Animal Crossing Card Case

Yujin releases Nintendo DS game card carriers which feature peachy Animal Crossing themes. Six styles are available and each case opens up like a book and holds three NDS games in transparent sleeves inside. Each Animal Crossing card case includes a sheet of stickers which may be pasted on the case or upon any other suitable surface.
Since the AXing card cases are so petite, gamers may store their monthly rotation of NDS cards (figure about 12 games spread across four carriers) in the little leaflets and throw the lot of them in a gym bag, a satchel, or a man-purse. The red one with polka dots. Preorders ship today and new orders are welcome.

Super Mario Bros Towels

Apparently, the first batch of Nintendo-themed towels that shipped in May 2005 weren't enough to slake Banpresto's lust for retro Ninty exploitation. To fill the coffers labeled "Towel Revenue 2006," the company releases a trio of Super Mario Bros themed towels which measure 35 x 72 cm or roughly 14 x 28" in area. That's enough moisture-soaking cotton to dry any rain-soaked wanderer or any beach bound vagabond. While the black "Game Over" towel might not send the right message with the two plumbers seemingly in their death throes, the other two are cheery enough to use in a public beach or at the local pool.

The towels are as follows:
(A) Mario climbs a vine
(B) Game Over
(C) Bonus!!

Every towel is packaged in a flimsy cardboard cube that's designed to look like a bonus brick block from the Super Mario Bros games. Since the towel inside offers no solidity or resistance to outside pressure, the cardboard cubes are easily crushed so we'll pack them carefully. Preorders will ship today and new orders are welcome.

Gun X Sword Trading Figures

Max Factory pays homage to episode 17 of the Gun X Sword animation series where the girls invaded the Swimsuit Nation. Prior to what we know as the "Wendy Tribulations," the girls visited a department store and shopped for bikinis and swimsuits. To recreate the censorship in the episode, Max Factory also includes burro decals with each figure to hide each gals' attributes if one so desires. The characters featured are:

» Fasalina
» Yukiko
» Wendy Garrett
» Priscilla
» Carmen 99 (the "99" refers to her bust size)

The height of the figures range from 4cm to 11cm depending on the posture. Since Carmen lounges, she's closest to the ground while Yukiko towers above everyone else because she's on her knees. A transparent blue disc is included in each individual box for display purposes. In addition to the five standard figures, a sixth figure is randomly packed in the cartons. Pricing per factory sealed case of 8 figures is set at US$49. Preorders ship today and new orders are welcome.

New Super Mario Bros Water Toys

Japanese toy manufacturer Epoch releases a set of New Super Mario Bros themed water toys where simple objectives are accomplished by gushing a stream of water at little objects. Each water toy ships devoid of liquid inside but fill it with water from the faucet and plug it up with the included stopper. NCS recommends filling the toys up with saline solution which doesn't form the bubbles that tap water invariably forms inside the container. In one of the Mario-themed toys, players use the power of water currents to direct six little spheres into two U-shaped holders. In the Princess Peach toy, rings are pushed around and skillfully hung on rods. It's hours minutes of fun for the entire brood. Preorders ship today and new orders are welcome.

Silver Playstation Portable

Originally released in glossy black and followed by ceramic white and candy pink, the PSP has now been rendered in a lacquered silver shell.

Please note that this new release of the Silver PSP only contains the PSP handheld and none of the Value Pack items. A power adapter, battery, and Japanese user manual are standard inclusions. Please note that we will not accept any returns of the PSP because of dead-pixel problems. Although the incidence of dead pixels have been lowered since the debut of the PSP, they do still occur on Playstation Portable handhelds.

