16-Year-Old Student Arrested For Allegedly Threatening To "Blow Up Konami’s Headquarters"

I`m sure he`s got no one to blame but himself on that one.

Thats sad....Boy need to see a therapist! He threatens with mass murder cause a stupid game is having network connectivity issues that, caused him to lose a match. I'm not happy PES is not on Switch but not like this

Obviously the kid has deeper issues if he's that upset about a game.

I'm sure being in a cell will humble him a bit..

Imagine being that unhinged as to threaten to murder people over a video game. Hope he gets some help, he clearly needs it.

Well that escalated quickly. Good they caught him before anything happened, the average employee would have been caught up in this crap for no reason.

Delightful lad, ain't he?

I see Eli was getting ready to use Sahelanthropus. Seriously though, guy needs to chill.

I hope this kid gets the help he needs so he doesn’t continue down this dark and potentially destructive and deadly path.

Boy, I thought he’d at least have a barely understandable reason for his frustrations, like the company being completely inept with zero cares towards it history, properties and staff.

There’ve been enough attacks over all sorts of reasons for the Japanese police to take this seriously.

Although if he wants to blow off some steam maybe let him loose with a sledgehammer in one of Konami’s Pachinko storage warehouses after staff have left?

Jesus. What train of logic brought him to that idea? There's probably more to his situation but I'm glad they intercepted him before anything serious happened.

So... was he serious? Or was he just showing his anger and further proving it’s hard to communicate through text?

Either way, I feel as though comments should be disabled here.

for a soccer game of all things ha !

Absolutely nothing to do with Nintendo

After what happened with KyoAni, I'm pretty sure the police takes this a lot more seriously now than they did in the past. Is a good thing they cought that kid, but if that kid was not being serious and only posted that just to vent his frustration then he barked at the wrong tree.

@Seananigans The article can still be here, but I feel the comments are already filled with hate towards this boy. He’s probably ill, so let’s just leave him alone.

And I thought I was upset at the lack of Goemon games...

@BabyYoshi12 our comments won't reach that kid and his identity is anonymous, plus no one here is stepping over the line or anything so i think is safe to say that this is fine.

who would just blow up an empty building?

For all the reasons someone would have threatened that a PES mobile game would be the last thing on my list...

@graysoncharles or splatoon2 😋.

But in all seriousness, hope he gets the help he needs. Whether he was joking or not? He clearly needs to talk to someone about his thoughts.

What is the world coming to when people threaten other peoples lives over losing a pretend football match

@Chibi_Manny Yeah, that’s a great point, what happened with KyoAni was insane. I’d expect the police to be a lot more suspicious now and quicker to act.

Yikes. Gotta hear both sides though.

With mental health being a worldwide issue, especially during these troubling times, I do hope this young lad gets the help he deserves.

Use Konami code, and try again!

Not this crap again... Well, at least the single positive side effect of KyoAni tragedy is the police and other related entities paying more attention to this now.

And please tell me the reports are too subtle because currently they don't sound like the poor fanship-swayed ***** is showing much remorse even in actual custody. Indeed, what could POSSIBLY be wrong over wanting to kill people over a bad internet connection? :V Speaks volumes when even a five-star sociopath like me finds himself facepalming at the attitude.

cmon I mean do you really believe he was going to blow them up? LOL

Police: Why did you do this?
Kid: Because of network connectivity problems.
Police: ... ... ... ... So, you threaten to kill people over internet problems?
Kid: Not just internet problems, I lost my match in Pro Evolution Soccer because of network problems. I mean, you would be in my shoes if this happened to you!
Police: Um, no. We wouldn't threaten to kill someone over a video game. A video game is just entertainment like a movie but with a person interacting with it. A person is a unique human being that cannot be replaced. People have a mind, body and soul and are living in a real world while video games are fake made-up worlds. You cannot replicate the real world in a video game.

You know, after the deaths, protesters, destruction etc in the USA over the past couple of weeks and then hearing about this article and a kid threatening to kill people over a video game. Maybe we need to start teaching our kids that every life is important and that each and every person is special, unique and cannot be replaced.

