disappointed but understanding that the game missed the Japanese console launch. The game was published in Japan on March 25, 1999 by Sega. Two CDs were released on March 20 of that year through Columbia's music label; a soundtrack album, and a single featuring a promotional image song "Sting Me". A strategy guide, containing both in-game guides and a developer interview, was published by SoftBank Creative on April 27. The game was shown off at E3 1999, confirming that Activision would serve as the game's publisher outside Japan. The partnership came about when Sega approached Activision about Dreamcast support, and Activision expressed interest in Blue Stinger. For its Western release, the camera was changed at Activision's insistence. Nishigaki disliked the new camera, derisively calling it the "gero system". A harder difficulty was included for players who cleared the game on hard difficulty, resulting in character costumes changing. Some elements that might either not be understood outside Japan or might have proven offensive were also adjusted for the Western release. The game was released in North America on September 9, 1999, and in Europe on October 14. It was a console launch title in both regions. An English strategy guide was published by BradyGames on September 14, 1999. A sequel was proposed by Sega, but Nishigaki had moved onto working on the survival horror game Illbleed. Plans to port expanded versions of Blue Stinger and Illbleed to the Xbox by Coolnet Entertainment were shelved following Nishigaki's death in 2004; a given reason was the Xbox's poor commercial performance in Japan. Reception Blue Stinger sold over 61,000 copies during its opening week in Japan with a sell-through rate of just under 56%. It went on to sell over 111,000 copies in total and become the console's 34th best-selling title in the region. While the game sold relatively poorly in Japan, it was commercially successful in North America. During the Dreamcast's debut week in the UK, Blue Stinger was the eighth best-selling title out of the twelve launch titles. The game went on to sell 500,000 copies worldwide, which Sega counted as a success. The game received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings, earning a score of 70% based on 22 reviews. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40. When mentioned, the plot and characters were cited as either enjoyable, or underwhelming. While the gameplay