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News: Gundam Extreme Versus 2 Initial Roster And Location Tests AnnouncedNews: Gundam Extreme Versus 2 Initial Roster And Location... As the rest of the world has Gundam Versus on the PS4, Japanese arcades are gearing up for the upcoming Gundam Versus Extreme 2. On May 12 and 13, stores in Tokyo and Osaka...

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News: God Gundam and Master Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam Versus In JanuaryNews: God Gundam and Master Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam... It's been a long time coming, but God Gundam and Master Gundam are finally joining the Gundam Versus roster as the next DLC units in January. While we've had several melee...

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News: Aegis Gundam, GM Sniper II White Dingo Ver. and More Coming To Gundam Versus This DecemberNews: Aegis Gundam, GM Sniper II White Dingo Ver. and... This December, even more suits are being added to the ever growing Gundam Versus lineup. The first is Aegis Gundam, last seen in Gundam SEED Destiny: Rengou VS ZAFT II Plus...

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News: Atlas Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam VersusNews: Atlas Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam Versus If you were hoping for more Gundam Thunderbolt units, there's good news! Atlas Gundam will be joining the Gundam Versus roster as DLC in late November. This will more than...

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News: Gundam Versus To Add Phantom Gundam As DLC UnitNews: Gundam Versus To Add Phantom Gundam As DLC Unit As we await the upcoming Western release of Gundam Versus on September 29 on top of unreleased units such as Pale Rider and Gundam Guison Rebake, Phantom Gundam has been...

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Videos: Earth Defense Force Project Restart

Posted on : 24-12-2010 | By : | In : Videos

Hardware: , , ,

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With the upcoming Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon slated for release next year, D3 have announced three new games in the series. From the plucky PSP port of the excellent second game, shown above, to even a new mobile game (called Earth Defense Force Legend). However, the big surprise is the announcement of Earth Defense Force 4. It seems that Sandlot are still hard at work, as at the very least they’d be needed to port the upcoming PSP version. The news of proper continuation from Earth Defense Force 3 (aka 2017 in the West) is very much appreciated though.

For those somewhat confused as to what these games have to do with mecha, well the simple fact is that without Sandlot’s prior expertise (and subsequent technology base) in the genre the EDF games wouldn’t exist. If you’re at all curious about this lineage then we heartily recommend you read our feature on the subject. The new promo video is also shown below.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRkTnsDyuz8]

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News: Break Blade and Border Break Airburst crossover

Posted on : 21-12-2010 | By : | In : News, Videos

Hardware:

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To mark the release of Break Blade’s fifth “movie” on the 22nd January, Border Break Airburst will allow players to use costumes from the anime via their BB.net service (as shown above). Break Blade is an interesting anime, formerly based upon a manga, as it sets the narrative in what appears to be a pseudo-medieval past where people are able to control quartz with their minds. The main protagonist, that of Rygart Arrow, is the only one that doesn’t have this ability and is thus able to control an ancient and mysterious mecha. The anime also has involvement with one Takayuki Yanase, who has a long and illustrious mecha design career in gaming. From Murakumo to Metal Gear Solid 4, not to mention SRW W and ACE 3, he does get around.

As with all Border Break related news though, we’re still much like a cat pawing at a fluffy ball of wool behind a glass screen. After tasting the mechanical nectar not that long ago, we need our fix again basically. Considering how much of a money spinner the arcade game is for Sega though, we’re becoming less hopeful for a console port. To make up for this sad state of affairs, we’ve linked the Break Blade opening (in HD) below. The opening song is called “Fate”, as written and sung by the hugely talented KOKIA.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn3GDzFSaXc]

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News: Senjou no Kizuna Torrington Update

Posted on : 18-12-2010 | By : | In : News, Videos

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Game Watch has some nice coverage of a recent update (Rev 2.50) that occurred on December 16th to the glorious Senjou no Kizuna arcade game. Specifically on the inclusion of Torrington Base from Gundam 0083 (video shown below). What’s especially nice is that the map has the Albion as the Feddie base, with a Zanzibar II on the other side obviously (for the Zekes). As always, it’s pretty cool that the game is still getting supported with content (even after 4 years).

