This is pretty amusing as Bandai have barely released their 1/100 scale VF Hi-Metal rendition of Nekki Basara’s Fire Valkyrie, only to have their major competitor – Yamato – lay the proverbial smackdown. Specifically, Yamato have announced on their blog that they will be releasing a 1/60 scale fully transformable Fire Valkyrie toy. This means it’s bigger and the specifics on the transformation indicate that there won’t be parts swapping either (which there is a bit on the legs of the Hi-Metal version). To make matters worse, Shoji Kawamori will be personally supervising this toy’s development.

No news on whether Yamato will release the Sound Booster parts though, something that Bandai is planning. In any case, it’s worth highlighting here that Yamato are technically far more adept at making transformable toys than Bandai are these days, so this announcement will definitely be making people at Bandai a bit uneasy. The Fire Valkyrie was also recently featured in both Macross Ace Frontier and Ultimate Frontier on the PSP.

The much loved Border Break has received an update today, which specifically features the addition of a new “Enforcer” frame to the game. This new frame apparently sports improved capacity and booster power, making it a good all rounder. As with all unlocks in Border Break, the Enforcer parts will need to be earned and paid for (with real money too). In any case, it will be interesting to see if Kotobukiya render this design in kit form in the near future.

In the recently released Sega Sammy Holdings fiscal reports Border Break seems to have made quite an impact. Now, we rather loved the arcade game in our review but it’s interesting to see that the game’s financial model hasn’t put punters off (something that we thought might be an issue). Instead it seems that the Japanese public have taken to Border Break very readily, to the extent that it’s topped the number of units sold. In any case, the fact that the has done so well only begs the inevitable question; when will a console port rear its multi-jointed mechanical head?

Thanks to Chazumaru for the heads up.

Over at Game Watch, they’ve covered off the extra parts that will be available in Last Raven Portable. Now, bear in mind that the original Last Raven had a parts list that was already very expansive so having even more parts to play with is almost always a good thing. In addition to the new parts, listed below, many of Last Raven’s features have been recreated with the limb destruction making a welcome come back not to mention the somewhat scary Pulverizers. In any case, the game is still scheduled for its March 4th release in Japan and if you haven’t already you can pre-order it here.

The official Armored Core 5 site has been updated with a trailer for the game. The more observant of you will notice that this trailer was already shown when the game was announced a few weeks ago. However, this version lacks the shaky hand cam issues and as such you can see the new Over Weapon transformation a lot more clearly. In any case, no word on a release date as yet but it will be gracing both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 upon its inevitable release. You may also want to keep an eye on From Software’s YouTube Channel too, if you’re already Armored Core inclined.

A landscape gardener in Taiwan has built a large statue of Optimus Prime in his backyard. Apart from holding up the washing, the design used is the one from the recent Michael Bay films. Now this version of Optimus does make our eyes bleed but the statue has been somewhat restrained in its use of scrap metal. It’s not the horrifically busy nonsense you see in the films but actually something decently mechanical.

There are games for these films obviously but you’d best stay clear really, as none of them are very good (though oddly for entirely different reasons). We’re still holding out for the High Moon developed War for Cybertron to be at least moderately decent, but the Transformers franchise generally has a pretty bad track record when it comes to games.

Our personal favourite home built mecha is still this rendition of Kazumi Fujita’s Hyper Zeta Gundam though, mostly because it has an actual cockpit and can walk.

With the run up to Gundam Unicorn’s release, the wondrous Anime News Network will be streaming the entirety of Zeta Gundam (in Japanese with English subtitles, in case you’re wondering) until April 22nd. Admittedly, this doesn’t include the three re-animated movies that were released a few years back, but all 50 episodes of probably one of the most renowned Gundam shows isn’t to be scoffed at. Naturally, Zeta has been featured in numerous games over the years from Super Robot Wars to Another Century’s Episode and multiple Gundam game tie-ins (with the excellent Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus being no exception).

Following Zeta, the original Gundam and SEED will also be streamed via the same service later this month. In any case, if you want to start watching Zeta, then go here.

Everyone remembers that larger than large (though not quite full scale) Gundam that was in Tokyo last year, right? Well, even though it hasn’t grabbed nowhere near the same amount of attention, the equally as impressive (and 1:1 scaled) Tetsujin 28-go has nonetheless managed to attract a million visitors since it first went up in Kobe. Quite the incredible feat since it’s only been up for three months. But most importantly, all those visitors have been a tremendous asset to the city’s economy, which has been suffering ever since the Great Hanshin earthquake in ’95. One can find positively anything and everything related to the big blue robot: shirts, vending machines, street lamps, curry dishes, even local taxi cabs (which are filled with plenty of Tetsujin 28 manga to enjoy during a ride)!

We mentioned the PS3 version of Thexder Neo not that long ago but today it’s been finally released across the world via the PlayStation Network store. Now, we really quite enjoyed the PSP version but the remake was somewhat misunderstood by much of the Western gaming press – as they most probably had no recollection of the original games. The PS3 version is basically the same as the PSP game though (bar being much prettier), so I doubt they’re going to be won over but at least Square Enix have bundled the original NEC PC-8801 version along with the shinier remake to at least clarify matters. In any case, if you have a PS3 then go buy Thexder Neo (unless you are one of those people that’s dead inside and/or has flippers for hands).

The just released 1/100 VF HI-METAL Fire Valkyrie is getting the Sound Booster add-on in the very near future via the Bandai online collector’s shop. The Sound Booster maximised the sound energy of the respective pilot in each of the Fire Bomber variable fighters, making them a real threat to the Protodeviln forces.The Sound Booster was also featured as a playable add-on in the recent Macross Ultimate Frontier.