The Second Batch of GP2 Games

In mid-June in Tokyo, the rainy season had just ended, and the air was damp.

The exhaust fans along Akihabara's Central Avenue hummed and blew out warm air.

The roller shutter door of Yamada Game Shop was half-drawn up, and there were already more than a dozen dripping umbrellas stuck at the entrance.

Kenta sat on the steps, his fingers tracing the D-pad of the handheld console.

The screen shows that the Pokémon has been completed twice, and the Pokédex collection is at 190 Pokémon. The remaining legendary Pokémon and trade evolutions are all in the fat man's machine.

The fat man squatted down next to him, chewing on a piece of Kanto fish cake, his machine in his hand was stuck on the thirtieth round of the endless pool version of Plants vs. Zombies.

"Stop firing, your four rows of Cob Cannon will get eaten by Pole Vaulting Zombie sooner or later." Kenta rubbed his sore thumb, closed the screen, and stuffed it into his shirt pocket.

"What do you know? This is the sunlight cycle I painstakingly calculated," the fat man mumbled indistinctly, his eyes never leaving the screen. "But after playing this game for two months, I can tell with my eyes closed which path the next wave of Buckethead Zombie will come from. It's really starting to get tough."

Those four games that were released in April, these core gamers who spend every day in the store already know them inside and out.

I know the one-life walkthrough of Metal Slug GP2 by heart, and I'm getting a little tired of playing Tetris in four-player co-op.

Just as I was pondering this, a crisp sound of a QR code being scanned came from the store's cashier.

Mr. Yamada grabbed a utility knife and slit open the cardboard box that had just been delivered by Sagawa Express.

The side of the cardboard box is printed with a large Sega blue and white logo.

"Stop squatting, come in and check the goods!" Boss Yamada shouted at the door. "The second batch has all arrived. Just tell me which tray you want, and don't block the unloading!"

The young people waiting outside all rushed inside at once.

The most prominent spot on the shelf has just become available.

Three brand-new light blue boxes were neatly stacked on top.

On the far left is "Pokémon Adventure", in the middle is "Ace Attorney" with Naruhodo Ryuichi's signature pointing gesture on the cover, and on the far right is "Super Robot Wars", a highly anticipated title that Super Robot Wars fans have been waiting for for half a year.

Kenta squeezed to the counter in two steps and pulled out a crumpled pre-sale form from his pocket.

"Uncle Yamada, I want the Super Robot Wars!"

"You'll get your share." Shopkeeper Yamada tore open the plastic wrap and pushed a heavy cassette tape over. "Six thousand eight hundred Japanese yen."

Kenta slammed the money on the table, grabbed the cassette case, and headed out.

The fat man followed behind, carrying "Ace Attorney" and "Pokémon Adventure".

The two went into the Lawson convenience store next door and pulled out chairs to sit at the long table in the rest area.

Kenta peeled off the outer cellophane.

On the cover of the Super Robot Wars cartridge, in addition to the traditional Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Original Gundam, and Qubeley, a brand new blue and white Gundam mobile suit with a giant spirit beam cannon stands prominently in the center.

Behind the aircraft, there is a red VF-19 Kai fighter jet, with the words "Macross 7 confirmed to be in service" printed in small print next to its wing.

The fat man took a sip of oolong tea through a straw. "This Gundam looks unfamiliar. It's not the Nu Gundam, nor the GP03. What's it called?"

"The back cover says, 'S Gundam.'" Kenta flipped the box over. "The instruction manual says it's its first appearance in a game."

Kenta pulled out the Ruby cartridge he had been using for two months and pushed the Super Robot Wars cartridge into the slot on the back of the GP2.

The startup screen flashed, and the dual logos of Sunrise and Sega Galaxy appeared on the Sharp LCD screen.

A crisp electronic sound effect then rang out from the corner of the small shop.

Kenta skillfully skipped the opening text and went straight into the first episode.

The turn-based strategy map unfolds, with the ruined space fortress of the Gryps War floating in the background.

Enemy units have respawned.

Kenta looked at the enemy mech icon on the screen and scratched the back of his head.

"Marasai? Marasai? Why are they all Federation paint schemes?" Kenta pressed the D-pad to check the enemy data. "The faction is listed as ' New Desides,' who are these people? Weren't the Titans scattered by the AEUG a long time ago?"

Immediately afterwards, a dialogue box appeared.

A young officer in Earth Federation Forces appears in the left-hand profile picture frame, with the name "Liao Luz" displayed.

Subsequently, the sleek blue and white S Gundam was launched into the battlefield.

