Gundam Game for iPhone/iPad Released

Bandai Namco Games released Gundam Area Wars, an augmented-reality online game based on the Gundam robot anime franchise, as a Japanese app for the Apple iPhone and iPad devices on Friday. In this simulation game, a player carries out missions to defeat enemy mobile suits and take over their bases — and thus upgrade and expand his or her own forces.

The game uses the iPhone's camera and gyroscopic sensors to display the opposing mobile suits as "life-size" 3D models against the player's landscape in the real world. The game can also use the iPhone or iPad's Global Positioning System to set up different missions and mobile suit battles, depending on where the player is in the real world.

As the player progresses through missions and collect more mobile suits, he or she can display tabletop "digital figures" of the mobile suits by placing printable AR markers in the real world.

The main game itself is free, but various mission orders and add-ons are in-app purchases. Bandai Namco Games will be hosting monthly Federation vs. Zeon team battles. (ANN)