This section provides scans of Neo Nectaris' package art and instruction manual (20 color pages) -- the typical items you would expect to find at BASE NECTARIS -- but that's not all !!!  This page is chock-full of extra goodies for all the Neo Nectaris fiends out there (including a two-page advertisement for the game and evidence that a Neo Nectaris Guide Book was published).  Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, this page documents some items (i.e. PC-Engine magazines and playable SuperCD demo discs) that might be of interest to PC-Engine fans in general, not just Nectaris fans. For example, below you will find scans of PC-Engine Fan Magazine (July 1994 issue), a Japanese magazine dedicated to covering the PCE / DUO consoles and their games. There is surprisingly little coverage of PC-Engine Fan on English-language sites (if you're lucky you might find a cover scan or two, but that's about it).  The same predicament has befallen the impressive series of magazines known as PC-Engine Hyper Catalog (CD-ROM Capsule) ;  each issue included at least one SuperCD with playable game demos.  Scans of the sixth issue (Summer 1994) can be found below.  One of these days, perhaps, I will give these publications the full treatment they deserve.  Until then ...

					Neo Nectaris Japan DUO  (PC Engine + CD)
	package front	package back	spine card (OBI)	CD-ROM

CLICK ON THUMBNAIL TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE

Look carefully at the back of the package (CD tray insert), and you will notice that the text and screenshots are over- laying (and thus obscuring) a rather interesting painting of the BioHeiki ( "Biological Arms" ) featured in Neo Nectaris.  As far as I know,  the only place you can see this artwork unadulterated and in its entirety is in the Neo Nectaris Guide Book (documented in the next section).  Also, I do not think this art was ever used in any of the advertisements for Neo Nectaris, which is surprising since it stands out as one of the better (if not best) pieces of artwork to grace any of the Nectaris titles.  NOTE ON PACKAGING: In Japan, PC-Engine / DUO software (both HuCards and CD-ROMs) were sold in shrink-wrapped plastic jewel cases, with CD-ROM titles including an additional spine card (OBI).  North American titles also came in jewel boxes (except for the final wave of HuCard releases) and were generally packaged in boxes (except the final wave of CD-ROM releases for DUO).  The elimination of jewel cases for HuCards and cardboard boxes for CD games was a cost-cutting measure taken by Turbo Technologies Inc. (TTi) during the DUO era. Neo Nectaris, of course, was never released outside of Japan, but there is some evidence that TTi intended to release it in North America.

Neo Nectaris ( tentatively titled as Military Madness 2 in the "Coming Soon" section of TurboForce Magazine ) was one of several titles that TTi announced, but failed to release, in North America.  Not surprisingly, there was essentially no coverage of Neo Nectaris in U.S. gaming magazines (neither TurboPlay, TurboForce nor DuoWorld  previewed the game as an import).  Japanese gaming magazines, of course, offered far more extensive coverage of Neo Nectaris. For ex-
 

				PC-Engine Hyper Catalog 6 (CD-ROM Capsule) Summer 1994,  Japan
PC-Engine Hyper Catalog (CD-ROM Capsule) #6	Back Cover. Eight screen- shots reveal CD content.	Pages 54-55 out of an 8 page spread (52-59).	8 playable game demos on 2 Super CD-ROM discs.

CLICK ON THUMBNAIL TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE

ample, the Summer 1994 installment of PC-Engine Hyper Catalog (CD-ROM Capsule) #6 (a print magazine + 2 CD-ROM game demo discs) provided an 8 page primer on Neo Nectaris.  This primer was to aid gamers when they checked out the playable Neo Nectaris game demo that was included on Disc A.  Playable demos for Hyper Wars (1994, Hudson Soft, Battle arena simulation) and Blood Gear (1994, Hudson Soft, Action RPG w/ MECHs) can also be found on Demo Disc A, along with the "PC Engine Data Bank" -- a searchable database of all PC Engine titles (both HuCard and CD for- mats).  A very similar database was included on Victor Musical's Ultrabox Sohkan Go series (six volumes were releas- ed).  Ultrabox Sohkan Go was essentially a "PCE-magazine-on-a-CD-ROM" publication that featured digital comics, fan art, demos, etc., as well as the game database (...but the Ultrabox database included a pixelated, low- resolution image of each game's cover art, a feature that is sorely missed in Shogakukan's Hyper Catalog ).  On Disc B, you'll find the four remaining game demos:  Pro Yakyuu Super '94  (1994, INTEC, supports PCE mouse, Baseball game with managerial duties to add depth),  Popful Mail  (1994, Falcom, Action RPG),  GS Mikami  (1994, Banpresto, Card-battle game based on the "Ghost Sweeper Mikami" anime),  Arunamu No Kiba   (1994, Right Stuff, RPG).  All of the aforementioned games, in a section of the magazine called the "Hyper Manual",  have an 8-10 page primer similar to that of Neo Nectaris.  
  
