Resin kit maker Authorize have created a wonderful and fully transformable kit of Yoji Shinkawa’s design for the Vic Viper LEV from Anubis. Now, we’re not very big fans of the ZOE games but we still adore Shinkawa’s designwork for them (so this kit is very much welcomed).

It’s also worth clarifying that this is resin kit, which means it’s much more fragile than your average injection plastic efforts from either Bandai or Kotobukiya. You need to be a very experienced model kit builder in order to put this together. You can make your order at Tokyo Hunter, but move quickly as orders close tomorrow. The kit will be released on the 7th February for a very affordable 7000 yen and it’s a Wonder Festival 2010 Winter event exclusive.

Everyone remembers that larger than large (though not quite full scale) Gundam that was in Tokyo last year, right? Well, even though it hasn’t grabbed nowhere near the same amount of attention, the equally as impressive (and 1:1 scaled) Tetsujin 28-go has nonetheless managed to attract a million visitors since it first went up in Kobe. Quite the incredible feat since it’s only been up for three months. But most importantly, all those visitors have been a tremendous asset to the city’s economy, which has been suffering ever since the Great Hanshin earthquake in ’95. One can find positively anything and everything related to the big blue robot: shirts, vending machines, street lamps, curry dishes, even local taxi cabs (which are filled with plenty of Tetsujin 28 manga to enjoy during a ride)!

We’ve mentioned the upcoming and reportedly final entry into the VOTOMS saga “Gen-ei Hen” before but the official site has released some new promo videos. These show that much of the same production values seen in Pailsen Files are still reassuringly present in Gen-ei Hen, and that the AT arena also makes a welcome comeback (though it’s saddening but admittedly interesting to see Chirico and Ru face off, as they were allies previously).

As for any gaming tie-ins, not much is known at present. There are rumours of a possible PSP game on the horizon, as Pailsen Files recently received a UMD video release in Japan and the excellent PlayStation 2 game could have its tech ported quite easily. As for whether Yuke’s will take the reigns of this is anyone’s guess. Considering that this series is officially the final send off for the VOTOMS saga it will be interesting to see what Sunrise and Bandai will release alongside it, games or otherwise. We’ll know come the end of March most probably, when Gen-ei Hen is finally released.

The wondrous Max Factory have added to their prestigious line of diecast “MAX Gohkin” toys with the Dragonar 1 from Kiko Senki Dragonar. The mecha were designed by veteran Kunio Okawara, however this toy is using the design interpretation by Masami Obari (who also worked on the series and directed the two opening animations). The Dragonar units were used in a fair few Super Robot Wars games but the series’ real resurgence came when they were featured in all three Another Century’s Episode games. In any case, this toy looks epically good and despite the massive price tag (22,000 yen) it does somewhat eclipse the prior Soul of Chogokin Spec toys by Bandai. If you have a deep wallet, you can buy it here.

A group of intrepid fans have translated the entirety of Front Mission 5: Scars of the War on the PS2 into English (you’ll have to scroll down a bit to see the news post about the translation, posted 29 December 2009; for some reason there’s no way to link to individual posts). The amount of work that went into this project is simply colossal, and is a testament to the power of dedicated fans. The Front Mission games are a series of incredible tactical RPGs, along with a few, more action-oriented side games, with both incredibly realistic mecha and storylines. The mecha in the game (“wanzers”) work by a part system not completely dissimilar from that of Armored Core’s, so the tactical RPG portions are also unique in terms of game mechanics, as more control is given to the player to develop specializations and strategies with their given team. The translation team gave a long but very interesting interview that goes into more detail about the project and just what makes the Front Mission series so special that it engenders such dedicated fans.

Those of you looking for something a bit less epic will likely be happy with an also recent translation of Metal Storm for the NES. While an English version already existed, it had the opening intro and boss text cut out, along with some other changes. Not only is that mecha’s sprite impressively detailed for an NES game, but the gravity-reversing mechanic is used not as a gimmick but as an essential gameplay feature, requiring the player to fundamentally change the way they looks at the game’s stages and enemies’ attacks.