The system displayed a small message:

[ALICE autonomous control system activated, full-maneuver parameter correction in progress----]

"ALICE?" Kenta was completely dumbfounded. "A talking AI is installed inside a Gundam?"

Do you even know anything about Gundam history?

Suddenly, a slightly disdainful male voice came from the side.

Kenta turned his head away.

At the next table sat a young man wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt and black-rimmed glasses, with a large black plastic bag from Akihabara Sofmap at his feet.

The man with black-rimmed glasses placed the soda can he was holding on the table and gestured with his chin toward Kenta's screen.

"That's * Mobile Suit Gundam Sentinel: The Vanguard*," the man with black-rimmed glasses began. "Ten years ago, in Model Graphics..."

The model project was serialized in the magazine. It tells the story of a group of Earth Supremacist young Federation officers Pezun Base right after the Gryps War, calling themselves the New Desides. The Federation sent a special fleet to suppress them, and the protagonist is the one who pilots this S Gundam.

Kenta glanced at the list of weapons on the screen again.

It features a beam smart rifle, a head-mounted Vulcan cannon, a back-mounted beam Ganon, and a locking system with a question mark on it.

"Was this machine very powerful in the original work?" Kenta asked.

"It's more than just impressive; it was the pinnacle of mecha design back then." The man with black-rimmed glasses opened the plastic bag at his feet, pulled out a square cardboard box, and placed it heavily on the table.

The front of the cardboard box features a detailed hand-drawn illustration.

It is the S Gundam firing its gun in space with an extremely imposing posture, with the giant cylinder of the Pezun Base in the background.

A line of large, gold-embossed text was printed in the bottom right corner:

[0VA Mobile Suit Gundam Sentinel, Volume 1 (including episodes 1-2), produced by Sunrise.]

Kenta and the fat man both moved closer at the same time.

"It's really getting an anime adaptation?" The fat man's eyes widened. "I remember Bandai was adamant about not investing in an anime for this, right?"

"Bandai is nothing, they've changed their name to BandaiModel now." The man with black-rimmed glasses pointed to the release information on the back cover, "Sega is backing it up, and Sunrise is producing it with their full lineup. It's being released today, simultaneously with the cartridges you have. The nationwide first release is only available on VHS videotapes and LD laser discs. I queued for two hours to snag this videotape at Sofmap."

"Is it good?" Kenta pressed the game's idle button. "How's the story? Don't let it be another story of pretty boys falling in love in space."

The man with black-rimmed glasses sneered and leaned forward slightly.

"This videotape came with a promotional brochure, which also included a poster and a setting booklet. The setting booklet lists all the mobile suits that appear in the series, and they will all appear in the latest GP2 platform's * Super Robot Wars * game." The man with the black-rimmed glasses tapped the table. "As for the video, I watched the first two episodes on the preview screen in the store this morning. There was none of that weird narration you see in older Gundam games. It started with the protagonist repairing a mobile suit in the hangar, with a radio playing news about post-war reconstruction. When the New Desides officers had their meeting, they even cursed about military spending corruption and factional infighting within the Earth Federation. It felt like this is what a real Earth Federation Forces warship should be like!"

The glass door of the convenience store was pushed open again.

The doorbell rang once.

A young man wearing overalls strode in, carrying a huge corrugated cardboard box with Bandai Model sealing tape on the side.

The man with black-rimmed glasses turned around and greeted him, "A-Watari! Did you buy it?"

The young man in overalls placed the large box on the empty table and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"The lines are killing me! The first batch of MG 1/100 scale S Gundam models shipped from the Shizuoka factory only received 300 boxes across all the model shops on Central Avenue combined!"

The young man in overalls plopped down and eagerly ripped off the tape.

The box contained more than twenty colored panels neatly stacked inside.

Kenta and Fatty weren't usually hardcore model kit enthusiasts, but they were also drawn to the densely packed parts in the box.

"What's with this blue part?" Kenta reached out and poked a thigh armor plate piece. "They even did color separation?"

"The mecha design was redesigned by Hajime Katoki, and Bandai Model used new molds purchased with investment from Sega." A-Watari took out a white shoulder plate piece and held it up under the fluorescent light in the convenience store. "Look at this panel line; it's less than half a millimeter deep, and there's not a single burr on the edge. The old Bandai models from before had parts as thick as bars of soap; the precision of this new batch is from a completely different era."

A-Watari took a small, colorful poster out of his pocket and slapped it on the table.

The poster has three things printed on it:

At the top is the GP2 Super Robot Wars cartridge, in the middle is the newly released 0VA videotape case, and at the bottom is the MG model that A-Watari is holding.

