Three new mobile suits for Gundam Senki 0081 are scheduled for release on the Japanese PlayStation Store on October 29th. These are the RX-81ST (with assault cannon), the AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra and the RMS-099 Rick Dias. The last two are noteworthy as they occur later in the Universal Century timeline, which could cause some interesting balancing issues as the there is quite a large disparity in terms of technology when it comes to units like the Rick Dias, which is from Zeta Gundam.

Not that long ago Yoshiyuki Tomino, the father of the Gundam saga, weighed in on games; declaring them to be “evil” relative to their creative worth. Unfortunately, many people seemed to ignore the context of his statements (and the fact he made Overman King Gainer, which features mecha games in a particularly positive manner). However, Mark Simmons recently interviewed Tomino and dutifully quizzed him again on this issue. It’s suitably thought provoking at the very least and part of me thinks he’s saying this so that the games industry can try to prove him wrong.

Armored Core 3 Portable is now available on the US PlayStation Store for $14.99. The download is around 324 MB. The upside of this release, bar the reduced price, is that it will use less battery power as the UMD version had the constant issue of it reading the disc (thus sapping the battery dry in super quick time). However, it’s worth clarifying that over the PS2 original, the new PSP port has input framerate issues. In that, despite the general visual consistency in terms of framerate the player input is quite erratic. You have been warned.

Over at Anime News Network a story has broken that the final chapter in Ryosuke Takahashi’s VOTOMS series, entitled Gen-ei Hen (or Phantom Arc) will begin airing next spring. It’s worth clarifying the simply massive impact this saga has had on gaming. Despite its own list of tie-in games (of which we reviewed the most recent), titles like Heavy Gear and Front Mission simply wouldn’t exist without the base ruleset that was used for the armored troopers in VOTOMS. The fact that this will be the final instalment in the narrative also qualifies as being a bit of a big deal, as the last part of the timeline we saw was in Heretic Saint back in 1994 (the recent Pailsen Files was actually set before the events in the original TV series). With any luck Yuke’s will be called back to do a new game to tie-in with this.

The Japanese release date for Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All-Stars has been announced to be the 28th January next year (two days after the US release and a day before the European launch). This is the updated version over Cross Generation of Heroes, which only saw a Japanese release at the end of last year. Ultimate All-Stars will also feature the much loved Tekkaman Blade, seen above, as a playable character. Naturally, in Japan, Bandai have been a tad shrewd about this and scheduled a release of the Armor Plus Tekkaman Blade toy to coincide with the launch of the game. This is not to be confused with the recently released set that also included Pegas, as the Armor Plus toy is a much larger rendition of just Blade himself.

A new promo video for Super Robot Wars Neo is now online. This video is particularly noteworthy as it shows the new non-grid based map setup and how that interlinks with the battle system. In short, it looks to be masterfully fluid in terms of how the strategy will work out. Naturally, this is ideal for Neo as it’s being clearly aimed at a younger audience due to its slightly kiddy mecha show line-up. That said, having a similar setup for the subsequent Super Robot Wars games would also work extremely well as it would add more tactical intricacy and depth if handled well. The game’s release is still scheduled for the end of October in Japan.

I meant to post this earlier but a few places have gone into detail on the upcoming Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus’ new Plus Mode. Now for those that have played any of these console ports before, you’ll already now about the extensive mission modes these games can offer. Where you have a large number of missions coupled with unit upgrading all linked in a causal manner. This being in contrast to the almost cursory arcade “singleplayer”, which comprises of a scant few areas and opponents. The new Plus Mode is effectively the mission mode from the older ports, which is no bad thing but not exactly a massive progression either. Separately, the official site has been updating its mobile suits roster in case you’re curious.

As many had already assumed, it seems that the vague “Winter 2009/2010” release date that Nippon Ichi America gave to Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love means that we won’t be seeing it this year. I’ve been waiting for a game in the Sakura Wars series to come over since the days of the Sega Saturn, so while I’m sure I can wait a little while longer, it’s definitely going to be a tough sell for many hardcore gamers with all the other highly anticipated titles that have already been pushed back into 2010, such as Bayonetta and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. It’s being released on the PlayStation 2 and the Wii, which aren’t exactly the first choices of hardcore gamers these days, which also makes me worry about its success.

A new promo video was released over at the official site for Armored Core 3 Silent Line Portable today. It highlights the original AI functionality from the PS2 version as well as clarifying the compatibility of game saves with Armored Core 3 Portable. What’s nice about the video is how it uses one of the in-game tracks, specifically that of “Rise In Arms”. As Silent Line’s score, penned by Kota Hoshino, was remarkably well wrought (so much so that on its release it was encased within a hardback artbook).

To tie in with the release of Super Robot Wars Neo at the end of this month, Banpresto are launching their ad campaign. Normally, these have involved the indomitable Shoko-tan for the past few iterations but this one is especially endearing as it’s portrayed as a mock newsreel with obligatory helicopter reportage. There’s a nice bit of coverage over at 4gamer, which shows the making of as well.