Bandai shows off proof of concept for Gundam models to life machine

Taking the toys to life genre to a whole new level

Today the Gundam Base Tokyo, the largest Gundam store in the world and home to the life-sized Gundam, held a livestream. While its main purpose was to show the Hong Kong entries for the Gunpla Builders World Cup, a big surprise was revealed. What was shown is clearly in the proof of concept stage, but they showed off a process that takes an assembled model kit and converts it into a playable game character.

You can catch the process below at the 37:50 mark, which begins with showing off the custom model.

It’s very clear that it’s proof of concept at this stage. While the custom model went from a physical entity to a basic playable digital entity, there are some clear issues that happened along the way. In particular, the wings did not make the transition. The head also seemed to have a white outline around it with possible parts cut off, a problem the Crossbone Gundam behind it also has with its larger yellow V-fin. Comparing it to the one I have, a large amount was clearly cut off of the Crossbone.

This news is very exciting though. Games like Gundam Breaker are meant to be a partner to the Gundam Build Fighters and Build Divers anime series. All of these entries involve building and customizing a Gunpla model in order to battle others using special machines. While the controls in those shows are portrayed as a little too futuristic to be real, the mere idea that the model part may actual exist in some form is exciting. After all, this arguably the end goal of the toys to life genre, to literally bring your toy to life rather than relying on a chip to do so.

Now that we have made this a reality though, where are the space colonies at? The only part of Gundam that truly matters now.