Friday, April 20, 2007

Gyakuten Saiban 4 Limited Edition

All backorders for the Gyakuten Saiban 4 Limited Edition bundle will ship today and new orders are welcome. The bonuses included inside each pack are as follows:

Gyakuten Saiban Encyclopedia and Data Card
Gyakuten Saiban Douga (History and Image) DVD
Gyakuten Saiban 4 Special Edition Container

NCS will also include the bonus red GS headphones with every order.

Nodame Cantabile + Bonus

Two music students named Shinichi Chiaki and Megumi Noda find themselves involved in a special kind of relationship as chronicled in the Nodame Cantabile manga. Together, the two overcome their own weaknesses and build each other up like two parts creating a whole. Or something like that. We're not interested in the love today however. We're more interested in the radical music rhythm game in NDS Nodame Cantabile which strays from convention and offers challenging stylus-tapping action. Along with the rhythm game which uses classical music for the background songs, a medley of mini-games which test dexterity and memory are also playable for a bit of variety. At the outset of Nodame Cantabile, the protagonist finds himself in a city with spots to tap and visit... «more»

Fate Stay Night [Réalta Nua]

Originally released in early 2004 for the Japanese PC, Fate Stay Night is an interactive adult visual novel which tells a tale by way of graphics, dialogue, and text. The player watches the story unfold and interacts occasionally by selecting choices which affect the outcome and eventual conclusion. The PS2 conversion of the game is a family-safe update which removes the nudity from the original but adds voice acting to accompany the dialogue in the adventure.

Shirou Emiya is a wannabe sorcerer who has no knack for the ways of magic. Orphaned at a young age and adopted by a sorcerer named Kiritsugu Emiya, Shirou is nonetheless hopeless as mage. One day after cleaning his school's dojo, he witnesses a battle between two warriors named Archer and Lancer in the courtyard. Unbeknownst to Shirou at the time, his home city of Fuyuki plays host to a hidden war where sorcerers and their servants bout it out for ownership of the Holy Grail. Whomever holds the Grail is granted the power of wishes. The war takes place every six decades and has raged periodically for the past two centuries. As the story begins, a new war kicks off and Shirou finds himself embroiled in its carnage with a servant by his side named Saber. «more»

Fate Stay Night [Réalta Nua] Extra Edition

The Extra Edition of PS2 Fate Stay Night is bundled with a PSP game titled "Tobidase! Trouble Hanafuda Douchuuki" which is a Japanese card game. The cast of Fate Stay Night are super-deformed into munchkin versions of themselves and they go all out when playing hanafuda which translates to "flower cards" because the suits in the game are all based on flora. The second bonus included with every copy of FSN Extra Edition is a bust of Saber which is packaged in a white plastic baggie.
All preorders will ship today and we have surplus stock for new orders to also ship this afternoon.

Persona 3 Fes Append Edition

Fuka Yamagishi opens up the new storyline in Persona 3 Fes where she phones Yukari Takeba on her pink phone. At the conclusion of the call, Fuka walks further into the room where the camera peels back to take in the Special Extracurricular Activities Club at Gekko High School. Seated at the top is Student Council President Mitsuru Kirijou and she's ringed by Junpei Iori, Ken Amada, and Koromaru. As they chat, they're joined by Aegis - a blonde android who battles Shadows with adept skill. Aegis is the focal point in the new chapter of Persona 3 and players take control of her throughout the adventure while the cast of characters provide backup support and interaction.

Persona 3 Fes Append Edition is an adjunct to the original Persona 3 game and features a new chapter dubbed Episode Aegis. The new story follows the events after the conclusion of Persona 3. Please note that in order to play this game, you must first boot the original Persona 3 game and then swap it out with the Persona 3 Fes Append Disc to start the adventure. New features include an entirely new cinematic introduction, new Personas to use, new uniforms, and a hard mode for gamers who enjoy a good challenge. «more»

Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary [JPN]

Way back in 1987, Final Fantasy was supposed to be a one time game. Final. Fantasy. As in, it's the last one, buddy. However, destiny had other plans for Hirobonubu Sakaguchi and his seminal creation. Twenty years and twelve canonical games later, the franchise is still going strong and reaping the rewards of a property that pays big dividends.

Booting up the game this morning, we enjoyed the cinematic introduction which features a blue-armored warrior fighting a massive red dragon. Upon starting an adventure, players may select the language - Japanese or English. The game also features improved graphics, the bonus dungeons from the Gameboy/Wonderswan versions of the game, and an entirely new dungeon dubbed "The Labyrinth of Time" which enforces a time limit within which you can explore its dank depths. Another bonus is an unlockable Yoshitaka Amano Art Gallery which contains beautiful color work from the artist who has provided the illustrations for the series. A bestiary and a BGM music player (unlockable) rounds out the feature set in the game.

Since we've played through the game a few times through the years, we're not going to play this one again this week but we'll give it a go in the near future so we can check out the updated sights and sounds. Early impressions are favorable - the graphics are delightfully crisp and bright on the PSP screen and the music is rich and resonant. One downside is the lack of analog control - only the d-pad is usable for movement. «more»

Furu Furu Park

Taito collects 30+ games normally played on a standard controller and adapts most of them for the Wiimote shaking realm of the Nintendo Wii. Quite a few of the games featured in the collection will be recognizable to fans of video gaming since Taito has been around since the early years of the industry. Some random samples:

» Arkanoid - Grip the Wiimote and waddle it from side to side to control the Vaus as it reflects balls at blocks above. There's only one stage which is in the shape of a Space Invader.
» Kikikaikai Ninja - Take control of a shrine maiden garbed in red and white robes and shoot cards at spherical ghosts that pop out of nowhere to destroy them. Inspired by the coin-op of the same name.
» Soccer - Kick a ball by swirling the Wiimote around like a maniac. It'll blow past two defenders but get stopped momentarily by the green afro-wearing goalie. To get it past him also, swirl the Wiimote around to build power.
» Swan Shooter - A decent vertical shooter that's somewhat reminiscent of Danshaku. When you reach the boss, the warning text "CAUTION: A huge battle afro" appears across the screen. There's some challenging crossfire that the boss spits out along with a massive laser blast. «more»

Super Paper Mario

From the publisher

Mario and Luigi are enjoying a lazy afternoon at their house when they hear the terrible news: Princess Peach has been kidnapped! The two brothers head straight for Bowser's castle to get her back, but Bowser is just as surprised about Peach's kidnapping as they are. At that moment, a strange top-hatted villain warps in and abducts everyone but Mario. The mysterious villain then forces Peach and Bowser to get married, creating a rift of dark energy that threatens to tear the universe apart. Only Mario can save the day ... but he can't do it alone.

The newest chapter of the Paper Mario story isn't just out of this world ... it's out of this dimension. What at first glance appears to be a 2-D side-scroller ripped straight from the stylized pages of the Paper Mario universe soon turns into a hilarious dimension-shifting platformer possible only on Wii. Players run through vibrant 2-D worlds, stomping on enemies and breaking blocks ... then, with the press of a button, they flip into 3-D. In the third dimension, they'll find hidden paths, battle foes and uncover secrets as they explore the previously invisible depth of the 2-D landscapes.