| GBA
EX Monopoly |
Scans |
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American board game called Monopoly dawned upon Charles Darrow
of Germantown, PA in the early 1930s. Darrow showed the game
to Parker Brothers in 1934 but the company rejected it on the
grounds of poor design and an overly complicated play
structure. Undaunted, Charles displayed Monopoly at the 1935
Toy Fair to the throngs. That same year, it became the best
selling game in America and it continues to sell to this day.
Monopoly has been translated into 26 languages, including
Braille, and the threat of capitalist reckonings succors
global appeal. The Gameboy Advance version mimics the board
game well with an animated board, moving pieces, and of course
jingles and chimes when you move about. Unfortunately for
gaijin, the game's entirely in Japanese but the premise is so well
known and familiar that it's fairly easy to figure out and
dive into. Up to five players may link up via cable or Mobile
Gameboy Adaptor. |
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EX Monopoly
US$49 |
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| GBA
Morita Shogi Advance |
Scans |
Hudson originally debuted a version of Morita
Shogi on their I-Mode intelligent server system in Japan
earlier this year. NTT DoCoMo subscribers were empowered with
the ability to play Shogi on their phones and whittle away the
long train rides. A ranking mode grades players on skill and
places contenders on a leaderboard for all to admire.
The Gameboy Advance version of Morita Shogi may
be played by your lonesome against the mighty algorithm in the
software or against gamers across Japan if you're connected
through the Mobile Gameboy Adaptor. The
battlefield spreads out on a 9 x 9 grid with your forces
arrayed on one side against opposing legions on the other. The
front line, led by pawns, are backed up by a majestic force of
lances, knights, bishops, rooks, and a domineering king. As
battle commences, tactical strategy more than brute force
decides the tide of war and the turn of any skirmish. Similar
to chess, checkmate of the king remains the ultimate goal for
either side to attain. |
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Morita Shogi
Advance US$49 |
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| GBA
Everybody's Rhinoceros Beetle |
Scans |
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In the Japanese gaming market, tastes usually don't differ
radically from the American palate. Fighting games rule,
shooters do well in niche circles, and Final Fantasy owns a
license to print money. Big in Japan, but unknown anywhere
else, insect collecting sims generally sell well on the
Gameboy. NCS predicts moderate success on the GBA. The latest
specimen to baffle American importers calls itself
"Everybody's Rhinoceros Beetle" and players grab
their nets, jars, and other beetle hunting gear to collect
them. The rhinoceros generally makes rain forests and
temperate forested areas it's habitat. In the game, players
enter a forest and click on trees, stumps of wood, and other
crevices to search for beetles. Once you collect a sizable
stable of them, you can put them to the test in feats of
strength and raise them as pets. The rhinoceros beetle boasts
incredible strength and carries up to 100 times it's weight.
Puny humans can carry maybe 1-3 times their body weight, if
that. The rhinoceros beetle is so-called because of the
prodigious horn it hefts on it's head. |
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Everybody's
Rhinoceros Beetle US$49 |
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| Music
CD Final Fantasy X BGM |
Scans |
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Despite the confusion from last week,
pre-orders for the FFX BGM CD have been brisk over the
weekend. Perhaps all things Final Fantasy X are blessed this
week. The FFX Music CD ships in a decorative cardboard sleeve
which in turn slips inside a blue transparent slipcase colored
with a watery design. The CD itself features a silkscreen
sketch illustration of a super-deformed Tidus and Yuna in
action poses. Three tracks on the CD, culled from the game,
provide music of varying genres. The first track dubbed
"Other World ` Edit Version" sounds like Rob Zombie,
the second track plays piano, and the final track does
synthesizers, percussion, and wind instruments for a floaty
sound. Pre-orders and new orders ship today at US$7.50 per
pop. |
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Final Fantasy X game pre-orders ship on Thursday. NCS will
close pre-orders tomorrow morning for shipments that will
dispatch on Thursday. Orders placed on Tuesday morning and
afterwards will ship on Friday. NCS also expects the FFX Beat
Shock Edition of Final Fantasy X on Thursday. Pricing for the
FFX game sits at US$88 and the Beat Shock Edition will eat up
US$260 worth of your weekly paycheck. As mentioned earlier,
the Beat Shock Edition includes an amplifier and a FFX Sound
Book. All copies of FFX include a bonus DVD with special
material, data, etc. |
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FFX BGM CD US$7.50 |
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| PS2
Hissatsu Pachinko Station v2.0 |
Scans |
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Know this,
pachinko games sell in Japan. Really. Generally unknown to the
American public, Pachinko occasionally makes it's way to the
USA through non-traditional channels in minute numbers. NCS
keeps a coin-operated pachinko machine we procured years ago
but it rarely sees any use (it's in storage). |
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Hissatsu Pachinko Station v2.0 distinguishes itself from
previous PS2 pachinko games with vibrant, gorgeous visuals and
presentation. The machines are decorated like holiday
bonanzas, sporting festive red, green, and other brilliant
hues. |
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A wacky group of characters dot the playboard and occasionally
animate themselves during the game's intermissions. We're
fairly certain the antic-heavy cartoons are famous in Japan
and they look strangely familiar. |
Four game modes are available upon starting the game as
follows:
1) Capture Mode - Standard pachinko game mode
wherein you launch balls onto the playfield and hope they'll
descend into bonus slots for winnings, et al.
2) Opposition Mode - Play pachinko against one of
the cartoon characters.
3) Reach Catalog - Check out the patterns of the
pachinko pegs on a playboard up close and in sweet depth in
order to plan your method of attack.
4) Catalog - Scope out the internal machinery of
a pachinko machine. |
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Pachinko Station
v2.0 US$53 |
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| Import
Schedules, 3rd Quarter |
Protocol |
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The Gameboy
Advance 3Q schedule will be posted later this week once all
incoming products are finalized. The schedules posted for the
DC, PS, and PS2 are subject to revision. |
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| Frequently
Asked Questions |
Protocol |
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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 already answered in
the FAQ
won't be ignored. You'll
still receive a reply within 24 to 48 hours. |
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| C-Bot
Daily Journal... Day Seven |
July
16, 2001
I gave, well "loaned" really, C-Bot to
my friend Elizabeth over the weekend. Hopefully she'll have
better success with the beast and figure out how to soothe
it's temper tantrums. She figures all it takes is a little
more attention. Admittedly, my attention span suffers in many
respects; I push C-Bot on, press a couple of buttons and leave
it at that. He probably needs much more interaction than I'm
willing to give. I'll see how she fares with it.
To be continued....
Order your own, online
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