Monday, November 29, 2010

 PSP Arms' Heart - New Japanese Import

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Our introduction to the term "Steampunk" came in a game titled Sakura Taisen back when the Sega Saturn was a market contender. "Steampunk" refers to a fictional reality where the use of steam as a source of energy is dominant. The mechs in Sakura Taisen were powered by steam and the world in Arms' Heart also operates on steam. The publisher Hamster describes the game as a "Steampunk RPG" in their promotional material and Matsuzo Machida of Shadow Hearts fame is the director and scripter.

   Arms' Heart takes place in a once-prosperous kingdom known as Johann which has fallen into disrepair and under the control of an evil empire. The hero is a blonde-haired lad named Jena who's got ambition, skills, and the potential to bring Johann back from the brink. Jena is an androgynous hero who appears to be wearing lip liner, rocks an emo haircut, and wears a ludicrous outfit which bares his chest and abdomen to a malevolent world. The game follows standard RPG conventions with exploration, character interaction, and encounters galore. The battle system features a device called the "Howling Gear" which determines if your attacks connect or not. When the gear appears on the left side of the screen, it's accompanied by a 3-panel "hit meter" which is located right-of-center on the screen. As the Howling Gear spins, the panels on the meter flash "Hit," "Miss," or "Strike" which determine if the enemy is smacked or not. If you're skillful enough to make all three panels flash "Hit" then the enemy gets struck thrice. All orders will ship with a bonus Arms' Heart Original Soundtrack that was given away by the publisher Hamster in 1:1 ratio.

 X360 DoDonPachi Daifukkutsu v1.51 - New Japanese Import

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» DDP Daifukkutsu starts innocently enough. A massive metallic-blue carrier enters a portal and exits elsewhere in the blink of an eye. The carrier zooms into the new locale trailing pink thrust and releases a single ship. That little ship in a one-man wrecking crew that's been sent into enemy territory to dismantle everything in its way with buckshot, lasers, and bombs. Fire may be concentrated into a single powerful shot or scattered so that the shots pepper outwards in a wide arc.
   The first stage starts over water where enemy copters swoop in to attack followed by enemy squadrons. After a short time over water, the battle commences over land where enemy ground armor gives offensive support to the aerial attackers. Twitch through the morass and you'll get to face an end-level boss which transforms from ship to humanoid robot. Throughout the stage, bullets fly through the air which can best be described as crossfire. In addition to the Arcade Mode of the game, two special Arrange Modes may be enjoyed by Xbox 360 shmup lovers.
   The first printing of the regular edition includes a bonus DoDonPachi Daifukkutsu v1.51 DLC card which appears to be the same card that was given away at the Cave Festival back in August. The limited edition of the game will ship with a DoDonPachi Special Arrange CD with compositions by Kenji Itou and Kouta Takahashi.

PS3 Trinity Zill O'll Zero - New Japanese Import

From the Publisher
 
A king will die at the hands of his own offspring...
 Reads the prophecy of Chancellor Zofor
 King Balor fears this most of all...
 

   
Brought together by fate, the three adventurers in your party must work together to explore Biascion fields, dungeons and towns, collect items, survive encounters with mythological beasts and ultimately defeat the evil King Balor. Players will use a unique team-based system to switch between each of the three characters - a warrior, a wizard and an assassin - on the fly and unleash combo attacks that use both magic and physical attacks to defeat the countless creatures and towering minions of King Balor.

 Game Features
 • High Adventure: Brought together by fate, the three adventurers in your party must work together to explore Vyashion’s fields, dungeons and towns, collect items, survive encounters with mythological beasts and ultimately defeat the evil King Balor.

 PS3 Gran Turismo 5 - New Japanese Import

From the Publisher
  
The next installment of the award-winning Gran Turismo simulation racing franchise, Gran Turismo 5, is designed for play exclusively on the PlayStation 3 system. Known for its signature beauty and precision, this highly anticipated racer showcases new jaw-dropping cars, real-life tracks, and diverse racing styles. Gran Turismo 5 promises to deliver exciting advancements to the series, and in the process deliver in the most comprehensive racing experience ever. The game supports online racing and features over 950 cars, over 20 courses, 70 variations, the newest hybrid cars and electric cars, a new physics engine, a new in-cockpit view, HD support, and much more.

