New Gundam Arcade Machine Arrived In Singapore
I have seen pictures of it on the internet before and the first word that came to my mind was “awesome!”. It is called Kidousenshi Gundam Senjou no Kizuna. It puts you right into the shoes of a Gundam pilot as you get to control your Gundam in a cockpit view. There were only 4 machines in the arcade that I went to, so I’m not sure if the game is capable of letting more than 4 players playing simultaneously. This capsule-like machine is called Panoramic Optical Display (POD).
A more close-up view of a machine.
This is how 1 POD looks like. The plastic window that this person is seeing through is actually the door, so you enter from the left side of the POD. At the back of it there is a green light that says “In Operation”. It is just an indication as to whether or not the POD is in use.
The inside of the machine. You will be controlling your Gundam in a cockpit view.
This is how the inside of a POD looks like. As you can see, it is like a cockpit. There are two joysticks for you to control. According to my friend, the control is like a tank. So if you want to turn right, you have to push the left joystick forward and then pull the right joystick back. Doing the opposite will result in turning left. I’m not sure about looking up and down, but if it works like a plane, then pulling both joysticks back will allow you to look up, and pushing both forward will allow you to look down.
So the joystick controls the directional movements of the Gundam. To make it go forward, you will have to step on a pedal which is located below the screen. Like a typical racing game, there are two pedals. The right 1 will make you Gundam go forward, and the left 1 with make your Gundam go backwards/brake.
The screen in front is like a dome shape whereby you will be given a 180 degrees view during the game. The projector displaying the visuals on the screen is located right above the seat.
On the right side of the seat, is a headphone set with a microphone attached to it. It allows you to communicate with the other players that are playing with you at the moment.
This is the Pilot Terminal.
This is the Pilot Terminal. You can register yourself here and get your very own “pilot license”. If you played Initial D before, it pretty much works the same way. This license will record the data from each battle that you play. When you register, you can choose which faction you want to join. I think they are the Earth Defense Force and Zeon. Each faction will have its own unique pilot costume and Gundam that you can choose. For the registration alone, you will have to pay $5 SGD, and then you will have to pay another $5 SGD for each consecutive game. The screen above the Pilot Terminal shows replays of previous battles.
Zone X's September 2009 brochure scan.
Its pretty expensive for an arcade game, but if you are a Gundam fan the experience is worth it =).
Hi ! I’m a player from HKG .I hope to playing with sgp player!
@Rezo – 8 vs 8?? that’s cool! hmm i have to think about it a little before deciding whether or not i want to play because of the price. but thanks a lot for your feedback! very informative =).
The game allows maximum of 8vs8, in japan they have weekly schedule rotating, letting players enjoy 4v4, 6v6 and 8v8 in different days.
However, so far the Asian version only has 4v4 mode.
Rumor says they will have 8v8 enabled once they get HKG, TWN and SKP networks all linked together like Sangokushi Taisen, but it is not certain.
I’m a TWN player who had been playing the game heavily for over a year back in Japan, and I host weekly meetings for players in Taiwan. I also talks to HKG players, trying to set up a community for Asian players. Please do contact me if you are interested in the game. we are desperate about the movements in SKP
yea its too costly for an arcade machine. last time when Initial D 4 came out it cost something like this as well, but many people still play haha.
for me… I will have to think about it a little before getting my “pilot license”.
AWESOME! Too costly though ):