America’s MegaBots Giant Combat Robot To Challenge Japan In Mech Warrior Battle

If you grew up playing the MechWarrior franchise of video games, the giant MegaBots robot beatdown that is coming soon will get you excited. MegaBots is a company that sought to pit country-against-country in a battle using giant robots and massive paintballs. The first two teams set to fight it out are the Americans and Japan. This giant robot beatdown was first dreamed up about two years ago.

The American company published a video where it challenged a Japanese firm called Suidobashi Heavy Industry in a battle of mechs, and the Japanese team agreed. The last two years has consisted of the two teams building up their robots and looking for a venue that allows giant manned robots to fight it out. Recently, the co-founders of MegaBots, Matt Oehrlein and Gui Cavalcanti, have announced that the battle against the Japanese robot will happen in September.

"Logistical issues for an event of this magnitude have included: whether or not the venue’s floor can support the weight of giant robots falling, having sufficient power and utilities available to work on the robots, safety containing a fight between extremely heavy and powerful machines, being able to access the venues with heavy trucks used to transport the robots, and more," wrote MegaBots. Having a floor to support the massive robots is certainly a very critical aspect of the logistics nightmare for the event.

The MegaBots American team robot is called "Eagle Prime" and it alone weighs in at 12-tons and stands 16-feet tall. The bot is large enough to hold a pair of people inside with one piloting the mech and the other acting as a gunner.

"Eagle Prime" boasts arms that can be swapped out for different weapons. The main weapon is a cannon that shoots giant paintballs while the other side is a claw for grabbing the enemy. The team can also fit "Eagle One" with a chainsaw and a large drill. The robot battle royale will not be a event where people can go and watch in person. This might be a big bummer to the folks who backed the Kickstarter campaign that helped make this event happen.

Rather than letting people come to an event with giant robots flinging paintballs that look like cantaloupes at a reported 130 mph, the entire fight will be taped and broadcast on the MegaBots Facebook and YouTube sites. A team from China is also lining up to fight in the giant robot war of the future. For those thinking that this whole concept sounds farfetched, many of us felt the same way when the first UFC event was held -- now look at it. However, we certainly don't want Facebook's AI to wind up inside Eagle Prime, speaking its own language and flinging paintballs at us.