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- Added 2001 Japan Top 100 Games Chart.

- The Dengeki Console Ranking Top 50 Chart is updated. This week's best selling title is Sony's GT Concepts 2001 Tokyo, sold 232,000+ units. Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. DX is selling at a 1:1 ratio with the GameCube, the total sales have reached 931,495 units. Bandai's Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation Vs Zion has also reached 745,000+ units.

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- Mahou will release a new PlayStation 2 tennis game on February 7 called Hard Hitter 2, the game features realistic graphics, 16 playable characters, and 5 types of tennis courts, including grass, clay, hard, carpet and omni. Hard Hitter 2 also includes several mini games for your enjoyment, such as popping the balloons and hitting the cans.

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- Atlus announced a new PlayStation RPG called Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Red & Black Book, a devil (monster) battle and collection RPG ported over from GameBoy Color. The PSone version will 270 kinds of devils, new championship cup modes and scenes from the TV animated cartoon series of Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children. The game is scheduled for release sometimes this year.

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- Atlus announced a new PlayStation dodgeball game in Japan called Nijiiro Dodgeball: Maidens' Youth, this is the first console dodgeball game to feature a simulation mode (Story Mode), in which you play as the coach, your mission is to train and promote your team to become the champion.

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- Square's upcoming Final Fantasy X International (Jan 31 release in Japan) will feature a new side story called FFX Another Story: The Forever Nagi Festival, which will take place 2 years after the original story, so far it is confirmed that Yuna, Wakka and Rikku will be showing up in this new story, will Tidus show up in the new story? (Note: "Nagi Festival" is the time between Sin's defeat and revival, in which people celebrate for the true peace.) Other than the side story, the international version will also feature

• FFX promotion movies
• FFX TVCMs
• FFX Theme Songs (in Dolby 5.1)
• Interview with Japan and US Actors
• Square Previews: Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XI, Square Masterpieces (WonderSwan Color), Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Preview Trailers.

FFX Another Story: The Forever Nagi Festival

- Update on Spike's PlayStation 2 motor racing game Riding Spirits, scheduled for release this spring. A new control system is used in the game, during the races, in additional to controlling the motorcycle, you can also move the body of the rider in 4 directions to improve the stability and performance of the motorcycle. This game features over 200 licensed motorcycles from 6 manufacturers, including Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yoshimura and Moriwaki. There are also 150 kinds of equipment to choose from. There is also a career mode, in which you can earn money from races and expand your collection of motorcycles.

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- Square and Disney will release a CD single for the theme song of Kingdom Hearts in Japan on March 20, the song will be titled Hikari (translate to "Light"), and it will be composed and performed by the highly popular Japanese singer Hikaru Utada, who have sold a whopping 8 million copies of her first album "First Love" back in 1999.

H A N D H E L D S

- Capcom will release another Rockman title for GameBoy Advance on March 15 in Japan, called Rockman Zero. This time Zero from the Rockman X series becomes the main character. The story takes place 100 years after Rockman X, in which the world is controlled by an evil force "v", your mission is to control Zero to battle with the evil force. Zero will also have new companions, they are electronic fairies. There are 3 kinds of fairies: Life, Ability and Hacker, they will rise the power of Zero during the quest.

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- Nintendo announced the release date of their GameBoy Advance SRPG title Fire Emblem: Sealed Sword, the game is scheduled for a March 29 release in Japan, for 4800 yen.

X B O X

- Here are some new screen shots of Takara's J-Phoenix Plus, an enhanced version of the popular PS2 mech combat action game, featuring additional characters and gear parts. A new play mode called Hundred Slashes will be added to the game, a survival mode which allows you to battle with 100 opponents continuously, the money you earned from this mode can be used in the Story Mode. J-Phoenix Plus is scheduled for release in March.

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O T H E R S

- Here are Japan Top 20 Best Selling Console Games of 2001 (from January 1 to December 30):