The latest Blu-Ray release of Macross Frontier Sayonara no Tsubasa, which also comes packaged with a PS3 game called Macross Last Frontier (made by the same team behind the awesome PSP games), has topped the Japanese charts by selling 142,607 copies in its first week of sale. After the first hybrid pack, which we covered on its release, this new version has more of a complete game with a proper save system. It’s clear that there may be some more standalone Macross games on the way for the PS3 too, especially considering the strong response in sales for this recent effort. We’ll also be reviewing this latest hybrid pack shortly as well, so keep an eye out for that.

A brand new trailer for Steel Battalion Heavy Armor has surfaced, doing its best to emphasise the dual nature of the game’s controls (as in a mixture of pad and Kinect). The trailer does a good job of showing how this stuff looks like in game but until we get our hands on (or floating in the case of Kinect) with the game we’ll reserve judgement on whether it will actually work out or not. If we’re honest we still hanker for a massive and complex controller as per the original Xbox games, but what with the current publisher mandate of assuming that all gamers are fickle useless idiots I doubt we’ll see anything quite that awesome for a long time to come.

In the latest edition of Famitsu a sequel to Lord of Elemental has been announced. This is the first sequel in this branch of the SRW canon since 1996, when the first game was released on the SNES. Clearly the recent DS port sold well enough to warrant a sequel but interestingly it will be released on the PSP this time around. In addition to the core game a limited edition set will include the first and second games, with the first being remastered for the PSP. The game will be released in January next year, with the standard set costing 6,280 yen and the limited edition (two game) set costing 10,480yen.

Update: Famitsu now has a nice update with some screenshots of the game.

In a new video via From Software’s official YouTube channel, it shows the newly formed band FreQuency (headed by Kota Hoshino) performing a live version of Cosmos from Armored Core For Answer. Whilst they get off to a bit of a shaky start they pull it together pretty quickly. For those curious, this is done to promote a new album called Armored Core Reprises that’s released tomorrow.

A few days ago we tweeted that the Hi-Nu Gundam might be included in the upcoming PS3 port of Gundam Extreme Versus. Well in a new update over at Famitsu it seems that this unlockable will in fact be a pre-order bonus. Whilst it’s still not been openly stated that the silhouette is the Hi-Nu Gundam, it’s pretty obvious that it will be that mobile suit as it was recently featured in Another Century’s Episode R among other things (so Bandai obviously have access to at least a current high poly model). However, whether it will be the original Hi-Nu blue and white colouring from Beltorchika’s Children or the newer version seen in Gunpla Builders remains to be seen.

Famitsu has a nice update about a rather interesting genre crossover game. Titled Lost Heroes, it features the likes of Ultraman, Kamen Rider and…Gundam. Notably that of the RX-93 ν Gundam, which is a bit of an odd choice as you’d think the original RX-78-2 would be more fitting in a setup such as this. Not that we’re complaining though, as the RX-93 is one of our favourite mobile suits in the UC timeline. In terms of the game itself, it looks to be a pretty standard turn based strategy affair. No details on a price as yet but the release is expected sometime next year.

At the recent Level 5 World 2011 event a new entry into the Danball Senki series was announced, that of Danball Senki Boost. Still on the PSP it looks to be more of the same and continuing the narrative around the mysterious LBX mecha. From pretty extensive LBX customisation to some nice battling action, the first game was pretty damn decent and this looks to continue that. 4Gamer has some nice new screenshots of the game and a new promo video (shown below) was released recently too. Weirdly it’s set for a pretty quick release, on November 23rd, so Level 5 are pretty confident it won’t get buried in terms of competing PR. You’ll also be able to either buy the game in UMD format for 4,980 yen or download it at 4,480 yen.

GA Graphic has a new update on the forthcoming IMS kit from Volks of the exquisite LED Mirage. Despite the fact this is an injection plastic kit, the detailing is utterly insane. Again, whilst this isn’t game related this is one of those things that we just can’t help talking about. Still no word on price or release date but Volks are adamant that they want to get this kit right, so the delay on the details is down to that. Basically it will be ready when it’s ready. In the meantime, we’ll be in the corner salivating.

As we mentioned a while back, Shoji Kawamori had been hired to design a new plane for Ace Combat Assault Horizon. Well, 4Gamer now has a piece on the plane and has a fair few nice shots of it in game. Now called the ASF-X, the DLC will be available on the 26th October for either 960 yen (PSN) or 640 MSP (XBLA). As we said previously, this plane doesn’t transform into anything (unfortunately). For those that have played the game, then this DLC will be somewhat of a futile gesture. Whilst it has sold initially well, the reaction by gamers has been pretty scathing. Much of this ire is aimed at the DFM mode that effectively removes any form of skill from the game and instead tries to appeal to supposed “humans” that have the cognitive capacity of a brain damaged newt. At least Kawamori’s plane looks pretty cool, which is at least something I suppose.

The forthcoming 1/60 scale VF-17S Nightmare from Macross 7 has been previewed over at Amiami. Considering that Bandai made some pretty decent toys back when the show aired, we’re still pretty stoked to see this being re-done by Yamato. The variable fighter has had a bit of mixed gaming history though, as the PSone era versions packed beam weapons by default. The recent PSP iterations were subsequently far more faithful. The toy is out in November and you can pre-order it here.