The bottom of the poster displays the promotional event in bold text:

With the voucher inside the 0VA videotape, you can exchange it for a set of exclusive water decals for the model at various stores; the Super Robot Wars cartridge includes a parts purchase form for the limited edition armor of the model.

"Sega is really pulling a fast one," the fat man sighed, finishing the last sip of tea. "Those who buy cartridges want to watch the anime, those who watch the anime want to buy figures, and those who buy figures can't resist wanting to play some games on their handhelds."

"This tactic works." The man with the black-rimmed glasses stuffed the videotape back into his bag, then turned to Kenta. "Where are you in your Super Robot Wars battle?"

"The second level, we just chased Gato to Africa." Kenta gripped the handheld console.

"I suggest you take a look at this." The man with black-rimmed glasses pulled out the included art booklet, pointing to the huge concept art on the last page and the note in the lower right corner that read, "All the mecha in this art booklet will appear in the latest GP2 version of * Super Robot Wars *."

The phrase "Appearance" suggests that you should review this installment of the * Super Robot Wars * series, starting with Gundam 0083: Star Trek.

The story spans from "Memories of Dust" to "Gundam Sentinel," otherwise this machine might have been burned, as it's a mobile suit that never appeared in the novel.

Kenta stared wide-eyed at the name beneath the concept art and murmured it aloud.

"Deep Striker ----"

The fat man stretched his neck so far that his face was almost pressed against the glossy paper of the full-color art book.

The image shows a monster machine covered in heavy propulsion nozzles and an extremely long main cannon.

The outline of the S Gundam's chest armor can be barely discerned in the center of the fuselage, but the lower body and back are completely covered by two giant rocket boosters. A long-range beam Ganon, even more exaggerated than a naval cannon, is mounted on the right shoulder, while a large disc-shaped radar dome is mounted on the left shoulder.

A-Watari tossed the shoulder armor parts he had just cut off onto the table, turned around, and tapped the explanatory text on the edge of the blueprint.

"When this was being serialized, it was just a concept idea drawn by Hajime Katoki. The idea was to use the core architecture of the S Gundam, with an external Archangel class battleship engine and a heavy cruiser-class main gun, to carry out a crazy plan to launch a single-unit assault on the enemy fleet. However, due to its high cost and complex structure, the Earth Federation Forces did not approve the budget at all, and in reality, not even a single test frame was ever built."

Kenta stared at the massive cannon that almost spanned half the screen and pressed the D-pad on his handheld console. "What does it mean that this booklet says 'All mobile suits are included in GP2 Super Robot Wars '?"

"Come on, let's go to my place and watch a movie."

The man with black-rimmed glasses stood up, grabbed the plastic bag containing the videotapes from the table, and casually opened the glass door of the convenience store.

"My house is right by the Kanda River, and we have a VCR and a big-screen TV. After you watch the anime and understand the whole story, then you can figure out how to play the game you're in."

Kenta put away his GP2, exchanged a glance with the fat man, and the two immediately followed.

A-Watari put the disassembled MG model box back together, wrapped it with two strips of tape, and carried the large box at the back.

The group introduced themselves to each other on the way. The man with black-rimmed glasses was named Ishikawa Kenji.

Ishikawa lives on the third floor of an old apartment building on the edge of Akihabara.

The room wasn't very spacious. Right by the entrance were two rows of metal shelves, piled high with various types of videotapes, LD discs, and unopened model kits.

A low pine table sits in the center of the room, directly opposite a 29-inch Panasonic CRT television.

Ishikawa inserted the newly purchased OVA videotape into the machine and pressed the play button.

With the clicking sound of the reel turning, a blue light flashed on the television screen.

There was no grand narrative narration, nor any pilots' hysterical pre-battle declarations.

The first scene cuts to a maintenance hangar at Earth Federation Forces base.

The fluorescent tubes hanging overhead emitted a slight electrical buzzing sound as several mechanics, dressed in oil-stained jumpsuits, stood on steel ramps adjusting the tubing in the S Gundam's legs.

A small radio hanging in the corner intermittently broadcast news from the Federation Parliament. The announcer read out in a flat, descriptive tone the reconstruction funds allocated to various space domains Gryps War, as well as the progress of the Titans remnants' suppression in the various colonies.

The camera then pans to the door of the tactical conference room, which is pushed open.

Several young officers were arguing fiercely around the star map. Someone slammed their fist on the table, accusing the bureaucrats at Earth headquarters of embezzling supplies and exploiting the troops stationed in the colonies.

"This is the real Universal Century." Ishikawa sat on the floor, pouring himself a cup of barley tea. "There's none of that inexplicable spiritual resonance; it's all soldiers struggling to make a living in the cracks of politics."