In a recent Tweet, Yuji Korekado posted a new screenshot from the Zone of the Enders HD Collection. From the second game Anubis it shows the early boss fight with Ardjet. As you can see above, it looks pretty good. This is also from a forthcoming demo meant for the event on the 25th and they are almost trying to recreate the same setup as was seen in the TGS 2002 demo (this was later included in the very nice Anubis artbook). It’s also worth clarifying that this version of the game is not really the same as the one we reviewed. Whilst a few people think our appraisal of the second game is a tad harsh, the review was done back in 2003 on the initial Japanese release. This was a very badly balanced version of the game and suffered lots of problems. Multiple silent revisions followed, culminating in the Special Edition. The latter is a very different game functionally and one day we’ll hopefully get around to covering that version in a new review (as we like it a lot more).

A new event has been announced for the forthcoming Zone of the Enders HD Collection. Called “Zone of the Enders HD Night Fastest in the Universe Reboot Preview” it will be held on May 25th at the Shijuku Wald 9 theatre. Most of the key staff will be there too. Tickets for the event will cost 3,000 yen and will be purchasable through Konami Style starting May 2nd at 10am. Following on from this, more places have started to show off the upcoming Jehuty HD Edition kit from Kotobukiya. As always, the sculpt looks utterly spot on. Considering that over ten years have passed since the original game was released and the only models available were hideously expensive garage kits, it’s nice to think that we’ll actually have a choice now. You can pre-order the HD edition kit here.

In a cool community based move, From Software are running an emblem design contest for Armored Core V. The winners will receive a “special award” as well as have the emblems included in a free DLC emblem pack. Unfortunately, the means by which you submit the emblems requires you to use the ACV Link feature. This is something that’s only available in the Japanese release of the game and links the game to your profile over at the Armored Core Official Partnership site. The contest will finish on the 10th May at 3pm.

Before people get all pissy at this, first blame Namco Bandai for removing the feature and second shout at them (not From Software) to include it. Since the game’s release abroad, From Software have been blamed for a bizarre amount of the community issues with the game. When in reality that’s Namco Bandai’s responsibility, something they massively dropped the ball on no less.

That said, Namco Bandai did manage to sort out a preview of all five of the bosses this weekend. Normally bosses only trigger due to territorial disputes but considering the fact that we’re still waiting for the patch, they unlocked them a little early to help appease the now pretty pissed fanbase. The bosses are a partial nod to the Arms Forts in Armored Core For Answer but more a reference to the old massive MT’s players used to face in the original games. Whilst it’s recommended to play against them with four players, you can actually take them out on your own (normally with some judicious usage of Overed Weapons).

In a move that’s quite inspired, Capcom have seemingly hired veteran anime and live action film director Mamoru Oshii (pictured above) to helm a trailer for the forthcoming Steel Battalion Heavy Armor. In a teaser trailer (shown below) it shows some snippets of behind the scenes action. Considering that Oshii is a huge gun nut and has directed some pretty brutal films on occasion, we’re expecting some pretty epic hardware to be displayed. How they’ll handle the VT’s remains to be seen though.

What with the release of Steel Battalion Heavy Armor looming, some more trailers (shown below) have been released. Despite being adult rated, we’re beginning to get more of a Chrome Hounds vibe from this. There’s also another camouflage pack outlined too, that of the Carbon Assassin Pack. What’s more interesting though, in a nostalgic sense at least, is that the bundle pack for the game (which includes a Kinect set) will retail in Japan at 19,800 yen. That’s the exact same price tag that the original Xbox version had, though this time we won’t be having to bike over Japanese mountains in the pouring rain to pick our copy up.

It seems another Lost Planet game is on the way next year, as a CGI trailer for it has been leaked (shown below). If you’re wondering why the styling is a bit Gears of War-tastic and the mecha looks like something from BattleTech, that’s because it’s being developed by a Western studio this time. Specifically that of Spark Unlimited, who also developed Legendary and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. If we’re honest, we’re not sure about the styling (as it’s a bit also-ran and there are plenty of similar themed shooters out there). This is not to say that we don’t think a Western developer can do it justice, as Red Faction: Guerrilla was hugely enjoyable and nailed the mecha aspect beautifully. It’s just that Lost Planet has always been a really interesting and different type of game and this comes across as something we’ve all seen before. After all, we loved the last game and we’re just hoping that this holds true to that in some way.

Updated: In-game screens are here, though some of these look more than a little touched up. Sadly, the mecha seems to be controlled in the first person.

In typical Hideo Kojima fashion, yet another Revoltech Jehuty has been revealed but this time sporting an all new colour scheme and a very beefy Vector Cannon (pictured above). The latter is probably one of the most powerful weapons the player had access to in Anubis and was an actual necessity on some enemies (as shown in the video below). However, in contrast to the emphasis on mobility that the game was focused around the Vector Cannon required the player to be grounded and stationary in order to fire (it even had a rather long charge time too). Considering that this will be the third Jehuty Revoltech we are starting to feel that Kojima et al are milking it a bit now. Like with all Revoltechs though, this toy likely won’t break the bank thankfully. It will also be on sale mid-June with any luck too. Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when the HD collection will be out nor whatever happened to the mysterious 3DS game but in the meantime they seem fine to placate us with more toys.

It seems that if you buy Steel Battalion Heavy Armor’s on its release, you’ll also be graced with a Chrome Blitzer Pack download code that will allow you to customise your VT with new types of camouflage (pictured above). In addition to this, a new video has also been going the rounds. The more we see of the game in action the more we think that this will be pretty disappointing. Parochial narrative jingoism aside, the whole functional setup looks to be horridly unwieldy. Whilst the original games were by no means intuitive, they were far more precise in terms of input (probably to the extent of being too precise). This looks frustratingly vague by comparison. Considering the game’s nascent production problems, we’re not holding out hope for this to be any good.

Frustrated with Armored Core V’s regional server structure, one person has taken it upon himself to create an open petition to Bandai Namco; to merge the North American, European and Australian servers into one large server. You can find the petition here.

It’s no secret that Armored Core has never exactly been big outside of Japan. Sure, we few mecha gaming fans have played and loved them for years but the general population has, for the most part, skimmed over the franchise. So to start off with the player base is small but to then make it smaller yet, by braking the online players up from region to region, is a bit of a kick in the side. They meant well though. They just wanted to decrease server lag for us, which is a nice thought.

If the servers were to merge, we would have a great many more opportunities for territory matches, the online would feel more alive and I think all around more robust (albeit perhaps slightly laggier). While I’m not sure if Bandai Namco will listen to the pleas made by this petition, I do believe that at the very least, Bamco will take notice, and think about what the players want. Besides the petition’s stated goal, many people hope that it will bring with it the patches required to bring the game inline with its Japanese counterpart, which would be a very welcome thing indeed.

Whilst we don’t normally cover the D-Style kits from Kotobukiya, this two kit set from Armored Core 4 and For Answer is pretty sweet. Featuring both White Glint and Orleans, the latter being an interesting design as it was piloted by a LINX called Anjou who did very much enjoy using the Moonlight laserblade. The set also comes with a nice transfer sheet, allowing you to affix a variety of emblem’s (even Berlioz’s too). This is also a limited edition set that has to be ordered through Hobby Japan (to be released this summer). Thankfully the pricing is a very reasonable 4,500 yen.