PlatinumGames has announced that they will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Bayonetta series with a year-long event starting from January 2025. The original game was released in Japan on October 29, 2009, and worldwide in January 2010.
In their announcement, PlatinumGames expressed their gratitude to fans for their support over the past 15 years. They mentioned that they have been able to bring joy to many people through the series and are excited to continue creating games that surprise and delight their fans.
It’s Bayonetta's 15th Anniversary Year!💋💄
Bayonetta released internationally in January 2010 so we’re making 2025 into a year of celebration🎉 We have a few things in store to celebrate this milestone so keep your eyes peeled👀https://t.co/MNkIPRKgxB#BAYONETTA15th
As part of the celebration, PlatinumGames has planned several surprises and will be sharing updates on their social media channels and official website. They have also released limited-edition items like a Bayonetta music box and monthly wallpapers for fans.
It’s an exciting time for Bayonetta fans, and many are speculating about possible new game announcements or ports of previous titles.
Imagine holding your PS5 DualSense and you are turning your console on to began playing, but instead of a Playstation 5 and seeing the PS logo on your screen, you are powering on your Xbox console and yet, you can play your favorite Xbox game.
Well, this is the concept that Hyperkin has previewed at CES 2025 with a new Competitor Xbox controller that has the physics of the Playstation 5’s DualSense.
Evidently, Hyperkin took some liberties at the design to match most of the aesthetic of Sony’s PS5 DualSense, which makes me wonder if Sony actually will just leave it as it is (with an eyebrow raise) or we might be seeing legal movements during the year.
Competitor appears to feature offset control sticks, a hybrid D-pad, and face buttons, along with the analog sticks located next to each other on the bottom part of the controller, while the D-pad has moved to the upper-left side of the controller, and each direction is an individual button.
Keep in mind if it is now under your radar, that the controller is expected to be a wired-only gamepad and will be available sometime in the second quarter of 2025 with no mentioning of price.
Hyperkin is an American video game peripheral manufacturer and distributor founded in 2006. The company is based in Los Angeles, California, and distributes accessories for major gaming consoles, in addition to creating clone consoles that play retro games with modern resolutions and on modern devices.
Hyperkin’s most notable products include the RetroN series of clone consoles, which allow users to play games from classic consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Genesis. The company has also released a number of other retro-themed products, such as the Supaboy series of handheld consoles and the Retron 5, an Android-based console that can play games from a variety of platforms.
In recent years, Hyperkin has also begun to produce its own original gaming peripherals, such as the Hyperkin Duke, a modern take on the classic Nintendo 64 controller. The company has also released a number of licensed controllers for popular games, such as the Hyperkin Cthulhu Controller for the Nintendo Switch.
The biggest announcement from Intel at their keyonote on CES 2025, was the second batch of the Intel Core Ultra 200 series processors, which are designed to be used on AI ready laptop computers and power high capacity mobile computers.
Of course, for our interest, this means that future laptops will benefit from enhanced gaming performance for this year 2025.
The 2025 Core Ultra 200 family incldes:
Core Ultra 200HX: Targeted at high-performance gaming laptops. It includes advanced features like overclocking capabilities and enhanced data lanes for maximum performance.
Core Ultra 200H: A middle ground option with integrated Intel Arc graphics, suitable for performance thin and light laptops.
Core Ultra 200U: Designed for budget-end systems and less demanding tasks, featuring Intel Graphics GPU.
Intel claims that the new processors offer double-digit performance improvements over previous generations in both single and multi-core workloads and specifically, the Core Ultra 200H series includes Intel Arc integrated graphics, providing more than 20% better GPU performance compared to previous models.
Also, these processors are designed to consume less power while maintaining high performance, making them ideal for gaming laptops and mainly, gaming on the go.
Talking about gaming, the combination of powerful CPU cores and advanced integrated graphics ensures a smooth and immersive gaming experience and again, taking for example the Core Ultra 200HX series, this specific CPI is designed to work seamlessly with discrete GPUs, providing maximum performance for gaming systems.
Intel says that it has addressed previous power management issues, ensuring that gaming laptops can deliver consistent performance without throttling and this take us to the other purpose of this family and it is housing an AI entity.
For Artificial Intelligence needs, Intel claims the processors feature a neural processing unit (NPU) with up to 99 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) for enhanced AI capabilities significant gen-over-gen performance advancements in key areas like media processing and AI analytics and mobile graphics benchmark improvement via AI graphical computing.
The processors are expected to be available starting early Q1 2025 for the Core Ultra 200H series, and late Q1 2025 for the Core Ultra 200HX series.
As for partners, Intel has not yet disclosed specific partners for the Core Ultra 200 series processors. However, given Intel’s extensive history of collaborations, it’s likely that major PC manufacturers such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Asus will be among the first to integrate these processors into their new laptops and desktops.
One of the early gaming related announcements of CES 2025 comes in the form of an impressive Pinball machine and it is a $7000 Dungeons & Dragons pinball machine. This pinball machine, called “Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye,” is a tribute to the tabletop RPG’s 50th anniversary.
It features an all-star voice cast, including Michael Dorn from Star Trek: TNG, and takes players on an adventure through the Forgotten Realms.
Players take on the role of members of the Dragonshield Guild, aiming to defeat the dragon queen Tiamat, who is plotting to rise again and trigger the War of Dragons. The game features various iconic enemies such as Rath the Relentless (a red dragon), Xanathar the Beholder, Sammaster the Lich, and more.
Voice Cast
The game features a star-studded voice cast including Michael Dorn, Kevin Smith, Luke Gygax, Chris Prynoski, Brendon Small, Gerard Way, Matthew Mercer, Laura Bailey, Marisha Ray, Anthony Carboni, and Mica Burton.
Now the tech side of this Pinball machine include four important aspects starting with Rath the Relentless: An advanced animatronic mech that reacts to player actions and intelligently will follow your Pinball to avoid being hit using advanced sensors with multi-axis motion and features omnidirectional impact sensing technology.
Another aspect and related to Rath, is the Omnidirectional Impact Sensing and this technology allows the animatronic dragon to intelligently respond to impacts from any direction, adding a new level of realism and interactivity to the game.
Then we got a Interactive Playfield, which includes Hidden Passageways that players can navigate, adding an element of exploration to the game, Electromagnet-powered Gelatinous Cube and this feature freezes the pinball, creating a unique challenge for players and Dynamic Dungeon Levels, which are sccessed through a disappearing playfield trap door, these levels change the gameplay environment and add variety to the experience.
And finally, digital integrations with the Insider Connected Platform and this platform enables ongoing code updates and interaction with a global network of players. Players can share their progress, unlock new features, and stay connected with the pinball community, High-Resolution LCD Screens and LED Lighting.
Of course, this elements combine traditional pinball components with video game-style interactive screens, enhancing the visual experience.
Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye pinball machine is set to be released in late 2025. It’s being produced by Stern Pinball Inc. under an official license from Wizards of the Coast1.
The game is available in three editions, each with different features and pricing:
Pro Edition: Priced at $6,999 USD
Premium Edition: Priced at $9,699 USD
Limited Edition (LE): Priced at $12,999 USD. This edition is limited to just 740 models in honor of D&D’s original release in 1974.
Each edition offers unique artwork, audio, and additional features, with the Limited Edition including upgraded audio and anti-reflection glass.
