PLEASE READ: The NEW SHOP is separate and distinct from the OLD SHOP. If you place an order on the OLD SHOP, you will not be able to use the NEW SHOP to check on your order and vice versa. Unfortunately, we were not able to resolve the two shop databases in order to transfer customer histories and accounts. Both shops are fully operational and capable of taking orders.
 

GC Naruto Gekitou Ninja 3
  GC Naruto Gekitou Ninja 3 - New Import
   Featuring beautifully redrawn artwork, Naruto 3 looks sharper than the two previous games in the series and features a new 3-on-3 team fighting system ala KOF. With a trio of fighters at the ready, super special attacks may be ignited where all three join in on the beat down. Punches and kicks are decorated with the usual flair of light sparks and dynamic effects which make for some shiny eye candy as the fighters perform on screen. As the Naruto character universe expands in the animation series, new faces such as Chouji and Jiraiya join the ranks of combatants in the game.
  Continuing the tradition of bonus schwag for all Naruto games, Tomy includes a wristband emblazoned with the Naruto swirl with each copy. Make sure to wear it when playing Naruto 3 to get the full flavor and effect of the game. Preorders submitted prior to Nov 15 will include the bonus band. Restock shipments that are slated for next week will probably not include the wristband. 

 
 

GC Mario Party 6
  GC Mario Party 6 - New Import
   Mario and company are rarin' to go once again in another board game peppered with mini-games, tricks, and traps. If one elects to play Story mode, a contrived tale is woven where two wizards named Brighton (the sun) and Twila (the moon) are in a competition as to who rules.
   To determine supremacy, mini-games designed for daytime and nighttime are proffered as players make their way through the board. When playing an initial game, one will notice that the movement phase on the board has been sped up by quite a bit. Bop the rotating die above your character's head and watch as he/she/it gallops across the screen in fast, fluid motion.
   A total of 80 new mini-games in Mario Party 6 should keep gamers busy with diversions such as water slide slalom, drop weights on opponents while they are swimming, attempt to destroy opponents while standing on a big warship, and others. While those are not the official names, they pretty much describe the objectives. Nintendo bundles a microphone with the game and some of the mini-games utilize the mic for instructions on actions. We found that there's about a 2-second time delay between bellowing out a voice command and the consequent on-screen action. A few seconds must also elapse between voice commands in order for the software to "understand."
 
 

GBA Kingdom Hearts Bundle
  GBA Kingdom Hearts GBA SP Bundle - New Import
   To mark the release of GBA Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories properly, Square and Nintendo collaborate on a limited edition Kingdom Hearts GBA SP bundle which includes a silver Gameboy Advance SP etched with a criss-cross logo and crown for "Kingdom Hearts" and a copy of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. For a while, we were apprehensive of the allocation of the bundle but thanks to splitting up our order quantity amongst multiple vendors, we were able to stock enough to fill all preorders and we're also able to accept new orders today. Let's hope our logistics planning and luck extends to next month's PSP launch. Pricing for the Kingdom Hearts bundle is set at US$185.
 
 

GBA Metal Slug Advance
  GBA Metal Slug Advance - New Import
   New gun-toting grunts gear up and storm another beachhead in a portable rendition of a long running Neo Geo franchise. Choose from two new characters - Walter or Tyra and then rush off into side scrolling jump 'n shoot antics. Enemy soldiers appear to have been borrowed from other MSlug games as they all look identical and cut from the same template.
Special touches in the game include cards that may be picked up and collected and food which may be used to replace health that has been lost. Bread that is not picked up after a while will sprout a mushroom...just like in real life. Sort of. In addition to running and gunning in fatigues,  soldiers may leap into highly mobile tanks known as Slugs and other vehicles to take on opposing forces.  

 
 

PS2 DDR Festival

Dance Fever
  PS2 DDR Festival + Bonus Premium CD - New Import
   Japanese dancers finally get to enjoy the features that stateside patrons of DDR Extreme have been playing since the game was released in September. DDR Festival features standard dancing action as well as a Party Mode where mini-games are stomped out and EyeToy compatibility where the camera is used to add a bit of variety to the game. Diet mode returns to help players keep track of how many calories are burnt and a Beginner mode teaches tyros the basics of dancing. The unlockable Mission Mode challenges dancers with 100 missions of incessantly increasing difficulty where certain objectives must be met such as scoring millions of points, clearing the set with a full combo, or garnering a string of "PERFECT" rankings in a row.
   In one mini-game called Hyper-Dash, Konami hearkens back to the days of Track 'n Field where hoofers pound on the left and right arrows maniacally in a vain attempt to get the onscreen avatar running. If one were to use a joypad, the practice would be called "button-mashing," but here, it should probably be called "really embarrassing." Another mini-game gives dancers the chance to feed animals such as frogs, rabbits, and cats their favorite foods by hitting the dancing pad arrows.  
   EyeToy owners may select a mode which captures the player's motions and throws it up as the background to the game. Neglected Para Para fans may select a mode where hands as well as feet are used in conjunction to pass the challenges on screen. 
   The music mix in DDR Festival unabashedly follows in the footsteps of DDR Extreme US, DDR Max US, and Ultramix with tracks such as "Kids in America" by Kim Wilde, "Bizarre Love Triangle" as covered by Jerry, and "Ladies' Night" from Angle R. New tracks include Jamelia's Superstar and BeForU's Ki-Se-Ki (DDR edit). All in all, a worthy game which brings some of the USA DDR features over to Japan and shares the songs from the USA mixes as well. Every order for the game will include a bonus DDR Premium CD.
 
