4Gamer has an interesting breakdown of the campaign modes in the upcoming Gundam Unicorn game. We already knew about the Unicorn Mode, which allowed players to choose to play through the narratives of several characters in the anime. The latest addition though is that of Custom Cast Mode, this allows you to create a team of six pilots and a warship and undertake a variety of challenging missions. Considering one of our concerns was the somewhat lean singleplayer, this new mode sounds to beef things up quite a bit. The other element is that of a prequel narrative, written by Harutoshi Fukui (who also penned the Unicorn novels), regarding Full Frontal’s stealing of the Sinanju Stein as well as introducing the Gundam Delta Kai (specifically built for Newtypes). On top of all this, there will also be DLC for the game. The first being revealed to be the forerunner to the pimp-tastic Hyakushiki, that of the transformable MSN-001 Delta Gundam. Finally, there are also some more details as to the gameplay; specifically that there is a mode shift present. This sounds a lot like the controls shift seen in the last two Another Century’s Episode games on the PS2, which would make sense as they were also developed by From Software. The game is definitely shaping up though and we’re keen to get our hands on it when it is finally released sometime next year.

The decade long lineage of the Gundam Versus games started out as a simplified reaction to SEGA’s more complex Virtual On. The latter required the player to keep an enemy’s position in their heads, as the camera would lose your target when you moved past them. In addition, the fixed vectored dashes made managing that even harder. The Gundam Versus games took this premise and distilled it down by removing the fixed vectored dashes and ensuring that the player could never lose sight of their target. What mixed it up was the addition of an extra opponent; two teams of two players a piece. Whilst the core mechanics were more accessible the additional enemy made combat more fluid. All of this was undertaken on a pretty standard arcade stick setup and what with the huge Gundam license attached to it, gamers piled in to play a game that was more immediately accessible but still interesting from a versus standpoint.

Fast forward ten years to the present and the Gundam Versus games have changed dramatically. The accessibility the games once had has evolved into something far more involved and in many ways has gone back to a more discerning setup similar to that of the original Virtual On games. Either way, the latest iteration in the form of Gundam Extreme Versus is nothing short of an arcade versus thoroughbred.

Following on from their various summary videos for Armored Core V, From Software will be hosting yet another live stream of the game on 16th December. Entitled “Full Burst” the stream will be 3 hours long and be suitably thorough by the sounds of it, though we’re not sure what exactly will be covered as From Software are being a tad vague on specifics. You can also follow the stream here on the day.

Considering the arcade heritage behind Gundam Extreme Versus you would have thought that there would a dedicated stick for it. Well, Bandai Namco are going to do just that. Via their Lalabit Market, for the rather large sum of 14,800 yen, you’ll be able to have your very own Gundam styled stick in March of next year. What’s not entirely clear at the moment is who the stick is made by, though it looks like it could be HORI. It’s also a bit odd considering that this will only be available four months after the release of the game itself. We’re already blitzing the game with our Real Arcade Pro. 3 and whilst the Gundam styling of this stick looks pretty nifty we’re not sure what else it really offers to the discerning gamer. As four our review of the game itself, stay tuned for that as we’re writing it now.

Over at the official Lord of Elemental II: Revelation of Evil God site, there’s now a second promo video available. Unlike other sites, Banpresto have finally decided to stream their footage via YouTube. This means we no longer have to put up with crappy laggy footage hosted on an antiquated server in Japan somewhere. The promo itself is also rather lovely too obviously and the animation is still looking insanely good. The game is still set for its January 12th release and you can pre-order the box set (of both games) here. Thanks to Spyrle for the heads-up.

There’s a nice update over at 4Gamer for the forthcoming Gundam Unicorn game. Whilst the information and shots are pretty much the same as those shown at Famitsu originally, these are now at HD resolution so you can really see the detail. Though this piece does talk more about the weight of the mobile suits and that they’ll feel “heavy”. Still no word on a price or specific release date as yet, bar sometime next year. We still really want to see some game footage before we get too excited though.

Those wonderful people at Gears Online have finally created a lovely section dedicated to Genesis Climber Mospeada. This was a classic 80’s real robot mecha show that was later folded into the Borg-like entity known as Robotech. What’s notable about this show though is that it was created and contained the mecha designs of one Shinji Aramaki. Featuring awesome transforming power armor, this talent would later be used to great effect in direct the Halo Legends anime as well as designing the prototype Mjolinir armor (which we think looks so much cooler than the vanilla armor used by Master Chief). As with all their sections on classic anime at Gears Online, this is no different as it is rife with lush line art and other wonderful production insights.

The first set of DLC for Gundam Extreme Versus has been fully revealed finally. Apart from the GNW-20000 Arche Gundam, which we already new about, we also now have the RX-79BD-1 GM Blue Destiny Unit 1 and its beastly EXAM system in full effect. The latter is probably one of the greater gaming heirlooms in terms of the Gundam mythos, as the Blue Destiny Trilogy on the Saturn was truly wonderful. In addition to the mobile suits, priced at 500 yen each, there will be 8 additional trial missions available for free. All of this DLC will be released on December 22nd.

Update: 4Gamer also has a really nice update about the upcoming DLC.

Following on from the summary breakdown, there’s now a singleplayer video for Armored Core V over at From Software’s YouTube channel, as well as another live recording from Frequency (suitably Armored Core V themed to boot). There’s only one more video breakdown to go before the end of December.

4Gamer has a nice new piece on a forthcoming online Gundam multiplayer game that will feature brawls with over 100 mobile suits. Entitled Mobile Suit Gundam Online, the game will be released on PC and players will have to pick between either Federation or Zeon units. This alone means that the game will be set resolutely within the UC timeline. Whilst this sounds to be more combat orientated, we’ve already been down this road before (in the form of the ill-fated Universal Century Gundam Online) so we’re a little worried this may not do all that well. What is encouraging, apart from the non-crazy specs, is that a large alpha test is planned with at least 3,000 players in the next week or two. Hopefully this help to assuage many of the issues that are inevitable with games like these prior to its release.