fuck the world cup I...NO...THE WORLD NEEDS THIS!!!!

Really random but really entertaining :p

I remember shows where people built their own RC controlled robots with weapons like chainsaws, mallets, chomping jaws and whatnot and had them fight in the arena. It was kind of fun. Difference is people were safe outside of the arena. Melee combat with manned robots sounds incredibly dangerous.

It is a sport
http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/22-fra

2015 season is underway http://battlebots.com/


Stuicking paintball guns on it isn't very effective though. Fast spinning instruments of death seem most popular.

So close to an actual Titanfall thing lol

This needs to be an internationally-recognized sport or thing of some kind. NAOW.

lol forgot about those :P

This is the first time "sports" have been exciting in the history of anything ever!

Battlebots is still going. The evolution of the RC vehicles looks to have more or less evolved into a few successful designs that cater to the rules and terms of victory. Lots of wedges and models designed to flip over competing models. Not exactly battling robots, but still pretty entertaining stuff. 

I think any design that wastes weight/space with projectiles is probably not too efficient since there are limitations about using high velocity projectiles, armor piercing projectiles and of course, pyrotechnic or exploding projectiles, which would clearly end any contest in short order while being too dangerous to allow spectators anywhere near the combat grounds.

That's the problem with doing giant sized Battlebots; same limitations. Non-lethal paintball cannon? Unless it's a lethal paintball cannon that can disable a 9,000-12,000 lb mech, that cannon may as well be a fake air scoop or a hood ornament on a car.

If they go with effective firepower as being the rule, the engineering feat is in the long range targeting system; which ever has greater range, faster lock times with enough lethality for a one shot kill wins, much like modern tanks.

Otherwise, this could just be a robot sumo wrestling match where the first one to knock the other one over wins, since both are presumably too heavy and not designed to upright themselves in such an event.