You may remember a while back that we posted about a collection of classic mecha gaming gashapon released by Takara Tomy. Truth be told, most of the figures in the set were pretty woeful but a few weren’t. Notably, that of the assaults suits from both Leynos and Valken. It seems that the Japanese online shop, AmiAmi, is releasing a custom desert camouflage Valken figure from the same line. In addition to sporting a new colour scheme the toy also has the booster pack attached to its rear. This was seen in the second mission of Assaults Suits Valken (or Cybernator as it was released in the West). The figure will be released in March 2010 for 1000 yen, though you can pre-order it now from AmiAmi. Many thanks to Matthew Hawkins (aka Fort90) for pointing this out.

We mentioned not that long ago about a new line of commemorative gaming releases for Gundam’s 30th Anniversary. Well, they’re now out with places like Play Asia stocking a fair few. Our personal recommendations would be Gundam MS Sensen 0079 an FPS on the Wii, pictured above, and Gundam Battle Universe a third person shooter on the PSP. Neither of these games will probably see a Western release so you’d best acquire them now whilst they’re available at their new reduced price point. We will be reviewing both games in the new future though, so also keep an eye out for that.

Nippon Ichi America sent out a release giving the release date for Sakura Wars in the US as March 23rd, 2010. There seems to have been a bit of confusion early on, as some sites were reporting February, but the March date is the more recent one and straight from the horse’s mouth. I’m actually glad for the delay, as I think it’s wise to give Sakura Wars a bit of space from the other January and February releases, which given the amount and quality of the games coming out after Christmas, I’d be worried an already niche title like Sakura Wars could get crowded out.

Unfortunately, it seems that the previously announced Special Edition will be PS2 only, and that the Wii version will only have a standard edition available. The Special Edition comes with a bonus artbook, poster, and special outer cover, along with both the English and Japanese voices, while the regular edition will only feature the English dub. To try to compensate for the lack of a special edition for Wii owners, however, Nippon Ichi America is saying they’ll offer the Wii version at an “attractive price point.”

To commemorate Gundam’s 30th Anniversary, Bandai Namco are re-releasing a selection of best selling Gundam games at a reduced price in Japan. Some of these games are still Japanese exclusives, which is a shame as the recent Wii game developed by Team White Dingo was superb and it never made the jump abroad. Likewise, Artdink’s excellent PSP games are still without a Western release. These anniversary versions will hit Japanese stores on the 17th December.

Niche gaming news site SiliconEra posted a veritable deluge of Sakura Wars screenshots, this time with English text. We don’t have a solid release date for Sakura Wars’ release date yet other than a vague “Winter 2009/2010″, but the English screenshots imply that the localization is coming along nicely.

The official site for Sakura Wars has been updated fairly regularly, and unlike a few other Nippon Ichi America official sites, it seems to be written by someone with a good grasp on English, so feel free to give it a read. If you’re interested in a strategy RPG with beautiful girls and stubby mecha, it’s probably worth at least a look (fans of beautiful mecha and stubby girls need not apply). Keep in mind the game we’re getting as “Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love” is really Sakura Wars 5 in Japan, as the West have never before received a localized version of the game, and presumably Nippon Ichi America doesn’t want customers getting scared off by the lack of the other four installments. It’s kind of like how America’s Final Fantasy 3 was really Japan’s Final Fantasy 6.

The Japanese release date for Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All-Stars has been announced to be the 28th January next year (two days after the US release and a day before the European launch). This is the updated version over Cross Generation of Heroes, which only saw a Japanese release at the end of last year. Ultimate All-Stars will also feature the much loved Tekkaman Blade, seen above, as a playable character. Naturally, in Japan, Bandai have been a tad shrewd about this and scheduled a release of the Armor Plus Tekkaman Blade toy to coincide with the launch of the game. This is not to be confused with the recently released set that also included Pegas, as the Armor Plus toy is a much larger rendition of just Blade himself.

A new promo video for Super Robot Wars Neo is now online. This video is particularly noteworthy as it shows the new non-grid based map setup and how that interlinks with the battle system. In short, it looks to be masterfully fluid in terms of how the strategy will work out. Naturally, this is ideal for Neo as it’s being clearly aimed at a younger audience due to its slightly kiddy mecha show line-up. That said, having a similar setup for the subsequent Super Robot Wars games would also work extremely well as it would add more tactical intricacy and depth if handled well. The game’s release is still scheduled for the end of October in Japan.

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As many had already assumed, it seems that the vague “Winter 2009/2010″ release date that Nippon Ichi America gave to Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love means that we won’t be seeing it this year. I’ve been waiting for a game in the Sakura Wars series to come over since the days of the Sega Saturn, so while I’m sure I can wait a little while longer, it’s definitely going to be a tough sell for many hardcore gamers with all the other highly anticipated titles that have already been pushed back into 2010, such as Bayonetta and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. It’s being released on the PlayStation 2 and the Wii, which aren’t exactly the first choices of hardcore gamers these days, which also makes me worry about its success.

To tie in with the release of Super Robot Wars Neo at the end of this month, Banpresto are launching their ad campaign. Normally, these have involved the indomitable Shoko-tan for the past few iterations but this one is especially endearing as it’s portrayed as a mock newsreel with obligatory helicopter reportage. There’s a nice bit of coverage over at 4gamer, which shows the making of as well.

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A nice long promo video for Super Robot Wars Neo was released recently, as the game is gearing up for release at the end of October in Japan. These videos are normally the ones given to high street shops to advertise the game in store (hence the length and the fact it goes through every series featured). Unlike the main bulk of Super Robot Wars games, Neo uses 3D models in the attack animations and it’s also the first game in the series to be released on the Wii (hence the slightly kiddy line-up of mecha). Despite being a port of the GC and XO games, Neo does have a bit more going for it as Banpresto have utilised a full 3D map and streamlined the whole body parts system. In that, you can no longer target the head or legs of an enemy mecha. Hopefully, unlike XO, Neo won’t feature a horrifically evil final boss fight.

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