US$58

   Take a break from all that daily madness and join one Woody Woodpecker (in a stint as a mascot guide of sorts) in the paradise known as Universal Studios Japan. Modeled after the real world amusement park located in Osaka, Japan, beautifully rendered locales and thrilling attractions boast fun for all ages. 
   Walk the walk down the streets of USJ to explore or dive into the action on rides such as the "Back to the Future Ride" where you torment the indefatigable Biff Tannen. Intrepid ones may play the part of firefighter on a mission to save hapless folks in "Back-Draft" or help E.T. return to his mothership in "E.T. Adventure". An interesting scenario in the Jurassic Park incubator gives you a chance to hatch your own prehistoric dinosaur and raise it. A host of other games and interactions round up the frivolity. Perform well in your appointed rounds and you'll receive stamps of approval which in turn unlock secret stages and areas of the game for even more exploration.  

   The regular edition of Growlanser III ~ The Dual Darkness  arrived today (G3 LE lands tomorrow) along with the following:

• Hippa Linda [$53]
  Published by Treasure
  "This is the unusual story of an unusual little girl", one who stretches reality to her will. Travel through Limbo in a bid to rescue your twelve sisters from demonic legions. 

• Yoake no Mariko with microphone package [$88]
  Published by ASCII
  Spumco, of Ren & Stimpy fame, and Sony collaborate in this innovative karaoke/drama game of episodic proportions. Gamers are presented with an action scene ranging from a western drama to a horror flick and vocal intonations spoken in time to the cues on-screen must be bleated out with the quickness. Speak well and you'll receive accolades. Botch it up and you'll get the gong. Six stages keep the virtual thespian on his/her toes.  
  -
• Gundam F vs Z, ICO, Vampire Night are now due on Friday.

• Zanac X Zanac [$53]
  Published by Compile
  The classic shooter from 1988 is joined by a new edition of the game titled Zanac Neo in this shmup-lover's dalliance with history.

• Popolocrois Story II and Tomarunner vs L'arc~en~ciel [$35/$25]
  Published by Sony PSone Books Series
  Lower priced re-releases of both games in Sony's new budget line 
  of older software titles. 

US$5.50

   Hailing from Final Fantasy adventures #7 through #10, nine creatures from the FF universe emblazon their likenesses on mini figures as follows:

• Arthur
• Ultimate Weapon
• Leviathon
• Diablos
• Griever
• Efreet
• Dark Waltz No. 3
• Siva
• Ixion

US$33

   ASCII's color scheme for standard PS2 Fighting Type 2 Pads goes with standard black. The usual quality construction and nigh-perfect meshing with Capcom vs SNK 2 makes it the standard bearer for now. NCS will stock the ASCII Stick FT2 by Friday or Monday once some much delayed shipments are released (see below). 

• NCS' import shipment of Gamecube [JPN] consoles, originally expected on Tuesday of this week now appears to be scheduled for delivery on Friday or even Monday of next week. We don't expect to pay any of the carriage cost for this particular shipment since the large number of huge cartons seems to be the only factor delaying it. I.e, UPS would rather move other freight rather than ours due to the heavy holiday volumes even though we're shipping with EXPRESS Service. A pox on them.

• An assortment of miscellaneous products arrived today but we'll get around to them tomorrow, ex: GBA Monster Farm Advance, Pokemon E-card trading card packs, official GBA cases, official GBA cartridge holders, etc. 

• Additional shipments of Shenmue 2 [EUR] arrived yesterday and today. Most orders were shipped on Wednesday already and any news orders will ship this afternoon. We have plentiful stock at this time to fill all orders for the remainder of the month.

• UPS, FEDEX, USPS are bogged down. NCS is bogged down. Blame it on the holiday fervor as shoppers order for the holidays. Some guidelines for the next couple of weeks if you'll indulge us...
  
  ° It's not the end of the world if a package is 1 day late. Courier delivery commitment times may not be what they were during the rest of the year. 
  
  ° We receive a lot of e-mail every day. From dusk to dawn, even in the wee hours of major holidays, it pours in like a stream of consciousness. Most messages are answered within 1 to 6 hours. Some are answered within 5 minutes of receipt. As the holidays roll, this e-mail stream doubles and triples in volume. Gauge the situation and please allow additional time for replies to messages. 
  
  ° NCS has no control over shipping delays. We want our new imports to arrive just as much as you do. You want your order to ship quickly and we want to send it to you. As seen in the GAMECUBE debacle currently in bloom, please allow additional days for some shipments to arrive over the next couple of weeks. We'll also try to chop down the size of our shipments for more expeditious handling and delivery.
  
  ° Visitors are hitting the NCS website in higher than normal numbers around this time of year and you may notice some server performance lags. Forgive us, this inconvenience.