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6FGZpgnAaY]

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Videos: Another Century’s Episode P Promo

Posted on : 16-12-2010 | By : | In : Videos

Hardware:

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As with Banpresto’s other mecha gaming offerings, the closer a game gets to release the more extensive the trailers get. Until, finally, you get close to 10 minutes of actual gameplay footage for Japanese high street game stores to run on a permanent loop. With Another Century’s Episode P’s release a few weeks away we’ve finally been graced with the full promo video of the game. What’s especially wonderful about this particular video is that it pretty much confirms the fact that the old boosting mechanics from the PS2 ACE games have returned for the new PSP version. Whilst this is clearly good news, it is a little sad that the game does suffer from obvious draw distance/fogging issues. It’s patently clear that the PSP version’s game engine has literally been ported from the PS2 but it doesn’t appear to be overly optimised. Admittedly, the ACE games have always had large environments so expecting a PSP to be able to resolve that as well as the PS2 games did is probably a bit unfair on our part (as even the PS2 games suffered with some fogging as well). It’s just that Artdink have raised the bar in terms of mecha gaming on the PSP, with their various Gundam Battle and Macross games, so ACE P has some stiff competition. In any case the full promo is shown below and you can pre-order the game here.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9ahYm27Msg]

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Videos: Danball Senki Promo

Posted on : 15-12-2010 | By : | In : Videos

Hardware:

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The upcoming Level 5 developed Danball Senki has finally had another promo video released. It shows a bit of the customisation, boasting 2500 available parts, and more of the battling gameplay. Like we mentioned in our TGS impressions, it was a cool little game and we’re looking forward to its March 17th release next year. Still no word on a Western release as yet though.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOzF6GXu1FE]

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News: Gundam Musou 3 New Screenshot Update

Posted on : 14-12-2010 | By : | In : News, Videos

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With Gundam Musou 3 near release in Japan, 4Gamer has some cool new screenshots of the game’s Partner Strike system as well mobile suit customisation. Though we’re mostly nerding out on the shots for the RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam Full Vernian “Zephyranthes” from Gundam 0083 (pictured above). Despite being one of our favourite Shoji Kawamori designs it’s also been somewhat in the news as of late, mostly due to Linkin Park’s fascination with the mobile suit. Unsurprisingly, the game’s site has also reciprocated this current interest with showing a new special video of the mobile suit. Naturally, as this is Gundam 0083 we’ve included the series’ two very lovely opening animations (in HD no less) below. That said, we still think that Back to Paradise would have been a better intro song.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS8F_HCkxQw]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoplnxPv-J0]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l8zX6AGJeI]

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Videos: Gundam Musou 3 Specials

Posted on : 08-12-2010 | By : | In : Videos

Hardware: ,

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With the launch of Gundam Musou 3 literally days away now, the official site has been stepping up with semi-regular video vignettes. Entitled Specials these show around 30 seconds of gameplay footage of a certain mobile suit pretty much owning small armies of enemy mecha. We’ve collated a few of them below, including the latest one – that of the Syd Mead designed CONCEPT-X 6-1-2 Turn X from Turn A Gundam. Enjoy!

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Mot1tEP5I]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98BjGN6EAcA]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPiQ8AnYkUg]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kydjJHpdBLg]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhfjJZ6brrI]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoZow28opeY]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53NpiBoB6Fc]

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News: Virtual On Force Options Update

Posted on : 03-12-2010 | By : | In : News, Videos

Hardware:

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4Gamer has a cool and nerdy lowdown on Virtual On Force’s various options. From the ability to switch “seats”, which produces a differently styled hud (a la Oratan). Though the coolest option has to be the ability to switch between the music libraries for all three arcade games, including the original Virtual On. The official site also has had a funky update too, where it has a video of Takenobu Mitsuyoshi singing “Conquista Ciela” (shown below) and a sample version of the Chronicle artbook packaged with the Memorial Box. What’s particularly amazing about the latter is that it shows a lot of previously unseen design sketches by Hajime Katoki. That alone is worth the asking price in our opinion.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxkOv4A4vuY]

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News: CosmicBreak Near Release and CosmicCommander Unveiled

Posted on : 02-12-2010 | By : | In : News, Videos

Hardware:

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Third-person (third-robot?) action MMO CosmicBreak has announced that its final beta test will begin on December 16th and this will transition directly into official service, with no data wipe between. The makers of CosmicBreak have also announced a browser-based strategy game based on the CosmicBreak universe, CosmicCommander, which while still in a rough alpha condition is giving access to those who register for the CosmicBreak beta.

