Bandai is releasing an expansion pack to their previously released Robot Damashii Extreme Gundam (Type Leos) Xenon Phase. The pack allows you to transform the base Extreme Gundam (Type Leos) into the Eclipse and Agios Phases found in Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost. And when you combine the Eclipse, Agios, and Xenon parts together, you can also create its Full Burst mode! The expansion pack is tentatively scheduled to be released in September 2013 with a price of 4410 yen.

We now have our first trailer for Armored Core Verdict Day (shown below) and it looks pretty cool. It also thankfully lacks any wubwub nonsense that we got with the last game’s trailers. In addition, we also have details on a collector’s edition release of the game. This will come with (in addition to the game itself) an artbook, soundtrack and a figure. The latter won’t be part of the Super Robot Chogokin toyline annoyingly but instead will be just made of ABS plastic, so it’s likely to be a bit pants. It will be priced at 16,800 yen. Finally, don’t forget that the first livestream for Verdict Day is today.

Over at Famitsu there’s a new update on Armored Core Verdict Day, primarily covering the new solid shields (shown above) and the return of weapon arm parts, the latter will have interesting ramifications to the current hanger setup for weapon switching. They also make a big deal that there will be a greater amount of part variety over the last game, specifically catering for more energy type (KE, CE and TE) variance. In addition, we now also have details on the first live stream for the game. Hosted on the 12th April, it sounds like it will follow the same format as previous live streams. Once it’s archived online we’ll be sure to post it here.

Sentinel have updated their site for the forthcoming Riobot Blodia toy from Cyberbots. Showing all manner of new shots of the figure, which emphasises its use of diecast (see above), and a promotional video that shows of its various gimmicks. All told, it looks fucking amazing and is definitely going to be the best Blodia figure we’ve ever had. Whilst it is somewhat pricy (10,290 yen) it is a lot cheaper than many of Bandai’s high end outings, which is impressive. It will also be available in 2P colours as well (blue basically). The toy is released this July and you can pre-order yours here.

In an interested move, Banpresto have announced a new PSP downloadable entry to the Super Robot Wars canon. Called Super Robot Wars Operation Extend, the game will be broken up into eight parts. The first part will cost 500 yen with the subsequent parts costing 1000 yen each. Buying all of them together will cost 6,480 yen. No word on a starting release date but all eight parts are expected over the course of this year. The actual game itself though is based upon Super Robot Wars NEO and will have similar map based commands (rather than the traditional grid system). In addition, the battle animations will be a stylised 3D with a few 2D elements thrown in. The roster will also be pretty sizable with lots of great 80’s real robot shows in the mix. In short, we’re looking forward to this but having it released like this will take a bit of getting used to.

What with the beta out for Gundam Breaker already (and one that had over 300,000 downloads in its first week online), it seems a bit odd to have a promo. In any case, it is pretty thorough and shows off the game pretty well. We’re definitely looking forward to the game’s release and will probably be picking up the PS3 version (which you can pre-order here).

The mighty GX-9901-DX Gundam Double X from Gundam X will be getting the Robot Damashii treatment this July. Sold for around 4,800 yen, the toy looks to be pretty beefy and featuring all the necessary gimmicks you’d expect. No word yet on the GS-9900 G-Falcon but it has been previewed already, so it will likely end up as a web shop exclusive. Anyway, considering the original series was cancelled mid-run it’s nice to finally have a decent toy for the Double X on the way.

What with a Metal Build Gundam Exia recently being released, Bandai haven’t missed a trick and have announced a Metal Build 00 Raiser as a web shop exclusive. This is shrewd as this toy already existed in two parts; the Metal Build 00 Gundam Seven Sword and Metal Build 0 Raiser (with the latter again being a web shop exclusive). Combining the two sets produced the mighty GN-0000+GNR-010 00 Raiser. This version, despite being a little cheaper than the previous sets combined, will also have all manner of new bespoke decals as created by Kanetake Ebikawa, who was one of the main mecha designers on Gundam 00. We’re actually big fans of the new Metal Build toys as well as the 00 Raiser, so we’re pretty tempted to snap this puppy up once it is released in August.

Today, the YAMS-132 Rozen Zulu gets added to the Gundam Extreme Full Boost roster. Hot off the tails of the recent release of Gundam UC episode 6, the Rozen Zulu is a nice complement to the current stable of Unicorn mobile suits. Weighted at a cost of 2000, the Rozen Zulu has a multitude of weapons to include its incom claws, mega beam shield, and psyco jammer that traps the enemy. Gameplay wise, it looks reminiscent of Zeong with decent offensive options while moving. Make sure to check out the reveal video below!

What with all the hybrid BluRay Macross movie releases, it was obvious that Bandai was funding Artdink’s R&D for a bigger PS3 game. Considering Artdink’s pretty damn solid Gundam and especially Macross PSP games it made sense that they’d make the leap to PS3. However, Artdink is a small studio and one that’s thrived on maximizing the most out of previous generation’s console hardware. The Hybrid games they produced were functionally competent but technically very far behind.

Their latest effort, an ambitious open world “flight action RPG”, is again functionally competent and even quite progressive too but it is sadly marred by Artdink’s technical inexperience. That said, it remains a surprisingly compelling game throughout.