so what's the deal with the gundam games?

for a few years now (I believe since around 06 at least) I don't know if it dates further back. But along with Tekken the gundam games usually rank pretty high up there in the arcadia monthly ranking.

are they really good games? and why is bandai namco overprotective of this franchise it's a real pain in the ass to find vids about this game over the net.

do they run in the taito board the system 256 or what?

and are they really a fighting game? because arcadia seems to rank it with the other fighting games.

There's a few of them. The original Gundam vs. Zeon from 2000-ish was pretty popular, and all of it's sequels (up to Gundam vs. Gundam, which I'll admit, looks pretty fucking nice) have all sold well. They use the standard stick + 3-button config. While you would think that would limit gameplay, and thus, the community, they've all done well. Why the most recent wasn't on a next-gen console (and went to the PS fucking P I have no idea).

Then there's that big ass shit where you sit in the pods. I've never played it, but it's one of those item-whoring games, where you get shit every time you play. Not sure if you can use them as weapons, or if it's just for decoration, a la Virtua Fighter 5.

The Gundam series games (Sega Naomi onwards) are fun to play, but really have to be played multiplayer to be enjoyed as the AI can only do so much.

From an enthusiasts point of view, they are a bit of pain to collect as the Sega Naomi based Gundam games require an add-on communications board plus optical cables to link up. GD-ROM drives being in short supply doesn't really help much either for the DX version.

The same goes for the Namco System 246 & 256 based Gundam games. Whilst it's not impossible to pick up the network adapters, it can be pain getting them. They have come down in price recently, but most are still in active use as networked games tend to be popular.

I haven't played them, but seeing them in action at Arcade UFO, they look very fun. They have theirs linked 4-ways I think, allowing for 2 vs 2. They held a tournament a while ago, so if you're aching for footage here ya go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSSR67M-QYc
and more on their profile: http://www.youtube.com/user/IkarugaDC

btw I was at the above tournament during a visit, I think I'm visible during a few parts of the last tourney video... it was insanely loud with all the cheering.