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Posted by Dan.

Other on team - from Carnegie Mellon sponsored by -.

Posted on 8/15/2000 8:25 PM MST


In Reply to: Wholesale vs retail... posted by Joe Johnson on 8/15/2000 7:18 PM MST:



--I do not think it is corrupting the vision of FIRST
--to make changes to the format that will help make it
--more TV friendly, rather I think that that is an
--essential part of the vision.

So how bout instead of the annual game change, we just have the same game each year?
And maybe we could take all the balls, floppies, etc. out of the picture--they're way too confusing for the mass market, they can only follow one ball at a time.
And lets say we take away most of the pesky rules. No more fussy fuse business or teeny catalogs to order from.

You see what I'm getting at.

August 23rd on Comedy Central, right after Southpark, Battlebots will make its prime time television debut. That is ONE YEAR AFTER ITS FIRST EVENT. Battlebots will, arguably, have more exposure in one year as FIRST has had in eight years. And the Comedy Central series is just the first of, perhaps, many robotic combat television shows. The Sci-Fi channel has already choosen a set for it's Robodeath show and MTV has already filmed a US Robot Wars show in London. The robots are nothing special either, just about any FIRST team could make a successful Battlebot.
I know Dean and Woodie hate Battlebots/Robot Wars because of it's malicious and 'un-coopertitious' aura, but--ironically--Battlebots WILL do what they are trying to do with FIRST.
It WILL turn engineers into stars. Kids WILL play with their Battlebots action figures--they already do in the UK, where Robot Wars RC and action figures are available. And people WILL realize that you can make some pretty cool things if you work hard and learn.
And, believe it or not, Battlebots isn't as malicious as it seems in the arena. I don't think Dean, Woodie, or most people have a good idea what happens outside of the arena. The atmosphere in the pits is just as friendly as FIRST and the atmosphere online is even friendlier. People share everything about their robots and give tips for others. The toughest competitor in my weight class (he's also a judge at a FIRST regional) has even given me some parts for free.

Maybe I didn't understand what you meant by 'changes to the format' but if you're looking for a highly marketable format, it's already out there.
I think the only way FIRST will get prime time exposure is if (like Joe mentioned a while ago) it creates a Pro-FIRST League where profesiional engineers compete and if the rules are simplified. But once Pro-FIRST gets its foot in the door, who knows.
Sorry for being the Johnny-One-Note on this Battlebots thing, but is a very good competition and a very good thing for FIRST. My school wouldn't even have been in FIRST if I hadn't found a link on the Robot Wars site. Lets hope FIRST gets some residual too, and hopefully figures out how to get itself out there as well.
Dan