| Independence
Day Observation |
N.Y.C |
The July 4th
holiday smacks squarely in the middle of the week this year.
Of course, this awkward holiday "positioning" bodes ill for the
holiday jaunt to the Hamptons, save
for those with the wherewithal (read: audacity) to take the
rest of the week off.
All shipping and operations are suspended today.
UPS, Fedex, and the U.S. Postal Service are all on holiday
schedule and no pick-ups or deliveries are slated. NCS Co.
diligently resumes normal trading and
business tribulations on Thursday, July 5th with a gaggle of
new products due. Until then, enjoy the hiatus. Go out and
gobble some barbecue or wienerschnitzel or something... |
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Although
firewerx are outlawed under the reign of Rudy in our fair
city, there's always the reliable, superfly drifting around in
NY's Chinatown. He peddles every imaginable firework
from the safety of his car trunk at fair pricing. He'll be there next year
too. And. Ever. On. |
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| PS
Leiji Matsumoto Galaxy Express 999 |
Scans |
The
GEX game begins with a cinema of Tetsuro Hoshino and his
mother walking on a frost covered plain as delicate blobs of
snow waft down from the sky. Mother and son are in a peaceful
moment, speaking as they walk. A mammoth train speeds overhead,
suspended in mid-air. Seasoned GEX viewers know this is the
scene from the beginning of the manga/anime where they are
walking to the Galaxy Expresss 999 train in order to acquire
mechanical bodies in bids for immortality. The peace is broken
when a targeting sight appears and Tetsuro's mother gets shot
from behind. Tetsuro hides and witnesses Count Mecha and a
group of peons gathering their prize, Tetsuro's mother. Later
on in the long intro, Tetsuro sneaks into the Count's castle
seeking revenge. He enters Mecha's chamber and sees his mother
on a wall, rendered a mere trophy, and challenges the Count.
Tetsuro summarily gets shot from behind. In the next scene, he
awakes in a bed and meets Maetel for the first time. After a
brief discussion, Maetel offers Tetsuro an unlimited pass to
the Galaxy Express with the stipulation that she accompany him
on his travels. He agrees and the two new friends board the
galaxy spanning train. The cut sequence from Tetsuro's getting
shot and suddenly ending up safe in a bed may confuse anyone
who isn't Galaxy Express savvy but Banpresto assumes that
anyone buying the game knows the tale.
Galaxy Express 999 uses two methods to relay the
story of the anime in an edited and condensed form. There's an
animation to set up the story and a polygon rendered
representation of key scenes from the original animation.
After the movie, you eventually gain control of Tetsuro and
bound about in action-adventure with what appears to be over
40 sequential scenarios. An easy comparison game in terms of
style would be Megaman Legends. In the first episode, a pilot
of a small starship loses control of his vehicle and crashes
into the Galaxy Express. Both tumble down into a planet which
seems a strange amalgam of the wild west and a desert city.
Tetsuro's first adventure finds him entering the town with the
pilot of the starship to find help and necessary parts to
repair the GEX. An indication of how friendly the people are
on the planet comes from an old codger who shoots at Tetsuro
when he nears the man's ranch and a guard in the town who
denies exit whenever Tetsuro tries to leave.
