Whilst we haven’t talked much about Heavy Gear Assault, much of that was down to the fact its Kickstarter has been somewhat of a car crash. So much so that it missed its asking price by such a wide-margin they’ve now resorted to crowd sourced funds via their website. Interestingly, the latter option seems to be netting them more cash so that’s good at least. Personally, we want nothing but this game to get properly funded. These guys really seem to get Heavy Gear and it would be a shame if they weren’t able to bring this project to fruition. So get out your wallets and support them as best you can.

Bandai have done the decent thing and announced a BluRay boxset for Blue Comet SPT Layzner. This will include the TV series and OVA as well as a variety of other trinkets (such as a 32 page booklet). However, all this will come at a price as the boxset will cost pretty close to 50,000 yen when it is released September 18th in Japan. Unlike the recent Macross Plus BluRay Boxset, this release of Layzner sadly won’t come with English subtitles. This begs the question on whether any Western distributor will do the right thing and pick this classic series up. As to why Layzner matters, well when it comes to gaming the series has been consistently and hugely influential. From Anubis to Armored Core For Answer to Omega Boost and even Bangai-O, Layzner’s functional parameters have inspired all manner of mecha games over the years. That aside the series is also thoroughly excellent in its own right and considering that the last release of Layzner (on DVD) was over 10 years ago now, this announcement is very welcome.

Looks like a couple big updates will be on the way for Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost in the upcoming weeks. The first update is a major unit readjustment that affects around 32 current units, ranging from increased main ammo for Cherudim to several new cancels for many units . This update is included in the June 25th update that introduces the Kapools as playable units. The next update is the Character Battle between the X-3 Crossbone Gundam and the Gerbera Tetra. Like previous Character Battles, they will be voted on through the mobile site and whoever wins will be added in the next game update, which is July 15th. The loser will move onto the next Character Battle and await the results of that round. Until then, check out the video below and see some of the new unit updates in action!

On June 25, the Kapool and Corin’s Kapool will be added to the Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost roster. Teased in the game’s intro since it was released over a year ago, the AMX–109 Kapool and Corin’s Kapool seem to be one of the most unique units out there. Acting as one selected unit, the player will be able to switch between the two units during the match. Corin’s Kapool appears to be more melee focused, whereas the Kapool, piloted by Sochie Heim, is more ranged. Each unit has its own health, but beware as one unit death means both Kapools go down. Regardless, we are definitely looking forward to playing the Kapools sometime soon. Other additions in the next update include Lunamaria Hawke from Gundam Seed Destiny as an operator and A Bao A Qu as a new playable stage. Check out the video below to see Team Kapool in action!

A small team of indie developers have crafted something pretty damn cool via the Unreal engine. Called Strike Vector, it utilises semi-transforming craft in a multiplayer dog-fighting environment. So mixing straight flight and lateral movement (basically a plane crossed with a helicopter – something that’s quite commonplace with the mecha in shows like Macross for instance). No word on a release date or platform, though with the latter it’s likely developed on PC so it’s safe to assume we’ll see the game released there too. We like the mecha design a lot as well and the new in-game trailer (shown below) looks great.

Whilst it was leaked recently that Respawn Entertainment were working on a mecha themed FPS, it has now been officially announced. Called Titanfall, it’s a sci-fi FPS set on what appears to be a far off future colony world. On foot combat seems to have parkour and quick boosting elements (so quite interesting) but the mecha look like something else entirely (as shown above). Whilst we did berate Front Mission Evolve’s idiotic standardisation between human and mecha handling, it’s not entirely clear if that’s the case here. That aside, the mecha designs have some nice nods to Yutaka Izubuchi’s and Kow Yokoyama’s work though, which we entirely approve of. Whilst this was premiered along with the Xbox One, apparently there will be a 360 and PC release too. The announcement trailer is linked below.

Oh, and to our readers from Respawn (of which there are a few), “hi!”.

Over at 4Gamer there’s an interesting update for Armored Core Verdict Day. On the one hand it shows the new and nicely shiny boxart but also covers the game’s singleplayer component. Specifically, we have a fleshed out Story Mode that has you play single player narrative focused missions. The purpose is to clear all 60 missions and reach the plot’s conclusion. This is slightly different from the handful of story missions in the previous game followed by the the Order filler missions. This seems to be far more substantial in terms of content. Two player coop play is also possible for all missions and a UNAC or a mercenary can be selected as a partner. Once the story is cleared another mode, Hardcore Mode, will appear. This mode changes a number of things, such as clearing the story with higher difficulty conditions, from limitations on your AC to increased damage taken. There are a total of 10 different modes with a variety of conditions in Hardcore Mode. Beating Hardcore Mode will also result in your details being listed on online rankings. In addition, you can create a single player team and battle with UNAC (AI) AC as the team members. Not to mention that it is also possible to send only the UNAC units and participate in the battle as an operator. The mercenary setup is also very much still present and whilst you’ll lack voice communication you can still participate in the story mode missions just fine. Finally it seems the western release of the game will also get the same collector’s edition, which is pretty cool.

The third livestream for Armored Core Verdict Day will be happening on the 21st June (you’ll be able to watch it here). The previous livestream is also online here if you want to watch it. From what we’ve been seeing it seems that the game is going to be very good indeed. In addition, there are lots of rumours flying on Japanese boards about merged servers. If true that would make a huge and very positive difference to the game’s online community and potential longterm success.

It’s that time of the year again where the top players from all over Japan come together to see who’s the best Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost player in the country! The Premium Dogfight 2013 tournament will take place on May 25th and be held at the Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Last year, we saw a team of Tallgeese III/00 Qan[T] barely eek out a victory against a Zaku II FZ/Hildolfr team in the finals. It will be interesting to see what kind of matchups will be in store for this year’s tournament. Perhaps we might get some news about a possible home version of the game or even an upcoming sequel! Just because you may not be able to see the event in Japan, does not mean you cannot watch it live. Streaming info can be found on the Full Boost website here. Until then, watch some of the 2013 Tokyo qualifiers in the video below!

As part of the current Deal of the Week, the fantastic Bangai-O HD is now half price (at 400 MSP). We have an enduring love for Treasure’s shooter, as archived here in our feature on the series. So if you haven’t bought the latest game already, then there’s no excuse now. Unlike the other Treasure releases on XBLA, this isn’t a remake of a previous game but an all new one. The reviews, especially in the West, were sadly rather lawltastic as it seemed to be somewhat of a shock to the system for many of them (as it’s obviously very skill based). So ignore them entirely and just buy it now. It’s bloody awesome!