| GBC
Hunter X Hunter ~ Forbidden Treasure |
Otaku |
| Konami
reprises the JUMP manga action series in another Gameboy Color
game for March 22nd. Pricing is set at Y4500 and preorders are
welcome. |
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Hunters in the manga HXH seek out targeted relics, icons,
and/or other objects of desire and d'art. |
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| Wonderswan
Color |
Scans |
| Crystal
Blue Wonderswan Color handhelds are now in stock from NCS and
priced at US$88. Now, if we could only get our shipment of
games, we'd be set and ready to sell. An assortment of
Wonderswan Color software titles including Final Fantasy,
Rhyme Rider Kerorikan, Pocket Digimon and others is slated for
this week. The other WSC variants in crystal yellow, pink, etc
are not expected until next week but crystal blue appears to
be the most wanted color in terms of requests received thus
far. Japanese vendor support for the WSC seems shallow at this
point and NCS is unsure if it's because of the impending GBA
or because many were burned on the original WS. In any case,
it'll be an uphill battle for WSC once GBA and it's hype
machine arrives. |
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Wonderswan
Color |
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Pricing
at US$88 |
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| Dreamcast
$99? |
Wave |
| The
distribution channel in the USA and Japan usually catches wind
of changes in the market weeks in advance of any official news
releases or mongering. Call it the buzz, and it goes out by
way of old fashioned fax and conversation, not net. Of course,
nothing can be confirmed when these tidbits are wafted and one
can only wait and see what develops. The DC manufacturing
stoppage was rumored and now appears to be true. Another
message in the proverbial grapevine is the impending decrease
of the American DC console unit price to US$99 within the next
couple of weeks. It is unknown if Japan will follow suit but
we'll sit this one out and see if it holds true. |
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A simple way to gauge big shifts in national chain store policy is by
watching prices. It may start with new software being
discounted rather vigorously or hefty sales on complete lines of
console products. For wizened vendors, it's a signal that
change is on the way and it's best to not hold any stock
until the wave crests and hits the shallows... |
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| Weekly
Import Outlook |
GBA |
PS2
Onimusha and PS Metal Slug X are on the way for
restock tomorrow and the latest import DC Magazine (volume 4)
which contains previews of Shenmue 2, et al, is expected on
Tuesday as well. All preorders for Onimusha will ship upon
restock. Dreamcast Doraemon will also finally waddle
it's way in tomorrow morning. Aside from this, the remainder
of the week will be a lazy one with only DC Eldorado Gate
Vol. 3, PS Time Bokan Go Go Go, and PS2 Lunatic
Dawn Tempest scheduled on Thursday.
Next week is barren with no new titles expected
on any of the major Japanese gaming consoles or handhelds. |
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The Gameboy Advance offer from NCS that was placed on the
table last week will see finalization this week. An update to
all mailing list members will be issued on Wednesday
afternoon. New preorders are welcome by mailing NCS with the
message header "GBA NEW" for addition to the
reservation and contact list. The offer is listed here. |
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E-mail
NCS
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