| PS2 Hot Spring Table Tennis |
Scans |
The
Japanese title for this game goes something like "Ikuze! Onsen
Takkyu" but we usually get blank stares when uttering phrases
of that ilk. The full English translation reads "Got to do!
Hot Spring Table Tennis". Forrest Gump ruled table tennis and
now virtual players can try their hand in this hop, slap, paddle
whacking game that has enthralled summer camp hostages, erhm, guests
for decades.
The prodigal 11-year old Ai Fukuhara of Japan's national
table tennis team joins seven fictional anime characters in bouts of
dexterity. Players may choose Ai as their on-screen heroine or pick from
a cast of characters that include a salaryman, a kimono-clad young
lady, or an old guy dressed in shorts and sandals. The action runs hot
when the ball starts bouncing and players will run the ping pong gauntlet as
lightning speed is required to deflect the
rampaging ball. You're allowed full freedom of movement in order to
range the length of your end of the table. The nature of the game
allows for one shot blowouts. You're either quick or you're dead but
practice may dull the pain of ping pong humiliation... |
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|
| Hot
Spring Table Tennis |
|
US$65 |
|
| Import
Schedules |
Gameboy Advance |
The site was recently updated and NCS will post the first quarter 2001
import schedules for the Dreamcast, Playstation, and Playstation 2
within the next couple of days. New products won't start shipping in
earnest until the third week of January. Most companies in Japan are
on hiatus until next week. At that time, we'll restock various
products that we have on order.
Updates on the Gameboy Advance, Gamecube, and Wonderswan
Color restock are pending. Additional details will be posted once news
is available. As mentioned on Tuesday, there is a vacuum of
information from Japan for this week. |
Interest
in Nintendo's next handheld is big. However, NCS expects the usual
short shipments and tight allocations that have plagued Nintendo
hardware launches in the past. There is no reason to expect things
will get better this year but we'll keep visitors updated on the
outlook.
|
| Neo
Geo and other updates |
JAMMA |
| A variety of Neo Geo
MVS cartridges have been added to our standard offer
page. All listed stock is updated
and available for shipping today. Established accounts may place
orders by e-mail but we'll add the cartridges on-line by
tomorrow morning. |
|
The official USA version of King of Fighters
2000 will be made available for general sale next week. Pricing
is set at US$529. The high cost is unfortunate but USA Neo Geo
purists may be inclined to purchase this version over the
Japanese edition of the game. Inquiries may be directed to ncsx@email.msn.com. |
| An updated DC
Mod FAQ has been posted on-line. It's been a little under a
year since the last update but there hasn't been new development
or need, at least until now. Sega recently released a new
revision of the DC pcboard in the USA which requires new wiring
technique and/or chip code. Updates will be posted once
solutions are divined. The GD-Rom drive for the new USA model
has also been upgraded to a lighter unit with a hollow plastic
base. The Japanese and Asian DC models, including the recent
Sakura Dreamcast remain ripe for modification and NCS will
continue to accept modification requests for these units. |
|
A number of
Japanese arcade boards are on offer this week as follows:
| Battle Bakraid |
$140 |
| Dancing Eyes |
$155 |
| DOA
2 v. 2000 |
$890 |
| Esprade |
$185 |
| Gradius 4 |
$255 |
| Macross |
$85 |
| Raiden Fighters
Jet |
$295 |
| Sailor Moon |
$235 |
| Vampire Saviour |
$105 |
| Viper Phase N.V. |
$155 |
| Warzard |
$115 |
| DOA
2 v. 2000 includes the complete Naomi hardware. |
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