September 4, 2007

An arcade game called Arm Spirit has been recalled in Japan after three people suffered a broken arm while playing it - with further unreported cases likely. The game is supposed to be quite easy to beat and its makers Atlus Co. (the company who brought the world Princess Crown and Odin Sphere) can't see how people could manage to sustain such an injury while playing it. All 150 machines have been recalled and will be investigated for possible malfunction.

"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. "We think that maybe some players get overexcited and twist their arms in an unnatural way."

GR reckons the best way to ensure such accidents don't happen again is simply to remove the arm lever. Then it would be quite armless.

Above: Looks a bit sinister now, doesn't it? Don't worry, it's not been distributed overseas