NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The original collection of MGS Kubricks sold like gangbusters and NCS eventually sold out of complete cases despite the lofty price. Medicom releases a new MGS Kubrick Collection this week and the characters in the new collection are (Left to Right):

Top Row
» Old Snake in Octocamo Facemask [MGS4] Box Ratio: 6/24
» Solidus Snake [MGS2] Box Ratio: 5/24
» Liquid Ocelot [MGS4] Box Ratio: 3/24

Low Row
» Liquid Snake [MGS] Box Ratio: 4/24
» Iroquois Pliskin [MGS2] Box Ratio: 2/24
» PMC Soldier [MGS4] Box Ratio: 4/24

In addition to the standard figures, two secret Chase figures are randomly packaged in the following ratios:

» Naked Snake [MGS3; Clear Plastic] 1:96 (1 in every 4 factory boxes)
» Old Snake [MGS4; Clear Plastic] 1:96 (1 in every 4 factory boxes)

New orders are welcome at JPY23520 or US$239.90 per factory sealed box of 24 figures.

NCS Game Synopsis
«©NCSX» Over a decade after Genso Suikoden appeared on the original Playstation, Konami bundles together the first two Suikoden games and updates them with graphical improvements and the radical idea of diagonal movement. Let us explain – in the original Suikoden games, characters were only able to walk in the four cardinal directions. Any attempt to move diagonally in the original games was met with resistance. In the new PSP updates, characters are capable of stepping diagonally to cross distances quicker in addition to standard left, right, up, and down movements. Based on our short play test this morning, we’re assuming that Konami used the Saturn version of Suikoden and the Playstation version of Suikoden II for the PSP compilation. The intro from Suikoden is the same as the Saturn intro and Suikoden II was never released for Sega’s 32-bit console. Konami also touched up the graphics for both games with little details and both Suikodens translate beautifully to the small screen with sharp and spiffy visuals that show the care that the development staff put into porting the games over to the PSP.

Additional portable Suikoden tidbits in the game include a BGM playlist which includes over 160 music tracks from both games, a movie gallery which features the cinemas from both games including the Sega Saturn introduction for the first game, and the ability to watch event cinemas and ending sequences after completing either game. The “PSP Best” version of Genso Suikoden is the same as the original release but at a lower price point along with a “Best” re-release game cover.

From the publisher
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the world was torn in two between East and West. It was the beginning of a new era-the Cold War.

October 16, 1962. The President of the United States received word that the Soviet Union had deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The world trembled in fear as the prospect of nuclear war loomed ever closer. After days of tense negotiations, the Soviets finally agreed on the 28th to withdraw their missiles from Cuban soil. With the resolution of this incident, later to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, it seemed that humanity had survived yet another threat to its existence.

However, there was a secret condition in the deal that put an end to the crisis. Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, a Soviet scientist who had defected to the West, was to be sent back to the Soviet Union. The U.S. government agreed to this stipulation, and returned Sokolov to his native land. Little did they know that Sokolov was to be the designer of a nightmarish weapon. Now, with Sokolov back in their hands, the Soviets are ready to resume its development. If this weapon is completed, it will mark the beginning of a new age of fear.

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Boy meets girl but that’s not the only encounter of note. A girl named Nanami Yoshida has just transferred to the protagonist’s school but she’s also attracted the attention of the discarnates in town…
Sakura Note begins with the player-named protagonist in bed but mom rouses him from his slumber and sends him off to school. While at school, a short tutorial teaches players the basic mechanics of the game in a seamless introductory sequence. Outside the school, a portion of the town may be explored but note that many exits are closed and not available at the outset of the adventure. To view where to go next, look at the town map on the top screen and a blinking red dot or arrow will show where the protagonist has to mosey onto next.

Early in the game, the protagonist befriends a dog who leads him to a mighty cherry tree that’s filled with blooming blossoms. An odd and excitable humanoid-creature gives the skinny on the healthy cherry tree and tells of another tree in town that’s mysteriously ailing. It is during this tree scenario that the protagonist eventually meets Nanami Yoshida while following the dog whom we named “Woofy.” Nanami and Woofy eventually run off and leave the protagonist to ponder what he has learned…

After every major event in the game, an icon appears on screen which looks like a hamburger and allows the player’s progress to be saved to the game card. Three save-slots are available. Our recommendation is to save your progress before fighting the first scenario pig boss. He’s a tough guy.

