Robot Punch!: News Edition

Welcome back to Robot Punch! This week, we’ll be taking a look at some of the strange news stories that you may have missed.

You may have heard, but two of the most anticipated releases for this month are Prinny: Can I really be the hero? and Street Fighter IV. As you read this, I’m currently exploding my way through Prinny… Playing while crying, that is, because I really wish I had a PS3 to play Street Fighter IV. Alas, it is not yet my time…

But that’s not all, doods! Check out these other blips about mad bombers, Batman, and international trading card stings!


Konami Sues Upper Deck Over Counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards

Left: Authentic card.
Right: Counterfeit card.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! masterminds, Konami is alleging Upper Deck (the soon-to-be-former publisher of their popular trading card game) of producing counterfeit copies of the game’s rare cards. They had originally only filed a lawsuit with Vintage, who was one of the companies responsible for distributing packs of the cards to major retailers like Toys ‘R’ Us. Konami amended the lawsuit to include Upper Deck when evidence traced 22 types of the bogus rare cards back to the publisher.

Konami seeks to break its ties with Upper Deck, but are unable to do so under their contract. Upper Deck filed a lawsuit against Konami for their “unfair and backstabbing tactics”, claiming that Konami’s goal is to take over handling the game’s production and distribution directly. They add to their defense that they’ve actually fought hard to combat trading card counterfeiting—such as spending millions on organizing raids on Chinese factories—while Konami has done nothing.

Wow… Trading cards is serious business! My question: Do kids even still play Yu-Gi-Oh?

Idiot Plotted to Bomb Bomberman

A suspect has been arrested for nearly a dozen bomb threats to game developer Hudson Soft. The 29-year-old gamer from Kanegawa, Japan was so displeased with the quality of games coming from the company, that he sent multiple letters containing bomb threats if they didn’t shape up.

Along with these threats, he would sometimes claim that he would also bomb the company unless sums up to 80 trillion yen (that’s about $800 billion) be dropped off anonymously at the Tatsumaku train station.

Hudson is known for many popular video game franchises, including Bomberman, Adventure Island, and the lovable thick-skulled caveman, Bonk.

The suspect works as a courier, so make all the “going postal” jokes you want.

Christian Bale Apologizes For Rant

Granted, this doesn’t have anything to do with anime or video games. However it does have somewhat to do with robots and, to an extent, Batman. And in my book, Batman gets a free pass for anything.

Christian Bale, star of The Dark Knight Returns, suffered a major PR blow when an audio clip recorded on the set of Terminator: Salvation exposing his explosive temper was unleashed upon the web. In this clip, Bale accosts the director of photography for walking onto the set during a shoot, distracting him, and causing him to lose focus during his performance. It’s not a brief scolding, either; the former American Psycho carried on for over five minutes, threatening not only the DP, but also those around him.

In the days following, Kevin & Bean—two morning zoo crew personalities on Los Angeles-based KROQ—took every opportunity to poke fun at Bale and his tirade. That is, until Christian Bale took it upon himself to call in to the show. Then the jokes didn’t seem so funny (at least, to the hosts).

Bale managed to stay in good humor during the 10-minute phone conversation, stating his embarrassment and apologizing for his inexcusable loss of cool. He further explained that he and the DP had since made up and continued to work together throughout the rest of filming.

Best part of the phone call: His native Welsh accent sounds funnier than his “Batman voice”.