Some gamers take their favorite hobby a bit too seriously. There are those who blurt out obscenities over Xbox Live, while others choose to bitch about review scores and console-exclusive titles on various forums. These types are quite numerous, as any gamer with an Internet connection can attest.

Then there are those rare couch jockeys who take it to the extreme.

Kotaku has reported that a 29-year-old resident of Japan has been arrested on the suspicion that he threatened the staff of Hudson Entertainment in the most ironic way possible.

According to the Kotaku translation of a Yahoo! Japan article:

From October 2008 to January 16 of this year, the suspect threatened Hudson 11 times, sending emails that said things like he was sending a bomb to the company that would kill everyone or demanding that 80 trillion yen be brought to JR Takamatsu Station.

I don’t know the conversion rate of yen to dollars, but I am guessing that 80 trillion of anything would buy a satisfactory amount of Spicy Chicken Sandwiches from Wendy’s. That is unless you have a massive collection of bits of string.

For those who fell off the back of a turnip truck yesterday, Hudson is responsible for the “Bomberman” franchise. Personally, I think the suspect would have been better off threatening to transform into a bi-pedal wolf (a la “Bloody Roar”).

I fully expected the threats to be some sort of sick joke, but it seems that the devoted gamer was completely serious.

“I did it because I posted my demands concerning the games, but the games didn’t improve,” he admitted.

Look, I despise Activision Blizzard for the company’s blatant exploitation of the “Guitar Hero” franchise, but I am not going to threaten to bash CEO Bobby Kotick over the head with a plastic guitar. If I think that a company has put out an inferior product, I simply don’t purchase it. Most executives only care about money; thus, refusing to hand them your hard-earned cash is often the best way to state your discontent.

Here’s hoping that this young man, if he is found guilty, has the opportunity to correct his rather large mistake.

Source: Kotaku via GamePolitics

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