About
Japan vs. USA Robot Challenge refers to an event, set to happen sometime in 2016, when the robot manufacturers Megabot USA and Kuratas Suidobashi will have a battle for the giant mecha robots they have developed. This battle is the first of its kind in history, but has been predestined by many similar situations in science fiction and gaming.
History
In 2012, Kuratas Suidobashi unveiled the first Kuratas robot, billed as “The World’s First Boarding Robot.” The robot was big enough for a man to sit inside and operate it from within, just as in the traditional mecha format. It was operated off of the XBox Kinect user interface, and while it couldn’t walk, it could drive on three wheels at about ten kilometers per hour. It could be armed with a series of cannons made for shooting fireworks or water bottles, and retailed for US $1,353,500.[1][5]
In 2014, the company Megabots, Inc, created a Kickstarter campaign to raise $1.8 million dollars to fund them to create their own mecha design. While they had only a prototype turret developed, they claimed that their goal was to create two robots that would then battle in an arena they were designing, and that their overall intent was to someday form a sporting league for mecha battle. [2]
They did not reach their funding goal via Kickstarter, eventually only earning $65,000 of the $1.8 million needed. In an update for their backers, the Megabots staff wrote that they believed their failure was due to trying to fund too early, before they had a fully completed working prototype of the first walking robot. However, they did show a prototype, which used caterpillar track-type tread to move around, during the campaign.[3]
Notable Developments
On June 30th, 2015, Megabots USA released a video challenge to Suidobashi, saying that “we have a giant robot, and you have a giant robot,” and that it was time for them to fight.[4]
Kuratas released a video in response on July 5th, 2015, accepting the challenge, but saying that the guns were “so American.” They challenged Megabots to come with something a little “cooler” for their final competing robot.
As of July 10th, the battle is scheduled for some time in 2016, at a location to be determined.
Online Presence
Both Kuratas and Megabots already have substantial followings on social media, each having made past YouTube videos that have received hundreds of thousands of views. However, for each brand, the robot challenge videos were their largest ever. As of July 11th, the Megabots challenge video had received 4,755,757 views since its uploading, and the Kuratas response 3,508,238 views in the same time period.
Search Interest
not yet available