Hi all! In the episode, I said that Bandai pulled out almost from the other world the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam animation series due to the high profit from the sales of plastic robots models or abbreviated gunpla. At the same time, a franchise license applied to portable game consoles, which at that time gained popularity. It was on them that the first games appeared in this universe.
In this article you will learn:
• What is Eremeka;
• What do the abbreviations LED, LCD, LSI, FL mean;
• a little about the first console games of Bandai and other companies;
• About eight games on the original series Mobile Sout Gundam, as well as about one game on Mobile Suit Z Gundam
Stopgame.ru/Blogs/Topic/100385 Part #1 Events to the Anime Mobile Suit Gundam: Origin
Before the appearance of the first portable games in Japan, various arcade machines were popular, their other name is Eremeka (reduction from an electromechanical machine). The first devices used a microswitch attached to the working part for the input, and worked with an analog computer or mechanical computing device using a timer or relay. When the switch is triggered, the given operation is performed: synchronization with a timer occurs, lamps blink on the display, and the model moves using an engine or electromagnet.
Since the 1960s, when analog computers and schemes of timers have been replaced by integrated microcircuits, such as LSI, the complexity of arcade machines gradually increased both in the design and in gameplay. This can be observed on the example of Arkada F1, developed and published by NAMO in 1976.
The player represented himself a racer. There was a large screen in front of him, on which the track was displayed, its environment and other car. After paying for the game by a coin, the player’s virtual car on the screen was set in motion. It was possible to manage it using a steering wheel in a cabin that could turn left and right.
The insides of the device were not as simple as the appearance. The circle of the track was applied to a plastic film, vertically installed in diameter of the rotating circle. In the center was a mechanism to which two toy cars were attached. The personnel were constantly highlighted, the movement of the steering wheel shifted the projection of the light. And if the player crashed into another car, then the mechanism responsible for the backlight of the image of the Bolid explosion was triggered.
Before moving on to the first prefixes, it is worth clarifying some abbreviations that could be added to the main name of the game.
Reduction LSI In the names https://rainbow-riches-casino.co.uk/bonus/ of the games, it meant that large integral circuits were used in the device, which are a set of electronic circuits on one small flat part from semiconductor material.
Reduction LED This means that the game uses LEDs that dominated the toy industry from 1977 to 1983.
FL – these are prefixes using fluorescent vacuum lamps. They were quite large, consumed a lot of energy and were expensive, but allowed to detail color springs on the screen.
LCD – Free crystal -based screen. The first prefixes with a LCD screen had a monochrome or 2-5-color display. The image was clear and detailed. But the movements of movements were recorded in advance.
The first console games were for Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972, and consisted of three white points and a vertical line. This was the first prefix in which the TV was used, and the first video game device that was shown in television advertising.
Mattel produced the device in 1976 in the United States Mattel Auto Race, which is considered the world’s first portable electronic slot machine. A year later they released the prefix Mattel Football, which became so popular that other companies began to use such mechanics.
In Japan, Taito released Space Invaders In 1978. After this game, many began to wonder if it was possible to put a similar game at home. The first option was with a standard vertical case, but soon they began to make horizontal buildings that could be built into the tables.
In 1978, Yonezawa Toy began selling an American prefix Simon In Japan. In the game it was necessary to beat on color surfaces, which were highlighted by LEDs.
In the same year, Bandai released electronic games Champion Racer And Submarine, In which LEDs are also used, and TOMY launches a strategy UFO Master Blaster Station, which is considered the first FL game in Japan.
In 1980, based on the design of the producer of the video game Gumpei Yokoi, Nintendo produces Game & Watch. One game was installed in each console. Over time, they began to add two levels of complexity: a and b, which differed in the speed in the gameplay. The prefix was placed in a pocket and did not require much energy. The screen was liquid crystalline. A clock and an alarm clock were mounted in the console. It was the most successful product for the Nintendo video game.
In early 1982, Bandai came out Floppy Jump 3in1 And Space Shuttle 3in1. Unlike Game & Watch, the prefixes contained three games, not two, and the gameplay was vertical. But Space Shuttle 3in1 has not gained popularity, which led to a change in the entire product. Bandai’s leadership decided to introduce the newly acquired franchise Mobile Suit Gundam.
The first game was Super Game Digital Gundam Spase Combat 3in1. The prefix also contained three games, but the gameplay was horizontal. In the first part of Gundam fights in space against Z’Gok. Yes, this is strange, given that this model was used only for marine operations, but the armor was easily recognizable and quite popular in the fan community.
The second part of the game also did not yield to implausibility. From the atmospheric aircraft carrier ACA-01 GAW attack Zaku II. However, if you look at the armor, they have horns that were installed only on the MS-06S red zaku II and the blue MS-07B gouf, t.e. were not in mass production.
The third part of the game is an evasion of Min player flying to a player.
This time, the RB-79 BALL is given to the management, the more points you get, the faster mines fly into you.
In August of the same year, the second game is released Lsi Portable Game FL Gundam. The release took place just when the show of the third adaptation film on the original series ended. Sales were huge and became record for consoles FL. The price at that time was 8,500 yen, the body design resembled arcade. It was possible to enable and turn off the music. On the right side was located a joystick. Food was carried out from four batteries or from the network. If you turn on the game and do not press the start button, then a demo version with a melody opening the theme of the Gundam series was launched.
The game was held in horizontal mode. During the passage, 10 points for the destruction of Zaku, 20 – for Bit from Elmeth, 30 – for Elmeth and Zeong, 150 – for passing all levels, and the gold cup – for 2000 points. Gundam could withstand 4 shots/collisions. There were five stages in the game:
• The first level – Gundam fights Zaku. There was a little shortcom in terms of reliability. All the attackers Zaku were red. Moreover, there could be several on the screen at once. So here the designers also decided to play the popularity of Chara and his armor.
• The second level is a fight with mobile armor MAN-08 Elmeth and its controlled parts.
• Third level – maneuvering through a meteorite belt.
• The fourth level is the battle for Solomon. It is necessary to make your way through the cracks in obstacles and shoot zaku in parallel.
• At the final stage, one-on-one fight with mobile armor MSN-02 Zeong. The victory is about the second hit.
The third game LCD Game Digital Mobile Suit Gundam I went out at the end of 1982. The horizontal game mode was also used, the attack button on the left, and the move buttons on the right. You could choose one of the two difficulties of the game. Unlike the first Gundam Spase Combat 3in1 game, this part was distinguished by a color display of ships, a detailed drawing of armor and imitation of battle animation.
The player must protect the three ships of the Federation Magellan, Gunperry and Salamis
The enemies were four types:
1. Zaku chopped Magellan with an ax;
2. ZEONG beat GunPerry with his hand;
3. Big-Zam fired at Salamis;
4. Rick Dom attacked the player.
Gundam can move along three lines and shoot enemies. The defeat occurred if one of the ships received three damage, which were marked by the drawing of the explosion. When destroying Rick Dom, 10 points were awarded when the rest of the opponents cost 20 units. After reaching 1000 points, the guundam chase animation for Rick Dom was reproduced, and 500 bonus points were charged. Of the minuses, it is worth noting that Gunperry was chosen for the space battle, which was used to transport armor on Earth, and in the game its size was along with space cruisers.