Over at 4Gamer there’s a new update on Gundam Assault Survive’s map system. As suspected, it does sound to be remarkably similar to how parts of the Dynasty Warriors games operate – in that maps are accessed in-game depending on completing criteria in a certain section, as well as both allies and enemies escaping to other maps as you’re playing.

There also seems to be hints of including the narrative from the original Gundam novels, as the G-3 Gundam seems to be part of a story mission and that was only ever used in the novels (though admittedly many other games have already used the G-3 as an unlockable). It’s worth pointing out that the finale in the novels is dramatically different when compared to the TV series and movies, so it will be interesting to see if it’s included or not.

Finally, we’re also happy to see the re-emergence of both the Xi Gundam and Hi-Nu Gundam from Gundam Battle Universe, again mobile suits featured in novels. Despite being wonderfully potent units to play with, both designs are suitably lovely in an aesthetic sense too.

The game is still scheduled for release on March 18th.

For those that like some mass produced spirit in their mecha, the recently HGUC kit of the D-50C Loto from Gundam Unicorn appears to have serious knee joint issues. Set at 1/144 scale the kit is also tiny, to the extent that it can double as one of the feet on the Soul of Chogokin Dancouga!

The Loto is also part of the wider canon, as it acts as the base for the Guntank R-44 seen in Gundam F-91. In any case, if you were thinking of buying this kit – then you might want to hold off until Bandai resolve this flaw.

The mecha from Gundam Unicorn were recently featured in Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus, though the Loto was absent from the roster there are rumours that it could be included in the upcoming DLC.

As we previously posted, the online Armored Core Battle TV service is now live and hosting a selection of gameplay videos. This is currently hosting videos from the recently released Armored Core Last Raven Portable but there’s no reason why the same service couldn’t be offered for something like Armored Core 5. The videos themselves are also quite interesting and whilst it’s clear that the PSP controls do limit movement somewhat, the final result is a lot like the PS2 original. Naturally, a review of Last Raven Portable will be forthcoming.

Separately, the campaign code site for Armored Core 5 is also up and running. So if you have a copy of Last Raven Portable, then it’s time to collect your online trinkets!

Over at 4Gamer there’s a nice update on Gundam Assault Survive’s shop and unit upgrading setup. For those that already played the Gundam Battle games, this meta-game back-end with all the unit upgrading will sound very familiar. However, it seems that Artdink have learnt from Macross Ultimate Frontier and allowed the player to short cut this grind with direct purchases. In addition, Assault Survive is unique in the sense it’s featuring non-UC timeline series, such as Gundam SEED above. It will be interesting to see how they resolve the disparate abilities of the mobile suits from Gundam 00, that all use the suitably mysterious GN drives as a form of power and propulsion.

For the upcoming release of Armored Core Last Raven Portable, From Software will be offering a new service to players that choose to upload their arena replay data; Battle TV. This basically allows other players to access other people’s replay data online and view it for themselves. Whilst this is pretty interesting, it does beg the question why they didn’t offer an infrastructure option instead of setting up an Armored Core specific replay library. Players will be able to start uploading their videos on the 4th March and a special replay data movie will be assembled shortly after the service starts, showcasing a variety of “mad skillz” most probably.

Over at Game Watch they’ve covered the upcoming update for the cockpit-tastic Senjou no Kizuna. The update in question, Rev 2.12, includes an all new map set outside a colony as well as a much needed layout change on one of the pre-existing Jaburo maps. In addition, the article talks about a tournament in March of this year. In any case, it seems that Banpresto have been stepping up their updates as of late especially since Border Break has taken off recently.

Over at Game Watch there’s an interesting update about the additional designs being featured in Last Raven Portable. Much like the last two PSP ports getting designs from the more recent Brave New World narrative, it seems that this game will receive a series of designs from Armored Core Retribution, a similar but older Dengeki side story. In addition to the three new designs in the arena, each of them wield a new shield arm part. The game is still scheduled for an early March release.

Separately, Silent Line Portable also received its Western release at the beginning of this month. Available via the American PSN store (for $14.95), From Software are similarly publishing this entry too. Admittedly, we were very much disappointed with the first PSP port but after putting a lot of time into the Japanese release of Silent Line Portable we are far more impressed. It’s still flawed though and partially limited in terms of controls due to its host hardware but it is by no means the abject catastrophe that Armored Core 3 Portable was. Here’s hoping that Last Raven Portable builds on this to produce something more functionally cogent.

This is currently a rumour at present but it seems the next Gundam Versus game, that’s been hinted at on the official site, will be Gundam Unicorn focused. This would mark a return to the series specific approach that the games had prior to the Gundam vs Gundam shift a few years ago. This also means we’ll get to finally see both the Sinanju and Banshee in a game with any luck. In addition to this news, it also appears that the Unicorn Gundam will also make an appearance in Gundam Assault Survive and separately Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus will also receive some “Special Edition” DLC sometime in April. In any case, we’ll know for sure on these by the end of the week.

Update: It turns out that the next Gundam Versus game, Gundam Extreme Versus, isn’t series specific to Unicorn. However, there is still another Gundam arcade game in development that will tie into the series in some way.

The upcoming PSP game, Gundam Assault Survive, will receive a demo via the Japanese PSN store tomorrow. It will feature missions from the original Gundam, Seed and 00 campaigns (as well as limited AdHoc support). Interestingly, the demo will be limited to total of 10 million downloads – so be sure to move quickly once it’s available!

As promised, Anime News Network our now streaming the entirety of the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series (along with Gundam Seed, but we’re not to fussed about that to be perfectly honest). Unfortunately, this is the English dubbed version but the sheer cultural importance of the series outweighs this slight loss of fidelity. It’s also worth noting that the official continuity in the Universal Century timeline actually follows the movies and not the TV series, that said the TV series pre-dates the movies and as such is still worth seeing as it forms the fundamental base to the entire Gundam mythos.

In terms of games, there are many that try to re-enact the original TV series narrative but probably the most competent is the Namco effort Kidou Senshi Gundam Ichinen Sensou on the PlayStation 2 (videos of it in action are shown below). As it seamlessly linked both ground and spaced based combat with a surprisingly tactile third-person camera control setup. The titular RX-78-2 Gundam is also featured in the excellent Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus.

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