PSP Gundam revealed, Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam ships

In the latest issue of Famitsu, Bandai has revealed new details about its Gundam game for the PSP. Titled Gundam: Battle Tactics, the game will ship in Japan on September 22, at the price of 5,040 yen ($46), and it's being developed by Bandai Entertainment Company (BEC). Development of Gundam: Battle Tactics is currently 75 percent complete, but no US release date has been set.

Gundam: Battle Tactics is an action game based on the One-Year War storyline from the Gundam anime series and games. Players take the role of a pilot working for either the Federation or Zion. The game will feature mobile suit mechs and pilots from earlier anime and games based on the One-Year War, including Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Mobile Suit Gundam: War in the Pocket, Gundam Gaiden, and Gundam Senki.

Gundam: Battle Tactics has a mission-based system, with an initial limited number of playable stages and more that can be unlocked. After selecting the stage, players need to pick a pilot and a mobile suit. They can chose to play as one of a selection of characters, including the original Gundam's main hero, Amuro Rei. The objective in each mission will change depending on which pilot players pick and which mobile suit is being used.

Players will fight in a 3D field from a third-person perspective behind their mobile suit, similar to Capcom's Gundam vs. series. Players can also choose to play in a first-person cockpit view. Aside from offering a single-player mission mode, Gundam: Battle Tactics will allow up to four players to challenge each other via Wi-Fi, either in singles battle or team battle.

Meanwhile, the latest PlayStation 2 Gundam game has been released in the US. Today, Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam shipped for the PlayStation 2 for the retail price of $39.99. The game sports nearly 60 mobile suits and 200-plus missions based on the anime series, which concerns a far-future interplanetary civil war. Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam also offers five different multiplayer modes, including co-op and versus.

To help promote the release of Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam, Bandai is holding a Gundam trivia contest. Details on the contest--which will award winners with scale models of rare Gundams--can be found on the official English-language Bandai Games Web site.