We’ve mentioned the upcoming and reportedly final entry into the VOTOMS saga “Gen-ei Hen” before but the official site has released some new promo videos. These show that much of the same production values seen in Pailsen Files are still reassuringly present in Gen-ei Hen, and that the AT arena also makes a welcome comeback (though it’s saddening but admittedly interesting to see Chirico and Ru face off, as they were allies previously).

As for any gaming tie-ins, not much is known at present. There are rumours of a possible PSP game on the horizon, as Pailsen Files recently received a UMD video release in Japan and the excellent PlayStation 2 game could have its tech ported quite easily. As for whether Yuke’s will take the reigns of this is anyone’s guess. Considering that this series is officially the final send off for the VOTOMS saga it will be interesting to see what Sunrise and Bandai will release alongside it, games or otherwise. We’ll know come the end of March most probably, when Gen-ei Hen is finally released.

The upcoming Gundam Unicorn anime received a new PV today and its theme song was also announced; “Ryuusei no Namida” sung by Chiaki Kuriyama, which will be her vocal debut (as you’ll most probably know her as an actress appearing in films like Kill Bill and Battle Royale). The literal translation of the song title means “Meteor’s Tears”.

We’ve covered Gundam Unicorn before and what makes this anime interesting is that, like Xam’d, it’s being distributed online via the PlayStation Network in a few weeks. Not to mention that the titular Unicorn Gundam has been gracing arcades and PSPs in Gundam vs Gundam Next and that the series main mecha design is being handled by Hajime Katoki (a video game veteran when it comes to mecha). In any case, we’ve linked the video of the new theme song below and we actually like it, quite a bit in fact.

A few of you may remember that we reviewed the 1/72 scale Kotobukiya White Glint kit from Armored Core For Answer a while back. Well, that kit is now discontinued but fret not as Kotobukiya are releasing an updated version as per the colouring in the opening movie along with its Vanguard Overboost pack. Naturally, this pushes the price up a bit; to 9,800 yen to be precise. The updated kit will be available in May and you can pre-order it here.

For fans of augmented reality and Virtual On, this will be quite cool. The ARToolKit has been used to render a Virtual On type HUD with an ultrasound distance measurer. The video is quite innocuous to begin with, as it just shows how the device works but when a small “T” card appears that designates the 1/100 scale Kotobukiya model kit of HBV-502-H8 Raiden as just that – then it opens fire with its lasers (to which the cameraman wisely dodges). Admittedly this is just a tech demo of sorts but its nice to see this kind of technology used in a manner partially sympathetic to a game such as Oratan. What’s especially classy though and something not overly obvious to most people, is that the HUD used is actually the RNA variant (as in 2P). Why is this noteworthy? Well, the Raiden colour scheme of the kit is actually the DNA variant (or 1P) so the logical follow on from that would mean the cameraman would have to be an RNA player. The video is linked below and thanks to Saur for the heads up.

The above is the Volks toy of the SRX-00 from the Super Robot Wars series. It’s from the collection of a compatriot over at the wondrous Zinc Panic by the name of Edward Armstrong. It’s worth explaining why this toy is quite a big deal on a few levels. The SRX-00 originally appeared on the PlayStation game Shin Super Robot Wars in 1996. It was part of bigger project within the narrative that finally equipped the SRX team, who piloted real robots, to combine to form a very beefy super robot. It was also part of the Banpresto original designs too, in this case penned by the almost omnipotent Hajime Katoki. This toy is probably the only material representation that covers the gattai of the various units (though with an understandable amount of parts swapping). It’s also quite large, coming in at 32cm but the scary aspect is its price tag; 58,000 yen. Well, at the original retail price anyway as you’ll be lucky to even find one these days and when you do they normally go for 80,000 yen plus. In any case, mecha gaming designs don’t normally get this kind of epic treatment the SRX-00 has and for that alone this toy of it is truly quite special.

The wondrous Max Factory have added to their prestigious line of diecast “MAX Gohkin” toys with the Dragonar 1 from Kiko Senki Dragonar. The mecha were designed by veteran Kunio Okawara, however this toy is using the design interpretation by Masami Obari (who also worked on the series and directed the two opening animations). The Dragonar units were used in a fair few Super Robot Wars games but the series’ real resurgence came when they were featured in all three Another Century’s Episode games. In any case, this toy looks epically good and despite the massive price tag (22,000 yen) it does somewhat eclipse the prior Soul of Chogokin Spec toys by Bandai. If you have a deep wallet, you can buy it here.

The new Artdink developed Gundam Assault Survive recently received a nice gameplay promo. For those that played the last few Gundam Battle games, some of the environments will look awfully familiar. In terms of new game mechanics, not much is known but it seems that some elements have changed (the ring around the mobile suit’s waist for example). The game is still scheduled for March release in Japan. There are also some nice new screenshots here.

A new promo video for Last Raven Portable was released today. Admittedly it seems to be just a re-working of the cinematic footage but it’s still very nice nonetheless. What is is interesting is that apparently, come the game’s release in March, a coupon will be packaged with the game that will give a special code to unlock parts of the Armored Core 5 site that will apparently contain “special contents” for download.

The upcoming High Moon developed Transformers game; War for Cybertron has received a new trailer. It’s entirely cinematic footage, with nothing actually in-game, but again it’s nice to see the stylistic approach they’ve taken with the designs is more progressive than the live action nonsense we were subjected to. If anything, a full blown movie like the cinematic below would indeed be most welcome. Still no word on a release date as yet but it’s apparently scheduled for some time this year.

The latest entry into the successful Armored Core series has been announced, which confirms the hint that Famitsu dropped quite recently about a new mecha action game on the way. Entitled Armored Core 5, it seems that series veteran Toshifumi Nabeshima has also been helming its development. The game, as per its debut trailer (seen below), also appears to be a return to the slower paced and more ground pounder focused games from the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era. No word on what platforms AC5 will be released on though but we’re assuming it to be PS3 and 360, like the last two games. Release date is also still unconfirmed but the release window has been promised for early 2010, which makes sense in terms of the marketing/PR run-up. In any case, we’re currently punching the air with glee that a new Armored Core game is on the way!

For those unfamiliar with the Armored Core games, we’ve compiled a feature covering the older games as well as reviewed both Armored Core 4 and For Answer.

Update: It turns out that over a set time period, the number “5” on the official site becomes clickable and triggers individual Google queries. In total there are six words the site searches for.

Which translate roughly to: Violent, Weapons, Scale, Fire, Rain, Battlefield

Thanks to lordnikon for pointing this out.