A loose camera follows the action with free
flowing versatility and conversations with people are
triggered with a button press. Gameplay works nicely and
relays the ambience of the Galaxy Express very well. Fans of
the series will likely be deliriously happy to see Tetsuo and
Maetel in an interactive setting. Others may find a grand
introduction to one of Leiji Matsumoto's most endearing
works. |
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|
| Dreamcast
August 2001 Import Schedule |
Primer |
|
The eighth
month favors Dreamcast loyalists with no less than eight new
imports. This might signify harmonic convergence of some
sort. |
| What |
Whom |
When |
| Eldorado
Gate Vol. 6 |
Capcom |
08.08 |
| Air |
NEC |
08.09 |
| Let's
Become the Derby Owner 2 |
Sega |
08.09 |
| Aero
Dancing 'Til Next Issue |
CSK |
08.23 |
| Guru
Guru Onsen 2 |
Sega |
08.23 |
| Kanaria |
NEC |
08.23 |
| Get
Bass 2 |
Sega |
08.30 |
| New
Century EVA Typing Supplement |
Gainax |
08.30 |
|
|
Horse barons are realized in Sega's new Derby Owner 2 which
grants players title and deed to a rising equine empire. Guru
Guru Onsen 2 foists simple tables games upon internet
players and Kanaria makes dating it's mission. Get
Bass 2 arrives on American shores a week earlier (August
22, 2001) at a price of $29 so we figure the import version
won't be much in demand. The new EVA Typing supplement
features new scenarios in which players tap keys in order to
save the EVA crew. |
|
| Final
Fantasy X Coca Cola Bottlecaps |
Photos |
Have a coke and a smile. Or something to that effect. Coca
Cola prizes in the form of FFX mini figures atop bottlecaps
are slated to ship in the next couple of weeks. In Japan, the
bottlecaps will be sold with Coke bottles as part of the FFX promotional
campaign. Each figure is packed in an opaque poly-bag with a
Coke design on the outside. In other words, each cap comes as
a surprise and no choices may be made in purchasing them due
to the secretive packaging.
Rip-off product has already started appearing in
Hong Kong and other Asian countries. To discern between the
official product and the bootlegs, look for the Coca Cola
poly-bag. NCS expects pricing of each bottlecap at US$3 and
photos of all samples are posted this morning. |
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FFX
Bottlecaps |
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| Cream
Lemon Figures |
Photo |
| Following
the release of the new Cream Lemon manga in Japan, a
new set of figures goes on hawk in the Japanese market. A
series of episodes unconnected except for a requisite sex
scene in each, Cream Lemon spanned different genres of
animation ranging from dramas, parodies, comedies, fantasy
stories, and horror scenarios. Cream Lemon also bears the
honor of being one of the first hentai series to support the
sex with engaging and intelligent storylines. Five figures are on offer from the first
collection of Cream Lemon figures. Measuring 10 cm tall, the
standing figures present the varied image of femininity. The figure
lying on the ground measures 5 cm high from soles of feet to
the top of her bouffant. Subsequent collections of Cream Lemon
figures are slated over the next couple of months to expand
the ribald licensing. |
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|
Cream
Lemon |
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| Neo
Geo Pocket Restock |
Popular |
|
A flock of NGP
cartridges, albeit Japanese territory ones, arrived last
Friday and are on offer online.
Most cartridges are in plastic clamshells even though they are
Japanese. SNK originally shipped Asian and Japanese NGP
cartridges in clamshells but stopped the practice in favor of
cardboard boxes to save on production costs. |
|
|
Metal Slug 1st Mission and Ganbare Neopoke-Kun are
expected to do well but others like JPN Faselei and Evolution
should sell okay. |
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| Weekly
Import Outlook |
Restock |
DC Roommate Ryouko Inoue, Super Puzzle Fighter IIX,
and US Shenmue are slated for Wednesday. PS2 Dream
Audition 3, Iron Train Battle, Piposaru 2001,
and Yanya Kaballista make the scene on Thursday and GBA
Breath of Fire marks Capcom's continued offerings in
the handheld realm.
In other products, new Macross Valkrie toys
should arrive on Thursday along with the new collection of Samba
de Amigo plush dolls. The reproduction of Parappa the
Rapper dolls, including the dancing Parappa, may arrive
this week also but we'll update accordingly once all shipments
are accounted for. |
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|
Other than
the NGP cartridges received late last week, we expect restock
on PS2 Mosquito. Recent deliveries of fast movers such
as Phantasy Star Online v2 and Guilty Gear X on
Dreamcast are in stock and should be available for the
remainder of this week. |
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| Frequently
Asked Questions |
Protocol |
|
Common
questions, rotated on a weekly basis, are now posted online
for perusal. Please check the FAQ before sending an
e-mail message
that may already be answered on the page. It's not that we
mind (well, maybe sometimes we do) the voluminous daily e-mail
queries but very common questions come up very often. It's our
way of addressing redundancy and consequent inefficiency. Thank
you. |
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|
Questions received henceforth which are already answered in
the FAQ
won't be ignored. You'll
still receive a reply within 48 hours but not the usual 1 to
12 hour reply time. |
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