What with another Tamashii Features event set for this weekend, both Hobbystock and GA Graphic have had the chance to get a sneak peak. From the off, it seems that the Robot Damashii line is really in ascendance. From all manner of classic Gundam mobile suits, with a very odd appearance of the PMX-002 Bolinoak Sammahn being notable, to mecha from the suitably new Rinne no Lagrange. What’s also interesting is that there will be a new sub-line of toys called “Ka Signature”, featuring styling and decals by Hajime Katoki. What’s especially interesting for us though is the appearance of a new Dunbine toy (pictured above) and the news that previously announced Billbine will indeed be able to transform into wing caliber mode as well as sport a large aura sword extension. Even the Super Robot Chogokin Armored Core V toy was on show, but the Grind Blade looks a bit wobbly if we’re honest.

A second alpha test for the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam Online has been announced and outline over at 4Gamer. Set within the caves and jungles of Jaburo, players will have access to 6 new mobile suits as well. Whilst you can’t sign-up for the new alpha as yet, the report says that the official site will afford this sometime soon. It’s still looking pretty solid but what with the newly announced Gundam Battle Operation already undergoing it’s first closed beta, it will be interesting see how this visually bland version will fare.

What with the release of Super Robot Wars Z 2 Saisei-hen barely a week away, 4Gamer has done a repost of Famitsu’s prior screenshots as well as done a piece on the official Super Robot Wars site getting a makeover (making it more compatible with mobile browsers, amongst other things). We’re still super excited about this game, so a review will be forthcoming after we receive our copy. Don’t forget you can still preorder it here.

As of a few days ago, a third DLC pack was released for the Gundam Unicorn game on PS3. Containing a lot more free content this time, the only really paid element (bar some emblems and a weapon pack) is another new mobile suit. Specifically that of the ARX-014 Silver Bullet (pictured above). Like much of the previous DLC mobile suit content, this too is also from the Bande Dessinee manga tie-in. Of all the MSV entries in Unicorn, this is probably one of the most interesting though. The design originally stems from the ORX-013 Gundam Mark V seen in Gundam Sentinel, which in turn produced the AMX-014 Doven-Wolf from Gundam ZZ and that in turn created the Silver Bullet. It’s also one of those mobile suits that looks like a Gundam but actually isn’t (much like the RGM-79FC Striker Custom, that’s actually a pimped out GM Striker). What’s curious about the Silver Bullet, in a functional sense at least, is that it has INCOM units. These are remote units attached via wire that can either reflect mega particle beam shots or create their own. Somewhat like funnels or bits, they historically don’t require a Newtype as a traditional psycommu system is rarely involved in their control and this means mass production is (in theory) more viable as normal pilots can handle them instead. In any case, we’re just happy we have even more mobile suits to play with.

Update: A fourth DLC has also been recently released, featuring a rather epic looking Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, at the princely sum of 500 yen.

For our readers that are now finally playing Armored Core V, we’ve set up some Mecha Damashii teams for you. Due to the server split, we’ve created a team pretty much in each region. However, the US and European teams are only on the 360 version (Tollmaster runs the US team and I run the European one in case you’re wondering). So, come on and join up to have some fun with us. If that wasn’t enough, our own Tollmaster is also in the game’s credits. Requiring a truly gilded brofist to celebrate the occasion.

Moving on from that, there has been a lot of (Japanese fan) speculation about an official Armored Core series timeline since Armored Core V was released in late January. Whilst there is a timeline in Armored Core Mechanical Guidance and Armored Core 10 Works Complete File that covers the PSone and PS2 games, the newer games (even including Chrome Hounds) haven’t really been officially explained as yet. We’ll be collating this over the next few days and doing a post on it most likely but in the meantime join in the fun on Armored Core V.

As expected, PLUM have finally announced their ASS-117A Valken kit from the classic Super Famicom mecha shooter Assault Suits Valken. Prototypes were previewed a while back and after the success of the various AS-5E3 Leynos kits, this was only a matter of time. Actually set before the events in Leynos, the first Valken game features much grittier mecha designs. These were similarly penned by Kazutaka Miyatake under the auspices of Studio Nue. This particular kit is also of the unit used by the main character, Jake. On sale this July at a very reasonable 6,900 yen, you can pre-order it here.

It’s been reported that veteran anime director Noboru Ishiguro passed away recently at the age of 73. A monolithic figure in anime, he helmed all manner of classic mecha anime from Macross to Orguss as well as Megazone 23. Not to mention his amazing work on the original Yamato and the utterly epic Legend of Galactic Heroes. Considering that Hiroshi Kakoi only died last year (though under very different circumstances obviously), to have yet another Macross alumni pass away is so very sad. As always, our thoughts are with his friends and family during this difficult time.

It’s been announced that the long awaited Blu-Ray release for Macross Do You Remember Love? will also in fact be a hybrid game disc like the last two Macross Frontier movies. The game, very likely developed by Artdink, will be called “My Boyfriend is a Pilot 2012”. Not only is 2012 an important year for the saga, as it marks its 30th Anniversary, but it also is the date in which Macross Flashback 2012 is set (this will also be included in the Blu-Ray box set apparently). This isn’t the first time the classic movie has been rendered in game form either, as there was an excellent 2.5D shooter on the PSone and Saturn as well as the rather wonderful PS2 game (not to mention all the PSP games too). The disc will be released on the 26th July this year and come in two versions; standard and a boxset. The standard disc will cost 7,140 yen and the box set at 13,800 yen.

Following on from the recent promo, Gundam Battle Operation has received a nice new update article over at 4Gamer. The piece has all manner of new screenshots and goes into some detail about the game’s system. Notable are the mentions regarding the grappling setup, which seems to be a context sensitive menu (ugh) and the fact that mobile suits will be customisable. You’ll also be able to colour your character too. The article also confirms that infantry will be able to repair mobile suits in the field as well as hitch a ride. Once the beta for this is out we’ll be posting our impressions.

As expected, we now have the nice extended promo for the upcoming Super Robot Wars Z 2 Saisei-hen. This is the promo that normally goes the rounds on the high street games shops too, so the 13 minute duration is on account of that. In addition, there’s also a very short commercial too (stitched together from bits of the new promo). We’ve included both below. As for elements of note, well seeing the X-ATH-02-DT Rabidly Dog (pictured above) in action is a wonderful thing indeed though we’re not too impressed with the Dancouga and Dancouga Nova team-up (we’d rather Dancouga Nova wasn’t even in the game to be perfectly honest). Bar that, there’s a lot of cool stuff jammed in at the end too so prepare thy body accordingly. Finally, there was a rather nice event recently celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the series (though technically the first Super Robot Wars game was released in 1991). Naturally, Ichiro Mizuki was on hand to add a sense of tamashii to the proceedings. Don’t forget you can still preorder the game here.