4Gamer has a new update about the forthcoming Lord of Elemental II: Revelation of Evil God. Showing all manner of units featured in the game, it also hammers home after the recent promo how pretty this game will look. This is especially true of the new maps, as these appear to have had quite a large amount of work poured into them (at least as much as the combat animations). This is quite a surprise as the environments in these games often take a back seat visually.

There’s now a new promo video for Gundam Mokubo no Kiseki out. Apart from showing some rather dated FMV footage, the video does actually show a fair bit of gameplay. It’s very clear that the game’s two modes of battle will work out to be pretty interesting but what’s especially refreshing is how fluid the full battle mode appears. Basically, this looks like it could be a proper little hand-held RTS. The full video is below.

Famitsu has a new update on the forthcoming PSP Gundam strategy game Mokuba no Kiseki. Specifically it covers some of the game’s commands and in part explains the two battle modes present. In terms of the latter, it seems there is not only a wider battle mode but also a localised battle mode too. The wider battle mode allows the player to move squads of units around, whereas the localised mode allows for micro management of each pilot. Subsequently the commands are broken down between these modes. The wider battle mode commands are as follows; hidden enemy search, accelerating to cover more distance (similar to SRW) and the ability to spread Minovsky particles to cover your squad’s movements (this is what the prior “hidden enemy search” ties into as well). It’s interesting that unlike older RTS games, where the player has to investigate unknown areas this game will allow players to blanket out their presence at will. This is a really nice touch as something that’s always been missing in Gundam games is the whole way the Minovsky particle effectively rendered contemporary warfare obsolete within the context of the narrative. As for the localised commands, these are; supporting nearby allies and evacuate nearby danger. Overall, this is sounding like an interesting little strategy game and one we’ll be keeping a close eye on.

Over at Game Watch they’ve got an update that says, as of today, the classic Super Robot Wars F and F Final will be added to the (Japanese) PSN game archives for 1,200 yen each. These were some of the toughest and most rewarding of the Winkysoft era games, so to see them in the wild again brings warmth to our cold robotic hearts. As with most PSN archive games, these are playable on both your PS3 and PSP.

Following on from their previous coverage, Famitsu have released a new promo on their site for the upcoming Lord of Elemental II: Revelation of Evil God. The promo not only shows footage from the new game but also the re-make of the prior DS port (that in turn was a port of the original SNES game). Overall, both games are looking good. The full promo is available below.

The official Riobot blog has a new entry on the upcoming Gurren Lagann toy they’ve made. Set for an April release next year, they’ve started the PR early on this one. However, it seems warranted as the toy is very impressive in terms of its articulation and is also suitably gimmick ridden (for instance the eyes in the chest follow the head movements). Whilst the retail price of 9,500 yen seems a bit steep for only a figure that’s barely 14.5 cm tall, the guys at Sentinel really do excellent work. Plus the figure comes with the great wing accessory as standard. In any case, we’ll be picking this beauty up on its release next year and you can pre-order yours here.

One of the next Super Robot Chogokin from Bandai is one of our favourite super robots. That of the mighty Zeorymer. One of Yasuhiro Moriki’s most iconic designs, the mecha actually originated in a pretty pervy hentai manga by none other than Yoshiki Takaya (of Guyver fame). Though Moriki’s anime version has quite a different aesthetic, something that would go on to be used on the rather awesome looking RX-105 Xi Gundam. In gaming terms, Zeorymer is possibly one of the most poweful units ever to grace Super Robot Wars. Appearing in both J and MX it basically pwned pretty damn hard (and let’s not even talk about Great Zeorymer). Whilst there have been a few Zeorymer toys over the years, from Gigabrain and Yamato, they’ve all been pretty disappointing. This, on the over hand, will be properly good. For those that want this, it’s set for a February release next year.

What with the announcement of a new Gundam RTS, Mokuba no Kiseki, there has been some curious assumptions and feedback from fans it seems. This is because much of the PR seems to counter arguments and concerns that indicate some level of disquiet amongst the Gundam faithful. From statements like it is not a “new genre” or that you won’t need to constantly micro-manage units, makes us think that a Gundam RTS is a step too far for Japanese gamers. To be fair, the RTS genre isn’t that well known amongst mainstream gamers (compared to Korea’s unbridled enthusiasm let’s say), so this reaction is an interesting one. 4Gamer has some nice new shots of the game though and there will be a game system breakdown in the near future. However, it does seem that there are varied “battle modes” with one giving a more holistic view of the battlefield. Overall this is a relatively small release but one we’re very interested in, as the last mecha RTS-esque game we played was Scramble Commander the 2nd and we loved that (though much of that was down to Dunbine being able to literally high-five Dancouga). What with Armored Core V out on the same day, January can’t come soon enough!

Over at 4Gamer they have an interesting update about Level 5’s Gundam AGE RPG. Despite the somewhat insanely large screenshots, the game looks to have a more rigid battle system compared to something like Danball Senki. The big selling point is that fact that the narrative will cover multiple generations, which will in turn help to frame the TV series’ plot. We’re still not sure about the series to be honest but we are looking forward to Level 5’s gaming output. The game is still set for a release next year.

In the latest edition of Famitsu a sequel to Lord of Elemental has been announced. This is the first sequel in this branch of the SRW canon since 1996, when the first game was released on the SNES. Clearly the recent DS port sold well enough to warrant a sequel but interestingly it will be released on the PSP this time around. In addition to the core game a limited edition set will include the first and second games, with the first being remastered for the PSP. The game will be released in January next year, with the standard set costing 6,280 yen and the limited edition (two game) set costing 10,480yen.

Update: Famitsu now has a nice update with some screenshots of the game.