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| Sega
Rally 2 in stock |
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First impressions: Exhilirating,
fast, some pop-up... Yah, you notice it in a few of the straightaways
with detailed backgrounds. The overall visuals are gorgeous however with the pop-up only
proving to be a minor speck in the grand scheme of things. The first Dreamcast racing game
lives up to the pent-up hype that has been lingering in the market over the past couple of
weeks. Control is superb with the stock car responding to each thumb tug and maneuver on
the analog pad in sweet fashion. We have not tried out the racing wheel yet but we'll give
it a whirl this afternoon. NCS is very impressed and delighted with Sega's latest effort.
Rally 2 should slake the thirst for action oriented DC software. Pre-orders will ship
today. |
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| Sega
Rally 2 restock on February 13 |
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NCS imported ample quantities of Sega Rally 2 into the country and will keep a good
reserve on hand. Partial quantities arrived today and the rest should arrive later this
afternoon or tomorrow. To protect ourselves against the dreaded "sold out"
syndrome, we try to have another dispatch on the way after the first shipment arrives. The
bad news for importers such as NCS is that Sega will not have restock of SR2 until
February 13. Our stock should hold up until then but with a dearth of DC
titles for the month of February, it looks like the big three: Sonic, Virtua Fighter 3tb
and Rally 2 will be in heavy demand over the next month as more early
adopters pick up a DC. |
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| PS
Dance Dance Revolution on the way |
|
Konami's ultra funky arcade dancing game was announced overnight to ship on 04/15. A
special stepping controller called (aptly) the Dance Dance Revolution Controller
will also ship on 04/15. Yen price for the controller is listed at Y5800 and measures
840x940mm, weighing a mere 1kg. We figure it's a thin piece of motion sensitive polymer.
Since some heavy hitters might be jumping on the controller to shake their thang, a
cross-ribbed, rubber base might be necessary so that the controller doesn't slide across
the floor when someone's rendition of the lambada gets out of control. The arcade version
of Dance Dance is an elaborate affair which features a standard arcade cabinet, a large
pair of speakers on the sides of the cabinet and an elevated silver dancing platform. The
platform registers your dancing steps via arrows that point in the four cardinal
directions and relays them to the screen in the form of a video dancer. Some examples of
music that Konami uses in the game include Kung Fu Fighting from Bus
Stop, I Like It from K.C. and the Sunshine Band and for the slow,
melodramatic hoofers, Have You Never Been Mellow from Olivia Newton John.
Pre-orders welcome. |
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| Tokimeki
Memorial Vol. 3 |
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The final installment of Konami's popular anime dating game was announced overnight for
the Playstation and the Saturn. Shiori, Saki and the rest of the girls return for another
bout of interaction and dating. A bonus disc will feature scenarios from both volumes of
the Toki Drama Series. The Saturn version will only be available in a
Special Boxed edition (Y8800). This deluxe set includes a Tokimeki Graduation Album that
is autographed by the 17 voice actresses who lend their voices to the game. A life-size
Shiori Fujisaki poster also complements this deluxe edition. Pre-orders are welcome,
especially for the Saturn version. The production of the Saturn edition is limited and
will be a one-shot type of deal where we'l be unable to restock it after the initial
order. Our deadline for pre-orders is February 12, please try to submit a reservation
before that date. |
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| Transparent
Casing Impetus |
Our company has received an awesome amount of interest in what we'll call "The Shell
Project" wherein we manufacture replacement transparent Playstation shells. Today,
we'll clarify some of the details of the project in a question and answer format since
there were many questions. We wish we were able to respond to every e-mail sent to the
Netcom account but there were too many to answer on an individual basis. Please forgive us
for using this method to answer the most common questions.
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| Hello NCS, good idea but
will the price be flexible? Say, $25 instead of $35~$45? |
| After
discussing the build process with our vendor in Asia, we feel the $35~$45 is a realistic price
target for something like this. The Playstation shell is a detailed and complicated item that
requires multiple components in the top shell although the bottom shell is very simple. A
transparent battery lid will also be included. |
| Which kind of plastic will
be used? |
| ABS
(Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) for the complete shell. The top portion will include the
CD-Rom lid, the reset, power, and open buttons - all transparent. The shell will be as durable
as the original PS case. |
| What colors can I choose
from? |
| We are
considering a clear color and a clear blue color. To get a rough idea of what the clear color
will look like, please refer to our update when the Skeleton Saturn
hit the marketplace. Other colors will likely come about but these two colors appear to be the
most popular. Wow, the old journal update pages really bring back memories. |
| Is it easy
to swap Playstation innards? |
| There are
five components that make up the proverbial guts of the Playstation. There's the power board,
the pcboard, controller ports, a metal plate and the oft maligned CD-Rom mechanism. The
swapper will have to unscrew a total of 15 screws on the SCPH-1001, 3001, and 5001 models. The
7000 model contains a smaller number of screws. It's not difficult but the main caution that
we'd have to issue would be to take extra care when removing the CD ribbon cable from the
pcboard. It rips easily when manhandled. NCS will swap innards for you if desired at no
charge, but you will have to cover the shipping fees. We usually disassemble a PS in less than
2 minutes. 3 minutes on a bad day. |
| Can you give me a timetable
on this? |
| A sample
of our vendor's Playstation shell is on the way. If the quality of the design and the
fabrication process is satisfactory, it's a go. Figure we'll have the shells available within
45 days after we approve the work order. Stay tuned. |
| Anything
else that I should be aware of? |
| The
replacement shell willl not have the SONY name or the Playstation logo anywhere on the casing.
Those marks are the property of Sony Corp. The shape and likeness of the Playstation shell is
not patented (although the shape of the Nintendo 64 is). Your warranty should not be
voided since all you will be doing is transferring the innards from one shell to another. You
have not modified the electronics or circuitry in any way. NCS has seen a lot of Playstations
that customers have sent in for repairs that had stickers, artwork, etc - something to express
the individuality of the owner. We figured that a new case would be the ultimate form of
Playstation expression. |
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| Capital
Markets |
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Ugly close in the last session. It was unexpected since the market was treading water for
most of the day and vacillating without direction. We note the distressing performance of
the banking index (BKX) which slumped more than 3% yesterday and ended at the lows of the
day. We'll stand aside today and watch money flows to evaluate market sentiment. |
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Send e-mail to ncs@escape.com
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