Sorry for using this post to vent a little but I just get tired of seeing this hatred in the world.

It wasn't Bomberman-related, though. I've heard Hudson had a number of "jokes" made against it through the years.
(not the least of which being GamePro, who did it on at least two occasions, one of which referencing a real-life terrorist)

@whatyoulookingat That kid is going to learn real quick the authorities aren't going to take chances.
When they first told us about Internet access in high school, one of the first stories the teacher told us was about a student who sent a "joke" email to the White House and then 10 minutes later found himself getting hauled off by the FBI.

I can remember when I was a teenager making a stupid over-the-top threat on a message board (threatening action against every single person who bought or supported a product with an annoying commercial, to give the relevant detail) but as an adult I realize that if I had posted that ON THE WEBSITE OF THE PRODUCT MAKER, I'd probably have been in some serious trouble.

@whatyoulookingat you never know in this day and age people have killed for less, every threat has to be taken seriously

Sorry about that. I was having a bad day.

There's probably millions of Warzone players who say this exact same thing about Activision or Infinity Ward after losing and ragequitting. So did I on CoD4 when I was a 14 year old tween. What else is new!

I'm much more worried about the fact that this is news worthy in today's age, to the point where Konami increases security because of some ragequitting tween, than I am about the gazillionth kid screaming anger on the internet. What a panic world this is turning into. Pathetic.

This story reminds me of that news story a few years back at a Best Buy. The police and bomb squad were called to a Best Buy because the caller said someone made a bomb threat. Apparently what really happened was a employee on break went into the men's restroom saying he was "fixing to blow it up" (meaning drop a deuce) and someone inside heard that and took it seriously.

If you have hate for a gaming company, you need some serious help. Hope he gets help.

And y’all thought Nintendo Online was bad...

I don’t condone this behavior whatsoever, but if the kid is threatening Konami over a soccer mobile game, he clearly has major issues.

@Xylnox no need to apologize for promoting some good

@Xylnox some people are "unique and special" for all the wrong reasons, and they shouldn't be replaced(like parents bad enough to raise a child like this, for example). When society realizes that the world will be a better place. Won't happen in our lifetimes.

Someone who complaining about a game to a game company is one thing but, when someone makes threats to a game company that is going too far.

Whether or not the threat was empty, the authorities can't just write it off as a joke. They have to be taken seriously in light of the alternative if the threat was real. Too often has history shown what can happen if such signs are ignored.

I really hope this kid gets the help he needs. Mental well-being is not to be taken lightly.

He's getting mad for all the wrong reasons. He should be getting upset that Konami is just sitting on all these great franchises, doing nothing! Right? Right..?

I'll see myself out.

/sarcasm for those that need it lol

I think the judge should let the boy choose between six months in a young offenders institution or a year without internet or videogames.

Get in line, kid.

I'd maybe sympathize with the kid if his reasons for hating Konami related to mine, but he's upset over connectivity in their soccer game. The fact that he's passionate about Konami's mobile game makes me side with Konami here... Oh, and also he planned on killing innocent people, so yeah send his ass to jail.

@Y2JayRome Thank you.

@Cool_Squirtle Ya, hopefully the world will become peaceful one day. Where everyone accepts each other regardless of wealth, race, IQ etc.

When I was his age all I had was a ZX Spectrum that took 4 attempts to load a game.

Kid, that's not how you're supposed to attack aggressively.

Konami was the bomb in the late 80s early 90s (pun intended). It felt like almost all the awesome SNES games were made by Konami at one point.

@Bl4ckb100d personally, I think big and/or interesting news happening to a developer/publisher with such a large catalog of titles across basically every Nintendo system is news deserving of being on a Nintendo fan site.

@Bmartin001 that wasn't funny.

@Xylnox Well said.

My nephew smashed his mobile phone to pieces playing clash royale 🤔.

