Back in 2001 From Software announced their support for Microsoft’s first foray into the console market. With games like Murakumo and Gaia Blade many of the Japanese press and public regarded the Xbox as a possible contender, after all this was a staunch Japanese developer making games for an American console. The thing was that whilst Murakumo was available shortly after the Xbox’s release in Japan, Gaia Blade disappeared into insignificance.

The promotional in-game movie for Gaia Blade that was shown at the 2001 Tokyo Game Show displayed a rather lush “real time simulation” RPG set in a mythical almost ancient Greek inspired landscape. A scantily clad female warrior dispensed with multiple beasts in a pretty brutal fashion.

Roll forward a year to the following Tokyo Game Show and now people were asking what had happened to Gaia Blade. This time there weren’t any in-game movies but instead a few instances of pre-production artwork. Again, set in the mythical world but now with bipedal mecha and the game’s name had been changed to that of Gaia Gear. Admittedly, very few were surprised to see mecha in a From Software game but they were confused after seeing in-game footage of what looked to be an entirely different type of game. The question on everybody’s lips was what in the hell was From Software doing?

A year later a game finally appeared, the name had changed yet again as had the setting but the same design of bi-pedal mecha were present; the world had finally been introduced to Chrome Hound: Age of Arms.

A new MMO mecha game by Gamepot, entitled Gigantomakhia, will be starting its alpha testing as of today. It’s being touted as an MMO FPS/action game, with what looks like customisable mecha as well as on foot sections for the pilots. This sounds awfully similar to the unfortunate Gundam Online that was eventually canned. If that bombed with such a huge license attached to it, Gigantomakhia will clearly have its work cut out for it. Apparently the game won’t run on PC’s using Windows XP and needs DirectX 10 compatible graphics card. The screenshots at least look nice though.

What with the indie mecha game Hawken getting its film rights optioned, it seems that the multiplayer only game will also have something in the way of a story. The trailer below sets up the premise that the full on mecha combat is the result of an over industrialised colony world pushed to the brink of environmental collapse. All we do know is that it’s still preposterously pretty and that we are very curious to see how it actually plays. Eye candy is one thing but there’s a suspicious lack of hands on previews, considering that the game was announced a while ago now. We’re still cautiously optimistic though and at the very least it will look gorgeous.

In the latest edition of Famitsu, it’s been announced that Gundam Extreme Versus will finally receive a port to the PlayStation 3. This is something that has been expected for a while, as the arcade game uses the System 357 board (basically a PS3 in a box). Shown at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, the arcade versions will also be present as they plan to host a tournament too. The PS3 version will contain all the units in the current arcade game and feature the latest version released towards the end of this year. The game will also have full online multiplayer and the team at Capcom are working to ensure that the final version will be as near to “lag free” as humanly possible. The port will also have new features over the arcade version too, with what sounds like custom soundtracks as well as original game modes. The latter will most likely be a form of mission setup as per the other Gundam Versus games. The PS3 port is currently at 70% completion and set for release in Japan on December 1st for 8,380 yen. As this will be a PS3 game, it’s also worth re-iterating that it will be region free, so there’s no need to hang around come the game’s release.

In an update for Gundam Extreme Versus, scheduled for today no less, a classic Zeta Gundam mobile armor will be added to the ranks of the game. Specifically, the PMX-000 Messala piloted by the wonderfully evil Paptimus Scirocco. Whilst being one of our favourite Kazumi Fujita designs, next to the Tyrant Sword, what’s most misleading about this mobile armor is that at first glance it appears to be a mobile suit. It’s only when you see the scale of it (close to 30 metres) that you realise that this puppy is rather large. In addition, you can also call for assistance in the game which manifests itself in the form of a few RX-110 Gabthley units. For more pictures, 4Gamer has a nice breakdown on the new unit and we’ve included a brief video of the mobile armor in action from the anime below.

A bunch of places have covered the material released at this year’s GamesCom for Armored Core V. With 4Gamer being one of the better ones. Showing off three areas; a buried city (above), a mountain base and an abandoned city. The big thing that seems to be hammered on about is all about the base defenses. Some places have rather snarkily interpreted this setup as being akin to glorified tower defense, which is entirely accurate if the tower defense genre has been broadened to include online combat with massively customisable mecha. Well done there, no really. That asinine nonsense aside, the update also talks about the involvement of two voice actors. Namely Chiaki Takahashi and Keiji Fujiwara, of which the latter was recently Ali Al-Saachez in Gundam 00 (though we’ll always remember him as Holland from Eureka Seven). What’s really clear about all this is how important the operator will be, as the status of your territory will be very much reliant on the team’s “eye in the sky”. Getting a good tactician on your team will clearly be as crucial as skilled gaming ninjas for the mecha piloting aspect, something that’s pleasantly reminiscent of Chrome Hounds.

The full size Gundam has gone back to Odaiba, where it was based originally, but has done so in parts. Whilst we visited it in Shizuoka, this new exhibit allows you to see all the parts up close (rather than 18 metres above you). In addition, a nice chap managed to do a new time lapse video of the new setup and we’ve linked it below.

What with Gamescom under way, Armored Core V has received a new trailer to show off its online setup. Whilst the voice over is a bit stiff, it conveys the premise of the game well. As always, it’s looking very nice indeed. In addition to the video, a selection of new screenshots are also up on the official Facebook page. Here are some additional videos from inside the Gamescom booth.

The upcoming pseudo-sequel on Kinect to Capcom’s much loved Steel Battalion games received a new trailer today. Despite not looking like actual gameplay, though with Kinect it is sometimes hard to tell, the game engine at least looks pretty decent. That aside, we’re not really feeling it with this new game. As without Junji Okubo’s designs and that huge controller it just doesn’t seem right.

In a recent tweet by Hideo Kojima, he says “Found this at Omori-kun’s desk. What’s this?” and then links to the above picture. Despite the Revoltech Jehuty in the foreground, the text in the background does intimate that a 3DS Zone of the Enders game could be on the cards. As for who Omori-kun is, it’s more likely to be the developer that worked on a large number of Kojima’s games, rather than the animator who shares the same name. Either way, this is interesting news and makes more sense from a development cost point of view considering the limited popularity of the series. In that securing the large investment to fund a full blown 360 or PS3 game without the ability to guarantee a decent return, based on the prior sales of the games in the series, means that a 3DS port could be more viable in terms of the initial funding required.