Andrea claims to be a Sega diehard going back to when she was nine years old, becoming obsessed with Sonic, Toejam & Earl and Rolo to the Rescue until she was 14 and, presumably, discovered boys. Says Andrea:

I didn’t return to my game playing days until about 2 years ago, and now, I’m STILL obsessed with those old games. When I was little I would stay up way past my bedtime and if I died (in the game), I would be crushed. I’d be so mad that I’d beg to stay up and try again.

Andrea was chosen because, while the eight other entrants either brought a virtuoso Bayonetta look, or just the sexy-behind-librarian-glasses, Andrea, “married both elements to come out on top.” Hell, I’d settle for marrying just one of them.

Doesn’t look like there are any promotional duties involved here. But Andrea does take home an Xbox 360, a 50-inch plasma TV and, of course, a copy of Bayonetta.

Bayonetta Contest Winner Announced [Maxim via VG247]

What would happen if Sega combined classic puzzle video game Tetris with the classic concept of making things exactly the same, but really huge? Tetris Giant would happen.

Tetris Giant, which features giant tetrominoes and giant joysticks, was just one of many brilliant innovations on hand at the IAAPA 2009 show in Las Vegas last week, a show expertly covered by arcade coverage experts Arcade Heroes. Trust us, you’ve never seen a Tetris like this before, because it’s bigger than previous versions.

Also on hand at the show are highlights like the Excite Truck-like Hummer arcade game (also from Sega), the remade Daytona USA known generically as Sega Racing Classic and the brilliantly named Tank! Tank! Tank! That last one is apparently Namco’s spiritual successor to competitive arcade classic Tokyo Wars.

For more coverage of the IAAPA show, which features even more deluxe arcade cabinets upon which to sit, hit up Arcade Heroes.

More IAAPA 2009 videos – Tetris Giant, Hummer, Twisted (+ NASCAR 2 news) & more [Arcade Heroes]

And here you thought you’d have to wait until January to get your hands on PlatinumGames’ saucy hair witch. Not so! On December 3, PS3 and 360 owners in North America and Europe will get their chance for a little hands on before the main event on January 5 and January 8, respectively.

Bayonetta has received perfect scores from both Famitsu (sort of) and Edge Magazine now, so we should be in for a pretty good time.

According to PlayStation.com’s Hong Kong presence, as spotted by Siliconera, LittleBigPlanet costumes that ape Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Werehog, Tails, Dr. Robotnik (aka Eggman) and Knuckles will be available later this year. December 17, at least in Hong Kong, to be exact.

While we’d PlayStation.com to be right about the particulars, we’re checking in with Sony and Media Molecule to see when we can enjoy dressing our Sackboys up as Sonic and his friends on our PS3s.

LittleBigPlanet Sonic the Hedgehog Costumes (English/Chinese Ver.) [PlayStation Hong Kong via Siliconera]

Can’t figure out if it’s her head size, hand size or what.

Comparison of in-game Yaguchi with real Yaguchi.

Full body image.

セガ、PS3「龍が如く4 伝説を継ぐもの」。矢口真里さんが3Dキャラとなりマッサージ店のセラピストに！ [GAME Watch]

Good thing Bayonetta’s “torture moves” — which summon all sorts of unpleasant mechanisms to more artfully render a foe’s demise than mere boots or bullets — can’t be turned around on the player. At least, I think they can’t.

Clearly Sega begs to differ though, with this spiffy Super Monkey Ball Thanksgiving wallpaper they posted to their blog. The wallpaper comes along with a hefty update on Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll for the Wii — screens, trailers, the works.

There’s also a developer diary from Toshihiro Nagoshi that makes an interesting point about the transition from arcade gaming to console gaming. On the one hand, old arcade games were crazy-hard and a modern, Wii-owning audience might not care for that. On the other hand, though, you didn’t really have to read instructions for old school arcade games. You could just pick up and play.

Nagoshi says that Super Monkey Ball has evolved from its hardcore arcade origins into one of those family-friendly video game titles. However, it keeps that pick-up-and-play arcade aspect and adds the mystique of monkeys in balls.

“A lot of people ask me how the monkeys get into the ball, unfortunately, that‘s a secret!” he said. “You will have to use your imagination!”

Just like I have to use it to make sense of monkeys in my Thanksgiving. You got it, sir.

New Trailer, Screens, Dev Diary and more for Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll [SEGA America Blog]

For those of you who may not have gotten one of the reported 40,000 demo slots, take comfort. The full game will be available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 come January 5 in North America, just three days later in European territories.

Those who did get access to Bayonetta’s locks, let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks to the many lucky tipsters who got in!

They’re not reprising starring roles for the PSP sequel, but still, they’ll be in there as playable characters nonetheless, along with Lamarre from the anime and two characters (Mitnz and Julius) from the comic as well.

Welcome back, Alicia. It just wouldn’t be the same without you.

おなじみのあの夫婦が『戦場のヴァルキュリア2』に参戦決定！[Dengeki]

Seems Sega know that the upcoming Aliens vs Predator is so violent, and packed with so much gore, that they’re not even going to bother submitting it to the USK, Germany’s classification board.

Rationale being that the USK, with a reputation for being sticklers for the ol’ killerspiel, would only force sweeping changes to the game, changes Sega didn’t want to part with, so they’re instead just going to save some cash and not bother localising or distributing the game in Germany at all.

Aliens vs. Predator: Too gory for Germany? [PC Games Hardware]