It appears the next version of the Gundam VS series is currently in development! Thanks to some keen redditors, a recent Famitsu article has a provided a Q&A session with series producer Ryuichiro Baba and other staff members regarding the future of the Gundam VS series. They mention their understanding of Gundam EXVS Force’s misgivings with the fans and plan to address those issues in the latest installment. They also mention console specs and infrastructures are now ripe to take advantage of connecting players, and that possibly includes a more global focus. They also mention the new VS game as the 5th generation of Gundam VS, with EXVS series being the 4th. Perhaps we’ll hear more about this in the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, but this news definitely has us salivating while we continue to wait for a Maxi Boost console version.

The latest and third installment in the Valkyries book series by Hidetaka Tenjin will be released this September in Japan. Like the first and second books, this one will contain new Macross related art by Tenjin featuring a variety of variable fighters from the series. This new book will also be fully bilingual and feature English text. Considering that Macross Delta is the latest series in the saga, it’s clear this new book will focus on this more readily but it will be interesting to see what other pieces of art turn up. Valkyries Third Sortie is released on September 14th in Japan by Kobunsha and you can pre-order it over on Amazon. In the meantime, make sure to check out my review of the second book.

Later this August, the VR Zone exhibit at Diver City in Tokyo will have a Gundam themed attraction added to its ranks. Called Gundam VR Daiba Assault, it’s based around the 18 meter tall Gundam outside Diver City coming to life and protecting you from an attack by a renegade Zaku II. As with all VR Zone events, you will need to reserve a slot to attend this new attraction. Like the amazing VOTOMS simulator, this too is using Unreal Engine 4 and I am curious as to how this will play out. Naturally, Bandai Namco called in Toru Furuya, the voice of Amuro Ray, to help promote the new attraction (shown below). So if you’re in Tokyo over the next month or so, you might want to go and check out the VR Zone at Diver City.

Following the already excellent releases of Turn A Gundam on DVD in the West, courtesy of Nozomi Entertainment, it looks like we’ll be getting BluRay editions too. It’s obvious that the DVD releases have sold well enough to warrant the BluRay versions getting an additional release, which is great news. Turn A Gundam is also a genuinely fantastic series and arguably one of the best standalone spin-offs from the main series. Though, it technically bridges all the various Gundam timelines but that’s a whole other thing. From Syd Mead’s amazing mecha design to Akira Yasuda’s characters, it’s a fascinating anime and has more in common with some of Studio Ghibli’s output than Gundam. While there are no details on when the Turn A Gundam will come out on BluRay, bar sometime next year, I am happy to see that Gundam is finally getting the support in the West it so obviously deserves.

It seems that Artdink are still with us and will be making the PS Vita exclusive Macross Delta Scramble to released on October 20th. Now, for those with a good memory Artdink came to mecha gaming prominence with the Gundam Battle series on PSP. They then shifted over to Macross on the PSP, with the likes of Macross Triangle Frontier being one of my favorite games on the system. Then after several BluRay Hybrid games for Macross Frontier and Do You Remember Love? we got a full-blown “flight action RPG” in the form of Macross 30. While fun it was technically quite limited and in that sense I am happy to see Macross Delta get the Vita treatment.

The game will cover the first 13 episodes of the series and will also feature guest characters from other Macross shows. The Delta focus makes sense, as Vita games require more asset work than PSP games do. The result being you can’t feature every variable fighter in existence, which is something Artdink’s Macross games did a pretty good job of. The game will also come as a standard or limited edition. The main difference between the two looks to be the number of featured songs, with the limited edition having 50 songs over the standard’s more minimal 20. Pre-orders for the game aren’t up yet but will be soon at places like Play Asia.

On July 25th, the Tieren Taozi from Gundam 00 will join the Gundam EXVS Maxi Boost ON roster. This will be Soma Pieres’ first foray as a solo competitor in the series, not counting her earlier outings as a co-pilot in the Gundam Arios and Gundam Harute. As a 1500 cost unit, it appears to be your run of the mill support unit in the vein of Gun-EZ and Dual Gundam Assault Shroud with a good balance of long range attacks, melee, and a slew of assists involving other Tieren. Considering there hasn’t been a console version of this game or the previous title announced, it’s going to be a long time before players outside of Japanese and Asian arcades will be able to get a hold of this unit. As always, we’ll let you know more when we find out!

So I got to check out the new Armored Trooper VOTOMS VR simulator at the VR Zone event space at Diver City, Odaiba. In short, it was amazing and very accurate to how the ATs work and move in the anime. The battling simulator is also using Unreal Engine 4, so it will be interesting to see if Bandai Namco builds on this further. Though, the best part of this simulator was the controls and not the fact you had a screen strapped to your face. It’s weird to think that VOTOMS used a VR setup in the anime itself back in 1983, so to have Bandai Namco actually stay true to that and have it work so well is kind of amazing really. If you’re in Tokyo you should totally check this out but make sure to sort out a reservation first.

The VR Zone event space in Odaiba will be getting some changes to its playable game lineup, with one of these being a VOTOMS battle simulator (shown above). Released on July 15th, you will have to reserve a timeslot in order to visit the event (you can do that here). Each go costs around 700 yen and the duration of each battle will be approximately 8 minutes. I already visited VR Zone earlier this year and covered it for Forbes. It was an interesting setup and made me think that Bandai Namco is experimenting with VR for the arcades here in Japan. I am guessing this VOTOMS simulator also replaces the other mecha game, Argyle Shift that was developed by Sola Digital Arts (of Shinji Aramaki fame). It seems this new VOTOMS simulator was also developed in-house, which is a shame as I had hoped that they would have given it to Yuke’s, as their PS2 game was excellent. Getting to Odaiba isn’t too tough and I tend to use the Rinkai Line and get off at Tokyo Teleport. The walk to Diver City is a few minutes and it’s also where the life-sized Gundam is currently stationed. I will be checking out this VOTOMS simulator later this month, so will report back on that accordingly.

After a fair wait, the Assault Suits Leynos remake on PS4 is finally coming Westward on July 12th. I’ve already played the Japanese release and it’s not overtly great. It’s a real shame as Dracue made the excellent Gunhound but Leynos feels really vague in terms of its controls and movement. Compared to the pin-point precision expected of the player in the MegaDrive original, this PS4 remake is far more forgiving. It’s still a playable game though, unlike the PS2 version of Valken. This game is also not all that great visually either and after the amazing Leynos 2 on the Saturn, it feels like a big step back. Anyway, you’ll be able to check the game out for yourself on July 12th, so let me know what you think of it in the comments.

The English localised Asian release of Super Robot Wars OG The Moon Dwellers will be released on August 5th. While the Japanese version is out at the end of this month, I’ve held off on that version and have pre-ordered the Asian release. In the latest trailer (shown below) the game continues to look great and I can’t wait to finally play it. I am still in shock, albeit a rather pleasant type, that the game is getting an English version at all. The only sad point in all this is that winkysoft is no longer with us. If you haven’t already done so, you can pre-order the Asian release of the game here.