A Bandai Namco spokesperson has revealed that the huge 18-meter statue will be once again erected in the city of Shizuoka this July — specifically, the east exit of Japan Rail Higashi-Shizuoka Station.

Why Shizuoka? The Production Factory for Bandai's Gundam plastic models are located in Shizuoka. This is a homecoming of sorts. A really, really big homecoming.

Originally, the statue went up in Tokyo's Odaiba last July for the 35th Anniversary of Gundam and was taken done in September. The statue was visited by over 4 million.

等身大ガンダム、静岡で来年７月に復活決定 [SANSPO via reggiocomics via DannyChoo]

The 16-foot tree is decorated with over 60 Gundam models and strung with red, white and blue lights that twinkle pure awesome.

Gundam Christmas Tree Akihabara UDX [Otaku2]

The games are:

PSP
Mobile Suit Gundam: Giren no Yabou Axis no Kyoui V
Gundam Battle Universe
Mobile Suit Gundam: SEED Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. PORTABLE

PS3
Gundam Musou 2

Xbox 360
Gundam Musou 2

Wii
Mobile Suit Gundam: MS Sensen 0079

PS2
Gundam Musou 2
Mobile Suit Gundam: Giren no Yabou Axis no Kyoui V
SD Gundam G Generation Spirits
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Gundam Masters
Mobile Suit Gundam: SEED Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. II PLUS

The PSP and PS2 games are priced at ¥2,800 (US$32) each, while the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii games are ¥3,800 ($43).

『機動戦士ガンダム』シリーズ計11タイトルがお求めやすい価格で再登場 [ファミ通.com]

Gundam vs. Gundam [Japan Probe]

Strung with red, white and blue lights, the tree is promoting upcoming PSP protbale title Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus. Voice actor Toru Furuya, who voices Gundam character Amuro Ray, will flip the switch to light up the lights on December 3. The first hundred who purchase Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus get to have their photo taken with Furuya.

機動戦士ガンダム：ツリーにガンプラ６０体、アキバに立つ！　"アムロ"が点灯(まんたんウェブ) - 毎日ｊｐ(毎日新聞) [Mainichi via ANN]

In the gallery, there are several big mechas: the totally unofficial 1/3 scale "Zeta III" in Okayama prefecture, some short-term Gundam thing created for a vocational school, a Gundam-ish mecha at an Osaka intersection and some sort of we-don't-know-what-the-fuck found in a schoolyard.

We Hardly Knew Ye, Gundam [AltJapan]

Artificial teeth maker Bitec Global Japan has made Gundam model-making into the application test for the new college grads. This October, hopefuls will be required to put together and paint Char's Zaku II mecha from three colors in under three hours. Life skills, folks!

Bitec makes Comfort brand artificial teeth, and Gundam is awesome.

機動戦士ガンダム：シャアザクのガンプラ作りが入社試験！　義歯加工会社が導入(まんたんウェブ) - 毎日ｊｐ(毎日新聞) [Mainichi via ANN]

Rocker Andrew W.K. has recorded an album's worth of Gundam songs in English. The album is called Gundam Rocks and is perhaps a spiritual successor to his cover album of Japanese tunes.

Gundam Rocks is out this week in Japan and features music from the TV series and movies. Andrew W.K. even reenacts scenes from Gundam.

Andrew W.K. Gundam Rock [Japan Probe]

This is not a life-sized statue you can own (crap!), but a 30cm, 4 kilogram model of the life-sized model. Relive the memories! Out Spring 2010, yours for ¥81,900 (US$893). That's certainly not a miniature price.

1/60完成モデル RX-78-2ガンダム Ver.G30th [Yahoo via Rinkya]

The title is the sequel to arcade game Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam.

The last rumor that Hong Kong magazine Game Wave reported was the PS3 Slim would be debuting before the console was officially announced.

歡迎蒞臨跨傳媒網 [Crossmedia]

This is a photo of the Gundam statue from a week ago. Drink in that brown dirt and the odor of human sweat. Oh the humanity, so real.

The kicker? This 1-1 scale Gundam project is part of the "Green Tokyo Project", which is to help Tokyo become a greener city and hopefully snag the Olympic games in the process. Nothing says "environment" like trampling grass and creating waste. At least a giant mecha was involved, though!

等身大ガンダムはとんでもないものを盗んでいきました・・・ [はちま起稿]

"If you are talking about the basic demand for the newly designed PS3, it seemed so-so," Inakoshi blogs. There was no line in front of his landmark Akihabara shop, he writes, and the first customer on that day did not buy a PS3 Slim, but a copy of Konami DS dating sim title Love Plus.

