Thursday, March 11, 2010

PS2 Summon Night Gran-These: Horobi no Ken - New, In Stock

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX»
A lad named Lost and a gal who answers to Millet are the selectable protagonists in Banpresto's latest Summon Night chapter. Lost's name is apt because he suffers from amnesia and has no knowledge about his past. Although Lost is lacking in memories, he's a formidable fighter with a strong sword hand. He's been summoned into the world by a trio named Coco, Dino, and Folt. Millet is more cognizant of herself but she's a frail girl who's not very worldly. She carries a firearm for her primary weapon in order to keep the distance between her and assorted enemies. Together, Lost and Millet are the vanguard of a team of adventurers in the latest Summon Night.

Previous volumes in the Summon Night series of games have fit into the S-RPG genre but Gran-These is an action-adventure where the heroes run, dodge, and attack in real time motion. The designers of the game gave the R-Analog thumb stick a "roll and dodge" function where simply nudging it sends either Lost or Millet into an evasive maneuver which is convenient when facing multiple enemies or bosses with powerful attacks that shouldn't be allowed to connect. Early preorders will ship with a bonus Official Visual Book which is being given away by Banpresto in 50% ratio.

PSP Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 3D - New Import, In Stock

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX»
It ain't easy being a devil. Every self-righteous hero wants to capture the creature and parade it around like some sort of trophy. That's where you come in. You're the monster's protector. A watchful guardian who carves out deep dungeons that house the beast and keep it safe. Your craftsmanship must be savvy enough to foil any attempts by heroes to capture your little charge. By populating the dungeon with slime, skeletons, and even dragons, an ecosystem resides in the labyrinth to attack the parade of heroes that are after fortune, devil, and glory. A new feature in Yuusha no Kuse 3D is the addition of water (which always flows downwards) which may be used to make the dungeon a watery hazard for hard charging heroes. Water also supports new life forms that wouldn't exist on land.

At the outset of the game, players are allowed the opportunity to start digging out the tunnels, rooms, and areas of the dungeon. Salting the rocks to start the genesis of life may also be implemented before the hero enters the labyrinth. To "salt" rocks, destroy slimes that are adjacent to a rock and speckles of white color will appear on the rock. This indicates that the rock is being cultivated to be able to create a new and higher-level life form. The most basic life form in the dungeon is green slime but more complicated species may be generated including blue slime, lizard men, demons, and fairies which giggle and divide themselves into more fairies. In the first stage, a red-armored warrior is the antagonist who struts into the dungeon like he owns the joint. He's a punk but powerful wizards and brute knights in later levels provide for a more robust challenge.

PS3 Initial D Extreme Stage [the Best] - New Import, In Stock

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX»
It's been six years since Sega released Initial D: Special Stage on the PS2. The game sold very well and a number of printings were made to fill demand in Japan, Asia, and abroad. When Initial D: Extreme Stage was released on the Playstation 3 roughly two years ago, the game sold well with a positive reception throughout the territories that NCS ships to.

PS3 Initial D: Extreme Stage is based on Initial D Arcade Stage 4 which was originally built on Sega's Lindbergh coin-op hardware. The game features seven main courses such as Lake Akina and Irohazaka but if you factor in the variations, the course count runs up to 28 tracks. There's 23 vehicles that may be driven including the Toyota Trueno GT-APEX (AE86), Mitsubishi Lancer GSR Evolution III (CE9A), Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec II (BNR32), and the Honda Civic Type R (EK9). Finally, a total of 23 drift-savvy rivals provide drama and adversity for racing fans to contend with.

X360 Otomedius Gorgeous Platinum - New Import, In Stock

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX»
When Gradius first hit the coin-op arena in 1985, Konami basically launched a franchise that would engender numerous sequels, derivatives, and adjuncts. Over the years, the company also parodied the super-serious and grayish Gradius series with the pastel-tinted Parodius games. Since the market can never get enough of a good thing, Konami invokes the Gradius series once again with Otomedius Gorgeous. The default "ship" in Otomedius is a blue-haired gal named Aoba Aona who pilots a Vic Viper airframe but five other ships are selectable. Otomedius also pays homage to other Konami shooters of yore including Xexex and Salamander with familiar weapon systems, sound effects, and characters.

The first stage starts off in classic Gradius fashion where a stream of enemies appear on the upper portion of the screen. Shoot them all and collect the coins and bonuses that are dropped. Other enemies meander into the screen followed by additional streams of spherical enemies that appear on the top and bottom of the screen. Note that there's streaming slivers of lights that flow through the first level but they're not dangerous lasers... just screen effects. Midway through the first level, the scenery shifts from outer space to the ocean and the beach. That's right, the beach where tanks and penguins attempt to stop your assault.

NEWS General Updates

X360 Death Smiles IIX - Update
A few Japanese distributors started preorders for the regular and limited editions of Death Smiles IIX last night. Similar to the release of Espgaluda II, the availability of the limited edition appears to be tied to how many copies of the regular edition are ordered. We'll post a formal preorder offer tomorrow since all of the other distributors should start their reservation campaigns tonight and we'll finalize our order quantity and pricing.
DC Ikaruga
Every year around this time is when we receive more than the usual amount of sales and clearances from vendors and small shops in Japan. We think of it as a pre-emptive Spring cleaning. The offers have been coming in every other night and one common theme we've noticed is that old shooters from the Super Famicom, Mega-Drive, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast command a hefty price premium. While other game genres such as mahjong, sports, and platform are discounted to the teens, shooters are priced roughly 30% above actual retail price. The standout selection over the past week was roughly 30 copies of the DC version of Ikaruga; the offer price was JPY10,000; that's $110.30 based on this morning's dollar conversion ratio. Note that this price is what's being offered on a wholesale trade basis. The pricing phenomenon indicates that there's probably a good reason for traders to hold onto popular shooters because they're in demand by a captive audience.