In addition to the "Hyper Manual" content, the PC-Engine Hyper Catalog offered previews of future releases, strategy guides (i.e. a special moves list for Fatal Fury Special ),  features (a few pages on PC-FX, NEC's new console and successor to the DUO, is in the summer 1994 issue), and many, many ads.  
  
PC-Engine Hyper Catalog (CD-ROM Capsule) was published by Shogakukan and sold for 2,500 - 2,900 yen per issue (a whopping $22-26 USD ! ).  A total of seven issues (quarterly) were published, but the final installment -- PC-Engine Hyper Catalog DUO RX (with 2 demo discs)  -- was a special promotion accompanying the release of the DUO-RX console (which included an NEC Avenue 6-button controller instead of the standard 2-button controller packaged with the DUO-R).  Installments 1-5 of the PC-Engine Hyper Catalog included one demo disc, whereas the final two issues (#6 and DUO-RX) featured 2 demo discs.  Also, I am pretty certain that Shogakukan also published Game ON!  (a multi-platform gaming magazine in Japan) which covered the PC-Engine (and later, PC-FX), among other consoles of the day. 
  

		2 page advertisement (from PCE Hyper Catalog #6) Neo Nectaris Guide Book  (Existence has yet to be verified)
2-page advertisement for Neo Nectaris	The elusive, enigmatic  Neo Nectaris GUIDE BOOK

As I mentioned above, PC-Engine Hyper Catalog #6  was chock-full of advertisements.  Above left is a scan of the 2-page advertisement for Neo Nectaris that originally appeared in PC-Engine Hyper Catalog #6.  Note: The DUO-RX was heavily promoted in the magazine and selling for 29,800 yen (approximately $270 USD).  
  
Above right is a picture of what appears to be a NEO NECTARIS GUIDE BOOK.  The existence of this guide book has yet to be verified (and that's the reason why I don't have a better image of it, unfortunately).  This image is the only evidence of its (possible) existence I have ever seen, so if you can provide further information, please contact me ... 
 

				PC-Engine Fan Magazine July 1994,  Japan
PC-Engine Fan July 1994	Page 92	Pages 93	Pages 94 - 95

CLICK ON THUMBNAIL TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE

PC-Engine Fan Magazine (July 1994 issue) featured a short primer on Neo Nectaris (you can find scans of all four pages above).  This issue featured an extensive spread on the new NEC console, PC-FX, which would be facing competition in the console wars with the new Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn.  Some of the games given substantial treatment in this issue include:  World Heroes 2, Dragon Knight III, Cosmic Fantasy 4, Megami Paradise, Brandish, Mad Stalker, Vasteel 2, etc.  To round out the magazine, there were the usual departments: Manga  (i.e. The Rebirth of Dragon Slayer), Letters to the Editor, PCE Data Bank (i.e. top 10 software lists), and cheats (although this section is cryptically entitled "UL - Tech Wonder Land"). 
  
PC Engine Fan  (590 yen, $5.50 USD) was dedicated to covering the PC-Engine / DUO consoles. By 1994--with Sony's PlayStation and Sega's Saturn soon to be on the market (not to mention NEC's own PC-FX console)--the glory days of the DUO were drawing to a close.  PC Engine Fan was the last magazine to focus exclusively on NEC's consoles (publication of two other dedicated magazines -- Marukashi PC Engine and Gekkan PC Engine -- had ceased by 1994).     
TRIVIA:  TurboGrafx-16 fans might dig this ... nearly all the content in the initial issues of TurboPlay Magazine was taken from PC Engine Fan Magazine.  For the full story, visit the TurboPlay Magazine Archives ).

The entire 20-page Neo Nectaris game manual has been scanned and is available for your viewing pleasure.  The back cover of the manual has an advertisement for Hudson Soft's Humor Network (a Hudson fan club that enabled gamers to stay abreast of latest news, get freebies and purchase merchandise adorned with Hudson's mascots).  The entire manual is in color and has a nice layout, including the four page weapon guide ( guide 1  guide 2 ), which features seven unique weapons exclusive to Neo Nectaris.  Overall, I think that this is the nicest-looking manual in the entire series.

As always, I am looking for U.S., Japanese, and __________ advertisements / magazine coverage for any and all games featured at BASE NECTARIS ... so if you stumble upon anything in any of your magazines, please contact me.  Thanks.