Action game fans now have another thing to look forward to for the New Year. Sega has penciled in an early January release for Bayonetta (PS3, Xbox 360) in the US and Europe.

For this offering of our weekly recap, we see a resurgence of all sorts in the gaming industry. Finally we see a PS3 kicking ass in the sales charts, finally we see another big homebrew breakthrough for the PSP, and finally, it looks like things are definitely looking up for the videogame world in general. It is certainly looking like it's gonna be a happy holidays we're having this year.

Sega may not be into making consoles anymore, but look! Zippo has gone and picked up the slack for them. Sort of. Check these out - Zippo has rolled out two new designs for us gamers: the old Sega consoles now bring a different kind of heat into your lifestyle.

We've been hearing reports of Bayonetta's PS3version being somewhat less than impressive compared to its Xbox 360 counterpart for the past few weeks now. Was Sega's porting job really shoddy? Gametrailers has tried to give gamers a look at the differences with a Bayonetta comparison video. Check it out after the jump.

Mention Shenmue III to any Shenmue fan and you'll probably get one of two reactions: a breakdown followed by uncontrollable sobbing or a vicious and expletive -filled rant against Sega. While that series doesn't seem to be getting any closure anytime soon, series protagonist Ryo Hazuki is making a comeback of sorts. In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, no less.

Reports are coming in that Platinum Games and Sega's Bayonetta (PS3 and Xbox 360) is running smoothly where it's supposed to run -- except on the PS3. At a recent demo held in Shinjuku Yodobashi, Japan, the game did not slice through the event as cleanly as expected.

From a blogger's perspective, having to go, "PS3 motion controller this, PS3 motion controller that" over and over can get pretty tiresome. I've wanted a name for this thing for quite some time now, and if the new rumors have it right, I'm about to get my wish. According to this rumor, the name is short, single-syllable, and points to the color-changing orb topping the wand. The new name for the PS3 motion controller might be "Sphere."

Platinum Games and Sega have finally set a date for Bayonetta's PS3 and Xbox 360 demo. In Japan at least. They've also announced that the demos will be different across the two systems. The difference? An extra stage for the Xbox 360 version.

Another classic from console generations past will once again get a breath of life in the new hardware. Gameloft is now hard at work in bringing Earthworm Jim out of the ground and back in the surface, freshened up big time with an HD overhaul. We've got more details about our favorite worm's comeback, so stick around for the goods.

While we are still waiting for the third installment of the Yakuza franchise to hit our shores, Japanese gamers have more reasons to celebrate as Sega has finally announced, Yakuza 4, at the Tokyo Game Show. Yes folks, the latest installment of Sega's crime franchise is indeed coming and by the looks of things, this one's gonna be massive. Check out the trailer after the jump.