If you're looking forward to the upcoming May 6 release of R-Type Command for the PSP, but are wondering where to pick it up, Atlus USA might have just made the decision a tad easier. The company has announced that for a "very limited" time those who buy the game from GameStop, Amazon.com, GameCrazy, EB Games Canada, and other select retailers will be able to take home a free plastic miniature replica of the game's R-9 spacecraft, which we imagine to be perfect for keeping your desktop safe from the Bydo Empire.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

As you can see, we follow Atlus USA's requests to the letter. The quirky company has asked us to tell you lot about R-Type Command, "a bold new turn-based strategy entry in the long-celebrated series of side-scrolling shooters." Hitting the PlayStation Portable on May 6th, the game has players going up against the evil "Bydo Empire" in "exciting tactical gameplay!" The exclamation mark is theirs.

You'll have close to a hundred different upgradeable units at your command, including those hailing from the aforementioned Bydo Empire. Oh, and a little protip for those eager to engage in the wireless Ad-Hoc multiplayer: Make sure your underwater module with powerful anti-air missiles and torpedoes doesn't lose its resupply function! (That one was ours.)

Side-scrolling shooter meets ... turn-based strategy game? According to a blurry Famitsu scan, a new R-Type will attempt just that. R-Type Tactics features traditional side-scrolling shooting action confined to a turn-based grid system. Instead of cursing bosses for cheap kills and numbing your fingers slapping the fire button, you'll take turns attacking and plotting devious schemes with your enemies. Look for the strange mix of genres on the PSP in Japan later this year.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Wii owners waking up this Christmas morning expecting to download some classic space 'shmup goodness might be a little surprised at what they have to pay to get it. R-Type, released today on the Wii's virtual console, is the first TurboGrafx-16 game to be available for 800 VC points instead of the normal 600.

This didn't come as a total surprise: Nintendo casually mentioned last month that virtual console games merely "start at" the now-standard point levels (NES: 500, TG16: 600, SNES/Genesis:800, N64:1000). They also mentioned the R-Type price specifically in a press release last week, but our eyes glazed over and we misreported it at 600 points. Silly us... we thought the price used in six other TurboGrafx-16 games so far would carry over to the seventh.

While R-Type is a bit more popular than a similar game like Super Star Soldier, we can't help but wonder why Nintendo chose this game to break out the first price hike. While a 200 point increase isn't too outrageous, we can only hope this does not represent the start of a trend in ever-increasing virtual console prices.