Over at Game Watch they’ve got another update about the upcoming Gundam Assault Survive. The interesting parts are down to how you can give commands to your wingmen and even capture enemy mobile suits now. In addition, the EMS-10 Zudah from MS IGLOO is also being featured in the game. This is an early Zeonic design that was penned by Yutaka Izubuchi. The game is still slated for a March 18th release and you can pre-order it here.

Like so many others, I’ve been looking forward to the next update from Danny Choo, who always provide excellent coverage of events like Wonder Festival 2010. Yet, perhaps because he’s been so busy with the show (due in part to his responsibilities with Good Smile Company I’m assuming), his blog has been a bit on the quiet side as of late. So due to boredom, I decided to check the archive, and stumbled across a great round-up of some truly incredible examples of papercraft. Click on to see more…

This is pretty amusing as Bandai have barely released their 1/100 scale VF Hi-Metal rendition of Nekki Basara’s Fire Valkyrie, only to have their major competitor – Yamato – lay the proverbial smackdown. Specifically, Yamato have announced on their blog that they will be releasing a 1/60 scale fully transformable Fire Valkyrie toy. This means it’s bigger and the specifics on the transformation indicate that there won’t be parts swapping either (which there is a bit on the legs of the Hi-Metal version). To make matters worse, Shoji Kawamori will be personally supervising this toy’s development.

No news on whether Yamato will release the Sound Booster parts though, something that Bandai is planning. In any case, it’s worth highlighting here that Yamato are technically far more adept at making transformable toys than Bandai are these days, so this announcement will definitely be making people at Bandai a bit uneasy. The Fire Valkyrie was also recently featured in both Macross Ace Frontier and Ultimate Frontier on the PSP.

Over at Game Watch, they’ve covered off the extra parts that will be available in Last Raven Portable. Now, bear in mind that the original Last Raven had a parts list that was already very expansive so having even more parts to play with is almost always a good thing. In addition to the new parts, listed below, many of Last Raven’s features have been recreated with the limb destruction making a welcome come back not to mention the somewhat scary Pulverizers. In any case, the game is still scheduled for its March 4th release in Japan and if you haven’t already you can pre-order it here.

Over at GA Graphic they’ve previewed the upcoming release of the 1/60 scale DX Chogokin VF-27 Lucifer. This is the main antagonist’s variable fighter in Macross Frontier and one that has to be piloted by a cyborg, not only due to the extreme g-forces it exerts upon the pilot but also because of its unique VR cockpit. Much like the VF-25 Messiah, the VF-27 Lucifer is also based upon the YF-24 Evolution developed by Shinsei Industries (the same company that developed the YF-19 in Macross Plus in case you’re wondering).

The VF-27 was also featured in both Macross Ace Frontier and Macross Ultimate Frontier, though with the latter it was thankfully easier to attain. This new toy looks to be as sturdy as the other Bandai 1/60 scale entries though and it’s managed to convey the design pretty decently too. Admittedly, it is unavoidably bulky in places but that was always going to be an issue with this design. In any case, you can pre-order it here.

With the run up to Gundam Unicorn’s release, the wondrous Anime News Network will be streaming the entirety of Zeta Gundam (in Japanese with English subtitles, in case you’re wondering) until April 22nd. Admittedly, this doesn’t include the three re-animated movies that were released a few years back, but all 50 episodes of probably one of the most renowned Gundam shows isn’t to be scoffed at. Naturally, Zeta has been featured in numerous games over the years from Super Robot Wars to Another Century’s Episode and multiple Gundam game tie-ins (with the excellent Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus being no exception).

Following Zeta, the original Gundam and SEED will also be streamed via the same service later this month. In any case, if you want to start watching Zeta, then go here.

The just released 1/100 VF HI-METAL Fire Valkyrie is getting the Sound Booster add-on in the very near future via the Bandai online collector’s shop. The Sound Booster maximised the sound energy of the respective pilot in each of the Fire Bomber variable fighters, making them a real threat to the Protodeviln forces.The Sound Booster was also featured as a playable add-on in the recent Macross Ultimate Frontier.

The upcoming Gundam Assault Survive received a new promo recently and it shows more about how the mission and area layout structure differs from the Gundam Battle games. The game engine also has received more work as has the art, as for the latter many of the explosions look more beefy compared to the Gundam Battle variants. The game is still scheduled for a March release and you can pre-order it here.

We’ve mentioned the upcoming and reportedly final entry into the VOTOMS saga “Gen-ei Hen” before but the official site has released some new promo videos. These show that much of the same production values seen in Pailsen Files are still reassuringly present in Gen-ei Hen, and that the AT arena also makes a welcome comeback (though it’s saddening but admittedly interesting to see Chirico and Ru face off, as they were allies previously).

As for any gaming tie-ins, not much is known at present. There are rumours of a possible PSP game on the horizon, as Pailsen Files recently received a UMD video release in Japan and the excellent PlayStation 2 game could have its tech ported quite easily. As for whether Yuke’s will take the reigns of this is anyone’s guess. Considering that this series is officially the final send off for the VOTOMS saga it will be interesting to see what Sunrise and Bandai will release alongside it, games or otherwise. We’ll know come the end of March most probably, when Gen-ei Hen is finally released.

The PlayStation blog has a list of PlayStation Network games up that are currently on sale, the most mecha-noteworthy being the excellent Thexder Neo on the PSP for $4.99 until January 27th. There’s a few other downloadable titles available for both the PS3 and PSP, so it’s definitely worth a look.

Cheapass Gamer also lists a PSN download code for Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament as being $14.99 at Amazon.com, although the PSP game is a mere shade of the PS2 original Industrial Revolution-themed mecha game and not really recommended.