Over at AmiAmi they’ve shown the new Robot Damashii RGM-79SP GM Sniper II that’s set for a September release this year. Effectively a special forces GM, it comes very close to and exceeds many of the RX-78-2 Gundam’s abilities in the saga. This toy, like the others in the Robot Damashii range, boasts some impressive articulation yet it still retains a remarkably faithful sculpt. This is also one of Yutaka Izubuchi’s most loved mobile suit designs and one that played a vital role in the latter parts of Dreamcast game Rise From The Ashes (and the Premium Disc too). The above version is actually the colour scheme seen from the design’s original version in Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket though. The White Dingo livery, from the Dreamcast game, has yet to be given a release date (though it is planned). In any case the GM Sniper II has graced multiple Gundam games over the years and is, in part, responsible for the aesthetic direction for the Master Chief in Halo as well (something the Sniper II also shares with the RGM-79G GM Command). You can pre-order the toy here.

As we previously reported, a location test for Gundam Extreme Versus is currently underway in two Japanese arcades this weekend. Naturally, a bunch of videos have sprouted up online to cover this. Despite looking very shiny, it’s clear that the team behind the games hasn’t dropped the ball in a functional sense. In that, those that have enjoyed the recent delights of Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus will see that much of the core combat is remarkably familiar.

As for the hardware itself, as we’ve said before the System 357 board that’s being used for the game is basically a PS3 in a box. In many ways, this appraisal is actually quite literal as this video shows the PS3’s XMB in action prior to the game booting up. Put simply, a PS3 port is a clear given at some point in the semi-near future.

The line-up of suits in the videos is suitably varied too, from the lovely V2 Gundam and its Assault Buster variant (which recently received an excellent Robot Damashii toy), to the new Crossbone Gundam units and finally the 00 Gundam. The latter has sensibly separated out the 00 Raiser setup, as it was hugely uber on the recent PSP iteration. In any case, enjoy the videos below.

Earlier in the week, Last Raven Portable finally made the jump to the US PSN store. This is obviously the digital version so the disc reading/input framerate issue seen on the UMD versions (without the data install) won’t be an issue. Word of warning though; the original Last Raven, which we reviewed, was a total bastard in terms of difficulty (probably more so than any other Armored Core game to date). The new PSP port hasn’t been sympathetically handled in terms of the controls so expect a greater level of functional anguish. We will be reviewing it shortly though and whilst it’s a competent port (more so than Armored Core 3 Portable was at least) it’s not really meant for those without actual robot fingers.

Game Watch has just covered the recent Senjou no Kizuna 2010 Tournament, as well as hosted a brief interview with the developers of the very successful arcade game. Though the real meat of the coverage is the in-game video coverage taken from the live feed that’s often displayed to punters in the arcades (of which we’ve linked a fair few below, in HD no less). In many ways Senjou no Kizuna laid the ground work for games like Border Break to follow, though it’s still nice to see a game succeed despite its pretty dated hardware. You might also want to keep tabs on Namco Bandai’s YouTube Channel, as they’ve been pretty diligent with uploading much of the tournament replays. There is a PSP port of the game and, all things considered, is actually moderately decent – though it does lack any form of online multiplayer capability (something that ultimately defined the arcade version, along with its amazing cockpit obviously).

In the latest issue of Gundam Ace, several pieces of Hajime Katoki’s reworked Gundam Senki 0081 designs have been showcased. Specifically that of the re-used Kunio Okawara design, the RX-78-7 or “7th Gundam” as it is more colloquially known. Up until 0081, this design hadn’t actually been featured in any part of the canon UC timeline narrative and was instead relegated to a mere mobile suit variation (or MSV). The above design, the FA-78-3 Full Armor 7th Gundam was part of an exclusive DLC pack for the game and also received its own HG UC kit.

