Over at GA Graphic there is a lovely preview of the upcoming 1/72 scale TYPE-LAHIRE Stasis kit. Despite the somewhat erroneous header that states that this is a Ray Leonard frame, it’s actually made by Omer in the games (though it was meant to combat the high speed nature of Ray Leonard’s Aaliyah frame). The Stasis was exclusively featured in the recent Armored Core For Answer and was quite a nimble opponent. The design was also one of the few that wasn’t penned by a guest illustrator, but instead created in-house. This kit ships in April for 5,200 yen and you can pre-order it here.

Despite already being premièred in Hong Kong, Gundam Unicorn is still yet to receive its public release. Whilst the Blu-Ray and DVD versions are scheduled for release on March 12th, PS3 and PSP owners will be able to download the first episode on February 20th. To show their intent, a lovely HD trailer has been released via the PSN (shown below). Every single trailer trailer thus far just keeps on reaffirming our expectation that Gundam Unicorn will be a wonderfully special entry into the Universal Century timeline.

The titular mobile suit from the novels and the forthcoming anime, designed by the brilliantly bespectacled Hajime Katoki, was also featured in the recent PSP port of Gundam vs Gundam Next (a game we loved when we reviewed it and which you can buy here).

Update: The first 7 minutes of the opening episode have also been released online, we’ve linked that below as well.

It seems that we’re in classic anime streaming season, with Zeta Gundam already available Hulu are now streaming the original Macross series in its 36 episode entirety. Admittedly this is the English dubbed version but the dub in question is from the recent ADV release, so it’s at least moderately competent and hopefully won’t cause haemorrhaging in your inner ear. It also goes without saying that the original Macross TV series is a classic anime show and is massively influential in terms of gaming. Despite numerous Macross games being available, the usage of transforming mecha in gaming primarily stems from this series (much more so than Transformers believe it or not). The original Macross was also given it’s own campaign in both Macross Ace Frontier and Ultimate Frontier on the PSP recently. We’ve also included the Japanese opening video below as well as the climactic section in the 1984 movie Ai Oboete Imasuka (mostly because we love the film beyond the capacity for rational thought).

Over at Game Watch they’ve got another update about the upcoming Gundam Assault Survive. The interesting parts are down to how you can give commands to your wingmen and even capture enemy mobile suits now. In addition, the EMS-10 Zudah from MS IGLOO is also being featured in the game. This is an early Zeonic design that was penned by Yutaka Izubuchi. The game is still slated for a March 18th release and you can pre-order it here.

Play Asia currently have a fair few interesting mecha games going at a discount at the moment. First up is Treasure’s classic Bangai-O on the Dreamcast, this is also the Japanese version in case you’re wondering. Like many, we hold the Bangai-O games in very high regard and we’ve written a pretty lengthy feature on the series too (as many of the functional influences stem from from renowned anime shows). Interestingly, the Dreamcast version of the game (as there was also an N64 release before it) was one of the few games that didn’t support VGA output. The recent DS game, Bangai-O Spirits, is also still at a discount if you want to nab that too.

Next up is the classic Dreamcast port of Virtual On Oratorio Tangram. Now, what with the XBLA port of MSBS 5.66 already available why would you buy this? Despite the lovely Hajime Katoki artwork on the cover, it’s also going very cheaply and it features a very different balancing setup as the port also affords access to MSBS 5.45 and 5.2 (the latter being the first release of the game, when it was being run on Model 3 hardware). The XBLA port only has the option to play via the 5.66 setup. In addition, getting hold of Dreamcast TwinSticks is still relatively easy and inexpensive, compared to the HORI 360 effort, and more importantly the game works fine with them. The HORI sticks have a deadzone at the base of each stick, which considering the rather steep price tag is a bit unfortunate. Again, we have a rather thorough feature on the Virtual On games in case you’re at all curious about the series.

Then there’s Macross Plus Game Edition and
Real Robots Final Attack, both on the PlayStation. The Macross Plus game is an interesting attempt at dealing with the disparate modes of the various variable fighters, as it literally separates the game out via fighter and battroid focused levels. Whereas Real Robots Final Attack is a full on and quite competent Virtual On clone using a variety of classic real robot shows as a base (it’s basically the spiritual precursor to the Another Century’s Episode games in a way).

