Maker Faire 08: Pleo vs. ComBot (Graphic Robot Destruction)
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 5:05 am
Maker Faire was this weekend, and I’ve got tons (TONS) of robot footage, including some wicked awesome video of ComBot battles. It’s kinda 3am, though, so I’ll be posting some of that tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure and put up this little gem from the very end of the ComBots tournament, when Ugobe decided that it might be fun to bring a Pleo along to watch the action. Just a warning: if you have a soft spot for cute and cuddly robots, you may not want to read this entire article.
This is Pleo. You remember Pleo, right?
Pleo is sweet and cuddly.
Pleo likes to snuggle.
Hey, what are you doing…?
Wait, what’s Pleo doing in the middle of the Combots arena? Oh. Oh no. Please don’t, not Pleo!
Video after the jump. It’s pretty graphic.
We were all rooting for him, but (who were we kidding) Pleo just didn’t stand much of a chance against Vicious Verdict, a middleweight ComBot.
Not much of a chance at all.
This lonely little circuit board was practically all that was left of what once was a happy little robot life-form.
Ugobe did manage to find Pleo’s nametag amidst the wreckage, and took it home with them.
Poor little Pleo. But somehow, this makes me want one more than ever, if for no other reason than at least I’ll know that my particular Pleo would never have this happen to it.
[ Ugobe Pleo ]
[ ComBots ]
Comments (12)
Category: Competitive, Toys
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Comment by David Calkins
Made Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 11:52 am
OH, the humanity!
Comment by Anonymous
Made Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 12:44 pm
Where is our god now???
Comment by josh
Made Thursday, 8 of May , 2008 at 6:26 pm
Now we know how dinosaurs went extinct!
Comment by roboto
Made Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 12:58 pm
the horror…the horror
Comment by Dane
Made Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 1:09 pm
Oh, this is sad. The Pleo really does make you feel emotion toward it, and it’s a bummer to see him “killed”.
Comment by Casey
Made Saturday, 10 of May , 2008 at 10:40 am
Reminds me of the robot demolition in Stephen Speilberg’s A.I.
Comment by Robo Dave
Made Saturday, 10 of May , 2008 at 12:14 pm
Now why couldn’t they have found a “Barney” the obnoxious purple dinosaur and killed it? That I would pay money to watch.
Or maybe “tickle me elmo”, light it on fire, and watch it laugh it’s ass off while it’s ripped to flaming shreds? Now THAT would be worth watching…
Comment by whataslacker
Made Tuesday, 13 of May , 2008 at 10:52 pm
I could not even watch the video! I have been wanting one of these since I first read about the in WIRED way back during initial development. Now I too must save a Pleo!
Comment by from Japan
Made Monday, 19 of May , 2008 at 8:43 am
This is awful. Preo is poor.
These people do not love chancing.
Comment by raptorkill
Made Monday, 22 of September , 2008 at 7:09 am
if this is what ugobe allows to happen then they realy have no respect for there own product. so how do they expect the customers to take them seriously and buy there products.
Comment by mile wilder
Made Thursday, 13 of November , 2008 at 5:08 am
My 7 year old is desperate for a Pleo this Christmas.
I think it’s cute but (here in the UK) way overpriced!!
Comment by Diar Talabani
Made Thursday, 28 of May , 2009 at 10:19 am
If this robot, ‘Pleo’ was intended to simulate some life form which was intended to arise some emotion in us, some sort of sympathy for it, then what does it say when a creation who’s sole purpose is to make us feel empathy is put in an arena style cage along with an RC car and some sort of circular saw blade attached to it?
On average we see more death on television to rival a thousand pleo’s being sawed by a million little unimaginative RC cars with rotor blades, but what it symbolizes is something that we haven’t seen before, and what we haven’t seen before is a new vision to us and an old idea that is wrapped in new garments for our mental faculties, and that is this; We are now, very much self satisfied, the authors of our own horrors on every level, from war fare to sub society niche entertainment.
Brave New World indeed…
Comment by Michele Peggion
Made Sunday, 8 of November , 2009 at 4:01 am
My kid look at the video…. You have big psichycal problem… What does it mean that????? Are you proud about that fight??!!?? You may think ‘it’s just a machine… So explain this to a 5 years old kid!’… I think it’s a disgusting video.
All the Pleos I sold have been bought by family and – overall – kids. When they meet me they are happy, because it’s not a machine… Fighting!!! Why!?=!?!?!?!?!!?
There’s no word to define your obscured minds…