PSP Shining Hearts - Japanese Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX»  Shining Hearts takes place on an island named Windaria and follows the story of a boy who works at a bakery named Rick. Once day, Rick chances upon a girl named Kaguya who's suffering from amnesia. Rick decides to become a hero and helps the girl with her troubles and stave off the randy pirates who're hot on her heels. Rick recruits his friends from the bakery to help him on his quest - a magician named Amil, a hunter known as Neris, and a priestess named Aerie all collaborate to help Kaguya. Shining Hearts plays like an RPG but also includes side missions and mini-games that may be played apart from the main quest. As the party ventures across the island of Windaria, they'll retrieve hearts from the characters they encounter and every heart helps Kaguya recover a piece of her memory. The recovery of hearts also affects the construction of a ship that's being built at the outset of the game and the expansion of Windaria itself.

   Early preorders will ship with a bonus "Pirate Treasure Fan Disc" which was given away in 50% ratio. The contents of the fan disc bonus are:

1) Shining Hearts character data and illustrations booklet
2) Shining Hearts promotional card
3) Kikuta Hiroki Music Soundtrack Collection
4) PSP and PC Desktop icons, wallpaper, and clock
5) Collection of voice acting snippets from the game
6) The opening cinema from Shining Hearts

PS3 Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Majo to Suiri no Rinbukyoku

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Released for Japanese PCs last month, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni is headed to the Playstation 3 this December. In the game, players take on the role of a lad named Battler Ushiromiya who finds himself trapped on an island named Rokkenjima with his relatives. As the story goes, Battler's wealthy grandfather Kinzo Ushiromiya is on his deathbed and the division of assets is to proceed after Kinzo's passing. While on the estate, Battler hears an old legend from his youth - that of a witch named Beatrice who resides on Rokkenjima who helped Kinzo start the Ushiromiya family empire and gave him much of his fortune.

    When a typhoon hits the island, the family members and servants are trapped but that's not too bad. That is, until people start dying and Battler finds himself in a battle of wits against the witch Beatrice. The Playstation 3 conversion of the game features the first four chapters of the series as follows: Legend of the Golden Witch, Turn of the Golden Witch, Banquet of the Golden Witch, and Alliance of the Golden Witch. Early reservations will ship with a pair of bonus Witch Beatrice pens - one is filled with blue ink and the other is filled with red ink which are being given away in 50% ratio. 

Wii Milestone Shooting Collection 2 - Japanese Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The first Milestone Shooting Collection on the Wii collected three games from the company's library as follows:

» Chaos Field
» Karous
» Radirgy

   Not bad, right? Well, there's another Milestone Shooting Collection on the way but it's sort of a downer. The second volume rehashes all three of the games listed above and adds two titles as follows:

» Illvelo
» Radirgy NOA

   We were hoping Milestone would add Radirgy Noa Massive to the disc as well so that all of their shooters are on a single DVD. However, if they did that, they wouldn't be able to release Milestone Shooting Collection 3 on the Wii one of these days. Preorders ship on December 30, 2010.

PSP Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity - Japanese Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX»  In the year 2000, civilization survived the y2K bug, the internet stock crash, and a disputed election in the United States. On the brighter side of life, Sega released Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast and captured the attention of players around the world. Ten years later, Sega starts preorders for Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity which is a new chapter in the PSO franchise.

   New to the game is a character named Nagisa who has long hair and carries a sword that's as tall as she is. Infinity also introduces a new race known as Deumans who are SEED-plagued humans that dress like the French nobility. Or something like that.

Game Features
» Infinity Rank Mission mode
» New monsters and new bosses to battle
» Over 3,000 items to use in the adventure
» Larger variety of clothing styles for default characters
» Ad hoc mode for multiplayer questing (maximum of 4 players)
» Friend Search feature for sharing character data with friends

   Preorders are welcome for the regular edition of the game and a limited edition which is bundled with a Premium PSP Carrying Pouch and a bonus DLC card. Both versions of the game ship on February 24, 2010. 

