There’s an interesting interview with the team behind Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter, especially as it’s revealed that the (arcade) game utilises the Unreal engine and toolset. This is pretty rare from a Japanese development point of view, as they tend to use their own internal tech and tools. The reasoning behind the usage of external middleware (such as Unreal) was down to the fact that Square Enix’s internal engine wasn’t ready in time. Considering the fact that the game was a bit off the beaten track functionally also meant that they had issues repurposing Unreal (primarily designed around first and third person shooters) to work in a turn based way, though the driving sections apparently caused almost no issues. Naturally the upcoming 3DS game won’t be using Unreal but still it’s interesting to hear that a Japanese arcade game went down this route.

Banpresto have announced a new entry into the Super Robot Wars series, that of Super Robot Wars Card Chronicle. This is a slightly strange mixed port of the recent DS and PSP games, as it seems to share sprites and animations from between them (though not quite as shiny as we were expecting). Considering the power of most smart phones and tablets these days, especially in comparison to a PSP, the game should be a lot prettier. That said, the entry price will likely be much cheaper so there’s that to also consider. The game will also be playable at the forthcoming Tokyo Game Show and then released this year.

After a pretty long hiatus we now have a new Heavy Gear game to look forward to. Developed by the newly founded Stompy Bot, it will be apparently released on both PC and console. The studio is also focused on digital distribution, so it could likely go down the freemium/multiplayer route that’s all the rage at the moment. In any case, we’ve always had a healthy admiration for the Heavy Gear games and setting. If only for the fact that the creators openly referenced VOTOMS as an influence, something that makes very apparent functional sense when you see the scale of the mecha and the fact they have wheels in their feet. Unlike the rampant bell ends who ripped off swathes of classic mecha for Battle Tech, the Heavy Gear setup was always a lot classier in that regard; taking the functional and visual guide from VOTOMS and making something new with it. This is something that can equally be said for Hawken, as the team have happily cited the work of Kow Yokoyama as a similar influence on their mecha design. Regardless we’re just happy that a new Heavy Gear is on the way.

As part of the upcoming Rev 3.09 update to Senjou no Kizuna, we’ll be getting two new units from the first and second MS IGLOO series. Notably that of the YMT-05 Hildolfr and RTX-440 Ground Assault Type Guntank. As you can see both of these are very ground based units with an emphasis on ranged bombardment (something the game HUD has had to accomodate it seems). Game Watch has lots of nice pictures and more details on the new units too, all of which go live on August 6th.

Gigazine has two pieces (here and here) on the revealing of the homemade Kuratasu (that we mentioned a while back) at this summer’s Wonder Festival, as made by the brilliantly bonkers Kogoro Kurata. To show how bonkers this guy is, well he decided to have the mecha’s weapon’s system fired by the pilot’s smile. The Kuratasu can also be bought by members of the public too but it isn’t exactly cheap, clocking in at over a cool million dollars. Anyway, we love the fact Kurata-san finished making this and whilst it doesn’t walk it’s definitely an impressive feat to accomplish.

At this summer’s Comiket in August, SEGA will be attending and selling all manner of nifty paraphernalia. From some cool Border Break merchandise to some equally lovely Virtual On gear. The latter even including some nice One Man Rescue book sets. This was a sidestory that tracked the shift in technology and political power bases between the original Virtual On and Oratorio Tangram. Apart from the One Man Rescue books, there is a t-shirt and some “cels”. All of which seem to be very reasonably priced.

In a recent update, it seems that the GF13-021NG Gundam Spiegel from G Gundam will be playable in Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost at this year’s C3X Hobby. This is in advance of a later update that will include the unit. Previously, the Spiegel appeared as a support attack so to have it as a full blown unit finally is a nice addition.

There’s a new update for the progressively lovely E.X. Troopers, covering the main Frontier Base it predominantly features less of the snowy environments and more of the greener wildlife. It also shows the new AI character in context. There’s also mention of a pretty moe-tastic figure of Tee Kee that will be available at the forthcoming Wonder Festival. We really love the look of this game and are seriously interested in getting to finally play it too.

Two more units will be added to Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost on the 24th July. These are a new type of Extreme Gundam variant (called the Eclipse Face, pictured above) and the suitably mighty RX-139 Hambrabi. In addition to the new units, a new map will be added too. That of New Hong Kong, something that was (sort of) available in the PS3 port of Gundam Extreme Versus.

Over at 4Gamer there’s a new update for Mobile Suit Gundam Online regarding the third Alpha test. With a variety of new features, from a map of New York (shown below) as well as a new mobile suit that of the RGM-79F Land Combat Type GM. The latter is an interesting choice as it’s from M-MSV, the same line of designs that were used in Gundam Senki 0081. The game isn’t exactly a looker but it seems to be garnering quite a following already.