| GBA
Stick Boy Advance |
Scans |
| The
directional cross-pad on the Gameboy Advance works well enough
but play a couple of hours and the grooves of the cross may
disturb the sensitive flesh of your thumb. Enter Stick Boy.
Using a complete circle for the directional pad, Stick Boy
slides over the front of your GBA and takes over D-pad and
buttons with it's own. Your thumb rests firmly in the Stick
Boy pad and tugs and tussles without fear of repetitive motion
injury or thumb trauma. You know we're saying all this
tongue in cheek, right? A flip-top lid completes the
accessory to clam down over the screen when you're done
playing to ward off airborne dust motes and other pollutants.
The advantages of the Stick Boy are the improved tactile
control on the GBA and the built-in dust cover for the screen
but the cons lie in the spongy feel of the SBA d-pad. It's
workable and another alternative accessory in a growing market
for Gameboy Advance add-ons and products. A small gallery of
photos may be viewed by clicking
here or on the Scans link. |
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Stick Boy
Advance US$7.50 |
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| GBA
Newtype Cartridge Case |
Scans
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It was with astonishment a couple of years back when we
received a candy dish from a trading company in Asia. The
clever ones had fashioned the shell of a standard Dreamcast
into a candy holder which revealed it's wares when the lid was
popped. It was quaint, somewhat unusual and subsequently
thrown into warehousing for future generations to marvel over.
We felt that tinge today when the new GBA cartridge cases
arrived. Shaped exactly like a reversed Gameboy Advance
(apparently someone at the plant botched the mold since the
D-pad is on the right and the buttons are on the left), this
newtype cartridge case nevertheless holds a GBA cartridge
firmly in it's confines. Two tapered grooves run the length of
the inner shell to rest your game on and four little plastic
prongs on the opposing shell hold it steady when closed.
Despite the curvature of the case to mimic the sexy shape of
the GBA, newtype stacks up well and resists toppling over. Our
stack record this morning was 25 cases on top of one another
before the tower yielded to breezes and Murphy's Law. |
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GBA
Cartridge Case US$5 |
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| PS
J-League Winning Eleven 2001 |
Scans |
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Konami's continued march to crafting the perfect footy game
continues this week in the carriage of the latest Winning
Eleven. Each year, the company tweaks, hones, and refines the
subtle and not so obvious nuances of their flagship soccer
game to improve the experience. The Japanese league, as usual,
factors exclusively in Winning Eleven with 16 division 1
teams, 12 division 2 teams, and All-Stars teams with members
culled from East and West All Star rosters. The 2001 model of
WE enhances the environmental realism of the game by conveying
atmospheric conditions, lighting which ranges from dusk to
dawn, and weather challenges to impede performance. On the
field, players now suffer from the rigors of physical fatigue
and the gameplay continues to shine with excellent control and
finely tuned dribbling of the ball as you motor down the
field. Fans of the series can look forward to more of the very
challenging gameplay and necessary "training" in
order to excel at this game. New initiates into the Winning
Eleven fold are well served with this rewarding soccer game
which earns the title of "mother of all soccer
games" year after year in Japan. |
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Winning
Eleven 2001 US$55 |
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| WSC
Ultraman ~ Messenger from Heaven |
Scans |
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In Ultraman mythos, the Baltan-seijin or Alien Baltan monsters
battle the masked hero and play the part of his staunchest
rivals. Arch-enemies, if you will, destined to clash through
the run of Ultraman television episodes and continuations. The
Baltan species may be viewed under a microscope but
occasionally one or more Baltan possess the ability to grow up
to a height of 50 meters to take on Ultraman's 40 meters and
any cohorts. Luckily for our boy, he wields a specium based
laser weapon which is kryptonite to the Baltan. From the campy
60s to the roaring 70s, Ultraman fought an endless procession
of monsters including the lizard-like, sabre-toothed Red King,
the cunning reptilian Mefilas, and the bad-ass known as
Eleking. Rubber-suited monstrosities came and went on those
television episodes with abandon. Decades later, Ultraman
lives on in our hearts and in our video games. The latest
excursion from Bandai puts the eternal hero in 2-D battle
against twelve of his fiercest opponents. Alien Baltan rages
with big claws and a frightening demeanor while Red King
feints and slaps like a contender. The game tells a tale as
you go from battle to battle, regaling fighters with a story
of how Ultraman protects the earth from invaders. A separate
breeding mode in the game allows the growth of a monster which
you can call your own and marshall into battle. Once you have
the creature in fighting shape, throw it into the ring and
test it's mettle against the hardened likes of Ultraman,
Bemlar, and the magnetic Antlar. Kitschy? Hell yes. Fun?
Bandai's execution in fighting games leaves a lot to be
desired but Ultraman plays okay and it's a novelty to see all
of the monsters on the small screen in fairly vibrant colors
and definition. |
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Ultraman
MfH US$49 |
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| Final
Fantasy VIII Solicitation... |
Photo |
Silver was the rage a couple of years ago when Square
unleashed a volley of special products along with the Final
Fantasy VIII Playstation game. Two silver products from
yesteryear and one Zippo Lighter are on offer again for
delivery in about 2 weeks. Please refer to the original NCS
FF8 paraphernalia
page for the photos of the three products that we expect
to restock. On offer are the Lionheart Silver Ring (Y8000),
the Silver necklace (Y18000) right next to it and the Zippo
Lighter + Base (Y15000) on the third row of the products page.
