Thursday, February 19, 2009

Saru Saru DS - New Import, In Stock

«©NCSX» According to conventional wisdom, man is the result of ape evolution through the millennia. The conventional wisdom is probably wrong but for the sake of Saru Saru DS, it doesn't really matter.

In D3P's follow-up to The Genshijin, players take control of a simian tribe which has to survive and reproduce to assure that they'll walk the Earth for centuries to come. In order to endure, the tribe needs a constant source of sustenance and the game features activities such as gathering, hunting, and even trawling the waters for shellfish. Rudimentary tools and weapons may be created to improve the tribe's ability to procure their daily nutrition. Furthermore, some offspring may be born with special abilities which improve the lot and welfare of the entire tribe. The end goal is to eventually evolve from monkeys to humans.

Shining Force Feather - New Import, In Stock

«©NCSX» Climax designed the original "Shining" games but they had no hand in the new Shining Force Feather which was developed by Flight-Plan. The protagonists are made up of a grungy treasure hunter named Jin, an android who answers to Al-Fin, and a manimal named Bail. Jin discovers Al-Fin while digging for artifacts and accidentally becomes her new master. Together, the trio embark on a world spanning adventure where they collaborate on attacks thanks to a combo system which allows the heroes to pool their offensive moves together.

Early preorders will ship with a bonus Special Collection DVD which is being given away by Sega in 50% ratio.

Sacred Blaze - New Import, In Stock

«©NCSX» Flight Plan's new PS2 RPG puts players in the role of a godling named Alecseed or a goddess dubbed Kiyora who leads heroes into battle. The world has been plunged into darkness and overrun by malcontents. To bring the light back and banish the evil, the player-deity is charged with controlling a party of adventurers who have the skills and abilities to accomplish their lofty goals.

Sacred Blaze
is a 3D RPG which features groups of adventurers who are aligned on the side of Order and Chaos. The principle of alignment affects the types of characters that are available on each side of the fence. Interpersonal relationships between the party members are an important aspect of the game where closely knit adventurers can perform collaborative attacks to wallop foes. At the outset of the game, a god or goddess may be chosen as the protagonist who then commands a small cadre of soldiers against a similarly small squad of enemy warriors. If playing as the goddess Kiyora, her soldiers are eventually all disposed but a werewolf named Goldwolf joins the players party soon afterwards. Goldwolf can perform powerful slashing attacks that are accompanied by snarling noises. If playing as the godling Alecseed, his knights are also destroyed but a girl named Witch and her wee friend Fairy join his party.

Shooting Love, 200X - New Import, Partial Shipment

«©NCSX» You love shooters, right? We do too. Love 'em. Damn the RPGs, the FPS, and the puzzle games. Give us a shoe box filled with classics such Gradius, Salamander, Soukyugurentai, Radiant Silvergun, etc and we're set. Over the course of the past year, the Japanese Xbox 360 has become the go-to console of choice for home conversions of shooters. NCS isn't sure why the X360 has carved out this unique niche for itself but maybe Microsoft is subsidizing the ports to attract the shoot 'em up collective/hive/audience. Our numbers are legion. Sort of.

To add to the Xbox 360s shmup library, Triangle Service serves up two of their coin-op shooters - Exzeal and Trizeal Remix in a bundle of joy dubbed Shooting Love, 200X. The company also throws in a "Shmups Skill Test" on the DVD which features short but sweet shooting exercises that will check the twitchy trigger fingers of gamers.
Finally, a fourth shooting game included on the DVD is a little number called "Minus Zero" which we haven't explored adequately this morning but we'll post some more information once we get around to it.

The first printing of the game includes a bonus Insanity Capture DVD
which shows expert players who are so skilled that they blow through Exzeal without losing a single ship. By observing their approaches to the shooting action, maybe you can mimic their moves. The DVD also includes audio commentary (in Japanese) from the players as well as deftly handled demonstrations of the Shmups Skill Test.

