Exercise guru Hiromichi Sato has carved a nifty niche for himself in Japan. Besides bearing an uncanny resemblance to Shigeru Miyamoto, Hiromichi writes books, sells DVDs, releases audio programs on CD, and stars on television in his bid to keep everyone in Nihon fit and healthy. Hiromichi conquers another platform with the NDS release of his exercise regimen which gets parents and children together to do a little living room gymnastics and aerobics.
The idea is to view the short instructional video of an exercise on the Nintendo DS and then recreate it in real life. For example, if you witness a stepping exercise that uses both legs and feet, mimic the motions to the best of your ability and you'll be working your body, Hiromichi-san style.
A young woman who was once svelte and lovely has binged on too many sweets and pastries. As a result of extreme indulgence, her waistline has blossomed and her weight has surpassed 220lbs (100kg). When she reaches her sophomore year in high school, her father decides to send her and her brother to live in an apartment building which is populated with boys. Lots of boys.
The young woman likes the boys but when she introduces herself and professes her interest, she's rejected because of her tremendous size. With the help of her brother and inner determination, she resolves to lose weight and become little Miss Popular. You are that young woman and your mission is weight loss by way of exercise, diet, and mini-games.
Janken in Japan is what we know as rock-scissors-paper in America where two hands are all that's required to make a wager. Yakyuken is a graduated form of janken where the bets are well defined and simple to execute. Lose a throw by thrusting out rock against your opponent's paper and you'll have to remove a piece of clothing. Embark on a losing streak and you'll soon be in skivvies and beyond.
Gebet has built an empire... well, maybe a duchy... on the game of Yakyuken where Japanese AV idols strip when they lose at janken. The company recruits three more idols to strut their stuff and lose their clothes in the new Idol Yakyuken DX Portable which features the talents of Ami Sakurai, Yuma Asami, and Nana Konishi. Preorders and new orders ship today.
In the Princess Crown videogame for the Sega Saturn, a royal daughter named Gradriel served as the protagonist of the adventure. Despite her frail-looking frame and reserved demeanor, Gradriel swung her broadsword like a champ and proved her mettle against adversity. A couple of years ago, Atlus re-released the game on the PSP and gained a new legion of fans which led to toy merchandising.
Yujin released a Princess Crown Gradriel v1.0 figure on November 19, 2007 which sold well and eventually sold out. Come April 30, 2008, the company unleashes Gradriel v1.5 which adds a silvery shield to the princess' repertoire. The posable Gradriel figure appears identical to v1.0 but we'll check it out when it arrives to verify. Preorders are welcome.
Soon after the hero Adel is introduced in the PS2 Disgaea 2 game, Xenon's daughter Rosalinde floats into the game world and eventually joins the player's party. Since Rosalinde is a powerful overlord's offspring, she bears special skill sets and talents that mere mortals can only dream of...
Griffon Enterprises has started preorders for a non-scale Rosalinde PVC figure which measures 15cm tall and is fully assembled for immediate display. The demon girl wears a roiling red and black dress that appears perfect for flamenco dancing. Preorders are welcome to ship in May 2008.
The Sega Saturn console shipped with 1MB of internal SDRAM and 1MB of DRAM which was enough for most games. However, some software required more memory and the first solution that Sega came up with was a 1MB ram expansion card which plugged into the Saturn's cartridge port. NCS pulled these from game packages nearly a decade ago and they're new but they are only packaged in their original plastic baggies.
NCS Sale Offering
Pricing per Sega 1MB ram card is set at US$8.90 which includes free shipping by Media Mail within the USA. [View larger photos and game list]