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love, the steampunk mecha SRPG from Nippon Ichi America, has a pre-order for the game available at their store, Rosenqueen. Most notable is the fact that Sakura Wars preorders from Rosenqueen include a hardcover art book, which is a different item from the PS2 Premium Package’s artbook, so if you pre-order the PS2’s Premium edition from Rosenqueen you walk away with no less than two different artbooks, as well as a poster and an extra disc containing the Japanese voices (the standard edition is English dub only). Considering that the price point for all this is currently only $50, this feels like one of the old Working Designs packages, just without that old Working Designs premium price. Definitely a good last hurrah for the ageing PS2 platform.

The Wii version is also still a go, but other than the hardcover artbook you get from pre-ordering at their store, you don’t get any of the extras the PS2 version gets. To make up for this, it’s available for $40, pretty nice for a next-gen release and a lot better than the other shovelware that gets released for the system at the same price. There’s also a fan art contest (more info here) for you artistic types.

One of the most potent “original generation” mecha in Super Robot Wars is finally getting the figure treatment. Specifically the RaiOh from Alpha 3 will be released in June of 2010 for 15,750 yen. In addition, this is a Dengeki Hobby magazine exclusive item with a fixed pre-order period ending on the 15th February. Thankfully, Tokyo Hunter is taking orders so you’re not completely stuffed when it comes to tracking one down. There’s no word of RaiOh’s upgraded form, that of DaiRaiOh, making a similar leap to toy form but we can always hope. In any case, we’ve also included some game footage from Alpha 3 below of the RaiOh and DaiRaiOh taking a few names.

In addition, Terada-san (one of Super Robot Wars’ producers) recently announced in the series’ official blog that a new and as yet unannounced game will be released sometime in 2010. Here’s hoping it’s a shiny new 2D effort on either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

We mentioned not that long ago about a new line of commemorative gaming releases for Gundam’s 30th Anniversary. Well, they’re now out with places like Play Asia stocking a fair few. Our personal recommendations would be Gundam MS Sensen 0079 an FPS on the Wii, pictured above, and Gundam Battle Universe a third person shooter on the PSP. Neither of these games will probably see a Western release so you’d best acquire them now whilst they’re available at their new reduced price point. We will be reviewing both games in the new future though, so also keep an eye out for that.

Nippon Ichi America sent out a release giving the release date for Sakura Wars in the US as March 23rd, 2010. There seems to have been a bit of confusion early on, as some sites were reporting February, but the March date is the more recent one and straight from the horse’s mouth. I’m actually glad for the delay, as I think it’s wise to give Sakura Wars a bit of space from the other January and February releases, which given the amount and quality of the games coming out after Christmas, I’d be worried an already niche title like Sakura Wars could get crowded out.

Unfortunately, it seems that the previously announced Special Edition will be PS2 only, and that the Wii version will only have a standard edition available. The Special Edition comes with a bonus artbook, poster, and special outer cover, along with both the English and Japanese voices, while the regular edition will only feature the English dub. To try to compensate for the lack of a special edition for Wii owners, however, Nippon Ichi America is saying they’ll offer the Wii version at an “attractive price point.”

In order to clear out some of their stock for the holiday, HobbyLink Japan are holding a sale on a bunch of items made by Yamato toys. Over the years, Yamato have made a name for themselves as a high quality collector’s toy manufacturer (rivalling the monolithic Bandai). Considering the recent release of Macross Ultimate Frontier, as well as the semi-recent Yuke’s developed VOTOMS game there’s enough in the sale to keep the discerning mecha gamer interested.

In any case, this sale features a lot of very cool items at a suitably affordable price (as Yamato’s line-up are normally pretty expesnive). So if you’ve always wanted a nice VF-1J from Macross or a Scopedog Turbo Custom from VOTOMS, then you better move quickly!