DoDonPachi Daioujou Black Label Extra - New, In Stock

«©NCSX» The Xbox 360 is quickly becoming the console of choice for shooting games with a spate of exclusives (for now) that haven't been ported to other platforms thus far. Want to play Raiden IV, Otomedius G, or Death Smiles at home without setting up a coin-op cab? Xbox 360 is your ticket to ride.

The latest shooter to reach the X360 is DoDonPachi Daioujou Black Label Extra which is a vertical shooter that features glossy visuals, a host of new modes such as the Racing Mode, and a Replay function so you can view your performance after a stage has been conquered.

A distinguishing factor of the DoDonPachi games has always been the streams of bullets which emanate from enemies. Basically, the streams of bullets serve as moving mazes which gamers have to twitch through in order to survive. Enemy bullets radiate in spray patterns, in direct streams, and even in radiating blooms which criss-cross the path of other bullets for cramped and tricky situations. As a bonus for fans of the series, Cave includes the original version of DoDonPachi Daioujou (which has heretofore only been released for the PS2) on the DVD.

IdolMaster SP

«©NCSX» The girls of Idolmaster are making a move from the Xbox 360 to the Playstation Portable where they'll sing, dance, and perform like troopers are apt to do despite the different venue. Namco has the temerity to release three versions of the game on February 19 as follows:

» Idolmaster SP: Missing Moon
• Azusa Miura
• Chihaya Kisaragi
• Ritsuko Akizuki

» Idolmaster SP: Perfect Sun
• Haruka Amami
• Makoto Kikuchi
• Yayoi Takatsuki

» Idolmaster SP: Wandering Star
• Ami and Mami Futami
• Iori Minase
• Yukiho Hagiwara

Each version of the game will feature a different assortment of performers as listed above. Note that Miki Hoshii is in all three versions of the game as a competitor with newcomers Hibiki Ganaha and Takane Shijyo. Each version of the game features a distinctive jacket.

Metroid Prime - Wii de Asobu - New Import, In Stock

«©NCSX» NCS recalls the overbearing negativity surrounding Metroid Prime when it was first disclosed that the game would be a 3D first-person shooter. Fevered Metroid devotees cursed the House of Nintendo and vowed revenge for ruining the franchise. Remember, this was way before the game was even released and yet revenge was being plotted.

When Metroid Prime finally launched stateside in late 2002, NCS was prepared for the consumer backlash and the vitriol since there was no way the game could possibly be good. We waited. One day passed and then another. The backlash never came. Metroid Prime silenced the naysayers by being a worthy successor to its forebears and the gaming world was better for it.

Nintendo has already released three Gamecube remakes on the Wii and they've all been fine revamps. The Metroid Prime upgrade features Nunchuk and Wii Remote control where the nunchuk is used for Samus' movement and the remote manipulates an onscreen targeting cursor. Similar to all previous Wii de Asobu releases, the game is a complete revamp with updated graphics and sound.

Star Ocean The Last Hope - New Import, Partial Shipment


From the Publisher
A.D. 2064
... Planet Earth was on the brink of destruction as clashes between the World Republic Federation and the various nations that opposed it sparked the outbreak of World War III. Weapons of mass destruction, deployed with complete impunity razed the land in the blink of an eye. The dire situation forced the two opposing factions to negotiate a cease-fire and an agreement was quickly reached, but although the war may have ended, its effects remained. With the deteriorating environment, Earth's population was drastically reduced and those who survived lived a confined existence trapped in underground cities. Eventually countries joined together to form the Greater United Nations and turned their eyes skyward, to space. With the establishment of the USTA, the Universal Science and Technology Administration, man began to seek new worlds beyond the stars.

A.D. 2087... The first year of the space date (SD) calendar. Thanks to the success of Professor Trillas Bachstein's warp drive experiments, mankind's dream of a spacebourne existence has inched closer to reality and the USTA secretly began to implement its SRF project, the Space Reconnaissance Force. Now it is SD 0010, and the first official SRF mission and your adventure has begun.