| I m p
o r t s |
|
| Import Updates |
|
Konami appears to have finalized the release date for Jikkyou World Soccer 2000
on the PS2 for delivery on August 3. The game will feature 100 national teams and
accomodate up to 4 players. NCS pricing for this game will be US$65. |
|
Pre-orders for the upcoming Dreamcast Magazine containing the Virtua On v5.66 Naomi update
will close at the end of business today. Thanks. |
Only
one new import is expected this week. Playstation L'arc-en-ciel vs Tomarunner.
Next week appears more promising with 6 new DC imports and 5 new PS2 imports expected as
follows:
DC Virtua Athlete 2000, Sentimental Grafitti 2,
Zusor Vosor, F1 World Grand Prix 2, Ring Age, and
Super Heroes Legend.
PS2 Armored Core 2, Ex Billiards, Koushien
Baseball, Dream Audition, and American Arcade. |
|
Sega's tribute to the summer Olympics, Virtua Athlete 2000 is now slated
for July 27. Outstanding pre-orders for this game will shift over to the new date and NCS
will contact our customers as the date draws near. |
|
Konami Dance Dance Manner Cushions have been restocked this morning. This interlocking set
of foam blocks seats your DDR dancing pad properly to avoid slippage and provides a softer
platform to dance upon. The Manner Cushion works with either official Playstation or
Dreamcast dancing pads. Pricing is set at US$35. Official Konami dancing controllers for
the Dreamcast are also available again this morning at US$75. |
There are many
parallels in the niche Neo Geo software market to the mainstream of video gaming. We'll
list a few here to jog memories:
Burning Fight mirrored Capcom's Final Fight, NAM
1975 was Contra rehashed, Metal Slug conquered Contra
once more, and the original Fatal Fury nipped at Street
Fighter 2's heels. In the early Neo Geo scene, imitation was stock, lock, and
barrel. It comes as no surprise that Diggerman from Face (publisher of Money Idol
Exchanger) circa 1993 is a clone of an Atari 8-bit classic known as Boulderdash, published
by First Star Software. Face is not alone as there have been hundreds of Boulderdash
remixes in the public domain and commercial realm.
As Diggerman, you play the part of a blue munchkin who trolls around a
series of mazes, keeping an eye on your energy bar and scooping up gems to light up doors.
Play mechanics are identical to Boulderdash throughout with monsters that don't
necessarily chase you but follow a simple logic routine that programs them to move along
any path and go around obstructions. Herein lies their folly as you can dig an air pocket
underneath a rock and drop it on a mindless beast. It will then explode into a mass of
rocks, fruit, and gems. Chain reactions can also be set up if a monster explodes to drop
rocks and gems onto it's cohorts. Run out of energy and you'll explode into fruit and gems
as well.
The screenshots shown here are from an emulator running a released
beta version of this game. Weighing in at 11 megabits, the rom is 33 megabits short of the
final version but the gameplay and execution underwhelms and we're not sure an additional
33 megs would help much. NCS has stated previously that the publisher will not proceed
with the tentative issuance of this game if pre-orders were insufficient to make it
worthwhile. The appearance of this rom closes the book on any consideration on our part to
purchase the game and all of our pre-orders are now cancelled. Diggerman will not be
released officially. Fini. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
