Japanese TV Report On Arm Wrestling Arcade Game That Breaks Arms

The international press seems to have totally beaten Japan’s TV news about the recall of “Arm Spirit,” an arm wrestling arcade game that was found to have broken several players’ arms. Here’s a TV report that was hastily-released several hours after the story was already on most major English news sites (they show a pixelated close-up of the only image they could find of the game machine):

The Associated Press had the following in their article about the recall:

“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.”

“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.

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

Apparently 2 of the 3 men who had their arms fractured by the machine were foreign tourists. Maybe Atlus wasn’t expecting that weak-boned foreigners would be using the machine?

Update: The evening news had a more detailed segment on the arcade game, including some close-ups of an actual machine:

The report also says that the two foreign victims were a Korean man and a Frenchman.