Gundam Time

Time blasts by. This is a 21st-century, networked, 3D, arena-based robo combat dreamboat by Capcom, playing on a cathode ray tube in a yellowing hulk of a Sega Blast City cabinet from the 1990s.

This century’s software running on last century’s hardware: utterly different eras. But in fact only 8 years apart. Blast City was 1996; Z Gundam DX was 2004. Cut to now and ZDX is quaint beside the latest Gundam Vs, which runs rows and rows in any game centre – a crazy 32-machine line at Shinjuku Sportsland.

So “this century” was a long, long time ago. Distant relics like that, you find them in corners of indie game dives, running on Blast Cities for ¥50 credits. That’s what happens to arcade history.

If only.

When are we next going to see 64 shoulders all hunched within breathing distance? Post-Covid, will there still be places to do that?

In the space of 1 year, even modern arcading could be decimated. Highly endangered retro curiosities will finally tip into extinction, their memories consigned to ultra-niche epic micro concept photo blogs and citationless Japanese Wikipedia articles.

So here’s to Mobile Suit Z Gundam: A.E.U.G. vs. Titans DX, fourth in the Gundam Vs series. Capcom devved and Bandai published the series from 2001 until 2010, then Bandai Namco Games took the lead through to the latest entry, Extreme 2 in 2018.

A 20th anniversary follow-up is planned for 2021. Lets wish them luck.