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Macross 30 PS3 Game's 1st Ad Streamed

Namco Bandai Games began streaming the first commercial for Macross 30: Ginga o Tsunagu Utagoe, the PlayStation 3 flight action role-playing game that combines multiple Macross characters from different eras, on Monday. The ad features the opening theme song "Planet Cradle" by Haruka Chisuga, a winner of this year's Miss Macross 30 contest.

The brand-new story of this 30th-anniversary Macross title is set in 2060, 50 years after the Space War I conflict seen in the first Macross series and one year after the Vajra War seen in Macross Frontier. Above the planet Ouroboros in the far reaches of the galaxy, S.M.S. pilot Rion Sagaki (voiced by Miyu Irino) is suddenly attacked by an unknown enemy and shot down in his transformable variable fighter VF-25. There, he is rescued by the heroine Aisha Blanchett (Marina Inoue), the young Zentradi head of S.M.S.'s branch on Ouroboros.

Due to the intermittent space-fold faults known as "Ouroboros Aurora," Rion cannot immediately return home. He joins Aisha in investigating the planet's ruins, and while on an underground survey there, the two discover a sleeping girl named Miina Forte (Chisuga). He later encounters his rival and former friend, pilot Rod Barutomaa (Mamoru Miyano) of the New U.N. Forces' special unit Hávamál.

The memories of the amnesiac girl Miina are key to the ruins — and the mysterious incident that brings together legendary pilots and idols from the past to fight a battle to protect Ouroboros and the galaxy:

• First Macross: Hikaru Ichijyo in VF-1S Valkyrie with Strike Packs
• Macross 7: Basara Nekki in VF-19 Kai Fire Valkyrie
• Macross Plus: Isamu Dyson in YF-19 with FAST Packs
• Macross Zero: Shin Kudo in VF-0A with Ghost Booster
• Macross Frontier: Alto Saotome in VF-25F with Super Packs

Macross co-creator Shōji Kawamori designed a brand-new variable fighter, the YF-30 Chronos, specifically for this game. Eiichi Sato (Slayers Next, last part of Basquash!) directed the game's new anime sequences with character designs by animation director Hirotaka Marufuji (Aquarion Evol, Legends of the Dark King: A Fist of the North Star Story).

The game will arrive in Japan on February 28 in standard and limited first editions, and both have about 113 minutes of voice actor interviews, as well as the in-game CG movies "Burning Fire" and "Get it on-Flying Rock" from the earlier Macross Ultimate Frontier and Macross Triangle Frontier games. The limited "30th Anniversary Super Galaxy Box" edition also includes:

• A box illustrated by Macross mechanical artist Hidetaka Tenjin
• A collection of layout and animation sketches chosen by Marufuji from the in-game animation
• A collection of designs for the game's characters and mecha
• A collection of event and campaign posters for the Macross 30th anniversary
• Macross 30th Anniversary booklet
• Product codes to download special "Marking Valkyrie" versions of the VF-25 and VF-1S

The limited edition set retails for 11,800 yen (about US$145). The standard edition retails for 8,380 yen (US$103). People who pre-order will receive a product code to download an exclusive "Marking Valkyrie" version of the YF-29.