Skip to main content

Remember that US vs. Japan giant robot duel? It's happening this August

Remember that US vs. Japan giant robot duel? It's happening this August

Share this story

“Giant. Robot. Duel.” — three words that shook up the internet back in 2015, when an American team of engineers named MegaBots challenged their Japanese counterparts, Suidobashi, to a fight by mecha. Two years later, it looks like the duel might finally be happening, with MegaBots today announcing a rough date for the event: August 2017.

Since the original challenge, the MegaBots team has been busy building up their bot, broadcasting their progress on YouTube and even collaborating with fellow internet roboticist Simone Giertz. They say the delay over the duel date (it was originally supposed to take place a year after the 2015 challenge) was because of venue problems, with the original location falling through. The new venue is being kept under wraps, says MegaBots, “to prevent any further potential delays,” but will be revealed in the coming months. MegaBots will also be showing off its Mk.III bot in the San Francisco Bay Area in May, if you’re near by and fancy a peek.

Obviously we’re all excited to see two multi-story robots take chunks out of each other with chainsaws and pincers and whatever it is the Japanese team has been grafting to their bot. But, we’re also a little bit skeptical about how fast and furious the final duel will actually be. These are real-life, honest-to-goodness robots — not super-agile, energy sword-wielding Gundam. Still, you gotta start somewhere, and at the end of the day, it’s still a Giant. Robot. Duel.