For the upcoming launch of Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus, a 5 metre tall Christmas tree adorned with Gundam model kits will be erected in Akihabara. The first 100 people to buy the new PSP game will have a chance to be pictured with Tohru Furuya, the voice of Amuro Rei. Furuya was also present for the opening ceremony for the 1/1 scale RX-78-2 Gundam in Odaiba, unfortunately he wasn’t allowed to pilot it (something about recent regulations on Newtypes apparently).

At 8pm this evening (Japanese time) you’ll be able to play one of the developers on Oratan 5.66. Their gamertag is “SEGA VOOT360”. The semi-regular official blog also hints at a port of Virtual On Force as well, as there have been many requests by fans apparently (this would also make sense, considering the upcoming HORI TwinSticks would be usable on that port too, making their price tage slightly less painful). Bear in mind that Force has never really received a proper port either, as Virtual On Marz was a remake effectively with a suitably dodgy singleplayer campaign too.

Niche gaming news site SiliconEra posted a veritable deluge of Sakura Wars screenshots, this time with English text. We don’t have a solid release date for Sakura Wars’ release date yet other than a vague “Winter 2009/2010”, but the English screenshots imply that the localization is coming along nicely.

The official site for Sakura Wars has been updated fairly regularly, and unlike a few other Nippon Ichi America official sites, it seems to be written by someone with a good grasp on English, so feel free to give it a read. If you’re interested in a strategy RPG with beautiful girls and stubby mecha, it’s probably worth at least a look (fans of beautiful mecha and stubby girls need not apply). Keep in mind the game we’re getting as “Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love” is really Sakura Wars 5 in Japan, as the West have never before received a localized version of the game, and presumably Nippon Ichi America doesn’t want customers getting scared off by the lack of the other four installments. It’s kind of like how America’s Final Fantasy 3 was really Japan’s Final Fantasy 6.

A few places are reporting the upcoming release of a PC only 2D shooter in the same vein as Masaya’s much loved Assault Suits games. Called Gunhound, it basically ticks many of the boxes in terms of a spiritual sequel to something like Leynos II on the Saturn. The game will be released on the 18th December either online (for 4800 yen) or on disc (for 6090 yen).

It looks like G.rev’s Senko no Ronde Duo will be receiving an Xbox 360 port, much like its precursor, sometime early next year. It also looks like there will be a collector’s edition again, which is always nice. As yet, there is no word on a Western release.

Late last week, Silent Line Portable saw its Japanese release. The official site is now also taking AI Arena Battlefield entries, so if you have a copy of the game and have already birthed an AI AC or two you should try and share your creations.

This is quite a cool little indie game by Teasoft, entitled Shining Blood you control a mecha across five stages via an over the shoulder camera viewpoint. In many ways, it handles a bit like Armored Core 4 and For Answer, especially when airborne. Bar that, it’s pretty standard third person shooter fare, though considering the indie roots it’s damn impressive nonetheless. Not only can you download a PC version but it’s also an Xbox Live Arcade community game too.

On November 19th a patch for Gundam Senki 0081 will be released. This patch adds functionality to the core game as well as various minor bug fixes. The most notable of these are a selection of new custom parts and missions (the latter introducing elements from Zeta Gundam). The Acguy is also getting toned down in terms of its stealth capability and online game timing options have been updated. Overall, it’s a pretty thorough package and makes an already solid game offer just that bit more.

The Kshatriya from Gundam Unicorn will be a playable unit in the upcoming Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus, released on the PSP in Japan at the beginning of December. The Kshatriya is a follow on design from the Quin Mantha, that was featured in ZZ Gundam, though admittedly a fair bit smaller.

This happened a few months back but a shrewd VJ by the name of Bonsajo re-purposed an old Steel Battalion controller for his VJing. It’s impressively done and makes a lot of sense considering how many buttons the device had, so you could pre-bake multiple inputs off that for quick access. Plus, it also looks pretty cool when all the buttons light up. In any case, Bonsajo uploaded some videos of the kit in action.