CosmicBreak still appears to be free to play, with the profit coming from the common “cash shop” method, so with that and the low system requirements hopefully this game sees some play. The game has been in various betas for a while now and it’s good to see the game finally get an official release, rather than falling into development hell. Screenshots and videos of CosmicBreak are a bit deceptive, as while the game mechanics look very much “MMO” in nature where tweaked stats triumph over good gameplay and the player merely targets an enemy to attack, the controls are very similar to most mecha games, albeit a tad simplified, and rather than equipment being the deciding factor, it’s the pilot that makes the real difference.

CosmicBreak is also getting a single-player mode, which will be a help to people who want to practice the game without feeling pressure being either in a co-operative or competitive environment, which is something I personally feel massively multiplayer games ignore at their own peril, because it makes it all too easy for the newcomer to feel overwhelmed by the professionals.

The graphics are a bit more cutesy than I’d like but there is a good mix between the standard mechanical robots and the mecha musume girls running around the place, and there’s nothing stopping you from picking only the mechs and declaring a war on robot girls with skirts much too short. The cutesy graphics also have an upside in that the system requirements are fairly low; I haven’t seen a laptop that can’t run CosmicBreak and if I could deal with a jittery 15 frames per second I could even play on my piddly netbook.

The game has a few different modes, the most notable one that works as a proto-roguelike, where a single person or team venture into a series of instanced dungeons looking for loot and an exit to the next level of the instance, with the caveat that they need to reach the end of the dungeon to keep most of the loot they’ve required. You’re always tempted to grab just a few more items before heading on, and with a group you constantly have to make triage decisions about whether to risk a friend dying for just a bit more lucre. I’d give CosmicBreak a try for that game mode alone.

CyberStep has also announced a new game currently in the alpha stage of development called CosmicCommander, a browser-based strategy game featuring the same robots and universe as CosmicBreak. The trailer they’ve sent out seems to imply a mix of Ogre Battle and Super Robot Wars Z, and registering for CosmicBreak seems to get you access to a limited time alpha test of CosmicCommander, with the promise of goodies earned in CosmicCommander transferring back to CosmicBreak in a powerful gattai of marketing synergy. Hopefully we will have some first hand impressions to give you of CosmicCommander, as my college Grade Point Average shuffles off to a corner and shoots itself. If any of you are interested, use the comments section below to talk about doing a Mecha Damashii group when CosmicBreak opens back up, as we take the war to the Cleavage-Showing False Mecha. Steel is strong, flesh is weak! Thou shalt not suffer cute robot girls to live!

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTuzgOQVxhg]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql4uOnspfNE]

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News: Gundam Musou 3 Pre-Launch Ceremony

Posted on : 23-11-2010 | By : | In : News, Videos

Hardware: ,

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What with the launch of Gundam Musou 3 around the corner, 4Gamer have a nice bit of coverage for the game’s pre-launch ceremony. From the announcement of background online matchmaking (where players can battle away in the story only to have the game seeking online gamers to help them out), to the unsurprising reveal of forthcoming DLC. The latter will feature two mobile suits, the GNX-Y901TW Susanowo (piloted by one MISTAH BUSHIDO) and the NZ-666 Kshatriya, as well as maybe a new level or two. Pricing and release dates for the DLC haven’t been finalised as yet though. The really classy aspect of the event was how Bandai had rolled out Harutoshi Fukui – author of the original novels – to help pimp the various Gundam Unicorn awesomeness that will be in the game. In the meantime, enjoy some more videos of the game in action.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-668nwiIo]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1-Bw2h6Zco]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2FTKe4_3bM]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSwHdnR767Q]

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