Inakoshi pegs three things as the problem: "Lack of preparation, lack of recognition and a weekday launch". The ad campaign didn't seem to help, either — Inakoshi calls it "creepy".

The shop did sell out of the PS3 Slim stand; however, that seems to be because Sony did not provide enough product. The one good thing Sony Computer Entertainment did? The company was able to help Messe Sanoh set up a demo kiosk of the new Gundam Senki title, which appears to help the shop sell through all copies of the game as well as the PS3 Slim Gundam bundle.

第33回：新型プレイステーション3発売。 - 『メッセサンオー稲越のテレビゲームの売りかた』 [Famitsu]

He wasn't looking for a fist fight! The man is a senior citizen. Rather, he was hoping to get game developers to think deeply about the future of gaming. Tomino dished out nuggets like:

I think that video games are evil. [Gaming] is not a type of activity that provides any support to our daily lives, and all these consoles are just consuming electricity! Let's say we have about three billion people on this planet wasting their time, bringing no productivity at all. Add 10 billion more people, and what would happen to our planet? Video games are assisting the death of our planet!

And then only mecha could save us. The irony, as Gamasutra points out, is that Gundam appears on tons of video games. The irony of that is that we think Tomino was being ironic. We think. We hope.

"You have to find the median — that games are not evil, perhaps not necessarily good either, but something that can be considered a pastime. What would make people enjoy a game? How do you make them feel like it is not just a waste of time?

"If finding answers to these questions were easy," continued Tomino, "then something better would have been out by now. Has there been anything better than Tetris since it first came out? How many years has it been? This is what I want to tell you: I want you to create a game that does not negatively affect our daily lives and is something that is considered more productive." So fewer Gundam games, more...?!

More in the link below.

CEDEC 09: Keynote - Gundam Creator: "Video Games Are Evil" [Gamasutra]

Recently hitting the Japanese internet, this Gundam was created 2 years ago by a Japanese stone cutter in Yasu City, Saga Prefecture. See those stones in the background? Those are Japanese gravestones.

御影石で作られた高さ4メートルの「ガンダム風」石像－ブログなどで話題に - びわ湖大津経済新聞 [Biwako-Otsu Keizai Shimbun via Japan Probe]

Earlier this week, Japanese wedding planner T&G planned wedding ceremony for one lucky couple, selected from 548 entries last month.

The two were married previously and stated that the Gundam series had been a tremendous influence in their lives. They even named they're new baby girl after Gundam character Seira. The groom is even dressed as Ray Amuro!

The Director of the Gundam also put in an appearance to give the happy couple a special gift.

A 18-meter-tall (59-foot-tall) RX-78 was erected to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the mecha anime/manga/toy/video game franchise.

It is part of the "Mobile Suit Gundam 30th Anniversary Project," and the temporary structure in Odaiba's Shiokaze Park was built from fiberglass-reinforced plastic over a steel frame and coated in a layer of awesomeness.

Fifty points on the Gundam statue emit light, and mist shoot out of 14 different points on the statue. The 1/1 scale Gundam boasts a movable head and a continuous stream of oh-man-this-is-so-damn-cool.

Gundam Wedding Ceremony, Japan Anime [Shibuya246]

Japanese wedding planner T&G are, well, planning a wedding ceremony for one lucky couple this Tuesday. The soon-to-be-wed couple were selected from 548 entries last month.

A 18-meter-tall (59-foot-tall) RX-78 has been erected to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the mecha anime/manga/toy/video game franchise.

It is part of the "Mobile Suit Gundam 30th Anniversary Project," and the temporary structure in Odaiba's Shiokaze Park was built from fiberglass-reinforced plastic over a steel frame and coated in a layer of awesomeness.

Fifty points on the Gundam statue emit light, and mist shoot out of 14 different points on the statue. The 1/1 scale Gundam boasts a movable head and a continuous stream of oh-man-this-is-so-damn-cool.

You may now kiss the bride. No, really.

Gundam Wedding, Japan Marketingz [Shibuya246]

To mark the 30th anniversary of the mecha franchise, the bundle comes bundled with a copy of PS3 title Gundam Senki with new box design, a 120GB PS3 Slim, a wireless controller and a fancy box. Oooooh cardboard!

All yours for ¥38,359 (approx. US$400) on September 3.

Living outside Kobe, Japan, Yoshifumi Takabe is accused of dousing his room in kerosene and lighting it ablaze with a lighter after his mother disposed of his "precious" Gundam plastic model figurines. Takabe intended to kill himself, but ended up escaping without injury as did his 55-year-old mother.

The two-story, 2,700 square foot partially wood house was burned to the ground.

ガンプラ処分を悲観　自宅放火容疑で男逮捕　加西署 [The Kob Shimbun via 痛いニュース via ANN]