O.R.B.S – THE HEMISPHERICAL ARCADE ODDITY

Namco and SEGA were bitter arcade rivals. Both companies borrowed and evolved upon each other’s ideas (some more than others) and with every new game, boundaries were pushed and technological advancements were made, in an attempt to out-do one another. For a time, it seemed that Namco were very much the 'Yin' to SEGA's 'Yang'.

The rivalry didn’t end with game design either. The arcade cabinets themselves were also embroiled in a battle for supremacy. Some truly outlandish designs were released, including SEGA’s legendary R360 cabinet and Namco’s jaw-dropping ‘Full Scale’ Ridge Racer, which had an actual Mazda MX-5 sitting in front of a huge projector screen.

The arcade industry had been in steep decline since the late 1980s. The popularity of home consoles had changed the playing field. Each new console generation saw arcade attendances waning further. By the late nineties, the industry was a very static affair. The glitz and glamour of the decade that preceded it were all but gone, which makes Namco’s O.R.B.S cabinet a very strange proposition indeed.

Orange white and grey will always be an amazing colour combo

This stunning-looking cabinet was showcased in late 1999 and was powered by Namco’s System 246 board. It was accompanied with a playable demo of Starblade: Operation Blue Planet, a sequel to 1991’s Starblade. The game was ultimately cancelled and the O.R.B.S cabinet was never released, but Namco had other plans for the hardware, besides games.

The branding is more subdued for its 2003 showing

The Orbital Reality Booster System, was how Namco referred to it when it made its next (and last) appearance at 2003’s Asahi electronics Booth. Namco were pitching the unit as an entertainment/multimedia booth, that could play movies as well as games. It’s evident from the images that it had undergone a few design changes.

Sadly, it never saw the light of day and the whole idea was scrapped entirely shorty afterwards. The high development costs and potential low return made little sense. As sales of the Playstation 2 surged, Namco decided to focus their attentions towards the home software markets instead.

It’s clear that the O.R.B.S system was remembered fondly within Namco. So much so, that once they merged with Bandai in 2006 (and gained a slew of new IPs) the idea was resurrected and turned into Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield, a four player, Japanese exclusive arcade experience.

The O.R.B.S branding was now gone entirely and the cabinet was somewhat simplified and rebranded to P.O.D (Panoramic Optical Display). This hardware was used for three subsequent games: Lost Land Adventure, Mach Storm & Star Wars Battle Pod. I’ve never encountered any PODs in the wild, so do be sure to let me know if you've seen or played any of them.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield PODs