PSP Persona 2 Tsumi - Japanese Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Atlus is porting the Playstation Persona 2 Tsumi (Innocent Sin) game to the Playstation Portable which ships next year. Tsumi is the first part of a 2-part game; the second part is subtitled Eternal Punishment and it'll probably reach the PSP sometime next year. New to the PSP version of Tsumi is a new opening cinema, the option to switch the BGM between the original and a new "modern" remix, and an improved battle system. Atlus is also tweaking the following features in the game:

» Updated game interface designed for the PSP version
» New character display portraits shown in the party menu
» Three difficulty settings to accommodate players of varying skill
» New miniature map feature when is displayed when traveling

   Early preorders will ship with a bonus Persona 2 Tsumi Soundtrack CD which is being given away by the publisher in 50% ratio.

PS3 Makai Senki Disgaea 4 Normal Edition - Japanese Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Venture into the Netherworld once more and step into the persona of a new hero named Valbatoze who was once powerful and admired. Since his glory days however, Valbatoze has suffered a setback and currently works as the warden of the Netherworld Prison. He watches the inmates and the Prinnies in a dead-end job that offers little fulfillment. Val's destiny seems sealed but after seeing the disrepair and perversion that the Netherworld has fallen into, he decides that it's time for regime change and he's going to be the agent of that change.

   Valbatoze intends to become the next Overlord of the Netherworld and he hatches a plan for a coup of Netherworld's ruling body. By his side are two faithful allies - Fenrich who was a coworker at the prison and a young high school student named Fuuka who dons a Prinny hat. Together, the team recruits allies and works together to return Val to a position of power. Preorders for the regular edition of Disgaea 4 are welcome at JPY6980 or US$80.90 and a limited edition which includes a Petit Nendoroid toy. Reservations are welcome to ship on February 24, 2011.

PS3 Samurai Dou 4 - Japanese Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The third Samurai Dou (Way of the Samurai) on the PS3 was released in 2008 (Japan) and the game went on to sell nearly 450,000 copies globally. Spike's working on the fourth game in the series and preorders were opened up in Japan this week.

   Similar to previous entries in the Samurai Dou series, players take on the role of a samurai warrior who has choices and alliances to make and enemies to slaughter. The game takes place against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration when the West began to exert its influence on Japan. Three groups operate in Samurai Dou 4: the government who cooperates with the West, the isolationists who want nothing to do with the West, and the Westerners who have landed ashore. Preorders are welcome to ship on February 17, 2011 and early reservations will include a bonus DLC card that allows players to become the virtual personification of a samurai named Sakamoto Ryoma. Sakamoto took part in a revolution that helped transform Japan from a system of feudalism to a united capitalist nation.

PSP Macross Triangle Frontier - Japanese Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Artdink's working on the followup to Macross Ultimate Frontier and the new game's called "Triangle Frontier." The title refers to the three hallmarks of the Macross series - Action, Robots, and Music. Players pilot a Valkyrie which can shapeshift from robot to gerwalk to fighter jet with the goal of soaring through hostile airspace in search of enemy attackers. New to the game is the Academy Mode where players commingle with fellow student-cadets in a flick-screen interaction sim set in the Macross F universe. A Macross II Campaign Mode with a bevy missions is also playable. In addition to Valkyries, players may opt to pilot the EX-Gear (Extender-Gear) which is an mech suit capable of flight.

   Preorders are welcome for the regular edition of Macross Triangle Frontier at JPY4800 or US$58.90 and a Limited Edition which is bundled with the UMD version of the Gekijō-ban Macross Frontier ~Itsuwari no Utahime~ theatrical release which translates into Macross Frontier the Movie: The False Songstress. The UMD will also include extra content that wasn't included in the Blu-Ray version of the film. Reservations for both versions are welcome to ship on February 3, 2011.