The U.S. just romped Japan in the Women’s World Cup with a decisive 5 to 2 victory, but another sports competition is brewing between the two nations.
That competition is in giant robot fighting.
The U.S. company MegaBots threw down the gauntlet and challenged Suidobashi Heavy Industry to a fight — robot versus robot.
MegaBots explains on its website that its mission is to grow a sports league of giant robots, 15 feet tall, that shoot cannon-ball sized paint balls at each other.
The idea may have created a mechanical man, as seen in the video, but MegaBots’ vision of a sports league may not have much financial footing. A Kickstarter campaign by MegaBots was unsuccessful last November, raising less than four percent of the $1.8 million project goal, according to Popular Science.
Suidobashi issued its video response on Sunday and founder Kogoro Kurata saying: “Yes, I’ll fight.” Kurata, who engineered and built the giant mechanical robot, called the KURATAS, said: “We can’t let another country win this. Giant robots are Japanese culture.”
The videos seem to be an ingenious bit of viral marketing that could generate publicity — and backers — for an international bout. The two videos have attracted a combined total of more than 4.8 million views.
Giant robot fighting is not more than an idea, but a sport involving gigantic mech robots, messy pain splatters and avid fans does not seem far fetched.
No location or specific date has been announced yet.