can slow down dramatically, enough to affect the gameplay experience. I can usually tolerate that sort of issue to an extent, but the loading problems are simply unacceptable.

    Stick with the 360 version folks!

  62. they also said:

    It’s hard to recommend the PS3 version when the 360 version is so much better. Even when you consider the fantastic combat system, the slowdown and load times really do spoil the fun.

  63. According to French game site Gamekyo (and translated by wearetheinternetz), “Sega and Platinum Games have taken responsibility for the bad port before deciding to work with the assistance of an engineering team from Sony to guarantee a PS3 version equal to the level of the console’s power.

    Got to question the credibility of an unknown website and a sketchy translator! lol

  67. I’ll tell you what: we are recording the podcast tonight, and we have a special guest from SEGA who will be talking with us about Bayonetta. I’ll ask him, and if he’s allowed to answer, we’ll lay it to rest. Stay tuned.

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