At the recent AOU 2012 show, more Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost content has surfaced. Notable of which is the addition of the Extreme Gundam “Leos” type (pictured above). The Extreme Gundam being the boss mecha you face at the end of each of the arcade paths in the current game, as well as in the Trial Missions on the PS3 port. It also sounds like this will be playable unit. Admittedly, we won’t be getting the gattai-tastic variants seen in the original Extreme Versus but instead something a bit more streamlined. The official site has also been updated a fair bit too as of late, with a current roster of all the playable mobile suits. Much of the PS3’s DLC will be making it into Full Boost, especially that of the wondrous RX-79BD-1 GM Blue Destiny Unit 1. Full Boost is expected to hit Japanese arcades this spring.

Day One Studios, creators of the two MechAssault games on the original Xbox, have announced a spiritual successor going by the name Reign of Thunder. While the game is missing the BattleTech license, it appears that the MechAssault “feel” of fast third-person action is still present, with the promised addition of tons of customization options.

Day One Studios says “mech fans have been asking us for years to return to the genre and we’ve been listening”, which is perhaps an overstatement. The games reviewed exceptionally well, but the BattleTech fans who thought they would be getting a nuanced game in the vein of MechWarrior were sorely disappointed. With a MechWarrior reboot and Hawken still on the horizon, as well as a certain “core” mecha series adding an unprecedented amount of online content, there may not be room for another freemium mecha game based on a series with simple, action-oriented game mechanics.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s this: the press release claims the game will also incorporate the “customization and RPG elements of the early MechWarrior PC and board games” in addition to the instant action feel of MechAssault. If that wasn’t just hapless PR speak, this project could turn out to be something interesting, though Day One Studios still has everything to prove.

Along with a bunch of other series related blurb over at Famitsu, the upcoming Eureka Seven AO anime will also have a game too (as published by Namco Bandai). Whilst there is no word on what platform(s) it will be on nor its expected release date as yet, we’re still somewhat cautious about another “official” tie-in game. For those unaware, there were a few PS2 games developed by none other than the (now defunct) Team White Dingo. These were sidestories to the original series, which the new AO is a sequel to obviously. Unfortunately, they were functionally pretty dire. This wasn’t the developer’s fault really, as all the funky surfing LFO combat in the anime was totally meant as eye candy and trying to replicate that properly wasn’t really feasible (something that was proven in Another Century’s Episode 3, as the functionality was hugely simplified to make it work). Basically, an in-house studio wouldn’t have been given the same kind of leeway From Software would have and the official PS2 games suffered as a consequence of that. Still, they could go down the more RPG route seen in the PSP game and that wasn’t half bad. In any case, we’ve included the latest promo for the anime below.

Whilst most people would celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving their loved one chocolates or flowers, Bandai Namco thought that a few more mobile suits in Senjou no Kizuna would do the trick. The two new units are the FA-78-1B Full Armor Gundam Type B, as seen in the serialised novel MSV-R: The Return of Johnny Ridden, and the MS-11 Act Zaku. The new Gundam also apparently has similar ranged potency to that of the YMS-16M Xamel, which sounds pretty brutal. The Act Zaku though is more of a superfly Zaku II, basically like a Gouf or a Kampfer but without the predilection towards sucking a big fat one. If anything, the Act Zaku supersedes units like the Gelgoog (well, at least it did in the awesome Gundam One Year War). Game Watch has some nice new screenshots of the units in action too.

For those that played the last game on the PSP, there are some link bonuses to be had in the forthcoming Super Robot Wars Z 2 Saisei-hen. The first is a bonus for a single playthrough on Hakai-hen, followed by a bonus based on how many times you did a playthrough (maxing out at 10) and the final is if you completed all the scenarios. These will net you a variety of upgrade points as well as parts. So whilst you can pre-order Saisei-hen here, you may want to go back and pick up a copy of Hakai-hen (also here) so you can squeeze out a good head start when Saisei-hen arrives on your doorstep.

The latest Wonder Festival has had all manner of lovely trinkets on display. From Sentinel’s RIOBOT versions of Anubis (pictured above), Jehuty and Detonator Orgun (though we’re more excited by the inclusion of the Tsugumori from Tsutomu Nihei’s brilliant though overlooked Knights of Sidonia manga), to some very nice figma toys of both Tekkaman Blade and Tekkaman Evil. The new VOLKS injection plastic LED Mirage is still looking all kinds of sexy too. Though the biggest and nicest surprise of them all is the appearance of Kazutaka Miyatake’s power armor from the 80’s Starship Troopers OVA as a new Revoltech figure. If you want to peruse more pictures at your leisure, then you can do so here, here and here.

For those that have been wondering what has happened to Hawken, well there’s now the chance to sign-up for what looks like a closed beta test. We’re assuming that this closed beta will be PC based (via Steam?) but this is entirely conjecture on our part. There’s also a Twitter feed you can follow for the beta test. What we do know is that some people will be playing the game on “12.12.12”. Catchy.

Update: Looks like this will indeed be a PC only title, published by Meteor Games. It also sounds like it will be freemium.

4Gamer has a really nice report on the Premium Dogfight event that happened for Gundam Extreme Versus last year. Not only did players duke it out in a tournament on the current game, the development team were also present to talk about Full Boost. The latter sounds even more intense now, as the gameplay mechanics appear to be even more immediate and visceral. Considering how fast paced the current game is, it will be interesting to see how far the team at Byking will push it further. On top of that Full Boost will receive a new opening song called Fight It Out Feat.K (Pay Money To My Pain) by Akihiro Namba and Takeshi Ueda (audio clip below). If we’re honest, we’re a bit disappointed that Linkin Park didn’t do it especially as they’re such big Gundam fans (especially of the UC timeline). Finally, the Extreme Gundam (aka: that annoying boss in the current game) has received its own serialised manga in Gundam ACE called Gundam EXA. If you’re still on the fence about getting the PS3 port of the current game, then have a read of our review and remember you can still buy the game here.

Well, the sales figures for Armored Core V’s first week in Japan are out. For the PS3 version, the game shipped a respectable 163,906 units placing it at the top of the Japanese charts and the 360 variant pulled in a more meager 24,719 and landed 6th in the charts. To put these figures into perspective the Japanese PS3 versions for Armored Core 4 and Armored Core For Answer only sold around 90,000 and 100,000 units in their first year of sale. Likewise the Japanese 360 versions also sold approximately 30,000 to 70,000 units respectively in the same time period. So from a Japanese standpoint this first set of sales figures is incredibly good, especially as it’s been less than a week since the game’s release. Talking of release, on a more personal note our order (which includes both versions) has been delayed somewhat, this means our review will be similarly later than usual. Unfortunately, these things happen occasionally. In any case, these sales figures are awesome news for the Armored Core series.

The official Super Robot Wars Z 2 Saisei-hen site is now open for business. Whilst there are no promo videos as yet, it does collate all the new series featured and their respective screenshots (which are also duplicated over at Game Watch, minus the flash leprosy obviously). We’re just glad that Final Dancouga is still present and correct. That said, seeing the mighty Shin Mazinger Z sporting its God Scrander (pictured above) brings warmth to our heart. This being the same God Scrander that in its post-modernist brilliance actually transforms Mazinger Z into a giant rocket propelled fist. We can also highly recommend the Soul of Chogokin toy too, if you can find it. Anyway, the game is still set for its April 5th release and you can pre-order it here.