Friday, July 23, 2010

TOYS Mario Playing Cards - New Import, In Stock

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Like other forms of craftsmanship such as furniture-making and artistic endeavors, the design and creation of videogames is/was an evolutionary process. Cavemen art consisted of stick figures and coarse geometric shapes. Compare that to a Degas. The one with the ballerinas dubbed "Petit Rats." When Nintendo started their trade in videogames, their designs were limited by the hardware of the day. In the case of the original Super Mario Bros game on the Famicom, the graphics were blocky, chunky, and the pixels were visible. Pixel-images are called dot-graphics nowadays and they're the design standard for a pack of playing cards which is shipping from Nintendo in July.

Along with the dot-graphics playing cards design, Nintendo is also releasing a version which features "Standard" animation artwork of the Mario cast of characters. The third deck of cards sports "Neo" CG renditions of the Mario crew which are polished and modern. Despite the gloss of the third variant, we think there's going to be a surfeit of love for the original dot-graphics design since that's classic styling which will never ever go out of style. All preorders have shipped as of yesterday and new orders are welcome to ship this afternoon. «NCS Photo Gallery»

TOYS Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Keyblade - New Import

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Back in the summer of 2007, Square Enix released a set of toys called "Master Arms" which were replicas of weapons found in the Final Fantasy games. Square included a Keyblade in the Master Arms which was the only toy to sell out (from NCS). Three years later, Square announces three more Keyblades which are replicas of the ornate metal keychains found in the Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep video game. The three blades on offer are:

» The Rain Fall - Aqua's Keyblade which looks kinda incomplete
» The Fresh Breeze - Ventus' Keyblade which has cog-like teeth
» The Earth Shaker - Terra's Keyblade with a bludgeoning head

Each keychain measures approximately 6.30cm or 2.48" in length.

MAG Weekly Famitsu Magazine Vol. 1129 - New, Sold Out

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The August 5, 2010 issue of Weekly Famitsu includes coverage of the following games and events in the Japanese marketplace:

» The Express section of the magazine includes a photo feature on the new white PS3-Slim 160GB which is being released next week.
»
Preview of Square's Tactics Ogre remake for the PSP which introduces the characters and a new character named Ravness Loxaerion.
» Famitsu reviews NDS
Metal Max 3 (9/8/8/8), NDS Let's Manga DS Style (8/7/7/5), NDS Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride Card Battle Taisen (7/8/8/7), PSP Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting (7/7/6/6), PSP Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd (9/9/8/7), PSP Takuyo Mix Box: First Anniversary (6/5/4/5), PSP Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga (7/7/6/7), PS3 Sengoku Basara 3 (9/9/8/8), Wii Sengoku Basara 3 (9/8/8/8), X360 Agarest Senki Zero: Dawn of War (6/6/7/6), and X360 Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa (6/6/7/4).
» Previews for NDS Kingdom Hearts Re:coded which ships in October and Arcana Hearts 3 which is being released on the PS3/X360.
» Photo spread for cover model Anri Sugihara.

DATE Capcom Girls Calendar 2011 - Import Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The girls of Capcom are a colorful and memorable bunch. We'll never forget Chun-Li and her "hair donuts" nor will Morrigan or Felicia ever escape from the confines of our minds. Then there's Bulleta whom we fondly call "Little Red Riding Murderess" and Rainbow Mika who's probably the strongest brickhouse on the planet. These girls and more from Monster Hunter, Vampire, Street Fighter, Sengoku Basara, Ace Attorney, and Mega Man all appear in group shots in the upcoming Capcom Girls 2011 calendar which spans 7 pages of high quality artwork on A2 size (420 x 594 mm or 16.5 x 23.4") glossy paper. Preorders are welcome to ship in late September 2011 at JPY2100 or US$26.90 from NCS.

NEWS General Updates

PSP Project Diva 2nd - Arrival on Monday
One of our Japanese distributors has shipped Project Diva 2nd last night and NCS expects delivery on Monday. We'll be able to ship roughly 55% of our preorders on Monday but the remainder should ship on Wednesday of next week for the remaining 45% of our reservations. Some preorders for the Project Diva 2nd Ippai Pack will also ship on Monday.
DC Sonic Adventure 2 Birthday Pack - Last case
We cracked open our final case of Sonic 2 BP earlier this morning. Each case contains 50 units. NCS originally imported 5000+ copies of the game in the summer of 2001 so we might be able to sell all of our inventory by the game's 10th anniversary.