The latest iteration in the successful Gears of War franchise, Gears of War 3, will now be featuring small bipedal mecha. Shown in recently in a Russian games magazine, the C.O.G. Silverback (pictured above) will be featured in the game. For VOTOMS fans this may look a bit familiar as it uses a fair few aesthetic and functional cues from the ATH-06-WP Diving Beetle, which was prominently featured in the Kummen story arc in the TV series. Even the scale of the Silverback is pretty close to the Diving Beetle too, though the former is closer to power armor as the pilot effectively wears the mecha really (rather than sit inside a defined cockpit). Gears of War 3 is set for an early April release next year.

Artdink have been making a name for themselves over the past few years for solid mecha games on the PSP. With the four prior Gundam Battle games, most of which were a lot of fun if a little bit of a slog at times, as well as their two recent Macross efforts. In their latest Gundam based outing though, in the form of Gundam Assault Survive, the design of these games is beginning to wear a little thin.

Considering that the host platform is portable, it makes sense that the main game be based around moderately concise sections of gameplay. The earlier Gundam Battle games executed this approach very well, despite the odd difficulty spike. Assault Survive departs from this concise nature and has undertaken a sprawling approach to its missions instead.

At its core you still have short missions making up the game, the difference now is that there is a map system semi-lifted from the Dynasty Warriors series. So whilst there are brief missions making the game up, they are often chained up together to make a level that’s pretty longwinded and not really suitable for a handheld gaming device.

After almost a year of waiting, Mektek X has released MechWarrior 4 to the public. The gates were actually opened to the free release a few days ago, but the flood of MechWarrior fans crushed the MTX client with their sheer enthusiasm, but it now appears that the problems are (mostly) worked out and the client is now chugging along fine. If you do have any additional problems, they do offer a beta release of their client in addition to the current version, which is supposed to be less dependent on the client being able to connect to the website, in case the problems that the original flood created show up again. Obviously there are still a lot of bugs for the MTX team to work out, but their hard dedication seems to finally be paying off: MechWarrior is back. Polish up your Death From Above skills while waiting for the upcoming new MechWarrior game.

Earlier in the week, Game Watch had a nice bit of coverage over Lord of Elemental’s game system. Despite mentioning how the Prana setup worked, which acts as a boost to your HP and MG, the Guardian relationship was also laid out. Specifically, how the elemental side of this setup works – this is also where the game takes its name from in case you’re wondering. In short, the four elements of wind, fire, earth and water act as defensive and offensive multipliers. Thus far, the system of the game seems to be pretty cogent and whilst it has been updated from the original game it doesn’t appear to be detrimental (though we’ll know for sure once we have it in our hands). For those that buy the game on release they’ll also get a free OG Crusade card for their troubles too. The game is released on May 27th for 6090 yen and you can pre-order it here.

Hot on the heels of the recent 1/100 scale Metal Composite Gundam Unicorn (which we’ve reviewed), Bandai have announced that they’re releasing the Full Armor variant shown at the end of the novels. This new toy will be part of the Gundam Fix Next Generation line (or GFFN for short) and as such be at the smaller scale of 1/144, rather than the Metal Composite’s 1/100. There’s also no word on whether this toy will complete the transformation between Unicorn and Destroy modes but we’re guessing not on account of the smaller scale and lower price point.

To the more eagle eyed of you, the fact that the internal psycho frame is green rather than pink may have raised an eyebrow. This colour shift is to do with events that also occurred in Char’s Counterattack, where two psychoframe mobile suits (the Nu Gundam and Sazabi) were in close proximity with one another resulting in a form of Newtype resonance. In the Unicorn novels, this resonance is kicked off when the Banshee enters the fray – which is basically a more powerful clone of the Unicorn.

As for the “full armor” nature of this suit, that is somewhat questionable. As FA mobile suit variants are normally, as the title implies, covered in an extra layer of bespoke armor. Not to mention having custom weapons attached on hardpoints as well. To give a good example of this, take a look at the FA-78-1 and the original RX-78-2 Gundam. You can see, despite the colour changes, that the suit has been pretty heavily re-worked. In the case of the FA Unicorn, well all it’s using are standard weapons and parts and just strapping them onto the main body. In any case, this toy will be available in August for 8400 yen and you can practically guarantee that it will make an appearance in the upcoming Gundam Extreme Versus.