The latest issue of Famitsu, as promised, has a very nice feature on the the upcoming Armored Core 5. Apart from the confirmation the game is coming to PS3 and 360, the other surprising elements are how it confirms the return to the older style gameplay seen in the earlier games. In that, the original Armored Core was influenced by VOTOMS. The mecha were mass produced and featured hardpoints for weapons and other equipment. The difference was that the mecha in Armored Core were around 10 to 15 metres in height. In Armored Core 5, the mecha are now much smaller and at around 5 metres tall. This is roughly the same height as an armored trooper from VOTOMS.

In addition to the size change, the game will apparently feature longer missions than before with more complex environments (this most probably being a follow on from Demon’s Souls level design). Apparently, according to rumours on a few Japanese blogs, the Xbox game Metal Wolf Chaos was also used as a functional benchmark early on in development, which would make sense as the main mecha in that game is around the same height and the environments are quite pyrotechnic. At present Armored Core 5 is at 20% completion, however the game has been in production already for almost 2 years, so we’re not sure with what that percentage exactly corresponds to.

Update: Famitsu online has also run a piece on AC5 too, it also talks about a new “Overed Weapon” function – similar to the Overboost in a way – but it acts as a performance modifier on your weapons. This may tie into the transforming AC head we saw in the trailer in some way.

Update 2: Over at 1up Kevin Gifford has translated a lot more of Nabeshima’s comments about AC5, separately there’s also talk that AC5 will feature “more realistic parts designs” so the mecha will feel more believable.

Several things happened over the Christmas period that we didn’t cover, so here is a brief update on all lovely things Oratan. First, was a new column on Christmas Day over on the official Oratan site. Bar many platitudes towards the fans there was also a brief glimpse of a signed card by Hajime Katoki, the series’ principal mecha designer, thanking the team for the recent 360 port, which is obviously rather nice of him. The other element that was also quite interesting was that the online questionnaire results have been received by the team and they’re digesting the data as best they can. Apparently the number of entries was a lot more than they were expecting as well, which isn’t surprising considering that Oratan is Japan’s number one selling XBLA game. In any case, the hints of a Force port not that long ago may develop into something else as many fans want an all new game.

Second, the HORI TwinSticks are now out in the wild and many Japanese owners have been blogging about their recent purchase. In short, they’re not great (though this feeling is probably exacerbated by the rather larger price tag). It seems that there is a deadzone on the switches at the base of each stick, something the original Dreamcast and Saturn sticks lacked. Considering that a lot of Oratan relies on very quick and precise movements, this deadzone could understandably rub many fans up the wrong way. Interestingly, those that modded their Dreamcast/Saturn sticks say that the new port works better with them rather than the new HORI sticks. Admittedly, it’s still early days and this could all just be fan based grumbling (as we have yet to verify any of these findings first-hand) but it’s not exactly great for those who forked out a small fortune.

Finally, the Kotobukiya Fei-Yen Knight kit has been released. This kit is also of the DNA side colours and costs around 4000 yen. You can also buy it here.

For those that have followed the Armored Core games over the years, many of you will know that Shoji Kawamori penned much of the mecha design. However, in the newer games such as Armored Core 4 and For Answer his role was almost non-existent. Instead From Software opted to use the very talented in-house illustrator, Yuzo Kojima. That said, in the case of For Answer, Kawamori was called back to create one specific design; that of Line Ark’s White Glint.

Due to the fact that it was such a strikingly elegant design, White Glint consequently adorned all the packaging and was exclusively featured in the opening CG movie (which we’ve included at the end of the review). So, when Kotobukiya were announcing they were releasing a model kit of the design earlier in the year many fans were suitably happy with the news. What follows is a photo review of the kit in a partially painted form, followed by fully painted photos.

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.

After the announcement of the upcoming Transformers game, Activision have followed it up with a debut trailer that doesn’t really show very much to be honest. In addition, it’s pretty obvious that it doesn’t feature gameplay footage either. Still, for those curious about the designs it does show more in terms of the stylistic approach. Narratively, it looks as though the game is set before the Transformers arrival on Earth. This would explain their more angular and generally futuristic aesthetic. Along with the trailer, there is now an official site for the game.

In the latest issue of Game Informer, a new Transformers game has been announced. Called “The War For Cybertron” it’s being developed by High Moon Studios and appears to follow its own continuity, with new designs to follow suit (though these look moderately decent compared to the recent film monstrosities). The game will apparently be moderately standard third-person shooter fare and be available on both the PS3 and 360 (though it may receive other ports too, knowing Activision). We’ve talked about various Tranformers games before, so hiring a developer with no prior mecha game experience AND then treating said mecha as functionally comparable to human protagonists is never a good idea.

To commemorate Gundam’s 30th Anniversary, Bandai Namco are re-releasing a selection of best selling Gundam games at a reduced price in Japan. Some of these games are still Japanese exclusives, which is a shame as the recent Wii game developed by Team White Dingo was superb and it never made the jump abroad. Likewise, Artdink’s excellent PSP games are still without a Western release. These anniversary versions will hit Japanese stores on the 17th December.

The latest column over on the Oratan 5.66 site show the wondrous new HORI TwinSticks in the flesh. Despite the immense size (almost twice that of the Xbox 360 itself) they also look suitably sturdy. Considering the sticks are based off the Real Arcade Pro range, the size and build quality are hardly surprising. Unfortunately, if you didn’t pre-order these sticks then you’re pretty much out of luck as they were literally made to order for the very much eager Japanese fanbase.

Update: 4Gamer has some nice coverage for the release of the sticks as well.

At 8pm this evening (Japanese time) you’ll be able to play one of the developers on Oratan 5.66. Their gamertag is “SEGA VOOT360”. The semi-regular official blog also hints at a port of Virtual On Force as well, as there have been many requests by fans apparently (this would also make sense, considering the upcoming HORI TwinSticks would be usable on that port too, making their price tage slightly less painful). Bear in mind that Force has never really received a proper port either, as Virtual On Marz was a remake effectively with a suitably dodgy singleplayer campaign too.

It looks like G.rev’s Senko no Ronde Duo will be receiving an Xbox 360 port, much like its precursor, sometime early next year. It also looks like there will be a collector’s edition again, which is always nice. As yet, there is no word on a Western release.