| November
Import Additions |
End of September |
A
number of titles have been added to the November import schedules for Playstation and
Playstation 2. Nothing for Dreamcast yet, such as the much anticipated Last Blade
2 Final Edition game, but we'll post the date once it has been confirmed for
delivery.
On the PS2, ESPN X Games Snowboarding is now slated for
November 30. The game features 15 professional boarders and endorsements from 40 sponsors.
Up to 5 players can join the games alternately.
Playstation gamers have three additional Bemani products to look forward to
in November. Pop 'n Music Disney Tunes is due on November 22 and Dance
Dance Revolution Disney's Rave is scheduled for November 30. Both games are
stand-alone titles and not append discs. Konami will also offer a new Dance Dance
Revolution Controller Disney Version along with
Disney's Rave. It appears the controller will feature various Disney characters and a
brighter color scheme than the standard DDR controller that we're used to.
Also on the PS, seven additional Super Lite 1500 Series games have been
announced as follows: Kurukuru Cube, Blue Breaker, Crossword 2, Nankuro 3, Oekaki
Puzzle 4, Puzzlemania 2, and Suudoku 4. Each game is priced at the standard Y1500
rate. Finally, an append disc for Maestromusic is due on November 22 at Y2800. |
Next week looks extreme. NCS is expecting Dead or
Alive 2 LE for the Dreamcast on Wednesday along with Love Hina LE,
Rayblade, Napple Tale, Happy Lesson First Lesson and Let's Make More
Baseball Teams. On the Playstation, NCS looks forward to Tokimeki
Memorial 2 Substories , Ao no Rokugou Antarctica, Bealphareth, Gunparade March,
Jellyfish, Kimi ni Steady, Space Battleship Yamato Tracks of Hero, Strikers 1945 II
Super Lite 1500 series, Tales of Phantasia, and The Silent Service. Flood
it. |
| Three
Yu-Gi-Ohs and a Bemani |
Yugi-Oh |
Konami will ship three versions of the upcoming Gameboy Color Yu-Gi-Oh Monsters 4 game
on December 7. Katsuya Jonouchi, Seto Kaiba, and Yugi Mutoh deck versions of the game will
feature special cards related to each main character from the original manga and now the
Gameboy adventure.
High school student Yugi Mutou hides an alter-ego known as the Game King, who
rules a popular role playing card game in Japan. In the GBC version of Yu-Gi-Oh, the
player engages in card fighting battles against rivals with hundreds of different cards.
Pricing for Yu-Gi-Oh 4 is set at Y4800 or roughly US$49.
As the beat goes on, Konami will ship Bemani Pocket DDR Pooh Bear on
October 26. A handheld game with 9 pieces of dancing music and Winnie the Pooh as the
dancing fool. The package will also include a pair of headphones and a carrying pouch.
Pricing is set at Y3,200 or US$39 from National Console. |
At the broadest level, it would be easy to call
the Yu-Gi-Oh card game a Magic the Gathering or a Pokemon Card Battle clone.
Look a little closer and the game reveals itself to be a unique and wildly imaginative
adventure with cards that offer a broad range of characters and actions that one can
unleash and effect. The Gameboy Color versions of Yu-Gi-Oh expands the original card game
with entertaining action. |
| Neo
Geo King of Fighters 2000 Update |
Wrapper |
| It's true
that SNK originally scheduled King of Fighters 2000 for the Neo Geo home cartridge on
September 28, as many customers reminded us over the past couple of days. However, NCS
updated the situation a couple of months ago where SNK delayed the game to an unspecified
date later in the year. Truth be told, it was looking grim, even after we committed to
purchasing any allotment of stock that was unsold. After checking with a number of
vendors, distributors, and SNK staffers, it appears that the company will announce the new
date for KOF 2000 on the Neo within the next 2 weeks. We will relay the new date when we
get word but it looks like a late November - December time frame at this point. |
The Neo KOF 2000 software is
finished. Arcade operators are raking in the bits and yen and have been doing so for the
last month and a half. KOF 2000 sits comfortably on the top of the Japanese coin-op charts
in earnings and looks to stay stable in that space for the months to come. |
| Moto
GP Controller |
Moto GP |
| Hori
will offer a special bike controller along with the release of Namco's Moto GP on October
12. Priced at Y6980 or roughly US$75, the product will be manufactured in small quantities
but NCS can accept e-mail pre-orders starting
today. Hori's Super Bike Controller also marks the first time that a
special controller has been produced exclusively for a motorbike racing game. Moto GP and
the special controller are for the Japanese Playstation 2 console. Pre-orders will close
on Wednesday of next week. |
Motorcycle games make up a small
percentage of the overall racing class of driving games dominated by cars. Sega is most
prolific with their Super Hang On and Manx TT line of arcade and home conversions. |
|
