4Gamer has a new piece on the forthcoming Mobile Suit Gundam Online and it seems that they’re really going more for the co-op action route, a la Monster Hunter, rather than an old school MMO. This is mostly down to the combat being pretty standard TPS Gundam fare, with mobile suits broken down into class types (such as assault or sniper for instance). The fact you can also have a suitably massive number of players, 52 per side to be precise, is also pretty damn awesome really. In addition, there’s also a commander mode available that looks and sounds awfully like Armored Core V’s setup (which in turn is influence by Chrome Hounds obviously). Still no word on pricing or release date as yet but it’s looking to be a pretty cool game.

Game Watch has a piece on a recent version update to our favourite Gundam arcade game; Senjou no Kizuna. This particular revision (3.06) features quite an extensive array of changes as well as a few additions. From finally including Johnny Ridden’s proper Zaku, that of the MS-06R-2 Zaku II High Mobility Type, to the slightly crazy addition of the RB-79K Ball Type K as piloted by Shiro Amada at the beginning of 08th MS Team. The other changes are mostly that of balancing, with the Blue Destiny units getting a substantial performance boost as well as the White Dingo coloured gaming classic RGM-79SP GM Sniper II getting a nice hyper bazooka. Finally, there is now a new “Nosedive” manoeuvre available, this is pretty much self explanatory and can only be used on maps set in space. This also fits into a small change to the A Baoa Qu map, as it gets a new corridor to help alleviate some bottle-necking.

Famitsu has a new breakdown on the forthcoming Gundam Unicorn game for PS3. Not only do we have a release date now, the 8th March next year, but that the price will also be a very affordable 5,040 yen for the standard edition and the limited edition at 7,980 yen. The latter will feature additional bonus content on a separate Blu-Ray disc about the making of the anime as well as a new prequel novel written by Harutoshi Fukui with a luscious cover by Hajime Katoki featuring the prototype Sinanju Stein that we mentioned previously. The game has also had it’s “mode shift” controls clarified too. In that there will be an “assist” mode that will handle the weapon selection based on your range to target and a more “normal” setup where you have to select your sub-weapons manually. In addition, you’ll also be able to upgrade your pilots’ and mobile suits’ abilities with points earned in missions.

4Gamer has the news that both Super Robot Wars Alpha and Alpha Gaiden hit the PSN store yesterday for 1,500 yen a piece. The Alpha series was a shift for the SRW series in terms of the difficulty (as in not fascistically impossible) and used more elaborate battle animations. It was also one of the first SRW games to feature the mighty variable fighters from Macross. As with the other SRW archived games on PSN these can also be played on your PSP. Annoyingly, the PS Vita doesn’t do PSone archived games as yet (though weirdly it does do the PC Engine games) but we’re pretty sure it won’t be long until they’re PS Vita compatible. Finally, the article also talks of a 20th Anniversary event on the 18th March next year. No details really on what the event will be but we’re assuming that JAM Project will be present to scream their awesome lungs out.

A good long while ago, the original trailer for Armored Core V showed a pretty awesome set of flaming chainsaws as one of the game’s new “over weapons”, powerful weapons that could down an AC in one hit but required skill to use effectively. Well, those flaming chainsaws now have a name; the Grind Blade. That’s not all, there are a slew of other similarly uber weapons apparently too. From giant missile launchers to huge cannons and an immense part known as the Multiple Pulse, which looks like a pretty damn deadly area of effect weapon. On top of all this, the “Full Burst” live stream has been and gone (it’s archived below thankfully) and From Software also did another breakdown movie covering the customisation in the game. In addition, there’s now also a team play promo (also linked below) that has a tiny bit of gameplay footage showing off the suitably epic Grind Blade in action. Finally, 4Gamer have also highlighted that a new event will occur on December 23rd to a select throng of 50 lucky fans who will get to play the game (the application details are here). The game is still set for it’s January 26th release and we really can’t wait!

There’s a new shiny update over at 4Gamer for Lord of Elemental II: Revelation of Evil God. It covers a variety of new characters in the game as well as highlighting some interesting aspects in regards to moving around the landscape. Specifically, if the element for a certain machine corresponds to water, then it will be able to move more easily through and thus cover more distance. It also seems that this effect can be passed over to other units too. As always, it’s looking very pretty still and don’t forget you can pre-order the box set here.

4Gamer has an interesting breakdown of the campaign modes in the upcoming Gundam Unicorn game. We already knew about the Unicorn Mode, which allowed players to choose to play through the narratives of several characters in the anime. The latest addition though is that of Custom Cast Mode, this allows you to create a team of six pilots and a warship and undertake a variety of challenging missions. Considering one of our concerns was the somewhat lean singleplayer, this new mode sounds to beef things up quite a bit. The other element is that of a prequel narrative, written by Harutoshi Fukui (who also penned the Unicorn novels), regarding Full Frontal’s stealing of the Sinanju Stein as well as introducing the Gundam Delta Kai (specifically built for Newtypes). On top of all this, there will also be DLC for the game. The first being revealed to be the forerunner to the pimp-tastic Hyakushiki, that of the transformable MSN-001 Delta Gundam. Finally, there are also some more details as to the gameplay; specifically that there is a mode shift present. This sounds a lot like the controls shift seen in the last two Another Century’s Episode games on the PS2, which would make sense as they were also developed by From Software. The game is definitely shaping up though and we’re keen to get our hands on it when it is finally released sometime next year.

Following on from their various summary videos for Armored Core V, From Software will be hosting yet another live stream of the game on 16th December. Entitled “Full Burst” the stream will be 3 hours long and be suitably thorough by the sounds of it, though we’re not sure what exactly will be covered as From Software are being a tad vague on specifics. You can also follow the stream here on the day.

Considering the arcade heritage behind Gundam Extreme Versus you would have thought that there would a dedicated stick for it. Well, Bandai Namco are going to do just that. Via their Lalabit Market, for the rather large sum of 14,800 yen, you’ll be able to have your very own Gundam styled stick in March of next year. What’s not entirely clear at the moment is who the stick is made by, though it looks like it could be HORI. It’s also a bit odd considering that this will only be available four months after the release of the game itself. We’re already blitzing the game with our Real Arcade Pro. 3 and whilst the Gundam styling of this stick looks pretty nifty we’re not sure what else it really offers to the discerning gamer. As four our review of the game itself, stay tuned for that as we’re writing it now.

There’s a nice update over at 4Gamer for the forthcoming Gundam Unicorn game. Whilst the information and shots are pretty much the same as those shown at Famitsu originally, these are now at HD resolution so you can really see the detail. Though this piece does talk more about the weight of the mobile suits and that they’ll feel “heavy”. Still no word on a price or specific release date as yet, bar sometime next year. We still really want to see some game footage before we get too excited though.