IGN posted some impressions of a pre-alpha version of Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury, coming to Xbox Live Arcade. It sounds like the new game stays true to the formula used by Bangai-O on the Dreamcast and Bangai-O Spirits on the Nintendo DS, and notably includes a level editor like Spirits did, which will allow users to send their creations to their online friends, although without the DS version’s really cool/really finicky Sound Loud feature.

The new game returns to the Dreamcast version’s control setup, with one stick being used to move your mecha and the other controlling the direction of your shots, which likely means a return to a completely manic pace, as opposed to Spirits’ methodically and strategically manic pace. It’s a setup that should likely be familiar with the rebirth of arena shooters after the popularity enjoyed by Geometry Wars on the XBLA, and thus hopefully can attract a larger audience than the cult classic originals.

The original Bangai-O managed to incorporate a number of important and intrinsically mecha elements into its gameplay, such as the Itano Circus of missiles being unloaded and the use of shots and missile fratricide to carve out areas of relative safety. The control of the titular robot Bangai-O itself also had a certain amount of heft and weight to it when you weren’t actively dashing, and its ability to shoot more missiles the more imminent danger the Bangai-O was in was a decidedly Super Robot mechanic. The more intense the danger, the hotter Bangai-O’s spirit burns! If you’re curious about the series, then make sure to check out our feature on the games.

The current price point seems to be 800 Xbox Points, which likely averages out to be less than 1 Point per missile onscreen at once.

To accompany the latest promo video, 4Gamer has a veritable onslaught of in-game screenshots for the upcoming Super Robot Wars L. From Macross Frontier to Dancouga Nova, the screens show off the new shows that will grace the game. Our favourite is probably Linebarrel, as we have a soft spot for the manga (the Alter toy is also utterly magnificent). In addition, in some fervent quarters of the net mecha gamers have mistaken the word “some” with “all” in our previous post regarding the re-using of animation assets for the handheld Super Robot Wars games. It’s plainly obvious that Banpresto do re-use assets between the various SRW games, arguably more with the recent handheld outings, but this doesn’t obviously equate to “all” the assets in the games. So as King Gainer’s overfreeze attack would suggest, chill.

Update: Play-Asia are now taking preorders for the game.

Amongst a bevy of other games, SEGA will also have a playable version of Virtual On Force at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Whether they’ll have any of HORI’s sticks at the show remains unconfirmed but rumours are that a select few will be present for punters to try out. Considering that these are pre-order only items it seems a tad unfair to show people something they can’t actually buy. With any luck the aforementioned fetish unlock code won’t be present at the show.

4Gamer has a nice bit of coverage on Gundam Extreme Versus’ presence at this year’s C3xHOBBY. Despite the presence of Kazuki Yao, the voice of Judau Ashta (amongst many others), the interesting announcement is the presence of a new Kunio Okawara design in the game, called the Extreme Gundam. Similar in many ways to the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam but it also has a reverse “face” currently hidden from view. This will be a boss unit in the game and there’s no word on whether it will be playable as yet.

The upcoming Super Robot Wars OG anime directed by none other than Masami Obari has finally received its first PV (shown below). Despite the somewhat unnerving character design, having the cockpits shake and rattle in both the PTX-007-03C Weisritter and PTX-003C Alteisen is rather refreshing. The PV is also quite long too and shows a good chunk of footage.

Game Watch has announced that on release of Virtual On Force in December customers who pre-ordered the game will have access to a “fetish unlock code”. This will allow players to increase the chest size of both Fei-Yen and Angelan, effectively giving the VR’s larger robotic breasts (pictured above).

Being a long-term player of the games, I find this “feature” palpably creepy and more than a little unsettling.

Over at 4Gamer they’ve shown this week’s sales and bearing in mind that Another Century’s Episode R was only released last Thursday the fact it’s at the top of the charts with a whopping 219,849 sales is very impressive (especially as it’s higher than the three previous games). What’s less impressive is actually how bad the game is and despite the somewhat suspicious glut of positive reviews in the Japanese games press, the public are really not happy with the new game. Whilst our review will be forthcoming in the next day or so, for those that sat on the fence for this you really shouldn’t bother and the remainder that imported (including yours truly) we share your pain. Here’s hoping the inevitable next game in the series isn’t as bad as this one was.

In the latest issue of Famitsu a new hand-held Super Robot Wars title has been announced, now with an “L” suffix. Whilst a new SRW game is always nice news, the fact it’s yet another DS title does grate somewhat. As Banpresto have a habit of regurgitating content between versions, with SRWL being no exception to this as the line-up reuses a large amount of series from W and K (amongst other things). Whilst there are some new series featured, such as Macross Frontier and Linebarrel, it’s still a bit of a rehash. Admittedly we get why Banpresto are doing this, as the DS is massive in Japan and re-using assets is cost effective but come on – where’s the PS3 SRW 2D turn based strategy epic we’ve all be waiting for? In any case, SRWL will be released in Japan on November 25th.

Updated: Famitsu has some new screenshots for the game on their site and the official site has gone live too.

One of the most terrifying opponents in From Software’s series of Armored Core games is the ultimate incarnation of Nineball, that of Nineball Seraph. First introduced as the final boss in Armored Core Master of Arena, it was one of the first transforming antagonists seen in the series. However when Seraph reappeared in Armored Core 2 Another Age, as a secret boss, this was when its reputation as a brutal opponent surfaced. Colloquially known as “jetboy” amongst the Western gaming throng, Seraph would obliterate almost everyone that tried to face it in combat.

It seems that Nineball Seraph has finally made it into the just released Another Century’s Episode R, though with a few minor modifications admittedly (with the shoulders being notable). This would be the first time, since the original Another Century’s Episode, that a From Software mecha made it into the series (as the last was a Cloudbreaker from the Xbox game Murakumo). Whether this is a playable unit remains to be seen though. In other news, the wonderful Hi-Nu Gundam has been confirmed as a secret unlock in the game as well, this would mark the unit’s current generation debut in an action game. In any case, we’ve linked the video of Seraph’s introduction below as well as its appearances in Armored Core.

4gamer continues the cavalcade of Solatorobo screenshots and art, this time covering more of the game’s main city and more of the main robot, Dahak’s different forms. The Type S, for instance, looks suitably hot-blooded in its promotional art (pictured) for the brawler the screenshots show it to be, and I can’t not love the robot form where both arms become shields. The red form with the stretchy, birdlike arms uses them not only for picking up objects and throwing them but also for grabbing missiles and redirecting them back at their launchers mid-flight, which is probably both physically impossible and totally badass.

The different forms of the Dahak seem to fit well into Solatorobo’s game design, which has thus far shown a propensity towards experimentation with different game concepts. We know that there are both 2D and 3D platforming stages, some of which are also played on foot at times, but we’ve also seen a fishing for battleships minigame, 3D flight areas, and revealed in this new batch of screenshots, a 3D flight racing game (which seems to have different mechanics from the other 3D flight areas).

Fitting into all this talk of different robotic forms and different stages is the reveal that the Dahak seems to also be customizable with a set of chips laid into a gridlike pattern; it looks like there is the possibility for a little bit of fine-tuning the Dahak as well, if a bunch of awesome junkmech forms and a technorgasmic transformation leave you wanting more.