In the latest issue of Famitsu more details about Armored Core 5 have surfaced. From the news that Bandai Namco will be publishing this worldwide to the increased focus on online multiplayer, it seems that From Software have been quite busy. Regarding online play, the game will be based around players forming teams and undertaking a form of territorial conquest, with whoever taking the most territory winning. Teams are of 5 players a piece, with 4 in traditional Armored Cores and the fifth in a new command unit. If all this sounds familiar, then you’re not alone. This setup was used very successfully in From Software’s other mecha game Chrome Hounds. With the reduced size of the mecha the levels consequently require more strategy too, which is where the whole commander setup comes in. For those concerned about the absence of a singleplayer segment, there will be an option for this but the main online campaign is intended to be an almost meta-campaign. Again, this is a follow on from the Neroimus War concept seen in Chrome Hounds. What with this new information regarding the online setup, as well as the previous nods by From Software to games like Metal Wolf Chaos, it really seems as though they are cherry picking design elements from their previous games and merging them with how Armored Core used to traditionally work. All of this is clearly brilliant and Armored Core 5 could turn out to be something genuinely special. The game is set for a 2011 release in Japan but no actual dates as yet.

Update: Famitsu now has some screenshots on their site. These show the commander view as well a front end war menu, so it is indeed very Chrome Hounds (as we suspected). Bandai Namco have also mentioned the fact that Armored Core 5 will be released in 2012 for Europe and America (rather than this year as was previously stated).

What with Macross Triangle Frontier released tomorrow, 4Gamer have calmly reminded us on the sheer level of moe that we shall be doused with. Thankfully, they managed to include some actual gameplay screenshots of the beefy (and playable) Macross Quarter from Frontier. Whilst the Academy mode does worry us a bit, we’re still pretty excited to play this once it’s finally out. Naturally, our review will be forthcoming. For those that haven’t pre-ordered this already you can do so here (or here if you’re in Europe).

The upcoming G.Rev shooter Seisou Kouki Strania will be present at this year’s AOU show, which to the more astute of you will raise an eyebrow hopefully (in our case, this has the unfortunate result of losing our monocle to boot). The reason this is interesting is that Strania was announced originally as an XBLA only title, however according to this post at 4Gamer it will now also be released via the NESICAxLive system (basically a digital download setup for arcades). This is a fascinating development as it means a new XBLA game will also be available alongside its arcade variant at the same time of its release. Historically ports of arcade games occur after the arcade version, whereas this is a curiously simultaneous release. As for the XBLA version, well that’s still on track for a spring release for the princely sum of 800 MSP.

Considering the renaissance the PSP has had in Japan, it wasn’t going to be long until Banpresto cottoned onto porting the old PS2 Another Century’s Episode games to the PSP. The imaginatively titled Another Century’s Episode Portable consequently covers much of the same functional ground as the PS2 games did (rather than that of the PS3 release, which changed much of the how the core game worked).

For gamers that have played the older PS2 games, then this news will be a great relief. As the somewhat bizarre control choices in ACER definitely hampered the game. The fact that ACEP has eschewed much of what ACER offered has returned the series back to its former itself.

Ultimately, the regression has been a shrewd one as it has made the overall game far more cogent and manageable. Especially considering that any kind of functional inadequacy in terms of controls are normally magnified within the small confines of almost all hand-held consoles. What has resulted though, is a relatively mixed setup that works competently for the most part but at the expense of the production value the series has been known for.

The upcoming Super Robot Wars Z 2 is looking sweeter and sweeter with each succulent release of assets. 4Gamer has a selection of lovely shots from the game and it’s impressive how pristine they are, even over the PS2 original. Our attention, naturally, fixated itself upon the wondrous Final Dancouga. Although it partially bodes for a rather depressing situation; in that Final Dancouga is normally a secret version of the beastly super robot in SRW. The fact it’s so prominent already belies the fact that Dancouga’s narrative may be somewhat cursory in light of the far newer, though arguably crappier, Dancouga Nova. Thankfully, Ryoma’s screenshots redeem this situation with their pure unbridled awesomeness. The game is still set for it’s April 14th release and you can pre-order it here (or here if you’re in Europe).

