R. Talsorian has acquired the rights to publish a U.S. edition of the Gundam role-playing game.  The RPG is based on the earlier Mobile Suit Gundam series (pre SD Gundam).  The Japanese company Mekton published the Gundam RPG in 1986, making it the first anime-based role-playing game ever created.  The venerable Japanese game, which is published in one large volume, will be broken up into two books for release in the U.S.  Volume I, to be published in August with a $35 retail, contains the definitive history of the early portions of the far-ranging Gundam saga including the history of the evolution of the mobile suits themselves.  This first book will contain about 65% history/source material and about 35% role-playing rules and procedures.  Initial plans call for R.Talsorian to publish a translated version of the original Japanese game -- no new material will be added.

The second volume will be primarily made up of scenarios and tabletop combat guidelines.  R. Talsorian plans to publish Volume II in March 2003 and sell it for $25 retail.  Given the number of Gundam models and figures available (see 'Bandai to Expand Anime Collector Sets'), there should be no shortage of props for Gundam RPG conflicts.  With one or the other Gundam series running on the Cartoon Network to create demand, a steady stream of DVD releases, plus graphic novels from Viz (see 'Viz to Publish Two Gundam Trades in March') to go along with the Bandai toys, retailers have plenty of Gundam product options.  The arrival of the R. Talsorian version of the original Gundam RPG provides yet another way to profit from the most successful science fiction anime franchise of them all.