Bayonetta Wii U

When Nintendo confirmed a free copy of Bayonetta with retail copies of upcoming Wii U exclusive Bayonetta 2, excitement quickly turned to some confusion. A poorly worded footnote on the official website suggested that eShop copies of the sequel would not include the first game, before an official Facebook Q & A then clarified to say that the first game would be available as a download with both retail and eShop versions of the new title. That confirmed the obvious, too, that the first game will be available as a separate product on the eShop, too.

What we sometimes forget during E3, of course, is that some announcements are global but, often, details are specific to North America. So there are two updates regarding this promotion — let's start with North America. The official game website has now been updated with the following text:

Bayonetta will be included with the purchase of every packaged version of Bayonetta 2. Nintendo eShop purchases of either Bayonetta or Bayonetta 2 will include an automatic discount on your purchase of the other game.

That points to a simple deal, though let's not 100% assume that the eShop automatic discount will mean Bayonetta turns out to be 'free', though we'd hope that's the case.

Due to that vagueness we've been in touch with Nintendo UK to understand the European picture, and it's actually been confirmed that there'll be two different physical retail offerings in the region, as opposed to the one option confirmed for North America. There will be a version without the first game, and another with both titles on separate discs, within the same packaging. As for the eShop, rather than the discount promised in North America, there's simply no announcement on details for Europe as yet. A summary of the three options is below, via Nintendo UK:

1) Bayonetta 2 solus
2) Bayonetta 1 + Bayonetta 2 (2 discs in one packaging)
3) The digital versions available in the Nintendo eShop in Europe will be sold separately

No additional announcements have been made at this time

We're looking at different offerings in each region, then. European gamers shouldn't despair as yet, as there's still time for promotions to be factored into the eShop. There are past examples of the Wii U download stores of Europe and North America having separate deals, such as a 2013 European deal for 30% off The Wonderful 101 for those that bought Pikmin 3 digitally.

As it stands — things can change — the North American options sound marginally better in terms of value, though like Japanese gamers Europeans will be able to own both games as separate discs. This Bayonetta / Bayonetta 2 promotion saga certainly hasn't been entirely simple, in any case.