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Sonic Adventure 2 Birthday Pack (Japan) |
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The mightiest version of Sonic Adventure 2 comes encased in a
special glossy box which proclaims the 10th Anniversary of the
blue furball. Noted on the lower-right corner of the box,
"2 Days Only 2001.6.23~24". Shhhh, don't tell Sega
we have it early.
Inside the packaging, the Sonic Adventure 2 game jewel
case (the software plays in either Japanese or English speech and text,
selectable from the game option menu) and the Birthday Pack
impresses with it's Sonic History Booklet (written in English
and Japanese). The bonus Sonic music CD, containing 23 tracks,
rings out musical bliss from all previous Sonic games
including the original Mega-Drive Sonic the Hedgehog and the
Saturn version of Sonic R. A final glittering prize rests on
the shiny countenance of the Sonic engraved gold coin which
features two likenesses of the hedgehog on front and obverse.
Is it cool? Yes, it is. Probably one of the nicest deluxe
products we've imported in a long while and an instant
collectible for Sonic aficionados the world over.
Most pre-orders for the Birthday Pack ship today.
All remaining pre-orders will be dispatched by Monday due to
split shipments of stock from Japan. New orders are welcome
through our online store to ship on Monday at the rate of US$65. |
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Sonic 2
Birthday Pack US$65 |
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| Hello,
kind souls... |
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Thursday's update gets rehashed below. New today, we have PS
Winning Eleven 2001 from Konami available for phone orders and
the GBA Stickboy Advance. Both items will be added online over
the weekend and posted on the website on Monday. |
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Have a nice weekend.
Buh Bye. |
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| GBA
Tactics Ogre ~ Knight of Lodis |
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Domination by papal decree emboldens the self-proclaimed
righteous ones. In history, the spread of Christianity
provides a parallel and in Tactics Ogre Gaiden, knights under
the flag of the Lodis empire spread their influence by way of
religious conviction and fortitude. As a member of a team of
knights, Alphonse Locher travels to Ovis Island to convert the
populace in a mission of evangelical duty. Strange things are
afoot when they land ashore and a surprise attack scatters the
knights. Taking the reins, Alphonse leads his party on a
mission to determine the political machinations behind the
attack and to enforce or reject the rule of the Lodis empire.
In Tactics Ogre fashion, battles are played out on a
turn-based battle grid rendered in sumptuous visual styling.
The GBA defines the details in the game with excellent clarity
and resolution, which is a major treat for fans. |
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Tactics
Ogre Gaiden US$49 |
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| PS2
Atelier Lilie |
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At the
gross level, alchemy may be defined as the transmutation of
base metals into gold. Delve deeper into the soteriological
function of alchemy where it works as a means to perfection of
the spirit and the symbolism, codes, and writings from Martin
Luther, Mircea Eliade, and Roger Bacon take on new life. The
alchemy video games from publisher Gust take the former
tack.
The word "atelier" hails from the
French vernacular which denotes a workshop or studio. It fits
the series of games perfectly. In the original, Atelier Marie,
hapless alchemy student Marlone is relegated to her own studio
by tutor Ingrid. In the follow-up, Atelier Elie, our heroine
works to concoct an elixir to stop a plague which storms the
land. She labors in her workshop to that end. The latest
Atelier takes a jaunt back to yesteryear, to a time before
Marlone or Elie mixed bubbling tonics and spiced them up with
reagents. As the story goes, alchemy prodigy Lilie lives for
the craft and trains at the Kentonis Academy. She dreams
however of building her own academy to advance the art and
takes on assignments to raise the necessary capital. To this
end, Lilie teams up with a couple of fellow students to travel
the land, hunt for ingredients, and transmute ordinary
materials into masterful creations much in demand. The game
presents itself by way of interaction sequences with
characters, world roaming, and the usual battles against
aggressors. |
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Atelier
Lilie US$63 |
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| PS2
Evergrace 2 |
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Prequels
are a theme this week. Atelier Lilie goes back in time and the
hero Yuterald of the original Evergrace does the same. Faced
with the death of his family and destruction of his village by
the hand of a villain named Morea, Yuterald ventures forth to
seek vengeance. He's accompanied by a friend named Ryanna and
Fillna, a mysterious young woman with a veiled past. Together,
the trio collaborate and go on an adventure to exact revenge
on an evil empire and to help Fillna discover hidden memories.
