Bandai Namco have finally announced Gundam Extreme Versus Force will be released on December 23rd. This only applies to the Japanese version for now, as nothing has been announced for English localized version. On top of the release date, more information regarding gameplay modes was announced as well. Aside from the usual 2 vs 2 mode that is available via ad-hoc mode called Force Battle, the meat of this new game will center around the single player mode called “Extreme Force.” In this mode, you lead a squadron of units that can be collected from the missions you experience, with your hero mobile suit as the lead. Similar to other Extreme Versus games, your team also is built around the cost system. The stronger the unit, the higher the cost. You can also strategically control your units via the “Force Command” to either engage, withdraw, gather, or disperse depending on the situation.

New units to the series that are currently exclusive to Extreme Versus Force include the G-Self from Reconguista in G and the Gundam Barbatos 4th Form from Iron-Blooded Orphans. The latter is a first print exclusive DLC, so be sure to grab yourself an early copy! We will update you as more information regarding the gameplay mechanics around the Force System is released. Until then, check out the latest promo released for the game below.

You can also pre-order the English version of the game here.

Vanillaware have finally announced their new game and it’s called 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim. Not only does it look suitably sumptuous, like all their games, but it also features mecha. While not much is known about the game, bar that is set for release on PS4 and PS Vita, we are very curious to see how this title will turn out. Previously Vanillaware has only really done fantasy themed action RPG’s, often with a historical bent. This looks decidedly futuristic and sci-fi with it. The music is also being Hitoshi Sakimoto and thus far has a real Origa vibe to it. The launch trailer is shown below.

Following the news that the next Gundam Extreme Versus game would be shown at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, we now know that Gundam Extreme Versus Force will very likely be a PS Vita exclusive. In the launch trailer (shown below) we see all manner of new game modes and mobile suits, with the YG-111 Gundam G-Self being notable. The upcoming ASW-G-66 Gundam Barbatos may also be present in the game but no further details are available about that yet. This will be the first named entry in the series to not have an initial arcade release. While this is definitely a PS Vita game we may yet still see a PS4 game come out but we’ll just have to wait and see if anything else pops up. No release is currently set but it’s probable we’ll see something next year.

One of the more interesting releases from Bandai as of late has been their DX Chogokin VF-19 Advance as seen very briefly in the second Macross Frontier movie. As there have been a fair few YF-19 toy releases already, and we reviewed Arcadia’s last attempt, this is the first time that Bandai has attempted the design to this degree of fidelity. As you might expect, Bandai have utterly nailed it.

Back in 2009, during the last days of the PS2, we saw the first game in the Z series made digital flesh. It was quite the departure from the previous Alpha series and also boasted an all new 2D animation engine. It was also a pretty damn fantastic game, that used focus groups of three units to offset the formations of enemy attackers.

Not long after that the PSP saw host to the second part of the Z series, in the form of Hakai-hen and Saisei-hen. These were more streamlined and dropped the formation approach for single units while still retaining some lovely animation. Then last year we received the first part to the third instalment, called Jigoku-hen it was split across PS3 and Vita with cross save functionality enabled. Taking a middle approach with having each group comprising of two units, it sat neatly between the first game and its portable offspring. That made sense as it was both a console and a portable game. It also looked incredible.

So now after six years we have reached the end of the road with the Z series and Tengoku-hen doesn’t disappoint.

In the latest Japanese chart results Super Robot Wars Z 3 Tengoku-hen has come out top. Clocking in around 230,000 sales between the PS3 and Vita versions it has even outsold games like Bloodborne, which was released a few weeks ago. Considering that these only represent a few days sales for Tengok-hen, that’s pretty good going already. We also picked up both versions of the game ourselves and a review will be forthcoming once we’re done with it. Thus far it’s a lot like Jigoku-hen and we’re liking it a lot. If you haven’t picked your copy up already then you totally should.

So out of nowhere you can now buy the original PSone Armored Core on the US PSN store. Costing a very reasonable $5.99, it’s compatible with the PS3, PSP and Vita. Due to the way the Vita is setup you can also force the game to use dual analogue controls but we don’t recommend it. Simply because the camera isn’t at all set up to work with those controls and makes the game pretty much unplayable. That aside, this is a fantastic addition to PSN and we’re hoping that both Project Phantasma and Master of Arena will join the first game sometime soon. It would be nice to see the whole trilogy released on the European PSN too but that’s unlikely as the last two games never received a European version. As these games are already on the Japanese PSN we can vouch for them quite happily. Considering you can play this classic game on a modern HD display, as well as via a variety of portable devices, is pretty damn great. So definitely pick this up, as the game is still fun to play even today.

Super Robot Wars Z 3 Tengoku-hen received a new promo over the weekend (shown below) and it’s rather marvelous. From showing off new animations and some of the updated game system, it’s all looking rather great. The absence of Final Dancouga is still admittedly disheartening but there’s a lot of good stuff still present and the addition of Rengoku-hen is a pretty big deal if you’ve been playing this series since the first game on PS2. Set for a release at the beginning of April we’ll be picking this up for sure.

Following on from the excellent Jigoku-hen released earlier this year, Bandai Namco announced Super Robot Wars Z 3 Tengoku-hen to be released on both PS3 and Vita next April. To accompany this announcement we’ve also been graced with a nice long promo video (shown below). In it we see new series like Gargantia and Gunbuster 2 are now included in the game’s roster but we are still blown away by how crazy nice the Zeta Gundam animations still are. Orguss is also back (as seen above) and that’s just great in and of itself really. The lack of Final Dancouga is somewhat saddening though.

In addition to the main game, for those that buy Tengoku-hen at launch they will also get a separate downloadable sidestory game called Rengoku-hen. This features characters from previous Super Robot Wars Z instalments over 15 unique missions. Most importantly of all, this won’t be available as a separate download at any point.

At a recent mini-show for Megahouse products, they revealed a bunch of lovely new toys. Most of these had been shown previously at places like WonFes but many of these were closer to final versions, so painted up and using the correct materials. One of this was the upcoming Variable Action Hi-Spec Orguss (shown above) from the anime of the same name. It looks frankly gorgeous and will transform across all four modes. Released next March it also costs an eye watering 35,000 yen. As it’s not an overly large figure, that’s a mighty big price tag. Regardless, we want one. Badly. If you want to check out the event, there is a nice gallery here.