Like clockwork, Bandai Namco has graced us with their weekly round of Gundam Side Stories DLC. This week we visit UC 0080 with the RX-78NT-1 Gundam “Alex” and the MS-18E Kämpfer. A prototype Federation mobile suit specifically developed for Newtypes, the Alex first appeared in the 1989 OVA Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket under the control of test pilot Christina Mackenzie. Also making it’s first appearance in War in the Pocket, the Kämpfer is a Zeon mobile suit designed for fast and efficient combat. The Kämpfer took on the Alex in 0080 but fell prey to it’s wrist gattling cannon. Both suits are now available on the Japanese PlayStation Store for 400 yen each. In addition to the new mobile suits, this week’s update includes VR Mission 106, which is free to download. It is a ground-based mission that incorporates the Alex as an enemy if purchased.

Many of us remember sitting cross-legged, far too close to the television watching cars, planes and helicopters transforming into robot behemoths, with a penchant for ostentatious wrestling.

The original Transformers television series was something millions of people will remember growing up with, so it isn’t surprising that both Takara and Hasbro have milked the franchise since its inception. One of the more recent incarnations is that of Transformers Armada and somebody thought it fit to transform the TV series into a game. Cue Atari and Melbourne House, an inordinate amount of PR nonsense, screenshots that looked faked and legions of nostalgic punters wanting desperately to play as Optimus Prime. Behind all the hype, Transformers is a special game and, in all honesty, the license does take a back seat to a very impressive game engine.

Following the new promo we now have 11 minutes of gameplay footage for Masoukishin F. It mostly shows the introduction of Sakito Asagi, a new character for this game. Bar that it’s good to see the whole game on show and not just the battle animations. It’s looking good too. The game is out on August 28th and you can pre-order it here.

Throughout the sixties and seventies a certain genre of anime and manga ran rampant across Japan. It galvanised an entire generation, a generation that grew up to be game designers. They then went on to create games like Gigantic Drive. The genre was that of the mighty super robot and it is one of the oldest and most resilient facets of Japanese pop-culture (next to real robots of course). Gigantic Drive is a game that, literally, lets you control a “chogokin” from the ground up.

The story revolves around Earth being besieged by big nasty alien robots called the Volgara. To fight these invaders, we have created three rather large robots, whose sole purpose is to kick the posterior of multiple metal aliens back across the galaxy.

With Altron, Gundam X, and Gold Frame Amatu Mina Custom DLC coming on August 6th, Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost is also getting a version update to coincide with its “Full Boost Midsummer Festival.” Details of the version 1.06 update include Vita remote play for single player modes and replays, Premium G songs being added to the normal BGM roster without having to replace the original game tracks (if you’ve purchased them of course), the saving of player room settings when creating a player room, custom BGM finally playing during replays, and burst type being saved to the suits in your favorites list, among other minor revisions.

Bandai Namco have also released a Full Boost centric video for the upcoming DLC units on the 6th of August. Altron, Gundam X, and Astray Gold Frame Amatu Mina Custom are all 2500 unit suits with the latter two being somewhat clonish, but not to the extent of the previous Full Boost DLC. Gundam X can switch between its normal form and X-Divider form at will, with the hyper bazooka moving to the normal X form. This is very reminiscent of the Next Plus version of Gundam X which could switch as well. Gold Frame Amatu Mina Custom also retains the special moves of the original Astray Gold Frame, but its melee set has been changed and looks to hit much harder as well. Altron looks very similar to Gundam Nataku of Next Plus which the inclusion of the beam tail range attack. Altron Gundam will cost 500 yen, whereas Gundam X and Astray Gold Frame Amatu Mina Custom will cost 400 yen each.

Banshee Norn, Strike Rouge Ootori, and Re-GZ will also be coming on August 27th and will cost 500 yen each. Their unit costs are 3000, 2000, and 1000 respectively. Banshee Norn is always in its Destroy form unlike the 2500 version and looks to be more of a well rounded 3000 suit with some pretty capable melee and special movement options. Strike Rouge Ootori is looking to fill another all purpose suit in the 2000 cost as well with all of its melee and range attack options. The Re-GZ looks to be the most interesting as it starts off in its BWS (Back Weapons System) Waverider mode as a mobile armor. This mode is not permanent as a timer will count down from 100 and will purge automatically when it hits 0 or when the player decides to do so themselves. The Re-GZ cannot return to this form until it respawns, making it another very unique 1000 unit suit. Make sure to check out the Full Boost videos of Altron, Gundam X, and Gold Frame below with the Maxi Boost versions of Banshee Norn, Strike Rouge Ootori, and Re-GZ just below!

Upon booting the game, the player will be asked a set of cryptic questions, in Japanese no less, on how they want their “cavalier” to be equipped. Will you choose either the Varmonch and Lutheran Shield, or even the Minenwerfer? Bear in mind though, that if you choose poorly Lord Zolt’s forces will make you pay dearly for your lack of foresight. After all, the realm’s destiny lies at your heavily armored Cavalier’s feet. To clarify, Frame Gride is a slightly different take on the mecha genre of gaming.

Another week, another wave of Gundam Side Stories DLC, this time it being the RX-81 LA G-Line Light Armor. A variant of the RX-81 G-Line series, it made it’s first appearance in Kunio Okawara’s Missing Mobile Suit Variations. The Light Armor RX-81 saw a redesign by Katoki Hajime for the 2009 PS3 title Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Record U.C. 0081. In U.C. 0081, the RX-81LA G-Line Light Armor was assigned to the Earth Federation Forces’s Phantom Sweep Team as a means to combat the Invincible Knights Zeon remnants. Now available on the Japanese PlayStation Store, the G-Line LA can be yours for the low low price of 300 yen. This mobile suit is playable in both ground and space based missions. It should be noted, however, that this week’s update does not include any new VR Missions, but we know that they’re coming based on the information provided in the Famitsu Visual Complete Guide.

What with the release of Masoukishin F not far off, Bandai are stepping up with a new promo video. Despite the omnipresent boob jiggle with the various female cut-ins, the game’s animations are looking pretty damn good. Bar that, the boxset is also pimped a bit too but apart from the soundtracks there’s not much else to really recommend it. In any case, we’ll be picking this up come August 28th and you can pre-order it here.

Following on from our first batch of coverage for Wonder Festival, we’ve now done a piece on all the garage kits that caught our attention. Due to the sheer volume of stuff on display, this is very much a highlight reel of things we liked the look of. The garage kit side of things is also a lot more personable and much of the time we spent talking to people about their amazing creations. In short, Wonfes suitably rocks!

We managed to make it to the recent Wonder Festival over the weekend (despite the insane heat). Naturally we took lots of pictures and have done a chunk of coverage on the commercial side of things over at HobbyLink.tv. As we suspected, the just announced PlayStation Optimus Prime was present (looked good too). We’ll be following this up with a garage kit update soon.