Distributor Atlus Co. said Tuesday it will remove all 150 "Arm Spirit" arm wrestling machines from Japanese arcades after three players broke their arms grappling with the machine's mechanized appendage.

Man, must be a pretty hardcore game with a super strong mechanized arm, huh? Oh, it's not? Not strong at all?

"The machine isn't that strong, much less so than a muscular man. Even women should be able to beat it," said Atlus spokeswoman Ayano Sakiyama, calling the recall "a precaution."

Well geez, if it isn't that strong, and even "women" should be able to beat it, what the heck happened?

"We think that maybe some players get overexcited and twist their arms in an unnatural way," she said. The company was investigating the incidents and checking the machines for any signs of malfunction.

Overexcitement? Twisting their arms in an unnatural way? But surely the guys playing this game are accustomed to that... And wait--are you checking the game for signs of malfunction, or the players who broke their arms? Because my guess would be that's where you'd find it. Anyway, whose arm is this thing supposed to simulate, anyway? Godzilla? Hulk Hogan? Mr. T?

Players of "Arm Spirit" advance through 10 levels, battling a French maid, drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua before reaching the final showdown with a professional wrestler.

The culprit, ladies and gentlemen:

towelb0y

Emeryville, CA

March 2004

AUG 26, 2007 01:16 AM

tops my busted fingertips from playing street fighter in 6 hour stints.

thrash242

Pearland, TX

September 2004

AUG 26, 2007 01:41 AM

This is Slashdot news from several days ago. *yawn*

Pretty funny, though.

Zamuzel

United Kingdom

September 2006

AUG 26, 2007 02:40 AM

ha ha

I remember an arcade game that used a trackball that kept piniching my skin But that's small fry compared to this...

PaulNikon

Melbourne, FL

February 2003

AUG 26, 2007 03:38 AM

Remember Pearl Harbor!!!

Lockeblade

Australia

May 2007

AUG 26, 2007 04:49 AM

A friend of mine fell off the bike from that mountain bike arcade game and hit his head pretty hard prompting the game arcade to make users wear a bicycle helmet when playing. That was 3 years ago, he still hasn't lived it down.

no1knows

United Kingdom

November 2006

AUG 26, 2007 06:16 AM

PaulNikon said:
Remember Pearl Harbor!!!

I know: AND they let Michael Bay near Transformers...

Tiger_Fodder

Braintree, MA

June 2007

AUG 26, 2007 07:23 AM

ardour

Ottawa, ON

March 2006

AUG 26, 2007 08:03 AM

Imagician said:
A friend of mine fell off the bike from that mountain bike arcade game and hit his head pretty hard prompting the game arcade to make users wear a bicycle helmet when playing. That was 3 years ago, he still hasn't lived it down.

Hahaha. I hope you make sure that he never does.

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

AUG 26, 2007 08:15 AM

I've played something similar. And I'm no muscleman by any means. So I have no friggin' clue how people could break their arms.

-TM

StarBelliedBoy

Philadelphia, PA

December 2003

AUG 26, 2007 08:36 AM

They had that game here when I was 10 or so. Nobody broke their arm.

_kungfoo_

Los Angeles, CA

April 2005

AUG 26, 2007 10:48 AM

I want to point out something about geeks. We don't really play arm wrestling games...

...unless there is some sort of character development system and a good back story.