Considering that the Super Robot Wars games started out on the GameBoy, their most natural state is generally on similar portable consoles. This has been proven time and time again with all manner of handheld releases, with the recent PSP games being thoroughly excellent.

However, whilst the more recent PSP games have been great the earlier GBA and DS games had issues. This is not to say they were bad games, as they were decent fun overall. It’s just that battle animation technology and assets were very basic. To make matters worse these same resources were re-used multiple times, rather than investing in new R&D. As this entry is on the 3DS it’s been a worry whether Bandai Namco would not fund the release as per the PSP games. Well they have funded it and it looks so much better for it.

As we previously covered, Bandai are finally releasing a Robot Damashii Hi-Nu Gundam. We now know that it will cost a very reasonable 5,775 yen and will be released in January of next year. The really good news though is that this will be a regular release and not a webshop exclusive. This toy won’t come with the Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher though but apart from that omission it’s weapon compliment is pretty thorough.

At a Tamashii Nations event in Hong Kong, Bandai have revealed all manner of new toys in their Robot Damashii line. Notable of which are the NZ-666 Kshatriya and the majestic RX-93-ν2 Hi-Nu Gundam (pictured above). Whilst it is called a “GUMDAN” in various photos, that spelling mistake can’t dampen our palpable joy at knowing a Hi-Nu toy is on the way. Whilst there are no release details present, such as date and price, we are guessing that these two figures might end up as a web shop exclusive (though we’re hoping they won’t). Either way, today is a happy day as the Hi-Nu is probably our favourite Gundam design and as soon as we know more about these toys we’ll be sure to post it.

What with the release of Super Robot Wars UX only a few weeks away, we now have a new extended promo video for the game. Normally used in shops for promotion, this video shows off a good 10 minutes worth of footage to entice punters. Whilst we will be getting this it won’t be for the battle animations. Compared to the recent PSP games, it’s painfully apparent that this new 3DS game is still using the engine from the GBA/DS era (not to mention the re-use of low resolution sprites and simplified animations). What does have us interested is the game’s system, specifically that of the new Tactical Commander you can assign (each of which have their own unique abilities). 4Gamer did a piece on all this recently and it’s pretty interesting. In any case, the game is out on March 14th and you can pre-order it here (though be aware that 3DS games are4 region locked, so you’ll need a Japanese 3DS to play this game).

There’s currently some interesting stuff going on at the Tamashii Nations Akiba Showroom, as we have the release of Battle Robot Damashii around the corner. Apart from showing all manner of new toys, with the lovely Robot Damashii RX-105 Xi Gundam above being notable, the really cool stuff is the AR elements of the exhibit. For this you need an iOS device and this app. Seeing Ideon pop into existence looks to be pretty cool. AmiAmi has a nice update on all this too.

There’s a quick update over at Famitsu for the upcoming Super Robot Wars UX. Featuring Mazinkaiser SKL (pictured above) as well as Tobikage, the game does look pretty dated compared to the recent PSP offerings. We’ll still be getting this obviously, along with the limited edition 3DS too most likely, but we do feel that Banpresto are milking the GBA/DS tech and assets a bit far here.

For those that saw the reveal of the Hatsune Mike Fei-Yen in the upcoming Super Robot Wars UX announcement and thought this was done without the consent of the team behind Virtual On, then you were very wrong. So wrong in fact that Juro Watari, the father of Virtual On, openly welcomed Miku and even wrote her lines to be used in UX (apparently she’ll sing too). Personally, we think this is a resoundingly good thing and half hope that the next proper Virtual On game gets the Miku treatment too. In addition, there’s a new advert for the game (shown below). Don’t forget the game will be released on March 14th and you can pre-order it here, though you’ll need a Japanese 3DS to play the game as all 3DS games are region locked (thanks a fucking bunch Nintendo for that one!).

The brand new Super Robot Wars UX has been announced for release next year on the 3DS. This will be the first Super Robot Wars game to grace the system and it has a pretty interesting roster of series in it. From the return of Dunbine, which we’re very happy about, we’ll also be getting Wings of Rean too. The last time this series was featured was during the last two Another Century’s Episode games on the PS2. We love the anime dearly, as well as the novels that semi-birthed it. So to have these wonderful and unique aura battlers in a new game is just great. Following on from that we also have Mazinkaiser SKL and Heroman included, along with the Hatsune Miku Fei-Yen. The latter being interesting as she’s not really part of the Virtual On canon (yet). There is also an official PV (shown below) that’s been released. On the latter, it’s clear that the game is still using the engine, sprites and many of the animations from the GBA and DS era. This is a big shame, as the recent PSP games looked amazing and the 3DS is a more powerful system (so would be able to handle the same thing with relative ease). That aside, the game will also feature DLC, full voice over audio and receive its own special limited edition 3DS LL. The game will be released March 14th next year and cost 7,140 yen.

4Gamer have posted an almost 16 minute gameplay promo for the upcoming E.X. Troopers (shown below). Showing all manner of cool stuff it only cements our anticipation for this game even further. Admittedly the demos have already sold us on Capcom’s new take on Lost Planet, it’s nice to see the further functional scope in the full game. In any case, the game is still set for its November 22nd release and you can pre-order the PS3 version here (don’t forget that almost every PS3 game is region free).

It’s been announced that we’ll be getting some demos for E.X. Troopers for both the 3DS and PS3 versions of the game next week. The demos will feature an introductory mission as well as two co-op specific levels. Like other 3DS demos, this will also have a 30 play limit. The demos will feature new co-op based attacks, called EX-T Blast Resonance, not to mention all manner of familiar Akrid from previous Lost Planet games. In addition to the demo announcement, Capcom also published a video of Monster Staff playing the game (linked below). The demos will be released on October 17th (3DS) and October 18th (PS3).