 

PS2 Detective Conan
  PS2 Detective Conan: Daiei Teikoku no Isan + Bonus - New
   Super-sleuth Kudo Shinichi aka Conan Edogawa travels to merry olde England to help solve a mystery. Use smarts, detective skills and special gadgets to help Conan discover the mysteries and secrets inside a building by the lake. Kogoro Mori, Ran Mori, Heiji Hattori and other friends provide backup support and interaction.
Players control Conan in full 3-D action and detective skills are triggered by pressing on the four cardinal Dual Shock buttons. Items may be examined or handled, gadgets used, and characters spoken to. Conan has use of a skateboard which helps him travel long distances and darts which are shot at characters to send them to sleep and soccer balls which are kicked at obstacles to shatter them. To keep track of clues, a visual file may be opened to review evidence.

 
 

PS2 Magna Carta
  PS2 Magna Carta - New Import
   In a war-wracked land called Efferia, humans and creatures called Yasons are locked in a conflict that threatens to destroy them both. Skirmishes have turned into full scale battles with increasing ferocity. Taking place amidst the combative backdrop, the protagonist Calintz Jerevinan returns home...only to find it destroyed. Vowing vengeance upon those who wrecked his homeland, Calintz ventures forth into the world and rallies various allies to his cause in a bid to stop the war and perhaps bring about a new peace.

   Softmax takes their popular Magna Carta brand and applies the license to a new tactical adventure where heroes travel the world and engage in battles. Exploration and adventuring is performed on a world map whereas battles take place in closed fields. A new fighting system called "Trinity Drive" was developed for the game where powerful attacks may be struck when points have been gathered up in the Trinity Drive meter (located in the upper right corner of the screen). Fatal blows struck upon hapless Yasons and others also boost experience points exponentially during battle.
The illustrations and artwork in the PS2 game are of the same high caliber as the original Magna Carta and the music is rich. One fairly insignificant niggle: Square made androgyny somewhat of a fad where males appeared nearly female and Softmax seemingly falls into this pattern as well where the gentlemen leads are willowy and fairly feminine. Calintz, for example, sports a girl's haircut down to the spiky ponytail.

 
 

PS2 Pop 'n Music 10
  PS2 Pop 'n Music 10 - New Import
   Pop 'n mascots Mimi and Nyami slip into their magic wand-wielding witch personas and react to the music once again in Konami's latest coin-op to console conversion of Pop 'n Music. A bounty of over 100 tracks are included with licensed songs from Devil Man, Gatchaman, Kinnikuman, and Kamen Rider making the rounds. A mini-game called Pray to the Stars may be unlocked for additional interaction along with an unlockable Marathon Mode where every song is played in succession. To ease the strain on one's fingers, the stages in Marathon mode contain a few songs each. 
Two Pop 'n Music 10 versions are in stock and new orders are welcome to ship today:

1) Game only
2) Game + Pop 'n Music Controller 2

Please note that the limited edition and the Pop'n Controller 2 by itself are now due on Friday or Monday due to late release from konamistyle.com.

 
 

Famitsu Vol 590
251 pages, NM condition
$6.50 per copy shipped

  MOTD Famitsu Vol 590 [April 7, 2000]

 allgone
 Cover   Mascot mounts an assault on the gorilla of the gaming industry.
p8-14 Famitsu news on early Xbox details and specs. An interesting graph shown at a Japanese press conference shows parabolic Xbox growth potential. There's also a page on a Japanese toy show with new wares.
p21-23 Phantasy Star Online creator interview. 
p29-37 The Review Crew ranks 33 new games but we question the straight 7s they granted to Driving Emotion Type-S which had the worse control of any racing game ever. The scores for Tekken Tag (9/9/10/10) seem generous and Marvel vs Capcom 2 ranks high with (9/8/9/8). 
p114-144 Famitsu covers the recent launch of the PS2 with photos of shoppers mobbing retailers, scenes from around Japan, PS2 hardware specs, potential future applications, and game previews.  
p206-215 New media offerings including a spread on Scream, the latest music, DVDs, and books in the Japanese marketplace. A section on gadgets previews portable mini-computers, pens, and a set of meal toys.
p228-229 PunchMania arcade coin-op where a player punches, elbows, or kicks six pads to battle various Hokuto no Ken fighters onscreen.
p232-235 Dragon Quest VII world details and gameplay info.
 
 
Summary of the Week
Monday NEWS Import outlook - Beatmania IIDX 8th Style leading preorders, Toy Previews for 2005
Wednesday PS2 King of Fighters 2000 SNK Best, Metal Slug 3 SNK Best  NEWS Naruto 3 with wristband, Kasumi Xbox
Thursday GBA Metal Slug Advance  GC Mario Party 6, Naruto Gekitou Ninja 3  PS2 DDR Festival, Detective Conan: Daeie Teikoku no Isan, Magna Carta, Pop 'n Music 10 
Friday PS2 PC Genjin, Takahashi Meijin Adventure Island  NEWS Dec 2004 to Feb 2005 import schedule
Saturday NEWS Thanks Brown
National Console Support, Inc ° Your Import Specialist
Phone: (718) 523-5774  Fax: (718) 523-7069  Shop: www.ncsxshop.com  E-mail: ncsx@msn.com 
Design Services provided by Jimmy Z Studio/Atelier. Content © 2004 National Console Support. All rights reserved.