back to article THIS MEANS WAR between USA and Japan! GIANT ROBOT WAR

An industrial company in Japan has accepted an American challenge to a duel between massive robots the size of buildings and weighing in at many tons each, each piloted by human crews. Youtube Video Last month Boston-based Megabots issued a vid challenge to their competitors at Suidobashi Heavy Industries for an international …

  1. heyrick Silver badge

    Hmm...

    Unless the Japanese one is a humanoid shape that flies in an improbable manner and wields a katana the size of a tower block...

    ...they just aren't putting their hearts into it.

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: Hmm...

      I think it should have a protruding red chin.

      1. harmjschoonhoven

        Re: protruding red chin

        Hitachi EX5500-6 mining excavators (Bucket capacity: 29 m³ Power: 2*1044 kW Operating Weight: 522,000 kg) and its little brethren have red chins.

  2. graeme leggett Silver badge

    The giant robot fighting genre is popular ....

    Well they did more or less invent the genre in Japan....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The giant robot fighting genre is popular ....

      Whatever happened to BattleTech?

  3. Haku

    Robot Jox

    An article about giant fighting robots with humans inside piloting them yet no mention of Robot Jox? Just how young are you all at El Reg?

    1. Graham Marsden
      Trollface

      Re: Robot Jox

      Perhaps they just have better taste in Giant Robot movies...

      1. Haku

        Re: Robot Jox

        better different

        :)

    2. Charles 9

      Re: Robot Jox

      Actually, stuff like Robot Jox and Pacific Rim I think show the differing viewpoints of mechanical exosuits between America and Japan. Japan's view of the mecha was a huge yet surprisingly mobile unit able to mimic human motions to a considerable degree. Whereas in America, we tend to associate them with giant, complicated machines that take a considerable amount of effort to move effectively. I keep getting the impression Japan went for a more flowing and artistic approach while America tended to ground themselves in the grit of war and a closer sense of realism.

  4. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

    Aren't they cute?

    Can anyone enter this contest?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Errrr ...

    If there's a 'driver' controlling all the devices functions then this an exoskeleton/vehicle hybrid and in no way a robot.

    1. PleebSmash
      Terminator

      Re: Errrr ...

      It's a mecha

      1. TeeCee Gold badge
        Happy

        Re: Errrr ...

        Or landmate......or guymelef........or labor.......etc, etc.

        Actually I think that the whole 'part of Japanese culture' thing is slightly understated. They have more words for the piggin' things than Eskimos have for snow.

      2. Charles 9

        Re: Errrr ...

        Let's just call it a mech and let it go at that. Mecha would just be a subset of the mech (let's say its short for mechanical humanoid exoframe) that uses more sci-fi elements to take more liberties from what one would expect in reality, which is where western mech universes tend to better base themselves (think the BattleTech universe, for example, which MechWarrior is a part of).

        1. graeme leggett Silver badge

          Re: Errrr ...

          the first Battletech is made up of an assemblage of Japanese mecha designs (eg from works such as Macross). Somewhere along the way they realised they were in a sticky position vis a vis copyright and dropped them.

  6. Mark 85

    And when the robots get tired of fighting each other... we're doomed. Doomed I tell you.

  7. Charles Manning

    A good distraction...

    This keeps the plebs amused and stops them thinking of the future:

    USA: debt 106% of GDP

    Japan: debt 237% of GDP.

    1. xperroni

      Re: A good distraction...

      Then again, worrying about debt is for little people who don't own aircraft carriers.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: A good distraction...

      I agree. They should all sit at home and cry into their bowl of Soup.

    3. Dan Paul

      Re: A good distraction...

      UK is at least 90% of GDP in 2013 (no updates) and has been as high as 250+ % of GDP twice in history.

      Don't throw stones in glass houses, the UK and EU likely has more exposure to Greece than they let on and Greece are at 175% of GDP right now and rising.

  8. xperroni
    Facepalm

    I foresee disaster...

    ...or disappointment. Maybe both.

    I get the impression Kuratas was designed not so much to be effective as a weapon but to look good, while MegaBot looks ugly but sturdy. I think this fight will be slow, awkward, and end with a lucky shot sending one of the pilots straight to the hospital / grave – kind of like UFC fights, really.

    1. Valeyard

      Re: I foresee disaster...

      sweet!

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