NCS pricing is expected to be US$85 for the ring, US$165 for
the necklace, and US$145 for the Zippo Lighter. Pre-orders
and/or general indications of interest are welcome by mailing
NCS.
Also on the page, you can check out the original
Seiko FF watch on the second row. Seiko produced the Final
Fantasy "Spirits Within" Movie Watch which was
released last week in Japan. Just for kicks and giggles,
here's the second
paraphernalia page with trinkets and other things from
back in the day. |
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Lionheart
Silver Ring |
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| Final
Fantasy X Beat Shock Solicitation |
Scans |
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NCS is all for limited edition versions of Japanese software.
Last week's Sonic Adventure 2 Birthday Pack, for example,
broke our sales records for fastest selling game in our
company's history. Nevermind that, furball has no place here.
LE products are great sales vehicles but we question the
recently announced Beat Shock Edition of FFX which includes an
amplifier and an FFX sound booklet. Priced at Y29,000 and
whittling down the price
of the FFX game (Y8800) from the retail level of the Beat
Shock, we're left with Y20200 going towards
the cost of the amplifier. Square claims that this
(roughly) US$170 amplifier improves the audio fidelity of
the FFX game. In other words, an Art Audio Jota
amplifier (~US$7500)
might not handle the subtle nuances and aural atmosphere of
FFX but Square's Beat Shock $180 amplifier captures it dead
on. Okay.
In any case, enough pre-orders for this package have come in
to warrant stocking the Beat Shock edition. Heeding our
thoughts or not, we'll accept additional pre-orders starting
today by e-mail
request. Click on scans
for the full promotional flyer from Squaresoft. NCS
expects pricing of US$260. |
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FFX
Beatshock Flyer |
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| Tekken
4 Goods Solicitation |
Scans |
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Namco ramps
it up in a couple of months with the latest incarnation of
their flagship fighting game and it's licensing-madness time
for companies such as NCS to capitalize on the fervor. Or
something like that. Four Tekken 4 products are on offer,
officially licensed by Namco, for delivery in September. First
up, we have three varieties of Tekken 4 baseball caps embossed with
differing logos on front. A standard adjustable clasp in back allows
seating on big heads and little ones. The other products
include a variety of free-size "Combat t-shirts" in
six styles, two types of "Combat gloves", and three
flavors of "Combat Cushions". NCS will update
again once the goods are in stock but e-mail pre-orders are
welcome. Representative products for all of the upcoming items
may be viewed by clicking the scans
link. |
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Tekken 4
Cap US$10 |
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| Konami
September Imports |
Hori |
| PS1 |
Dance
Dance Revolution 5th Mix |
09.20 |
Y5980 |
| PS2 |
Guitar
Freaks 4th Mix / Drum. 3rd Mix |
09.20 |
Y6800 |
| Silent
Hill 2 |
09.27 |
Y6980 |
| GBA |
Z.O.E.
2137 Testament |
09.27 |
Y5800 |
| Field
of Nine ~ Digital Edition 2001 |
09.27 |
Y5800 |
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Hori
announced a new Analog Vibration Pad for the PS to ship on
July 12, a Final Fantasy X themed memory card case, and FFX
silver PS2 stand (vertical orientation) to ship on July 19.
NCS will post updates once the products are in stock. |
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| Phantasy
Star v2.0 USA Rumor |
Dot Bomb |
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This is one of those rumors where we must stress that we're
only the messenger, so don't send diatribes or daggers in our
general direction, for reporting it. Apparently the USA
release of PSO v2.0 has been delayed all the way from the
revised date of August 11, 2001 to November TBA. The delay
probably has
something to do with the uproar and general rancor expressed
from the fan base when the
online payment requirement was spotted by ogling the posted
cover of the PSO v2.0 game. |
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Servers
cost money, staff costs money, hiring coders to block
cheat-laden players cost money. Everything costs and free lunches
associated with the mentality of a no-charge net won't feed a
viable enterprise. |
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| Weekly
Import Outlook |
Restock |
|
Dreamcast Gaia Master, Gundam Battle Online, and
Net Gimmick Capcom & Psikyo All Stars are expected
on Wednesday or Thursday. The Japanese version of Confidential
Mission, compatible with the official DC Light Gun, is
also expected this week at US$49. Playstation fans can look
forward to Matsumoto Zero 999 and PS2 mavens meet City
Crisis, Kika Troop J-Phoenix, Magical Sports
Hard Hitter, and Shadow Hearts on Thursday.
Portable power on the Gameboy Advance comes in the form of Yushun
Thapsody, expected tomorrow. Sonic Adventure 2 Birthday
Pack remains in stock and should be available for the next 2
weeks. |
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Castlevania
Chronicle is now in stock again and all open orders were
filled on Monday. The delays with the USA version of PSO v2.0
have emboldened NCS to order another couple of hundred units
to meet current demand. NCS expects delivery of PSO v2.0 by
early next week. |
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E-mail
NCS
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