Okami [The Best]

The world has been ravaged and ruined by the power of an eight-headed monster known as Orochi (serpent) but there is hope. The sun god Amaterasu descends upon terra in the form of a white wolf to set things wholesome once again. At the outset of the adventure, a goddess named Sakuya visits and gifts Amaterasu with the Yata no Kagami or sacred mirror which is used as a slashing weapon. Sakuya also sends a little friend known as Issun to help Amaterasu on his quest. Once nigh omnipotent, taking a physical form enforces some restrictions on Amaterasu but heavenly powers may be regained by locating and re-absorbing 15 scattered celestial characters.
Okami uses a beguiling visual style that is striking not only in its fluid animation quality but also in the uniformity of the world. Everyone and everything meshes properly and one imagines that if a stylized Japanese charcoal brush painting ever came to life, Okami would be its embodiment and tell its inner story. Game play follows the simplicity of Okami's art style where Amaterasu runs, jumps, and attacks enemies in swift motion. When enemies are met, they'll perform a little cinematic routine before the slaughter commences. «NCS Game Notes»

Street Fighter III 3rd Strike [Best]

In SF3, familiar faces such as Ken, Ryu, and Chun-Li are joined by newer fighters such as karate master Makato, the Iori-ish Remy, Q - the man behind the iron mask, and Twelve - a robot capable of giving the Terminator-1000 a run for its money. Select a fighter from nineteen possible combatants, choose super moves, and battle through the ranks for the title of World Champion. For connoisseurs with their own vision of the perfect fighting system, Capcom grafts the "System Direction" option in 3rd Strike where players may enable/disable various moves and tweak the gameplay to their liking.

Vampire Darkstalkers Collection [Best]

Over a decade ago, warriors of the night began their battles and set hearts afire. Or something like that. Capcom reaches into the archive vault and gathers together all five Vampire coin-op games and burns them on one DVD. The contenders:

Vampire (1994) - The original 10 Dark Stalkers start stalking
Vampire Hunter (1995) - Features auto guard mode and two new fighters
Vampire Saviour (1997) - Dark Force system and Bulleta introduced
Vampire Hunter 2 (1997) - Fighters are balanced for well rounded matches
Vampire Saviour 2 (1997) - Donovan, Phobos, and Pyron are back...

The game modes:
Arcade Mode: Test your skills against the CPU
Versus Mode: Battle against your friend who happens to be in the room
Training Mode: If you are not ready, you must practice.
Option: Set controller buttons, adjust screen ratio, listen to BGM
Art Gallery: A nice collection of Vampire artwork, advertisements, etc.

Japanese Import Outlook

NDS	Gakken Kagaku DS	IE Institute
	Hamster to Kurasou	Interchannel
	Heisei Kyouikuiinkai DS	Namco
	Mahjong Haoh DS Special	Mycom
	Nazotte Oberu Otona no Kanji Renshuu	Nowpro
	Atama no Yokunaru - The Me no Training	D3
	The Doko Demo Kanji Quiz	D3
	Tekuteku Angel Pocket with DS - White & Ice Blue	Hudson
	Tekuteku Angel Pocket with DS - White & Pink	Hudson
PS2	Armored Core Premium Box	From Soft
	Full House Kiss BEST	Capcom
	Higurashi no Naku Kei ni Matsuri	Alchemist
	Higurashi no Naku Kei ni Matsuri Limited Edition	Alchemist
	Seiken Densetsu 4	SquarEnix
	SNK Slot Panic Kyuuji	SNK
PS3	Armored Core 4	Sega
	Railfan	Taito
	Sonic the Hedgehog	Sega
PSP	Kanon	Prototype
	Mach-Modified Air Combat Heroes	Vivendi
	Mahjong Haoh Portable: Jansou Battle	Mycom
	Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops	Konami
	Rockman Dash Hagane no Boukenshin BEST	Capcom
	Rockman Dash 2 BEST	Capcom
	Snow Portable	Prototype
	Tales of The World Radiant Mythology	Bandai
X360	A Ressha de Gyouku HX	Artdink
	Lost Planet Extreme Condition	Capcom
	Sonic the Hedgehog	Sega
Wii	Monster 4X4 World Circuit	Ubisoft
	Need for Speed Carbon	EA
	Rayman Rabbids Party	Ubisoft

General Updates

Two USA Releases Last week was the final 2006 hurrah for most USA publishers and the year is now a closed book in terms of new titles. The only new releases expected this week are PS2 Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer and PSP Bubble Bobble Evolution. No new titles are scheduled for next week and the next shipments of new USA product will resume in mid January 2007.

Blue Dragon Bundles Please note the regular and limited edition Blue Dragon Bundles are currently sold out. We may be able to restock additional quantities this week but please wait for our update. The Blue Dragon game by itself is currently in stock but note that it will only boot on Japanese consoles.