Finally, we have the Rise from the Ashes collection release on the Dreamcast; which packages both the premium disc and the original game together along with a new third person camera mode. We like this game a lot and the development team responsible for this now go by the Team White Dingo moniker that was coined by the player’s platoon in the game. In any case, there’s plenty to choose from at the moment and that’s no bad thing at all!

Well, it’s about that time of year again and the AOU show is almost upon us. Unsurprisingly a new Gundam Versus game has been announced. No specifics on the game are available as yet but it will be interesting to see if Capcom still opt for PlayStation 2 era arcade hardware. With any luck we may even see Capcom opt for the new Ring Edge board used in Border Break, as it would allow cross country networking amongst other things (something that a multiplayer focused series such as this would obviously benefit from). Anyway, conjecture aside, we’ll know more in a few days.

The upcoming Front Mission Evolved is powering up for a PR overdrive, as its release is imminent. To the extent that Double Helix’s studio head, Patrick Gilmore, has been interviewed over at Gamasutra. Gilmore is the head of the studio and not at the coal face so to speak but the corollary that he asserts regarding the supposed organic development of cinematic approaches in games is a tad spurious. As one of the main elements of his view is that the development tools themselves facilitate a natural cinematic evolution in terms of a game’s creation.

Spurious in the sense that it makes a lot of assumptions as to how games are made and that this progression is somehow insidiously natural, when really it’s an enormous amount of hard work on account of the people that have to make the game. After all, an improved toolset and pipeline often only help make the already existing set of tasks easier. They don’t necessarily make them miraculously cinematic.

Thankfully, the development team have produced a foil to this rather detached viewpoint in the form of a very interesting set of development diaries. Especially fascinating in their citing of the studio, Imaginary Friends, in relation to the game’s mecha design. Admittedly, we’re still somewhat cautious about Front Mission Evolved (as the gameplay videos were pretty underwhelming not to mention our hands on report being rather scathing) but there may be hope yet. As for a release date, Square Enix are still being cagey about that one but it’s supposedly scheduled for “Q2” this year, so we’ll know more soon with any luck.

This is pretty amusing as Bandai have barely released their 1/100 scale VF Hi-Metal rendition of Nekki Basara’s Fire Valkyrie, only to have their major competitor – Yamato – lay the proverbial smackdown. Specifically, Yamato have announced on their blog that they will be releasing a 1/60 scale fully transformable Fire Valkyrie toy. This means it’s bigger and the specifics on the transformation indicate that there won’t be parts swapping either (which there is a bit on the legs of the Hi-Metal version). To make matters worse, Shoji Kawamori will be personally supervising this toy’s development.

No news on whether Yamato will release the Sound Booster parts though, something that Bandai is planning. In any case, it’s worth highlighting here that Yamato are technically far more adept at making transformable toys than Bandai are these days, so this announcement will definitely be making people at Bandai a bit uneasy. The Fire Valkyrie was also recently featured in both Macross Ace Frontier and Ultimate Frontier on the PSP.

Model kit maker Hasegawa has announced that they’ll be releasing a Guarayakha kit in the near future. This rather cute looking mecha is a VR from Virtual On Force (though it also appeared in Marz too). This VR is rather interesting in terms of the narrative, as it’s meant to contain the terrifying force that is Jaguarandi. Unfortunately, this plan backfires and it actually allows Jaguarandi to manifest itself more readily (killing the pilot when it does so). Jaguarandi was an enemy in the original Virtual On that was triggered if you took too long on the initial missions in the game, it was a very fast and powerful VR with the sole purpose of stealing as many credits from the player as possible by being a particularly brutal opponent. Jaguarandi was replaced by Ajim in Oratan but returned in Force and Marz.

The more observant of you will realise that this isn’t a Kotobukiya kit, as this is due to Hasegawa having the rights to Force as well as Marz. As such they’ve been producing kits from these games for a while now (with the Shirokis Temjin being our favourite). On the whole Hasegawa kits are more technical in their construction than the Kotobukiya efforts, not to mention requiring a far defter hand when it comes to painting the finished kit. Guarayakha will be released later this month for 3,200 yen and you can pre-order it here.

The much loved Border Break has received an update today, which specifically features the addition of a new “Enforcer” frame to the game. This new frame apparently sports improved capacity and booster power, making it a good all rounder. As with all unlocks in Border Break, the Enforcer parts will need to be earned and paid for (with real money too). In any case, it will be interesting to see if Kotobukiya render this design in kit form in the near future.