3DS Pro Yakyuu Famista 2011 - New Import

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Namco's Pro Yakyu Famista game series has been around since 1989 and is the longest running baseball franchise in Japan. It bests Konami's Powerful Pro series by six years and appears destined to be a market mainstay for the foreseeable future. The ball players in previous Famista games had a distinctive pudgy and rounded appearance and they arrive on the 3DS with the same overall body shape and stance. The top 3DS screen shows off the baseball action in eye-popping 3D where the pitch zooms into the screen while the bottom 3DS screen shows the entire infield. The twelve teams from the Japanese professional baseball league appear in the game along with all of the players for a taste of the majors.

PSP Oneechanbara Special - New Import

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» It's been a few years since the zombie-killing sisters Aya and Saki swung their swords on the PS2 and Xbox 360. Unfortunately, time hasn't scuttled the lurking contagion of zombies. The undead are stirring once again and Aya, Saki, the policewoman Anna, and two additional woman warriors are called into battle once again. The new inductees to the zombie killing carnage are Misery, a blue-haired ghoulish-looking girl and Reiko who's leather-clad and bears some resemblance to Bayonetta.

   Oneechanbara Special pits the girls against hordes of zombies and ghastly cohorts who raise their arms and attack from all directions. By using sword handling skills, Aya and her compatriots dismember their adversaries with slashes and chops which cause blood and gore to eject in splotches. That's serious business. The blood jets onto the floor and occasionally spills onto the PSP screen for a short stint before evaporating. Each stage is guarded by a boss who offers more resistance and challenge than the zombie minions, spiders, and oddly apportioned creatures who look like gaping maws with limbs. 

   A sword is standard equipment when it comes to gutting zombies but over 300 types of weapons may be used and synthesized during the course of the carnage. Oneechanbara Special supports ad hoc mode for 2-player action.

3DS BlazBlue Continuum Shift II - Import Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The coin-op version of Blazblue Continuum Shift II reached Japanese arcades in December 2010 and featured a rebalancing of the fighters and three new combatants from the console DLC fpr CSI (Makoto Nanaya, Valkenhayn Hellsing, and Platinum the Trinity). The game gets a port to the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Portable this week with features intact and new game modes to boot. The "Legion Mode" adds a strategy-conquer-map element to the fighting action while the "Abyss Mode" mode has fighters battling their way to the depths of a dungeon. The" Story Mode" was written by producer Toshimichi Mori and a "Gallery Mode" contains illustrations for players to peruse. Gamers who need to hone their skills may engage the "Training Mode" for practice. 

PSP BlazBlue Continuum Shift II - Import Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The coin-op version of Blazblue Continuum Shift II reached Japanese arcades in December 2010 and featured a rebalancing of the fighters and three new combatants from the console DLC fpr CSI (Makoto Nanaya, Valkenhayn Hellsing, and Platinum the Trinity).

   The game gets a port to the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Portable this week with features intact and new game modes to boot. The "Legion Mode" adds a strategy-conquer-map element to the fighting action while the "Abyss Mode" mode has fighters battling their way to the depths of a dungeon. The" Story Mode" was written by producer Toshimichi Mori and a "Gallery Mode" contains illustrations for players to peruse. Gamers who need to hone their skills may engage the "Training Mode" for practice. 

Cast of Fighters
Ragna the Bloodedge | Jin Kisaragi |  Noel Vermillion | Iron Tager
Rachel Alucard | Taokaka | Litchi Faye Ling |  Arakune | Bang Shishigami
Carl Clover | Hakumen | Lambda-11 | Tsubaki Yayoi | Hazama
 Mu-12 | Makoto Nanaya |  Valkenhayn Hellsing | Platinum the Trinity

   Gamers can play multiplayer matches via ad hoc mode but please note that online connectivity is not supported.

PS3 Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta! - New Import

NCS Product Synopsis
Update: March 31, 2011

«©NCSX» The arcade version of Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta was released on Naomi cartridge in the summer of 2008 at the price of JPY178,000. There was no way we were paying nearly US$2000 for a cartridge-based game but we did pick up a used copy from an operator for about $600. Mamoru-kun has already been released on the Xbox 360 at a much lower price than the coin-op kit and a PS3 version is headed home.
 

   The game follows the adventures of a lad named Tomoka Mamoru who's been involved in a car accident. After he's hit by a speeding vehicle, his soul is immediately spirited to the underworld by a priestess who calls herself Fululu Jigokudani. As the story goes, the gateway to the underworld is under attack and the spirits who reside there have been cursed by malevolent forces. Since Fululu can't fight the oppression by herself, she has summoned Mamoru and three other heroes to fight on the underworld's behalf. The summoned protagonists are:

» Tomoka Mamoru - A grade school student who enjoys baseball
» Miyuki Mayuno - Passive girl with no memory of her previous life
» Narai Kinya - High school rebel with a yen for riding motorcycles
» Higatera Beniko - A posh young lady who seems to enjoy the underworld

  Upon starting the game, the camera settles on a revolving tree which is what Fululu conspired with to bring Mamoru and company to the underworld. Players may select any of the five heroes who differ in their firing patterns which is shown on the lower right corner of the character selection screen. For example, Mamoru shoots straight ahead while Beniko fires her shots in a outwards radiating arc. Fululu is also a straight shooter but her shots are governed by orbiting spheres which give her shots a bit of a twist. Although Mamoru-kun is a shooter which features vertically scrolling stages, the stages share commonalities with the old school run 'n gun games such as Commando, Ikari Warriors, or Guerilla War. In game, the characters walk around on the ground and players move at their own pace instead of being continually forced upwards. You can walk left, stop, shoot, walk right, shoot, stop, and then move upwards towards the inevitable end-level boss. 

   Similar to the Xbox 360 home conversion, the Playstation 3 version of Mamoru-kun features updated graphics, two new playable characters (downloadable), a Practice Mode, a new Story Mode, and an Image Gallery. Preorders for the regular edition the the limited edition package which includes a 150-page Art Works booklet, a BGM Soundtrack CD, and a Superplay Capture DVD "The Perfect Terror" that's published by INH of Insanity DVD fame are shipping today.