The Transformers catchphrase “more than meets the eye” is an apt one. Originally used to underscore the transformation abilities of the toys, the catchphrase takes on a different meaning in context of Takara’s official Transformers game, Transformers Tataki. Both the Autobots and Decepticons have been tracking two mysterious UFOs in the vicinity of the planet Zel Samine. It appears that this planet contains unique energy producing properties, something that the locals of this star system use to power their other more habitable planets in the system. What transpires is a story straight from the Saturday morning shows, but with some extra time-travelling fan service thrown in for good measure.

At the recent Hobby Maker show in Akiba, we got another glimpse of the upcoming PlayStation Optimus Prime. Compared to the showing at WonFes, this one was all nicely painted up. Naturally, the MegaDrive Megatron was present too and that will be released in October for around 10,000 yen. The PlayStation Optimus Prime has no release date as yet, bar sometime next year, but the pricing will likely be the same as the upcoming Megatron. If you want to see some more coverage from the Hobby Maker show then check this post out at AmiAmi.

Many of us remember sitting cross-legged, far too close to the television watching cars, planes and helicopters transforming into robot behemoths, with a penchant for ostentatious wrestling.

The original Transformers television series was something millions of people will remember growing up with, so it isn’t surprising that both Takara and Hasbro have milked the franchise since its inception. One of the more recent incarnations is that of Transformers Armada and somebody thought it fit to transform the TV series into a game. Cue Atari and Melbourne House, an inordinate amount of PR nonsense, screenshots that looked faked and legions of nostalgic punters wanting desperately to play as Optimus Prime. Behind all the hype, Transformers is a special game and, in all honesty, the license does take a back seat to a very impressive game engine.

Following the new promo we now have 11 minutes of gameplay footage for Masoukishin F. It mostly shows the introduction of Sakito Asagi, a new character for this game. Bar that it’s good to see the whole game on show and not just the battle animations. It’s looking good too. The game is out on August 28th and you can pre-order it here.

Throughout the sixties and seventies a certain genre of anime and manga ran rampant across Japan. It galvanised an entire generation, a generation that grew up to be game designers. They then went on to create games like Gigantic Drive. The genre was that of the mighty super robot and it is one of the oldest and most resilient facets of Japanese pop-culture (next to real robots of course). Gigantic Drive is a game that, literally, lets you control a “chogokin” from the ground up.

The story revolves around Earth being besieged by big nasty alien robots called the Volgara. To fight these invaders, we have created three rather large robots, whose sole purpose is to kick the posterior of multiple metal aliens back across the galaxy.

Upon booting the game, the player will be asked a set of cryptic questions, in Japanese no less, on how they want their “cavalier” to be equipped. Will you choose either the Varmonch and Lutheran Shield, or even the Minenwerfer? Bear in mind though, that if you choose poorly Lord Zolt’s forces will make you pay dearly for your lack of foresight. After all, the realm’s destiny lies at your heavily armored Cavalier’s feet. To clarify, Frame Gride is a slightly different take on the mecha genre of gaming.

What with the release of Masoukishin F not far off, Bandai are stepping up with a new promo video. Despite the omnipresent boob jiggle with the various female cut-ins, the game’s animations are looking pretty damn good. Bar that, the boxset is also pimped a bit too but apart from the soundtracks there’s not much else to really recommend it. In any case, we’ll be picking this up come August 28th and you can pre-order it here.

Following on from our first batch of coverage for Wonder Festival, we’ve now done a piece on all the garage kits that caught our attention. Due to the sheer volume of stuff on display, this is very much a highlight reel of things we liked the look of. The garage kit side of things is also a lot more personable and much of the time we spent talking to people about their amazing creations. In short, Wonfes suitably rocks!

We managed to make it to the recent Wonder Festival over the weekend (despite the insane heat). Naturally we took lots of pictures and have done a chunk of coverage on the commercial side of things over at HobbyLink.tv. As we suspected, the just announced PlayStation Optimus Prime was present (looked good too). We’ll be following this up with a garage kit update soon.

Following on from the MegaDrive Megatron toy being made by Takara Tomy, they’ve now also announced an Optimus Prime toy based on the original PlayStation. Like the first toy, this too was designed by our good friend Junji Okubo. This new toy is likely being made to semi-coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the original PlayStation, which is this year. No word on pricing but it looks like it will be released next year. We’re also guessing this will be present at the upcoming Wonder Festival this Sunday.