In terms of mecha gaming vintages, 1999 was definitely an exemplary year. From Omega Boost to Virtual On Oratorio Tangram, punters had access to some of the finest mecha games ever released. Then there was the final entry to the PlayStation Armored Core saga; Master of Arena.

In development for almost two years, the game had a substantial engine overhaul as well as some of the most revolutionary aspects the series had then seen. It was also a truly massive game and aptly named, as one whole disc (out of two) was solely dedicated to a new arena setup that had been introduced in the prior title, Project Phantasma. In short, it is simply one of the finest and best entries into the Armored Core series.

In a recent event at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Hideo Kojima got up on stage to tell the amassed throng that the forthcoming Zone of the Enders HD collections will be receiving new anime footage (as done by Sunrise). Amounting to an additional 4 minutes or so, it’s not clear whether this will be solely present in Anubis or a re-make of the CG animation from the first game. More interestingly though is the fact that a sequel to Anubis may finally be on the cards, they even finally admitted that a sequel had already been attempted a while back but was dropped. The obvious thing about all these renewed ZOE products, from toys to game remakes, is that it’s a clear attempt at marketing foreplay to hype the series back up again. The reason behind this is that, in reality, the ZOE games have never sold well and Konami need more than just a tiny vocal fanbase to bank roll what will end up being a hefty budget for any kind of modern sequel on PS3 or 360.

4Gamer has a piece on two producers from Capcom waving their arms around with the new Steel Battalion Heavy Armor for Kinect. Fundamentally the game uses proper, pad based, controls for movement and firing weapons of your vertical tank. However, certain switches and gauges in the cockpit require the player to directly gesticulate in midair to interact with them. In addition, your AI co-pilots apparently need cajoling in a similar manner as well, to the extent you get to enact a virtual Bright Slap if they start to turn into blubbering pansies. In some ways the fact the game is split like this is a good thing but it does openly show the inadequacies of the Kinect’s capabilities (as if it were truly a viable control setup, you wouldn’t need the pad at all). Considering that the first game was suitably revolutionary when it came to its controller, the new Kinect game seems to be partly following in its footsteps but we are still hugely skeptical about any of it actually working properly in the wild. We’re also a tad saddened that no-one on the From Software team were involved in this demo to the press.

As you’d expect the PS3 version of Gundam Extreme Versus has been shown at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, with a nice promo movie to accompany it. Not only explaining the game’s core mechanics as well as the swanky online battle setup. We’ve included the promo below as well as some on the floor shaky cam footage, just to help with the immersion. December can’t come soon enough!

What with this year’s Tokyo Game Show in full swing, Konami aren’t missing a trick and have surreptitiously displayed some new Revoltech figures from Anubis (as captured over at Gigazine). Namely an updated Jehuty, with a new colour scheme and additional parts, but also of the game’s namesake; the beastly Anubis itself (shown above). As we often say, we’re not fond of the games but we adore the design-work. The new Jehuty will be released this November for 2,980 yen and Anubis will be out in December for 3,480 yen. You can buy both toys here and here.

The classic Capcom mecha based2D beat-em-up Cyberbots has finally hit the PlayStation Network yesterday in the game archives, at the very reasonable sum of $5.99. This then is the PSone version, though it can also be run on your PSP to along with your PS3. This game was the pseudo follow on to Armored Warriors and in turn fed into Kikaioh, the latter even had the Blodia II from Cyberbots as an unlockable unit within the game. We have lots of fond memories for Cyberbots and to have it on PSN is nice, though as yet whilst it is available in North America there is no news of a European (PAL) release.

In a recent Sony conference a whole bunch of PS Vita related news was announced. From the fact the hardware will be released, in Japan, on December 17th this year and that it will have a lot of games at launch too. Among these will be a Zone of Enders HD game, likely a re-make though not much is known yet. Naturally, both Super Robot Wars and Gundam were also cited as series that would get the PS Vita treatment. Considering the similarity between the PS Vita and the PS3, we may even end up getting a portable version of Gundam Extreme Versus. The only downside to all this news is that the battery life is, well, crap. Coming in between 3-5 hours playtime. Oh well.

GameWatch has a new post on a forthcoming Senjou no Kizuna update on the 12th September. Rev 3.02 will feature a mock battle training setup as well as return the private battle functionality. Two more mobile suits will also join the ranks too; the MS-21C Dra-C and the RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam Full Vernian “Zephyranthes” from Gundam 0083. We’re big fans of the Shoji Kawamori designed mobile suits in that series and the Full Vernian is no exception to that. It’s an interesting choice though, as the other mobile suits may be a tad underpowered by comparison. In addition to this news, apparently the cabinets around Japan will also be updated with HD (1080p) projectors to help with picture clarity.

Over at Gigazine, they’ve got a pretty mad piece on a chap called Kogoro Kurata who’s basically building his very own armored trooper (which he’s calling the “Kuratasu”). The chap has already made a 1/1 sculpture of an ATM-09-ST Scopedog but this will actually move. Using a quadrupedal design, each leg will contain its own wheel propelled by a diesel engine under the torso. The arms and the legs will also use the engine to power the hydraulics. At first glance it seems to share the lens setup on the head from the X-ATH-P-RSC Blood Sucker from The Last Red Shoulder but the overall design understandably looks far more industrial. When all’s said and done though, this is really quite awesome indeed. Of all the mecha that could be made in real life, the AT’s from VOTOMS have always been one of the best contenders. We wish Kurata-san the best of luck with his endeavours!

In a truly momentous move, the first three Mobile Suit Gundam movies have been uploaded to YouTube, with English subtitles too no less. These three movies, which should really be viewed in one sitting, act as the foundation for the main UC timeline and more importantly cemented the success of the saga in Japan over 30 years ago. If we’re honest, these films are genuinely special and unique in the world of anime. Whilst the animation is pretty dated, the characterisation and narrative are timeless. If you haven’t seen these movies before then you really have no excuse not to now. All three are linked below.