With the PSP game around the corner, Anime News Network have found a cool promo for the Danball Senki anime set for release at the beginning of March. It seems that the anime will closely follow the events in the game and will act as a companion series of sorts. In any case, the production value from the promo alone is pretty damn impressive and many of the villains have a suitably Mitsuteru Yokoyama vibe to them (which is absolutely a good thing in our book).

From what we played at last year’s TGS, Danball Senki looks to be a spiritual successor to games like Custom Robo Battle Revolution and Gotcha Force. Whilst many gamers have already gone somewhat (and admittedly rightfully) batshit insane over the forthcoming Ni no Kuni, Danball Senki is still a pretty worthy title as far as we’re concerned. Plus this is Level 5 we’re talking about here, so it’s blatantly going to be awesome. The game is still set for its March 17th release and you can pre-order it here.

Lately we’ve seen a bumper crop of games inspired by classic mecha action platformer Assault Suits Valken (aka Cybernator), in the forms of Gunhound, Gigantic Army, and Explosionade, and now it looks like we can soon add one more to the list: B.A.D. : Battle Armor Division.

Battle Armor Division’s mechanical designs follow closely to those of the original Assault Suits Leynos, and this could very well be a case of where ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ The gameplay in the video that the developer, Crian Soft, has released seems a bit slower than we’d probably like but there’s no use in making judgements until it’s yourself at the controls; hopefully the promised demo is released soon. As it is, the “mecha invasion of Normandy” scene at the beginning of the trailer gives Battle Armor Division quite a bit of hype to capitalize on.

Interestingly, the studio creating this game appears to be Italian, giving yet more support to the idea of mecha games development becoming more of a worldwide effort. Italy also has had their own mecha fans and culture for a while now, and it’s great to see them hitting a critical mass where that pool of talent can be tapped towards further creation.

Over at Anime News Network they’re reporting the news that a live Macross Frontier concert will be held within Home. Despite the obvious Macross Plus/Sharon Apple nerd association of attending a virtual concert performed by human controlled CG characters, it does sound pretty cool and not at all life threatening. In terms of when the event will be kicking off, both Aya Endo and Megumi Nakajima seem keen (in the video below at least) to point us at the official Twitter account. This is obviously in advance of the forthcoming movie released at the end of February and with Macross Triangle Frontier released just in a few weeks too, it’s getting pretty busy for us Macross fans.

In an update scheduled for the 27th January, the shiny gold MRC-F20 SUMO will be added to Gundam Extreme Versus. The Sumo, like with many of the Turn A Gundam designs, was penned by renowned futurist Syd Mead. The Sumo is normally of a silver colouring though but the gold variant was exclusively reserved for the somewhat awesome Harry Ord. Both the gold colouring and Ord’s awesome shades were a partial nod to Char’s appearance in Zeta Gundam and his piloting of the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki. There’s been no word on a console release for the game as yet but it’s still looking oh so shiny.

Over the years there have been a fair few attempts at making a cogent Eureka Seven game. From the misguided attempts by Bandai, in the form of New Wave and New Vision respectively, to the somewhat better approach seen in Another Century’s Episode 3 and Portable. Well, there’s now a new game made by fans using the Unity engine. Called Lift, it offers some pretty damn cool multiplayer action with suitably comprehensive controls. The latter is important to emphasise, this game has been made without functional compromise; surfing mecha through the sky isn’t meant to be easy. It’s also wonderfully free, so there’s no excuse not to play it really. The playable roster of mecha is pretty focused but there’s more than enough to keep multiplayer games interesting. For those that can’t wait to surf the trapar in their LFO, then you can download the game here.