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» It’s been a decade since the Celestia and Delteana Kingdoms called an uneasy truce and halted their warmongering. At the time of the truce, the two sides traded princes to solidify their peaceful intentions. Prince Noin from Celestia went over to the Delteana Kingdom and Prince Dylan made Celestia his new home. In the ten years since the truce however, the rumblings of war are afoot once again and the two princes are placed into precarious positions that test their loyalty and obligations.

The game allows players to choose between Dylan of Delteana or Princess Farah of the Celestia Kingdom as the protagonist. If Dylan is selected, the game starts with a ceremony where the two young princes are exchanged to their new homes. Princess Farah bids farewell to her brother Noin with a loud and screeching goodbye. The years pass and the next scene shows Dylan and Farah as teenagers. A whiny animal named Muu Muu accompanies Farah which provides a bit of comedic foil.

If Farah is selected as the protagonist, her story also begins with the prince-exchange ceremony and Dylan has become her close friend and confidant. The creature named Muu Muu is also by her side. Whichever character you choose, your initial party will consist of Dylan, Farah, Muu Muu, and a palace guard. Shortly after the first encounter against two blue blobs, a flashback will play which recounts a time when Dylan and Farah were children and how they first met Muu Muu. Unlike previous Summon Night S-RPGs, “Tears Crown” is an RPG where the top NDS screen shows the local area map and all the action takes place on the touch screen. The game features a large amount of speech which is remarkable for its clarity and quality considering that it’s all stored on a little game card.

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» A few years ago, Banpresto produced a whole line of toys and trinkets based on dot-designs featuring old school Nintendo characters. Tomy also released a series of toys dubbed “.s” or “Dots” where pegs were punched into boards to create dot-graphic designs of retro-game characters. Dots were big and they’re making a comeback once again this year in From Software’s 3D Dot Game Heroes.

Touted as a conventional RPG with an unconventional graphical style, From Software uses uniform component cubes to create every character and object in the game world for a striking visual impact. Most modern game designers generally try to make their characters appear somewhat lifelike and smooth with no hint of the frames and pixels that make up the hero or heroine. From Software goes the other way and makes sure that pixels and blocks are clearly evident in the game.
If the intention was to pay homage to the 8-bit games that old-timers grew up consuming, then they’ve succeeded in spades because the references and tributes are all there (menus, music, sound effects, etc).

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Konami continues to tweak and refine their acclaimed Winning Eleven property and another edition is making its way to the Japanese market in November. The focus in WE 2010 is on “The ultimate individual skills” and “The ultimate team player” where players are endowed with 300 new moves, seven feints, and skills which help the entire team. To add to the realism of the player movements on the field, Konami used motion-capture techniques to render new animations for the soccer players as they motor down the field. The control scheme has also be upgraded to a 360° control scheme which replaces the 8-way controls of the earlier Winning Eleven games.

From the Publisher
WORLD SOCCER Winning Eleven 2010 kicks up the excitement with enhanced on-field action, graphics, and innovative control features that make the gameplay more realistic than ever.

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» In a 1998 interview in Next Generation Magazine, Trip Hawkins (founder of EA) said the following: “The way I look at it is when you make a sequel you can’t sell them the same game because they already own it. What they want is to continue to play the game they know they like. It shouldn’t surprise us. If you look at our parents or their parents and the kind of games that they play, they will pick a sport like golf or a game like chess, and they will play it their whole life. If somebody is a golfer, they might well try another course or buy a new set of clubs, but they still want to play the same game.”
In the past few years, Square’s business model has been one where a sizable amount of the company’s revenue and profits have come from remakes, re-releases, and rehashes. As Trip said a decade ago, people want to play the same game and Square is more than happy to oblige. True to form,  Dissidia Final Fantasy Universal Tuning is a re-release of the USA version of Dissidia into the Japanese marketplace. It’s also the second time Dissidia has been released in Japan this year. NCS expects no less than two more re-releases under “The Best” and Square’s own budget re-release label within the next 2 years.

Product/Game Features
» English speech and Japanese subtitles
» Combatants are balanced for more equality
» Arcade mode from the USA release is included
» Character tweaks and tuning selections