Life-Size Tetsujin-28 (Gigantor) Officially Opens to the Public

Super Robots, not to be outdone by the unveiling of the life sized Gundam statue a few months ago, have responded with a life sized statue of their own kind. Tetsujin-28 (known as Gigantor in the west) was finally opened to the public today in all its 1:1 scale glory after months of construction. For those who are curious, Tetsujin 28 distinguishes itself by being one of the first animated mecha TV shows in Japan, thus helping establish the mecha genre. The franchise has further spawned three animated shows, two live-action movies, and a live action TV series that pre-dates the anime. See the opening ceremony of the life sized Tetsujin 28 statue after the jump.

Armored Core 3 Portable English Release?

Joystiq has recently reported that the US based ESRB has rated an English version of Armored Core 3 Portable, and this may hint a possible English release. However, no other details have emerged aside from this particular stub; there is no word on which publisher has taken the task of distributing the game in the US or in other countries outside Japan. All that’s left is to hope for an English localization of the game and its sequels Silent Line Portable and Last Raven Portable.

[via Joystiq]

PLDT to Launch Fiber-Optic Broadband Service

PLDT, one of the largest Internet Service Providers in the Philippines announced that they’ve begun testing their new fiber-optic service in selected areas across general Metro area. The technology is leaps and bounds ahead of the established DSL system in place, so this could only mean more downloads, less lag with games, and easier communication overall. As quoted from this news source, the following areas are included for pilot testing of this new service:

First Squad: The Moment of Truth

A joint Russian and Japanese animation project titled First Squad: The Moment of Truth has received an award from The Moscow International Film festival, and will premier in theaters across Russia on October 15, 2009.

Armored Core Championship Tournament Season 1 Results

The officially sanctioned Armored Core 3 Portable tournament by From Software has finally ended and just in time prior to the release of Silent Line Portable. The results are up as well as tournament videos from various tournament locations all over Japan.

Not much has changed when it comes to part selection among participants compared to the initial release of AC3 for the PS2. The RF/220 is still the easiest weapon to use in the game, and is widely present in the tournament. Another prevalent weapon appearing on the top rankers is the OC/15 orbit cannons and the Multi-missiles. Overall the designs are well varied despite the usual domination of bipedal ACs.

Ultramarines – A Warhammer 40K Movie

Games Workshop, the owner of the Warhammer 40K franchise, is working with Codex pictures to produce a full length Warhammer 40K film. Here’s an excerpt from the Ultramarines movie website:

Mind Reading Robots? Are We Now Doomed?

This little mechanical buddy is now on the fore-front of robotics research by actually being able to read a users thoughts and respond to them in kind. Taku Ichikawa of the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo is credited with this remarkable innovation, which allowed him to successfully compete in the Robo-One amateur bi-pedal robotics league which includes events like robo-soccer and robo-battles.

Metal Gear: Philanthropy Fan-Made Movie

The full length, non-profit, fan-made MGS movie is finally complete after over 3 years in production. MGS: Philanthropy takes place somewhere in between the events of MGS and MGS4 where Snake tries to rid the world of various Metal Gear variants. This isn’t just some regular CG movie;