Over at GA Graphic, they’ve reviewed the upcoming release of the DX Chogokin Macross Quarter from the recent Macross Frontier series. The Quarter is aptly named as it’s a more compact size Macross class ship, which makes it more manoeuvrable amongst other things. In the series, it acts as SMS’s base of operations within the auspices of the Frontier colony fleet. As toys go, this looks to be rather good as it uses a lot of diecast in the mould and boasts a full transformation. It’s quite expensive though, coming in at 20,790 yen.

For those that played the recent and excellent Macross Ultimate Frontier, the Quarter is also playable believe it or not. Unlocked by completing the final Extra mission, “Ultimate Bomber”. Unsurprisingly, it’s a pretty epic unit when compared to the other variable fighters. So if you had fun with that then you may want to make a pre-order for its release on the 19th December. To finish off, it seems only fair to show a little video of the Quarter kicking a large amount of Vajra behind as well as footage of the toy itself. Enjoy!

The anime adaptation of Harutoshi Fukui’s Gundam Unicorn novels will be premièred in Japan as a download via the PlayStation Store. Much like the recent anime Xam’d that saw its release via the same service, Gundam Unicorn will have its first (of six) episodes available on February 20th. There will also be HD and SD versions available, costing 1000 to 700 yen respectively (so you can also watch it on your PSP). This release is notable as it pre-dates the disc versions by almost a month and considering how hotly anticipated this new Gundam series is, this should further cement the PlayStation 3’s and Sony’s standing in the (frankly massive) Japanese anime market. The Unicorn Gundam is also a playable unit in the just released Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus.

Nippon Ichi America sent out a release giving the release date for Sakura Wars in the US as March 23rd, 2010. There seems to have been a bit of confusion early on, as some sites were reporting February, but the March date is the more recent one and straight from the horse’s mouth. I’m actually glad for the delay, as I think it’s wise to give Sakura Wars a bit of space from the other January and February releases, which given the amount and quality of the games coming out after Christmas, I’d be worried an already niche title like Sakura Wars could get crowded out.

Unfortunately, it seems that the previously announced Special Edition will be PS2 only, and that the Wii version will only have a standard edition available. The Special Edition comes with a bonus artbook, poster, and special outer cover, along with both the English and Japanese voices, while the regular edition will only feature the English dub. To try to compensate for the lack of a special edition for Wii owners, however, Nippon Ichi America is saying they’ll offer the Wii version at an “attractive price point.”

It seems that someone at Bandai may have made a slight slip up. In a recent update to the official site for Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus, the Boss section initially contained move lists for each of the units (bar the Devil Gundam). However, these move lists were promptly removed not that long after. Now, it’s not known how the Bosses are unlocked as playable units as yet but the accidental inclusion of the move lists on the site indicates they’re in there somewhere. Still, in the meantime there are plenty of mobile suits to keep players busy.

In order to clear out some of their stock for the holiday, HobbyLink Japan are holding a sale on a bunch of items made by Yamato toys. Over the years, Yamato have made a name for themselves as a high quality collector’s toy manufacturer (rivalling the monolithic Bandai). Considering the recent release of Macross Ultimate Frontier, as well as the semi-recent Yuke’s developed VOTOMS game there’s enough in the sale to keep the discerning mecha gamer interested.

In any case, this sale features a lot of very cool items at a suitably affordable price (as Yamato’s line-up are normally pretty expesnive). So if you’ve always wanted a nice VF-1J from Macross or a Scopedog Turbo Custom from VOTOMS, then you better move quickly!

Over at Dalong.net they’ve reviewed the recently release PG 00 Raiser kit in suitably brilliant detail. It’s clearly an amazing piece of engineering and they’ve even done a parts breakdown too. The 00 Raiser is exclusively featured in the just released Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus and it’s a beast of a unit. If you’re thinking of picking up the PG kit though, then head over to HobbyLink Japan as they’ve still got them in stock.

Gundam games tend to get a pretty bad reputation outside of Japan, though this is admittedly due to surreal and awful choices on the part of Western publishers really. The fact of the matter is that Gundam has quite a long and proud tradition in Japan of producing quality entries to the mecha gaming pantheon. So much so that collaborations with companies like Capcom have birthed wildly popular arcade offspring as well as further console based ports.

Considering Capcom’s solid arcade versus history, it should come as no surprise that they have been making very solid Gundam themed arcade versus games for nigh-on ten years. Normally specialising on one series and/or timeframe of the Gundam mythos, Capcom kept their approach very focused. It wasn’t until quite recently when they literally threw pretty much every Gundam into the ring within one game. Naturally, the subsequent versus depth that followed on from such a decision has pushed these games up a notch in terms of their functional prowess.

Bandai have released their MG, or Master Grade, kit of the LM312V04 Victory Gundam. This was the initial titular mobile suit of the 1993 TV Series V Gundam, though it was later replaced by the LM314V21 Victory 2 Gundam. The design also featured a lot of quite complex transformation and combination aspects in the series and the kit seems to reproduce this functionality very thoroughly, which is quite impressive. This kit was also personally supervised by its designer, Hajime Katoki (hence the “Ver Ka” suffix, as that stands for “Version Katoki”). There’s a nice unpainted review of sorts here for the kit and as always you can buy this MG at HobbyLink Japan. This particular design is also featured in the recently released Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus, which we will be reviewing shortly.

After the announcement of the upcoming Transformers game, Activision have followed it up with a debut trailer that doesn’t really show very much to be honest. In addition, it’s pretty obvious that it doesn’t feature gameplay footage either. Still, for those curious about the designs it does show more in terms of the stylistic approach. Narratively, it looks as though the game is set before the Transformers arrival on Earth. This would explain their more angular and generally futuristic aesthetic. Along with the trailer, there is now an official site for the game.

Over at Play Asia, there are a bunch of lovely mecha games going at a discounted price. Some of them are also quite rare. Such as the Dreamcast Gundam Rise from the Ashes Premium Disc, this was originally sold directly to fans via a coupon from the original game and then only in Japan (if you’re curious about the full game, we’ve already reviewed it). You then have the even rarer Macross Eternal Love Song, a classic NCS strategy game on the PC Engine – so very much in the spirit of Langrisser in case you’re wondering. Finally, the more recent Emblem of Gundam and Super Robot Wars K on the Nintendo DS should also keep your strategy leanings satiated.