In the latest issue of Famitsu, Bandai Namco confirmed development on a new game in the Macross franchise.
Based on the latest television series, Macross Delta Scramble will be launching on the PS Vita on October 20 in Japan. According to the report, as translated by Gematsu, the game will cover the first half of the ongoing series.
“The Main Missions cover the story up until episode 13 of Macross Delta. Guests from across the Macross series will appear for Extra Missions. The game is in development at Artdink.”
Some of the guest characters have already been confirmed. Hikaru Ichijou and Lynn Minmay from 1982’s The Super Dimension Fortress Macross will be in the game. Alto, Sheryl and Ranka from 2006’s Macross Frontier will also star. The lack of Macross 7 love is disappointing, but we’ll see if that happens when the game is released.
Meanwhile, Artdink is apparently seventy percent complete with the title. The Standard Edition of the game will include twenty songs. The Limited Edition Rune Pika Sound Edition will include fifty. I’m not entirely sure how songs factor into the gameplay at this moment.
There is currently no Western release confirmed for Macross Delta Scramble, and there probably won’t be. Macross has long been in legal turmoil in the West since the 1980’s. This is due to the original’s inclusion in Robotech, a popular bastardization of three different shows merged together. The creators of Robotech insist that they own the Western rights to Macross, and have blocked attempts at localizing the other series.
At least Macross Delta Scramble will be on the Vita, meaning it will be region-free. This is a good thing, as Artdink has a history of developing amazing games based on the franchise. Macross Ultimate Frontier is one of my favorite PSP titles, and with the added horsepower of the Vita, I’m sure the developer can make something even better.
There’s also a possibility of an English East Asian release. This would be similar to what was done with Super Robot Wars V, long thought to be unreleasable in English. In fact, Macross Delta is making a similar move with its BluRay release, so it’s not out of the question.
In the meantime, I will be crunching leaves in anticipation of this fall.
