Thursday, April 03, 2008

Meitantei Conan: Kieta Hakase to Machigai Sagashi no To

When the good professor Hiroshi Agasa is kidnapped, super-sleuth Kudo Shinichi is charged with his rescue. However, the half-pint detective won't have to dodge bullets or wrestle with henchmen to do it. All Shinichi has to do is flip open his Nintendo DS and spot the differences between multiple pairs of images.

For example, the top NDS screen may show a static scene with Ran Mori, Shinichi, and Genta Kojima at a river. The touch screen shows a near identical image but there are some differences such as the pail that Shinichi's holding, Genta's shirt, and the additional presence of Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya. Your job is to tap on the differences within a 10-second time limit to proceed to the next challenge.

Kouchan no Shiawase! Kantan! Oryouri Recipe! - New Import, In Stock

Mr Kouzi Aida's easy recipe books have sold millions of copies in Japan and they're still going strong. His readership consists primarily of young women who are learning to cook and Kouzi's sphere of influence has expanded to regular magazine articles as well as television appearances. Kouzi's reach goes a little further this month when his first Nintendo DS recipe collection reaches market.

Brimming with a total of 300 recipes which span the spectrum of good eating, users can view ingredient lists and follow step-by-step instructions on preparing a dish. For tyros who have never cooked anything in their lives, a glossary is included which explains kitchen and food terminology. A shopping list function also allows cooks to take notes on what to buy.

Tottado! Yowiko no Mujintou Seikatsu - New Import, In Stock

The comedy team of Masaru Hamaguchi and Arino Shinya - better known as Yoiko - join together for a mini-game match-up where the duo are stranded on a deserted island. Since there's not much going on except the sand, the roiling surf, and survival, the two comics forage for food and play many mini-games.
Challenges include catching fish, undersea exploration, manning the hibachi, and living the island life. Depictions of the two comedians are exaggerated with outlandish facial expressions and highly vigorous actions that are possibly superhuman. The touch pen is used to perform basic maneuvers and a game sharing function allows multiple players to join in the fun with only 1 cartridge-enabled NDS in the local area.

Musou Orochi Maou Sairin - New Import, In Stock

In the original Musou Orochi game from March 2007, the Serpent King Orochi spirited warriors from Sengoku Musou and Sangoku Musou to a netherworld where he toyed with them for his own pleasure. Orochi didn't take their collective might into account and ended up paying with his life. Fast forward to the present time and the samurai Taira no Kiyomori is attempting to revive Orochi from the grave. Word gets around quickly and legendary warriors marshal once again to stop the resurrection attempt.

In our opinion, the early SSM games were hampered by the throngs of "dumb" enemy troops that hung back and stood around like scarecrows. They were armed but never attacked and served only as cannon fodder. The enemies in recent games such as Sengoku Basara have grown more aggressive and they're markedly smarter in the "Dramatic Mode" of the new Musou Orochi. The offense is brutal and a gamer can't just wade into the sea of humanity and nonchalantly swing away without a plan. You'll be cut down in seconds. New strategies must be adopted in order to endure the waves of soldiers that attack intelligently and fight in concert with each other to deal substantial damage. «NCS Game-Notes»

Professional Baseball Spirits 5 - New Import, In Stock

Please note the PS3 version of Pro Baseball Spirits 5 will arrive tomorrow and all preorders will ship on Friday. NCS only received the PS2 version this morning and preorders for the PS2 edition will ship today.

The 2008 baseball season has just started on both sides of the Pacific and Konami is the first game publisher to mark the occasion. Konami's better known baseball franchise in Japan is the Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball series which has been an annual event since 1995 but
Pro Baseball Spirits has been winning fans and garnering marks of approval from the likes of Famitsu (8/8/8/8 in last week's issue) and Dengeki.

Pro Baseball Spirits features all 12 Japanese professional teams, their respective stadiums, 2008 team rosters, and a control scheme that's borrowed from Konami's Jikkyou Powerful games. Players may enjoy tried and true modes such as Pennant Race, Home Run Race, and the card-based Spirits Mode. For gamers who are a little rusty after the long winter, a few minutes of the "Training Mode" and the "How To" section may be in order to practice fielding, pitching, batting, and base running. «G-Notes»

Star Ocean Second Evolution - New Import, In Stock

Ensign Claude Kenny (aka Crawd C. Kenny) is investigating an aberrant energy field on the planet Milocinia when his impatient nature causes him to be teleported to the planet Expel. Once there, he meets a native Expellian named Rena Lanford who mistakes him for a legendary hero and asks for his aid in saving the planet. Three months ago, a meteorite now known as the "Sorcery Globe" smashed into Expel and loosed strange creatures into the world. Claude and Rena team up to squash the monsters and bring peace back into the world. Along the way, the duo meets up with supporters who'll help them on their quest.


Star Ocean: The Second Story was originally released on the Playstation in the summer of 1998. For the 10th Anniversary of the game, Square Enix updates the adventure and dubs it Star Ocean 2nd Evolution because it's...evolved. The PSP remake features character redesigns, new characters, updated cinemas, and detailed facial expressions for the various heroes in the game. When a character speaks, a superimposed image of the character appear on the screen to accompany the dialogue. Depending on the emotional state of the character, his or her facial expression will change to reflect happiness, sadness, or inner turmoil.

Square Enix released a special bonus DVD along with the game and NCS will give the discs away to early preorders in a 50% ratio. «G-Notes»