The latest footage from the upcoming PlayStation VR game Rigs looks actually decent (shown below). While it’s difficult to recreate VR based footage via straightforward video, the latest footage does a good job of conveying what the game will be like. It looks good too and better than I was expecting. My only minor gripe is that the weapon shot effects look somewhat lacklustre but I am willing to give the game some slack as it is a launch title for the new hardware and the rest of it looks good. The Japanese and Australian version of the game are listed for release on the 13th October, which would make sense as that also coincides with the release of PlayStation VR itself. It’s likely that the US release will be similar, considering how badly Sony needs games to support their new VR push.

Following the news that Super Robot Wars V is coming out next year on PS4 and Vita, as well as the awesome fact the game is getting a full English localization, we now have some very nice screenshots of the game to look at. The obvious weirdness in this iteration is the inclusion of Yamato 2199 but on the flipside we get Crossbone Gundam (shown above) and Hathaway’s Flash. As the game is getting an Asian release it also means Bandai Namco can bypass a lot of the licensing nonsense in the West and localize the game accordingly. Not to mention that both the PS4 and Vita are region free, means Bandai Namco has found a wondrous loophole to bring Super Robot Wars westward. Sadly, the game is out next year so we have a fair while to wait but in the meantime you can pre-order the English release here.

Along with Hawken coming to Xbox One, the game will also be released on PS4. The latest trailer (shown below) also clarifies that the game will also remain free-to-play on consoles. Considering that whole monetization setup killed Hawken on PC, I had hoped they would have gone back to the game’s origins and do something more standalone. I still think the fact that Hawken wasn’t released as a straightforward downloadable arcade game on the 360 is one of the biggest missed opportunities of the last console generation.

The game is now being handled by Reloaded Games and 505 Games. Thus far, they seem to be doing a better job than Meteor Entertainment did, as they pretty much killed the community through overt greed and incompetence. I feel sad for the old team at Adhesive Games though, as seeing their work resurrected like this must be difficult.

That said, Hawken is finally getting a wider release. Let’s hope that this time the game survives a bit better and finds the audience on console it so badly needs.

Following the first Titanfall released back in 2014, we now have an all-new and shinier Titanfall 2 on the way later this year. While the first game mostly serviced Xbros, this new game will also be coming out on PS4. The game looks good though and this time around there’s an actual proper singleplayer mode and the new grapple mechanics give me major Lost Planet 2 feels. While the singleplayer mecha setup looks interesting, in terms of narrative, the mecha themselves still look like they handle akin to people in robot suits.

Admittedly, the whole “Titans aren’t mecha” hilarity is probably worth bringing up here but I know that members of Respawn read this humble site and seem to enjoy it, so it’s clear that one guy’s slightly nutty viewpoint on mecha doesn’t represent a whole studio.

If I am brutally honest, while I personally enjoyed the first game, the mecha were dull to play with. This was proven out by the fact that both Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Black Ops III only copied the powered suit parkour from Titanfall and eschewed the mecha. It’s a shame as the Titans looks amazing but I just wish they had been more vehicular in terms of their control, rather than just feel like a slow and heavy dude.

The singleplayer and multiplayer trailers are shown below and Titanfall 2 comes out this October.

We now know that Super Robot Wars OG The Moon Dwellers will have its Asian version released on August 5th. This version of the game will also be localized into English, with subtitles being available throughout (though thankfully retaining the original Japanese voices). While the Japanese release will be made available on both PS3 and PS4, it seems the Asian version will only be on PS4. As winkysoft are sadly no more, this looks to be more of an in-house game at Bandai Namco. It’s looking lovely though but it’s sad to think that much of the engine gruntwork was likely down to winkysoft. You can pre-order the game here and by all means check out the English trailer for the game below.

Remember Hawken? The game that promised so much, only to dash all of that against the jagged rocks of an abysmally implemented free-to-play business model. Well, Hawken still survives and while the companies behind the scenes have shifted around somewhat the game still limps on. However, the good news here is that finally Hawken is coming to console. As a Taiwanese rating entry lists the game as coming to Xbox One courtesy of 505 Games. Bear in mind though, Hawken was originally meant as a console game so it seems that it is finally coming home.

We always loved the Kow Yokoyama infused mecha designs, despite the fact the creative team behind it said that they weren’t mecha at all. Fun times. The game was good too and had a great arcade sensibility to it, it’s just a pity that the approach to monetization was completely awful. These days you can still play the game on PC but it will be interesting to see how Hawken will do once it finally reaches console.

The recently released Gundam Breaker 3 is getting its first set of DLC in June. The main part of this being based around a new set of missions featuring the Hyakushiki J and Break Dias (shown above). These being obviously modified variants of the Hyakushiki and Rick Dias from Zeta Gundam. Apparently, this DLC will be based around a famous match from long ago. The good news here is that this DLC will be entirely free. The other big addition is that the 6th form of the Gundam Barbatos will also be included in another update, along with other Gunpla and extra missions. For fans in Japan there’s also a fan meeting on June 11th, so we may go to that. As for a review of Gundam Breaker 3, much like the previous game we got sick of the merciless grind for parts (as well as the insidious monetization attached to that). While the game is functionally excellent, the balancing is still way off for a full priced console game. However, at least this first set of DLC will be free.

Occasionally the Super Robot Wars games do something unexpected and the handheld versions tend to do really go for it when they do so. Super Robot Wars UX had a Hatsune Miku inspired Fei-Yen and brought the Wings of Rean aura battlers onboard, in the case of BX though the roster went back a lot further.

To clarify, BX is the first game in the series to not only feature Galient but also Giant Gorg. For any self respecting mecha anime fan, those are two series that are both brilliant and it is surprising that it took them this long to be featured in Super Robot Wars. The result is probably one of the best and most faithful Super Robot Wars game in a very long time.

While we’re still not fans of the mecha design in the upcoming game game Rigs, it does look like it will be functionally good. Considering all the hype surrounding VR, much of it down to visuals rather than functionality, we’ve been pretty skeptical about how much traction it will have with gamers. From a mecha standpoint, it could really help to make you feel that you are a pilot but much of that is also down to how the game controls. The good news here is that Rigs looks like it really understand the latter as well. With PlayStation VR out at the end of the year and for a decent price at that, we will definitely be picking Rigs up come its release.

We’ve been keeping an eye on Dual Gear since its Indiegogo campaign was announced a while back. Using Unreal Engine 4 it looks to be an interesting blend of turn based strategy coupled with a more action based approach. While it’s sad to see the crowdfunding campaign not supported as fully as it could be, the game now has a demo on Steam. Visually it looks good too and we really appreciate the mecha design as well. Developed by a small team in Thailand, we hope this game gets the support and recognition it so clearly deserves.