   The game features over 1,000 realistically rendered cars. This is nearly 300 more than were included in GT4 for PlayStation 2, and literally several hundred more than what was available in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, the first GT game variation developed for PS3. This tremendous list includes standard categories of vehicles, including stock cars, tuned pre tuned vehicles and tunables, but keeping with modern automotive technology GT5 also includes the latest, hybrid and electric car models.

 Wii Mario Sports Mix - New Japanese Import

NCS Game Synopsis
 
«©NCSX» Mario and friends are back in a new sports game where they engage in Basketball, Dodgeball, Ice Hockey, and Volleyball. Although the cast is primarily comprised of characters from the Mario canon, heroes from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest also make a special appearance. 



 

 MAG Shooting Gameside Vol. 1 - New Japanese Import

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» If NCS was savvy enough to convince investors to pony up for the publication of a print magazine, we'd probably do something like Shooting Gameside. In our magazine, there'd be a feature on Soukyugurentai, a pictorial for Muchi-Muchi Pork!, and a 8-page spread on developer Treasure which looks back at their games and enthralls readers with information on the development of Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. The centerfold of the magazine would be a three-pager featuring the entire cast of Death Smiles, EspGaluda, Sol Divide, and Mushihimesama. We might even throw Samus in there just for the hell of it. Alas, we're not savvy enough.

   The publishers of Shooting Gameside Vol. 01 are savvy and they're producing a new magazine that's almost entirely about shooting games. The shoot' em ups covered in the magazine include Battle Garegga, Darius Burst Another Chronicle, Do Don Pachi Daifukkatsu, Senko no Ronde DUO, and Space Invaders Infinity Gene. Articles in the magazine include a 10-page feature on developer Eighting/Raizing and an interview with composer Hitoshi Sakimoto who has worked on games such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII.  A partial table of contents follows:

p04-19 Darius Burst Another Chronicle illustrations, info, and bosses
p20-26 Space Invaders Infinity Gene overview, interview, and images
p27 KOF Ultimate Shooting and King of Fighters Sky Stage
p32-33 DoDonPachi Daifukkutsu v1.5 for Xbox 360
p34-35 PinkSweets and Muchi-Muchi Pork Xbox 360 preview
p36 Guwange for Xbox LIVE
p38-41 Espgaluda II on iPhone
p44-45 Rajirugi Massive for X360
p46-47 Astro Tripper for Playstation Network (Only 500 PSN points)
p65-80 Special retro-gaming feature on Hudson's library of shooters including Star Soldier, Gunhed, and Soldier Blade.
p88-95 Interviews with Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Kimihiro Abe, Noriyuki Kamikura, and more.
p97-128 Gameside looks back at Japanese developer Raizing/Eighting's shooter works as follows: Sorcer Striker, Kingdom Grandprix, Battle Garegga, Soukyugurentai, Batrider, Battle Bakraid, and Dimahoo.
A two-page feature on Brave Blade's illustrations and game information is also include. After the game features, general information on the company and bits of history are included in the article.
p130-131 Details on Space Giraffe which is available for XBL and PC.
p134-141 "Shooting Talking" feature which includes information on Phelios, R-Type, Xexex, Cho Aniki, Forgotten Worlds, Parodius, and more.

 NEWS Japanese Release Outlook - Arrivals on Tuesday, Thursday

NDS Crayon Shin-Chan Shokkugan! Densetsu Bandai
  Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Totsugeki! Mini-Land Nintendo
  Penguin no Mondai: The World Konami
  SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors Bandai
PS3 Hokuto Musou International Koei
  Tales of Graces F Bandai
PSP Monster Hunter Portable 3rd [Arrival tomorrow] Capcom
  Monster Hunter Portable 3rd Bundle Capcom
Wii
Kamen Rider Climax Heroes OOO Bandai
  Naruto Shippuden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen Special
Takara
 
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Minna de Party 3-Daime
Bandai

 NEWS Domestic Release Outlook - Arrivals on Tuesday-Thursday

PS3 Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos Crave
  Gran Turismo 5 Sony
  Nail'd DSilver
Wii Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos Crave
  Epic Mickey Disney
  Sniper Elite Maximum
360 Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos Crave
  Nail'd DSilver