This month's first two issues finishes off the 5-issue 20th Anniversary celebration. These last two covers features some memorable characters, and there's some nice humor to found on the final issue. For instance, Necky dressed as Leon from Biohazard 4 (Resident Evil 4) escorts Kasumi from Dead or Alive fame while an irritated Ashley tries to get Leon's attention. A Katamari Necky rolls up Animal Crossing characters as well. Putting all five Anniversary covers together to form one big picture will be quite a task, so I hope someone else has done it already...if not, I'll give it a go. Anyway, read on for the issue by issue breakdown!

The covers for the anniversary issues are also special. The artwork shows the Famitsu mascot (Necky) dressed up as notable game characters such as Mario, Ness, Link, Ryu, etc. All five covers sort of connect to create a long parade of game characters from 1986 to 2006. I say "sort of connect" because when you lay the issues side by side, they don't really line up correctly. Anyway, there are tons of great features in these issues, so if you have a Japanese bookstore in your area you might want to see if they still have some issues in stock.

So take a gander at the images by accessing this dandy flash-driven gallery HERE.

Follow the link for the article (in Japanese) and to see the full photo:

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/07/12/103,1152678634,56678,0,0.html

I didn't know what to expect from these; I mean, I don't buy too many trading figures because it's sometimes hard to tell if they're gonna look really good or come out really bad. This set is somewhere in the middle, but I suppose I should've suspected that because their pricepoint is on the cheaper end of the trading figure spectrum...

Mon-Sieur Bome Collection Vol. 14 and 15 have been revealed as C1 and C2 Kasumi from Dead or Alive!  Set to ship in late August, each figure will cost Y4500 (around $49). For those who don't know, the Mon-Sieur Bome Collection is a collection of pre-painted, pre-assembled PVC figures. These are basically aimed towards those who like garage kits but don't have the skills or time to paint and make them. The collection is known for it's nice sculpts and reasonable prices, and is perhaps the most well-known PVC figure maker. While I like the fact that Bome is doing Kasumi figures, I'm not quite sure I like the pose. Ah well, I'll probably get them anyway.

Continue reading for preorder info, better photos and info about a third version of the figure (Kasumi's black costume, anyone?)!

But enough about my general thoughts on this newsletter--let's get to the info inside! Read on for the page by page breakdown...

About a week later it arrived, and I took some photos for review purposes before handing it over to its new owner. It's a small, pleather purse-like case, with feminine graphics printed on it. The word "girl" is printed on it to make it completely obvious that this product is for the female persuasion. A metal chain with little heart charms on it dangles on one side. So cute! At least, that's what I'm sure most girls would say.

Let's look at Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. This game is great for what it is- a zany courtroom/detective style game with a great sense of humor and melodrama. It was a sleeper hit for Capcom, who didn't press a lot of games because of its niche-style gaming. The game's reputation in America started growing, mostly through various discussion boards. And then one fateful day, people started to realize that they hadn't seen the game in stores for a while, and upon further searching, this game couldn't be found at any stores! If I remember correctly, it was toward the end of January of this year that this realization had dawned on people that the game they had repeatedly passed up was now no where to be seen.

Mad searching for the game ensued with success stories popping up here and there. People who had never had an interest for the game were now asking if it was worth buying. Prices for the game on eBay kept going up and up. Sixty dollars...seventy dollars...when would it stop?

March 13th. NCS gets a new shipment of Phoenix Wright and sells the game for $35. The crazy eBay prices fall back down to a normal $35-$45 range and life is as it should be...or is it??

With the popularity of Phoenix Wright rising in the US and with the next game in the series being localized, these figures will surely be sought after in the future. Get em now for $4.90 per figure (blind packaged - you won't know which character you have until you open it) at Play-Asia.com. Figures are made by a company called Ensky; check out the official webpage here. Or if you just want to see better photos, check out this website.

Interested parties can preorder the figure at CDJapan.co.jp and will eventually be charged around $70 when it ships (not including shipping). I don't know who is producing this figure and I haven't found another website with more info on this fig. Kotobukiya is the company behind this figure, which should have been obvious to me because of their history with Tecmo creating PVC figures of Ninja Gaiden characters, and producing some DOAX "One Coin" trading figures. Follow the link to preorder this figure and check out some additional photos. You can also preorder it from Hobby Link Japan.

But before we take a look at the extras, let's take a look at the actual magazine. It's always interesting to see how different the Nintendo magazines are made as opposed to the Famitsu Xbox or Dengeki Playstation magazines. The Japanese Nintendo mags look almost like the thick manga magazines with their overly complex covers. You can tell that this magazine is aimed at children. The inside of the magazine is no different from the cover, and it's very colorful and busy. Magazines like this are perfect for hyperactive kids.