Over the weekend Bandai held their latest Tamashii Nations event in Akihabara. We went along to check it out and it was quite an eventful one. From all the new Robot Damashii figures on display to all manner of new chogokin Bandai are really going all out on capturing the classic mecha crowd. While they also have a lot of new very nice Star Wars and Avengers figures on the way, which is definitely a good thing for their business and the fans, the sheer love being poured into the older anime series from years gone by is really great to see.

From Zeta Gundam, to L-Gaim and Dunbine the Robot Damashii line is taking no prisoners. We also have a new line of classic Macross toys to look forward to in the form of the Hi-Metal R range. This is a reboot of the Hi-Metal toys from a few years back, that in turn was an update to a classic line of toys from the 80s. These new toys also include the Zentraedi and Destroids too and they look magnificent.

We also got to play with the upcoming Robot Damashii Penelope and it was amazing. The sculpt and detailing is incredible and the articulation is incredibly good as well. Thankfully we already have the Markings Plus version on order. To see more about the event then check out the photos here.

Thanks to some datamining from the recent Full Boost 1.08 patch, we know now there are four more units on the way as DLC. They are Penelope, Nobel Gundam, Gundam Harute and Blitz Gundam. As you may know, these units are currently part of the Maxi Boost roster with Harute being the newest in this group of four. It’s possible these units might show up in the upcoming months, especially if Bandai Namco have another Summer Festival Event like last year which introduced Banshee Norn, ReGZ, Altron Gundam, and Strike Rouge. With all these additions, perhaps a Maxi Boost console port is much further off than expected. Let us know what you think of this group of additions and what you think might be in store as future DLC!

So the next Super Robot Wars game to be announced has the suffix of BX and it will be released again on the 3DS. The last game on the system, in the form of UX, was really solid and so I am glad to see another game on the way. The big surprise is that this entry will feature both Giant Gorg and Panzer World Galient in the series roster. That’s pretty damn fantastic really. The game will be released on August 20th for 6,640 yen and a promo video for the game will go up tomorrow. It’s currently 80% complete in terms of development. For those that are curious as to what the units are in the shadow above, one fan did a nice bit of detective work.

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There’s some good news on May 28th for those who are stuck waiting for Maxi Boost to get a console release. Bandai Namco has released information about the upcoming 1.08 patch to Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost for the PS3 that has some very interesting and well needed additions. First of all, four units from Maxi Boost are ready to join the Full Boost roster. Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, Avalanche Exia, Char’s Zaku II, and Gundam Sandrock Kai will be available as DLC units for 476 yen plus tax.

Second, you will be able to purchase HUDs, pilot costumes, and navis permanently with a new GP points system. You earn GP points from a daily login bonus, by winning matches in the online Arcade Mode, Player Match, and Ranked Match, and playing these game modes at least once per day. Aside from using GP points to permanently purchase the items mentioned before, you can also use the points to trial DLC units that haven’t been purchased with real money. Once you use your GP to start your trial, you will be able to use the unit in any mode until you either lose, finish the game mode you are currently in, or get disconnected from the servers. To use the unit again, you must use more GP or purchase it properly.

Other additions to the game include a new camera to replay mode, have up to 6 units in your favorites list, view individual unit win rates and usage much easier, remove win rates from lobbies, convert your endurance conversation messages, more Full Boost missions, and balance updates that nerf both Banshee Norn and ReGZ. Also, it looks like there’s more DLC in the near future as Perfect Gundam has appeared next to Char’s Zaku II in several released screenshots of the unit select menu. Hopefully we’ll get an update soon on upcoming DLC units on top of some info on a home release for Maxi Boost.

In a rather bizarre way, Bandai Namco have announced Gundam Battle Operation Next for PS4 and PS3. This is indeed the follow up sequel to the previous Gundam Battle Operation game on PS3, that was the first foray into freemium for the series. This is also the much touted PS4 Gundam game that was previewed a good while back, so the fact it turned out to be this is a tad…disappointing. The good news is that this new game seems to follow the Gundam Breaker and Gundam Extreme Versus approach in terms of the high-speed team based action. The game has currently started its beta on the Japanese PSN as of today and will continue running until this Sunday. So jump in while you can and check it out, hopefully it won’t be utterly terrible!

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In a wonderful case of Steel Battalion infused nerdiness, David Shuff has made a real life cockpit for the game. It has all manner of cockpit type features from flashing lights to that nice claustrophobic feel. We have yet to review this classic game for the site but we included it in our top ten mecha games of all time list recently in case you’re curious. Naturally we have also played the game to completion too. That aside, there are some wonderful videos of the cockpit in action below.

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In the latest Japanese chart results Super Robot Wars Z 3 Tengoku-hen has come out top. Clocking in around 230,000 sales between the PS3 and Vita versions it has even outsold games like Bloodborne, which was released a few weeks ago. Considering that these only represent a few days sales for Tengok-hen, that’s pretty good going already. We also picked up both versions of the game ourselves and a review will be forthcoming once we’re done with it. Thus far it’s a lot like Jigoku-hen and we’re liking it a lot. If you haven’t picked your copy up already then you totally should.

After nearly a year and a half since its release on the PS3, Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost will be getting a Best re-release on May 28th. If you were waiting on a cheaper price point, the game will now sell for 3,800 yen excluding tax. It will also come with the Ex-S Gundam downloadable code which was initially a first print exclusive to the original release of the game. No other DLC will be packaged with it at the moment, so you will have to get those separately. Of course, the online pass will probably be included as well. And if you’re one of the lucky ones to be playing Maxi Boost in Japan, there is also a limited edition Haro HUD, emblem, title, and 100,000 GP points for your Maxi Boost profile. Hopefully we’ll hear of a Maxi Boost port to either the PS3 or possibly PS4 sometime soon.

The upcoming port of the classic MegaDrive shoot-em-up Assault Suit Leynos has had its release delayed until December this year, with a demo apparently available sometime in June. We’ve also been given some new game footage and this time in HD. To be honest, the game doesn’t look all that great but this is Dracue and they did the decent Gunhound games. We’re cautiously hopeful that this game will be good and hopefully the extended development time will help facilitate that.

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So out of nowhere you can now buy the original PSone Armored Core on the US PSN store. Costing a very reasonable $5.99, it’s compatible with the PS3, PSP and Vita. Due to the way the Vita is setup you can also force the game to use dual analogue controls but we don’t recommend it. Simply because the camera isn’t at all set up to work with those controls and makes the game pretty much unplayable. That aside, this is a fantastic addition to PSN and we’re hoping that both Project Phantasma and Master of Arena will join the first game sometime soon. It would be nice to see the whole trilogy released on the European PSN too but that’s unlikely as the last two games never received a European version. As these games are already on the Japanese PSN we can vouch for them quite happily. Considering you can play this classic game on a modern HD display, as well as via a variety of portable devices, is pretty damn great. So definitely pick this up, as the game is still fun to play even today.