During their travels, an assortment of weaponry and gear may
be found or appropriated which helps the heroes advance their
physical and metaphysical skills. The magical system adjunct
dubbed Palmyra Action helps you strike with mega attacks but
this is only available to you upon locating Palmyra crystals
to boost your weapons or armor. The fighting and battle
sequences during a monster mash are impressive, with Yuterald
or Ryanna charging and striking with the quickness. Spells
also erupt on the battlefield to mighty crescendo, lacing
creatures with pyrotechnics or rippling the ground around
beasts with dramatic effects. Visually impressive, NCS was
wowed this morning when this game piped itself through an
XRGB-2 to our monitor. Environment graphics are beautiful,
special effects shine, and luminescent magical spells are
sparkling jewelry. Evergrace 2 is a pretty game which plays in
a decent way from what we've been able to view so far. |
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Evergrace
2 US$63 |
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Gitaroo Man (NCS Prose, Redux...) |
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A droopy drip of a bloke by day, rampaging guitar handler
by... um, day also. Gitaroo Man introduces the world to the latest in musical rhythm
action. Get ready. Accompanied by a pooch named Puma, U-1 plays the hero
of this affair, progeny of the legendary Gitaroo Man. He looks resplendent in his pastel colored
retro regalia. A huge hair-hat flattening vessel tops
everything off, complete with kaiser inspired point. The gist
is this: alien invaders of the musical sort seek to wreak
havoc on earth and only a guitar slinging, teeth gnashing
youth can fend off the assault. Some menaces include a
gigantor of a bot who attacks while two turntables spin in the
breast location and gnarly spinning UFOs ringed by keyboards.
Rhythm action commences by way of a flowing orange line of goo
which drains into a blue dot located in the center of the
screen. Your mission is to follow the direction of goo
movement with your joypad accurately and without hesitation as
it winds and weaves. A battle between U-1 and an invader takes
place while you're concentrating on the cues and if you ever
take your eyes off to notice, you'll see an exhilarating
musical battle which ends in climactic destruction of your foe
if you're good enough. Street based battles are enjoyable to
watch, where the camera occasionally focuses away from the
action to give props to pedestrians who stand around doing a
little choreographed dance while carnage erupts around them. |
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Gitaroo
Man US$55 |
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| PS2
Mosquito ~ Summer at the Yamada Residence |
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Today, June 21, marks the first day of summer and it's only
fitting that NCS bring in a squadron of mosquitoes. No bug
repellant will affect these beasts however. They only reside
inside your PS2 and therein lies the fun when you help a
little skeeter terrorize a Japanese family. Flying around
lazily in the Yamada residence, you spot your target - a
winsome young girl lying in bed - asleep and at your mercy.
Hovering overhead, you mark her exposed upper thigh as your
landing spot and begin the descent. As you near the supple
flesh, she turns in her sleep, rotating your intended target
by 90 degrees. You dive undaunted and alight on her leg. As
you dip your blood needle into her skin, a little window pops
up which shows globules of blood being drawn into your rotund
body. Sated, you take flight but unfortunately for you, it's
battle time. The girl wakes up, more than a little annoyed
that you've left a welt and withdrawn precious blood. She
slaps at the air in a frenzy and swipes in your general
direction. Full and sleepy from your recent meal, you're not
exactly at tip-top fighting shape and it's inevitable that
she'll connect. An explosion of white light marks her
successful slap and the impact sends you careening towards a
wall or into a tailspin. Lost vigor requires new blood and
you, oh mosquito, must use aerial skills and stealth to
capture more globules of blood to help you regain lost health
points. Fun, unique, and oddly addictive, Mosquito plays like
a indoor flight simulator with a bizarre twist. |
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Mosquito US$55 |
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