BLU-RAY Sleeping Beauty - New Release, Shipping Tomorrow

From the Publisher

Awaken your senses to the majesty of SLEEPING BEAUTY, Walt Disney's ultimate fairy tale. See more than you've ever seen before through the magic of state-of-the-art technology and experience this groundbreaking film restored beyond its original brilliance, in the way Walt envisioned it – pristine, beautiful, utterly breathtaking. From the grand celebration of Princess Aurora's birth to the fateful day when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls under Maleficent's evil curse to Prince Philip's courageous battle against a fire-breathing dragon, the stunning artistry and spine-tingling sounds will transform your home into a fantastic world. The adventures continue as you are immersed into a wonderful world of bonus features.

Blu-Ray Bonuses
Maleficent's Challenge Game, Disney BD Live, "Living" Menus — "Real-Time" Castle Environment Changes Based On Your Location.

BLU-RAY War, Inc. - New Release, Shipping Tomorrow

From the Publisher

V V S Films in association with NuImage/Millennium films and First Look Pictures is pleased to announce the theatrical release of WAR, INC.

The film stars John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei and Sir Ben Kingsley. Cusack plays a hit man assigned to kill a Middle East oil minister. His cover is that he's producing a trade show that includes a wedding between a local pop star and a politico, but complications ensue.

Studio: First Look Home Entertainment
Rating: R
Format: Widescreen
Cast: Shirly Brener, Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Region: A (U.S. & Canada only.)

107 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital 5.1; Subtitles: English (SDH), Spanish. This Blu-Ray has been released to distributors.

General Updates

1Up: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of Japan Article As Western console development comes into its own, Japanese creators are struggling to regain their voice Thanks to James Mielke and Jeremy Parish for the article.

Sign of the Times Another Japanese supplier appears to be in financial straits. They're still operating but their lead salesman has alerted us to "difficulties" in their capital position. Maybe the FED and U.S. Treasury can bail out the Japanese distribution network as well.

Stunts David Blaine is hanging upside down like a vampire in Central Park, NYC while pedestrians and tourists gawk at him. Watch this instead.

Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Iroha Figure - Clearance

Daiki Kogyou sculpts an Iroha figure which is reminescent of Tezuka Osamu's work. Two blades and a loose sandal are included as accessories which are packaged with the figure inside the blister pack.

Sale Offering
NCS' remaining inventory of Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Iroha 1/8 Scale Figure is new, factory boxed, and in very good condition. The color on some boxes may be slightly faded and the glue holding the cellphane window on certain boxes may have become brittle. The glue has thus lost its adherence to the cellophane. Pricing is set at US$49.90 each which includes "free" shipping by UPS Ground within the U.S.

Shooting Game Historica 2 Synchronized Phenomenon

Yujin's Shooting Game Historica 2 SP boxes arrived last Friday and preorders have shipped already. As mentioned earlier, we are SOLD OUT of the boxes but we still have the Gashapon version of the toys in stock and available to ship today. The "SP" in the product title now means "Synchronized Phenomenon" as opposed to "Second Product" for the first Shooting Game Historica volume.

Photos of the Shooting Game Historica 2 SP's product packaging have been uploaded today. NCS' galleries of the toy ships may be viewed on our original update which was uploaded on August 14.

Dragon Ball DS - New Import, In Stock

Bandai inducts super saiyan with spiky hair into an RPG which features 3D movement along with action-packed battles and event triggers. The story takes players back to the origins of the first Dragon Ball series where a young Son Goku meets a girl name Bulma and begins his journey for the retrieval of the Dragon Balls.

The polygon models used in the game recreate the likeness of the characters faithfully although Bulma looks a little off. Goku is controlled with the stylus - to move, simply tap the stylus on the screen and he'll ramble over obediently. When an enemy appears, swish the stylus towards it to attack. Goku can also perform a special moves including a spin attack which is triggered by swirling the stylus in a circular motion. «NCS Game Notes»

Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! Battle Arena - New, Restock Soon

In episode #74 of the Hitman Reborn animated serial, both Reborn and Tsuna are shot by Lambo's "Ten Year Bazooka" and are sent one decade into the future. The incident kicked off the "Future Arc" where the two unlikely gangland heroes dealt with their unusual predicament, handled assorted drama, and contended with the Millefiore Family. The PSP Hitman Reborn Battle Arena game features a brand new story set within the Future Arc where Tsuna and other characters from the series battle each other in 2D fighting action.

The cast of Hitman Reborn! fight with conventional attacks as well as their individual special skills. The game runs quick and smooth with fighters who move with slick animation. Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada is the hero of the animated series but the game features a cast of the major players in the "Future Arc". We found it interesting that Tsuna has a heels-over-head backflip-kick move that's similar to what Sarah Bryant does in Virtua Fighter. The other fighters in the game can perform forward-running punches, fireball throws, and a dragon-esque punch.

In addition to the usual cast, a unique fighter may be created from over 1000 parts from the default characters such as Tsuna, Kyoya Hibari, Hayato Gokudera, Xanxus, Chrome Dokuro, and more. The ad hoc mode allows two players to fight against each other in a Versus Mode in case the COM-controlled combatants aren't up to your level of competency.

Samurai Dou Portable - New Import, In Stock

Playstation 2 players got first crack at Samurai Michi aka Way of the Samurai back in 2002. In the game, a ronin named Kenji finds himself embroiled in a war between the Kurou Clan, the Akadama Clan, and the Japanese authorities. The three factions are all trying to control a sliver of real estate known as Rokkotsu Pass for their own respective reasons.

Amidst the tensions, Kenji may lend his sword hand and samurai talents to any of the sides involved in the conflict. By choosing to fight for one side or another, Kenji basically decides his own destiny and creates unique drama all by his lonesome. Upon starting the game, players may opt to attack the leader of a bunch of bandits who has abducted a woman. He places her over his shoulder and is about to walk off when Kenji encounters him. If you elect to attack, only the leader will fight while his minions just circle around and do nothing.

The Playstation Portable conversion of Samurai Michi is pretty much a direct port of the PS2 game but an ad hoc fighting mode for 2 players has been added to the game options. A 1P vs. CPU fighting game which features 23 characters is also playable but only 9 fighters are available at the outset. Another 14 fighters may be unlocked by meeting certain objectives. On the stage that the fighters battle upon, two cats may be seen near a table. A movie preview of Samurai Michi 3 (PS3) is also included on the UMD for fans to check out. The preview features cut scenes along with blazing in-game fighting action that looks pretty good.