Now THAT’S a Kämpfer/Gouf!

Over at the forums, resident kit-basher Fox just directed us to a ridiculously good scratch-built original model that won the Hobby Japan: All Japan “Ora-Zaku” Championship 13th.

Named YAMS-130B Greifer, this fan-created mobile suit is a reimagining of the classic MS-18E Kämpfer (or MS-07 Gouf?) for the Unicorn Gundam timeline.

Armored Core E-Sports

Imagine that Armored Core could be played professionally as a recognized e-sport.

Imagine players (Ravens!) duking it out on stage to a massive crowd, and with a live commentated broadcast for television and the internet. There’d be organized teams complete with coaches and support staff and matching uniforms and gear from sponsors. Hordes of screaming fan girls (and boys) would be lined up for an autograph or photo of their favorite players. Ravens would be traveling the world to play on tournaments with lewd prize pools at stake.

Well imagine no more, as all that is actually already happening…

Armored Core: Last Raven – Hacked!

Have you ever thought that you could’ve done a better job at balancing Armored Core than the developers? Us too.

That’s why we were ecstatic when we first heard several months ago that a fellow AC enthusiast, going by the name of Adiyel, was opening up the inner workings of Last Raven.

Before getting to the actual stat-changing, he had to dissect and sift through the piles of code accumulated since Armored Core 3, which you can read about here. But it appears that he already has working mods, as showcased in the (blurry) videos above and below.

What Does Your Tank Look Like In AC5?

A gun-totting, rollin’ machine of death apparently. Much like their past AC incarnations, tanks in AC5 will appear to be all about guns, guns, and guns. Strangely enough, there has been no sign of any laserblades that were prominent in all previous games.

[via: AC5 official site]

What Does Your World Conquest Look Like In AC5?

New screenshots showing what a global conquest map for AC5 is gonna look like. Start fantasizing about your dreams of global domination people. From our expert intelligent tactical Goat, he deduces that it will be a multi-faction war instead of the usual 2-3 factions fighting as in the previous AC games. Mercenaries themselves will have territory, but we’re a bit worried that the lack of an overarching corporation might damage the story, which isn’t much of a loss as AC’s story wasn’t one of its strengths.

THE ANSWER – Armored Core Tribute Album

We’re almost a month late, but late’s better than never for getting the word out that The Answer, Mattias Häggström Gerdt’s amazing 100% fan-made tribute to Kota Hoshino’s musical work on Armored Core, has finally been released!

The Answer features unique takes on several of the most memorable Armored Core tracks such as Monkey Likes Daddy, Apex in the Circle, and Shining, while still retaining that distinctly Armored Core sound and feel.

The producer has quite a bit to say about his labor of love.

Armored Core 5 Developer Interview

A whole lot more info popped out thanks to this Gamespot interview with Mr. Toshifumi Nabeshima, the producer and director of the Armored Core series. From his words, there are going to be radical changes to the series formula, emphasizing more on greater online content while maintaining the core gameplay the series is known for. Hit the jump for the interview as well as a summary of details:

New Armored Core 5 Trailer

Seriously, From leaves us in the dark and shows us this! This is our moment guys! AC5 better push through or I’ll have to start threatening Fromsoft with real bullets. We love the way they portrayed ACs as military machines part of an etire combat unit instead of a simple one-robot-army, and this really gets us excited.