On January 29th, Archer Arios and Gundam GP-03 will be added to the Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost roster. As you may know, these two units were previously released as DLC for the PS3 version of Gundam Extreme Versus. The units themselves felt very much like they were made specifically for the sequel, so it will be interesting to see how well they both perform with their intended gameplay mechanics.

In addition, Bandai will be releasing a Robot Damashii version of the Extreme Gundam (Type Leos) Xenon Phase unit found in Full Boost on April 13th. Obviously taking cues from G Gundam units, the Extreme Gundam Xenon Phase is aesthetically similar to the GF13-017NJII God Gundam in this particular evolved form. I’m sure we’ll see the rest of the Extreme Gundam forms as the year continues.

As was hinted at a while back, the mighty RX-105 Xi Gundam will indeed be getting the Robot Damashii treatment. Pre-orders start today and it is also a Bandai premium online shop purchase. Coming in at 10,500 yen it’s probably one of the most expensive Robot Damashii toys yet made. There is good reason for this though, the toy is utterly huge. It’s being done to scale with the other Gundam mobile suits and at 26m in the original novels, that practically dwarfs the original RX-78-2 Gundam (that’s just a meagre 18m). To put this into perspective, the mobile armor PMX-000 Messala from Zeta Gundam has a lower head height (23m) than the Xi Gundam. There are some nice comparison shots of the new toy too and it shows the scale difference off very nicely. Apart from the height, this will also be part of the Ka Signature splinter brand. So it’s going to have Hajime Katoki handle the the modelling and finish. The Xi Gundam was also recently added to Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost as well as a DLC pack for the current Gundam Extreme Versus. In any case, it’s one of our favourite Moriki Yasuhiro designs so we’ll be getting this for sure.

We now finally have details on Kotobukiya’s much awaited first Armored Core V kit, dubbed the AGNI it uses a different config to the Super Robot Chogokin toy (despite looking somewhat similar). It will be released in may this year for 6,090 yen. As Kotobukiya have a record for making thoroughly excellent Armored Core kits, we’re looking forward to this one.

In a slightly weird move, Bandai will be releasing a toy of a mecha called GunGreat Nations which in turn may apparently be a boss in the upcoming Battle Robot Damashii. Utilising parts of Bandai’s Tamashii logo, it also seems to be a design intended to be emblematic of Bandai’s toy mecha dominion. If we’re honest we think it looks bloody ugly but it is at least a lot better than this Disney monstrosity Bandai have concocted. Oh to have that as a boss in the game, then at least we could cleave its disgusting figure in twain with a well placed aura sword strike. No word on a price or release date for the above GunGreat Nations toy, nor which toyline it will be part of.

At the recent Nintendo Direct, Satoru Iwata announced a new Monolith Soft RPG for the WiiU tentatively titled “X”. For those of you who may not know, Monolith Soft recently worked on Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii and other “Xeno” RPGs including the Xenosaga series, Xenogears, on top of Super Robot Wars OG: Endless Frontier. If you recall, previous Xeno RPGs featured controllable mecha called Gears the protagonists used to fight off their enemies. This new project seems to give the mecha (tentatively known as Dolls) more utility outside of combat and basic travel to include traversing the world in different modes including the usual mecha mode to a wheeled vehicle, all while engrossing the player in the game’s massive scope. As a huge fan of the Xeno series of games and Xenoblade Chronicles (which I spent around 120 hours on my first playthrough), I am really looking forward to how this game will play out. Also, Hiroyuki Sawano of Gundam Unicorn fame will be composing the soundtrack to X.  Hopefully we can see more information regarding this game and how well ingrained the mecha are in the lore, but until then please watch the trailer below.

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The next DLC pack for the PS3 version of Gundam Extreme Versus has been announced. On February 7, players will be able to download the MBF-P01-Re Gundam Astray Gold Frame Amatsu and the AMX-011S Zaku III Custom for 500 yen each. This will be the first time we see any of these units grace the Gundam Versus series and have a unit cost of 2000 and 1000 respectively. We’ll be looking forward to seeing how well they mesh with the already massive lineup of mobile suits. This pack should be the last of the new wave of DLC units to hit Gundam Extreme Versus since the recent release of the Best version last December. When you get a chance, make sure to check out the DLC video announcement below!

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Over at Hideo Kojima’s Twitter feed he previewed a shot of a Revoltech Vic Viper from Anubis. For one it looks lovely and it will be at least affordable. Talking of other Revoltech’s, Naked Jehuty is now out too and our review will be forthcoming. If you can’t wait for the Vic Viper Revoltech they you can still buy the Kotobukiya kit, in addition a RIOBOT toy is also planned.

As the new Super Robot Chogokin Gurren Lagann hits the shelves in Japan, Bandai have announced a limited edition Anti Gurren Lagann to be released in June for 6,000 yen. This was a special boss unit that appeared towards the end of Saisei-hen (shown in a video below), so this is yet again another unique progeny from the Super Robot Wars saga (much like our beloved Final Dancouga). Whilst this does indeed look lovely, it will only be available for purchase in Japan through Bandai’s premium online store.

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In two new videos and an interview, all manner of new things have been revealed regarding the upcoming Battle Robot Damashii. The first point of note is that Artdink are handling the game’s development, this is a good thing and does sort of mark them as the go to mecha tie-in studio to go to after From Software dropped the ball with Another Century’s Episode R. The second point is that the game will feature Ideon as a playable unit. This is quite simply fucking mental. It’s also interesting to point out that whilst the name of the game cites the Robot Damashii toyline, the game will in fact feature other toylines too (as Ideon only has a Soul of Chogokin to speak of in modern toy terms). Finally, you’ll also see a familiar sight from Armored Core V in the videos below. This very much warmed our heart. There’s also a lot of Dunbine and L-Gaim love going on here as well, that’s something we’re obviously happy to see.

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In a tantalisingly short video (shown below), Bamco have shown off the much talked about kit bashing customisation element in Gundam Breaker. In a funny sort of way it’s somewhat similar to classic Armored Core in a way and this is no bad thing. In addition to the video below there have been some nice updates at both 4Gamer and Famitsu. The important thing to note is that the Vita version is still being advertised again.

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