This summer’s Tamashii Nation’s event is in full swing this weekend. We popped over to Akiba yesterday to check it out and naturally took a bunch of pictures in the process. In addition to the reveal of all manner of new toys, there were some other aspects worth mentioning. The first being that a variety of older web shop exclusive toys were given a limited re-release. Doors opened for that at 1pm and as you’d imagine the entire stock sold out lightning fast. The second thing was that the DX YF-30 Chronos had a hands-on section of the event. We played with the upcoming toy and were very impressed. There’s a lot of diecast in it and the detailing is great. The missile pod is also detachable and the head antenna are made of soft plastic. The only minor gripe is that the tail fins are only connected via one point of contact and feel a little flimsy. In addition, if you filled in a questionnaire you got given a 1UP Mushroom from Mario, foreshadowing their Mario release later this month. The big news for us was the Robot Damashii Dragonar and Blue Destiny figures, as well as getting to see the new Layzner Mk2 up close (it’s very nice). Anyway, all our pictures are after the link so enjoy!

Most people don’t get to see or hear about things like this but From Software has changed owners, from IT company Trans Cosmos to intellectual property magnate and publisher Kadokawa. This new arrangement has had Kadokawa taken an 80% stake in From Software. Now these things happen all the time and normally the company in question doesn’t undergo any changes. However, Kadokawa is a pretty monolithic institution and this could go either way. We are surprised that Bandai Namco didn’t become the new owners though (as they have a vested interest in terms of the Souls series of games, at least outside of Japan). Anyway our collective fingers are crossed at this news and hope our friends at From Software are weathering this change comfortably.

We’re happy to know that the excellent Gunhound EX will be receiving a Western PC release on Steam and Playism. This looks like a PC version of the PSP game, fully localised into English. As the original Gunhound and EX already had PC releases, this is welcome news. Apparently the Playism release will also be DRM free and also come with a corresponding Steam key, which is nice of them. For those unaware, the Gunhoud games are very inspired by the Assault Suits games from the 90s and they also have kickass music. In any case, what with the recent news of a Steam release for Gigantic Army having another great little mecha shooter added to that is rather brilliant really.

In a slightly bizarre move, Bandai Namco in the US have decided to release Shin Gundam Musou as Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn this July. The bizarre part is that unlike the Japanese release last year, this will be a digital only release and then only for the PS3 (with the Vita version being ignored entirely). Compared to the previous Gundam Musou enties, the latest entry is somewhat of a disappointment and likely explains why the new US release is being slipped under the radar. In any case, the announcement trailer is shown below.

Gundam.info has recently released news on next two units coming to Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost for the PS3. They are Cucuruz Doan’s Zaku II (1000 cost) and Anavel Gato’s Gelgoog (2000 cost). Doan’s Zaku II, from the Doan’s Island episode of Mobile Suit Gundam, is one of the genuinely “new” additions to the roster as it is neither a pilot swap or reshuffled suit, similar to the GNXIII. True to the episode it hails from, Doan’s Zaku II fights throwing rocks and using mobile suit martial arts with Amuro’s core fighter assist. Gato’s Gelgoog, from the beginning of Stardust Memory, differs from Char’s Gelgoog by having a single shot charge shot attack, a Rick Dom assist instead of Lalah’s Elmeth, and a halberd throw. Each of these units will cost 381 yen before tax. Here’s to hoping we see more DLC down the line after this bunch is released, preferably brand new units this time!

Are you ready for more clone DLC? 4gamer has released information on the next two DLC units to hit Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost on April 2, Elle Viano’s Gundam MkII and Marbet’s V Gundam Hexa. Both units are of the 1000 cost tier and will cost the usual 400 yen. In regards to gameplay differences… well the Hexa looks to be an exact moveset copy of the existing Victory Gundam whereas Elle’s MkII  is more long range oriented with the Hyaku Shiki and Zeta Zaku for assists vs Kamille’s melee oriented MkII moveset. With this release, it appears there will be two more units left to appear. One can hope for more DLC units in the near future, specifically brand new units that don’t necessarily have to be of the Maxi Boost fare.

What with the release of Super Robot Wars Z 3 only a few weeks away, we’re very glad to see the likes of the mighty ATM-09-DD Burglary Dog from Shining Heresy being finally shown. The other aspects to this update are that we have another confirmation for the final universe spanning forms of Gurren Lagann being playable and that the Sazabi looks pretty damn boss. We’re still put out about the lack of Final Dancouga but this still looks to be a great game and one we’re very much looking forward to. The game is still on track for its April 10th release and you can pre-order it accordingly here (PS3) and here (Vita).

Occasionally you get to see something wonderful in terms of gaming history. In this instance it’s an interview from the early 90’s with the team behind Assault Suits Valken that has been recently translated (made all the more brilliant by lovely scans of Satoshi Urushihara’s artwork for the game). Originally in a guidebook for the game, it covers all sorts of fascinating aspects about this classic game. If you have never played Valken, then avoid the dire PS2 port and instead avail yourself of the Virtual Console release. Thanks to GSK for the heads up.

Gundam.info has released new information on the upcoming DLC units to hit Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost on March 19th. The following units will be added to the roster: Zaku Zeta (1000 cost), Poe Aijee’s Sumo (2000 cost), and Andrew Waltfield’s Gaia Gundam (2000 cost). Like previous DLCs, these units are modified from existing versions already in game with slightly different attacks and EX Burst Attacks. At first glance, it looks like Poe’s Sumo appears to be a straight clone of Gold Sumo aside from less ammo, whereas Waltfield’s Gaia seems to have interesting changes versus Stella’s unit. Most of his attacks transform him into the dog mobile armor mode and has no manual transform and is more melee focused, whereas you’d have to manually switch into the MA form with Stella’s Gaia. How this will change gameplay is yet to be determined, but we’ll find out next week. I am glad to see Zaku Zeta show up in playable form as it has always cracked me up at its existence. Each unit will cost 400 yen each.

So in less than two years, the freemium Gundam Battle Operation has now reached 1 million downloads. Most of these gamers being middle aged guys apparently, which is actually different for other games and aspects of the Gundam franchise (as in Japan it’s about a 50/50 split between men and women). That aside, we’ve played this again since we got back to Japan and it does play better, as the crazy amazing net connections here mean you don’t suffer from lag or the horrible framerate issues I saw when I played it in the UK. It’s still pretty awful though. Anyway, a million downloads. Wooo!