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Square Enix's Gyrozetter Card Game Gets 2012 TV Anime

The game publisher Square Enix announced on Thursday that it will launch an arcade card game called Chō Soku Henkei Gyrozetter (Super High-Speed Transforming Gyrozetter) next summer, along with a television anime next year. The card game depicts battles between cars that transform into robots. The staff behind Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road, led by Ryūtarō Ichimura (Dragon Quest VIII, Dragon Quest IX) is developing it.

The arcade machine for the game features a steering wheel for controlling the game's cars, but the machine "transforms" into a lever control setup for piloting the robot mode. Square Enix claims that this is the first physically transforming arcade machine.

Participating car makers include Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mitsuoka, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota. The mechanical designers include Junya Ishigaki, Shōji Kawamori, Kanetake Ebikawa, Naohiro Washio, Shinobu Tsuneki, Fumihiro Katagai, Ryō Hirata, and others. Naoki Satō (Eureka Seven, various Precure projects, Blood-C) is composing the music, and Hiroshi Kaieda is designing the characters. Robot Studio is planning and programming the game with graphic card design by Kai Graphics.

A manga series will launch in the first monthly issue of Shueisha's Saikyō Jump magazine this Saturday, December 3, followed by the television anime next year from A-1 Pictures (anohana, Working'!!, Blue Exorcist, Big Windup!, The IDOLM@STER). Development on a video game for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system has been green-lit. Toys, card supplies, gadgets, and other tie-in projects are planned.

The teaser site has already launched, and the full site will open on Saturday. Square Enix will screen an early development trailer and A-1 Pictures' animated promotional video on its signature open mega theater at Shueisha's Jump Festa event on December 17 and 18.

Source: Famitsu

Image © 2012 Square Enix

Update: More information added.