The Raven Republic
Armored Core 3 Portable is now available in the US Playstation store for $14.95 for your PSP. Enjoy your mech action on the go, because this one doesn’t require a UMD making the game load faster than its UMD based counterpart. Here’s hoping for an English SL portable and LR portable as well.
Thanks to forum member R.Leonhardt for the heads up.
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]
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.
Long time AC fan Naitoh, who has been an excellent source of information on the Japanese Armored Core scene, has recently uploaded videos of “Matsuri 2”, a Japanese Armored Core 3 tournament held back in January of 2003, on his YouTube account. Sadly, we have no further information regarding the tournament such as its rules and part restrictions. Beyond that, the only information we can confirm for sure is the slight lag with the 2nd player because of the i.Link connection, as mentioned by Naitoh himself, a given problem in the AC3 and SL editions of AC.
From software, the creators of Armored Core, is sponsoring a tournament for the recently released Armored Core 3 Portable for the PSP. It seems that From plans to go on a tour of various game stores all across Japan for the preliminary matches in this tournament. It’ll be interesting to see how tactics and gameplay have evolved from the original release on the PS2, as well as taking a look at the new parts in action. With the finals date set for October 3, 2009, it is only a matter of time before we get to see results.
Given my lack of Japanese reading skills, I could only decipher that the prizes include the awesome Armored Core model kits made by Kotubukiya plus various extras that I could not read. Please visit From’s officia tournament website for more details (Warning: Heavy on Japanese text): http://armoredcore.net/acct/season1/
The first matches are scheduled to start on August 29, so stay tuned to From’s official site for updates.
This official screenshot sports a sexy new head design previously absent from all preceding AC games. One can only wonder what other new surprises AC3P has in store for its followers and fans. Speculation goes that it’s the equipped head part of the new No.1 Ranker in the arena, replacing Ace as the arena top dog from the original AC3. See more pictures below and in the gallery.