Game Watch has just covered the recent Senjou no Kizuna 2010 Tournament, as well as hosted a brief interview with the developers of the very successful arcade game. Though the real meat of the coverage is the in-game video coverage taken from the live feed that’s often displayed to punters in the arcades (of which we’ve linked a fair few below, in HD no less). In many ways Senjou no Kizuna laid the ground work for games like Border Break to follow, though it’s still nice to see a game succeed despite its pretty dated hardware. You might also want to keep tabs on Namco Bandai’s YouTube Channel, as they’ve been pretty diligent with uploading much of the tournament replays. There is a PSP port of the game and, all things considered, is actually moderately decent – though it does lack any form of online multiplayer capability (something that ultimately defined the arcade version, along with its amazing cockpit obviously).

Hot on the heels of the recent 1/100 scale Metal Composite Gundam Unicorn (which we’ve reviewed), Bandai have announced that they’re releasing the Full Armor variant shown at the end of the novels. This new toy will be part of the Gundam Fix Next Generation line (or GFFN for short) and as such be at the smaller scale of 1/144, rather than the Metal Composite’s 1/100. There’s also no word on whether this toy will complete the transformation between Unicorn and Destroy modes but we’re guessing not on account of the smaller scale and lower price point.

To the more eagle eyed of you, the fact that the internal psycho frame is green rather than pink may have raised an eyebrow. This colour shift is to do with events that also occurred in Char’s Counterattack, where two psychoframe mobile suits (the Nu Gundam and Sazabi) were in close proximity with one another resulting in a form of Newtype resonance. In the Unicorn novels, this resonance is kicked off when the Banshee enters the fray – which is basically a more powerful clone of the Unicorn.

As for the “full armor” nature of this suit, that is somewhat questionable. As FA mobile suit variants are normally, as the title implies, covered in an extra layer of bespoke armor. Not to mention having custom weapons attached on hardpoints as well. To give a good example of this, take a look at the FA-78-1 and the original RX-78-2 Gundam. You can see, despite the colour changes, that the suit has been pretty heavily re-worked. In the case of the FA Unicorn, well all it’s using are standard weapons and parts and just strapping them onto the main body. In any case, this toy will be available in August for 8400 yen and you can practically guarantee that it will make an appearance in the upcoming Gundam Extreme Versus.

Over at Famitsu they’ve released a bunch of very shiny in-game screenshots for the upcoming Gundam Extreme Versus. This is the first game in the series to use the System 357 board, effectively a PlayStation 3 in a box – so the texture detail and geometrical complexity are obviously going to be a pretty big step up from the older games.

The coverage shows three mobile suits specifically, each of which are new to the series; the EMS-10 Zudah, the MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame and the XM-X1 (F97) Crossbone Gundam X-1 (pictured above). In terms of the latter, Crossbone Gundam is getting a fair bit of a resurgence as of late with the mecha also being featured in the upcoming PlayStayion 3 exclusive Another Century’s Episode R.

No word on an exact release date for Gundam Extreme Versus as yet but it’s still slated for an Autumn release. However, the Famitsu article does also state that the game will be using a new card system as well as boast HD 16:9 displays for each of the cabinets. Due to the host hardware, it’s fairly safe to assume that a PlayStation 3 port will swiftly follow.

Update: There will be a loc test for the game next weekend (May 7th to 9th) at the Nakano Broadway Plabo and Tokyo Gulliver Matsudo.

Certain mecha designers have quite the reputation for pushing boundaries, not only in terms of the technical veracity of their craft but also in regards to the subsequent engineering of the related merchandise. Hajime Katoki is unique in many regards, as he not only helms various toy and kit lines at Bandai but also for being a cheeky scamp. Katoki is also one of the most important mecha designers when it comes to gaming, as he wrestled what was once an incompatible and wayward discipline with the stringent limitations of polygon counts to pen the original VR designs for the ground breaking Virtual On.

So when, after nearly a decade, Katoki was announced to be designing an all new Gundam to grace the UC timeline many people got quite excited. However, the initial reveal of the Unicorn Gundam was a clever ruse; as it showed only Unicorn mode. So not very Gundamy at all really, not until Destroy mode was revealed to the expectant throng with its gilted V-fin and pink psycho-frame innards was it obvious that the Unicorn had been a Gundam all along. Katoki had managed to design something that was, yet again, amazingly intricate but obviously tactile.

Unsurprisingly, the Unicorn made it into the recent Gundam vs Gundam Next and the PSP port Next Plus, along with the its first nemesis the Kshatriya. The Unicorn is a potent unit in the game as well and when in Destroy mode can undertake some pretty epic melee combos.

After much fanfare though, Gundam Unicorn has finally started its animated run as well. To commemorate this event, Katoki has literally fired up one of his toy lines to make the the ultimate toy based incarnation of his design.

The amazing Border Break has finally received it’s Ver 1.5 update today. This features all manner of new maps and mecha, not to mention new character customisation. The game itself is also still doing very well in the Japanese arcades, still no word on a home based console port though.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a toy from Victory Gundam to review. Specifically, the Robot Damashii V2 Assault Buster Gundam. In addition, to give the toy some context, we’ve also linked some anime and gameplay footage of it in action in Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus at the end of the review.

A very entrepreneurial Japanese modeller, by the name of ostraking, has managed to inject a selection of lights into the various Kotobukiya and Hasegawa Virtual On model kits. From the Type 94 Temjin from Fragmentary Passage, based off the MBV-04-G Temjin kit from Kotobukiya, to the HBV-502H8 Raiden from Oratan (also from the Kotobukiya line). What’s impressive about these is that much of the surface light sources in the games aren’t easily backlit in a real world kit, this is especially true of the Fei-Yen from Force that has very flat skirt sections – something ostraking has handled with great skill.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a kit from Border Break to review. Specifically, Kotobukiya’s 1/35 scale Cougar Type I . Our review only covers the kit in its out of the box and unpainted form (however, we have also included painted photos towards the end). In addition, to give the kit some context, we’ve also linked some gameplay footage of the design in action from Border Break at the end end of the review.

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.

At this year’s AOU show, SEGA have showcased quite a few titles but the one that’s the most interesting to us is the wondrous Border Break. Specifically, that the game has received quite a substantial update. From two new maps, to a whole new blast runner and not to mention new parts, it seems that Border Break is still very much a viable enterprise for SEGA.