The upcoming Activision published High Moon developed Transformers: War for Cybetron will be receiving its own line of toys made by Hasbro. Above is the unfinished prototype of the new Optimus Prime and it will be part of the “Deluxe” range apparently (which will also include Bumblebee, Drift, Megatron and the Soundwave toys from the game). Considering the Japanese origins of the series, it’s sad that more experienced toy manufacturers (such as Takara) are no longer able to really get involved in the franchise (though the Binaltech and Masterpiece lines are obvious and truly wondrous exceptions to this rule). Admittedly these new “Deluxe” toys are only going to cost around $10-20 each but considering the fans they’re targeting the game at are now in their thirties, it seems that Hasbro are aiming the quality bar a bit low. These toys will be released sometime this year, to obviously tie in with the game’s release no doubt. In any case, it’s nice that Western developed mecha games are getting their own toys again finally.

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 PlayStation blog has a list of PlayStation Network games up that are currently on sale, the most mecha-noteworthy being the excellent Thexder Neo on the PSP for $4.99 until January 27th. There’s a few other downloadable titles available for both the PS3 and PSP, so it’s definitely worth a look.

Cheapass Gamer also lists a PSN download code for Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament as being $14.99 at Amazon.com, although the PSP game is a mere shade of the PS2 original Industrial Revolution-themed mecha game and not really recommended.

This is one of those interesting finds that doesn’t happen that often in the anime industry. A veritable gold mine of Artmic’s production drawings from Mospeada and Southern Cross have been unearthed (which were the last two thirds of Robotech basically). They were originally for use at the model kit company Imai. These drawings include a lot of fascinating sketches for early designs from the respective shows, much of which was penned by Shinji Aramaki (who recently directed “The Package” for Halo Legends). It’s also very timely considering that Capcom had also tried to include the mecha from Mospeada in the latest Tatsunoko vs Capcom. The discoverer of this treasure trove, Roger Harkavy, has very kindly archived his findings in a comprehensive PDF (you can get it here).

via Gears Online and Matt Alt

The sequel G.rev’s arcade versus shooter has finally had its 360 port dated for release. Senko no Ronde DUO will be released in Japan in both normal and limited edition versions on April 28th exclusively for the 360. No word on the differences between the two packs as yet but the game will feature online multiplayer again via Xbox LIVE. Though they’ll hopefully sort out the lag issues between players playing each other across the globe this time.

New details pertaining to the next installment of the Metal Gear Solid saga have recently been revealed. Peace Walker will introduce several firsts, not just to the series, but gaming as a whole; in addition to overseeing a home base, which involves recruiting and managing support staff, the player will face off against various AI controlled weapons that will try to dominate the player both on the ground and above it. The key distinguishing characteristic here is how they will address the player, and even sing to him or her, via Vocaloid technology (similar to what drives Miku Hatsune and related characters). Though what should matter the most to Mecha Damashii readers is how two of these weapons are clearly inspired by or connected to the Shagohod, the primary mecha that Naked Snake/Big Boss had to deal with in Snake Eater. Of the two designs, the one in the link below is the closest to the original…

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 official Gundam Assault Survive was recently updated with more mobile suits and was featured on Famitsu as well. The game is looking polished and the unit line-up is pretty thorough too. The site also links to the Gunpla 30th Anniversary site, which hints that an interesting model kit tie-in could be on the cards.