@graysoncharles couldn't agree more

@Goat_FromBOTW In that case, I’ll hold ‘em and you hit ‘em! Lol

Well at least they can call upon some solid security for the building; Snake on one door, Simon Belmont on the other

@Seananigans same thing I thought

Kinda shocked a lot of comments are like, yeah a cell for him, and police caught him, and stuff like that... It's a god damn comment about a mobile game, jesus....
"Konami re-enforced security after this" that is just unbelievable, to protect themselves from the terrorist revealing his plans through an online comment on a PES mobile game? Come on..

What a load of overblown stupidity.

So nobody in this comment section has ever said anything stupid, OTT, or inappropriate as teenagers before?

FFS, people, honestly. He’s 16, griping hyperbole about a videogame. Pretty normal stuff. Konami ‘strengthening’ security over this?

Laughably pathetic.

@Souflee Agreed—the people spewing such nonsense have no brains.

@graysoncharles @smithpa01 Congratulations—you guys are idiots.

remember to game rage responsibly everyone

i know sometimes we need to vent our frustation over a specific game or service, but this young man have take it frustation over too high, nothing give you the rights to treath the lives of my companies in something you hate.

@HappyMaskedGuy We live in unprecedented times and all threats should be taken seriously. You callng people "idiots" only makes you look like part of the problem.

Congratulations konami, you've successfully pissed off the last people who knowingly put up with your *****, from your own country no less, now that is a huge accomplishment right there.

So nobody in this comment section has ever said anything stupid, OTT, or inappropriate as teenagers before?

@HappyMaskedGuy Sure I did. And people objected (if they were around to hear). What's so different about this comment section?

@Jimmy_G_Buckets You know, sometimes reactions from police, governments, authorities et cetera can be excessive; especially given the paranoia some seem to feel "these days". But, I mean, you're right - he did threaten to blow up their HQ. That would have been taken just as seriously in 1980, 1940, 1880...

Yikes.

This kid needs some serious help because this is taking things WAY too far. They make the likes of Putz12 look like a saint in comparison.

Bet if he started a go fund me then a bunch of konami haters would make him rich. ( not advocating, just saying what i believe would happen)

@Jimmy_G_Buckets Yeah, you just chuck away your freedom of speech over a kid talking crap on a forum.

You’re an idiot too. Well done.

@COVIDberry No, it wouldn’t. Perhaps if he was the head of a known terrorist operation, or the leader of a political movement. Don’t be so bloody ridiculous.

@COVIDberry The difference is a kid talking obvious nonsense on a forum, and a worryingly large number of people here genuinely calling for him to be punished, as if he actually was a terrorist.

There is a very, very big difference.

Because PES is never released on Switch and the cancellation Of Hyper Sports R

Taking the Angry Video Game Nerd to the next level.

In 1987, Konami released a game to arcades titled "Life Force". As soon as you started it, a voice in the game said "Destroy the mall", which led to kids vandalizing the malls in which the arcades were. So what's happening now is just karma.

@HappyMaskedGuy so i am an idiot because I think threats like this should be taken seriously until proven otherwise? If threats like this were ignored there would be a lot more attacks, he should be punished not for terrorist offences but for threatening peoples lives even if that threat is empty it can cause panic, worry, and affect people's mental health

if he feels that way hopefully he never tries to play anything on NSO

Konami has been self destructing for years now. This wasn't necessary, kid. I hope he gets help because being stupid typically comes with the territory of youth. Not always the case but you know....

@skyward_nicky
How would he handle a 300 baud modem? We used to plan our day around logging on. It was a thing. It wasn't gaming for sure but it was there while 1200's were coming out.

When 56K came out I believe I had a religious episode.

@TheWingedAvenger
Was this a region specific unit because I have never heard this story? We played Life Force quite a bit. Life Force was ported from the Salamander arcade game . In that opening sequence it says "Destroy them all". Is that what you are referring to?

Oh my, I know that Konami isn't a great company, but killing everyone who works there is even worse.

@HappyMaskedGuy Playing Devil's Advocate:

I can agree with this, we've all said violent over-the-top stuff out of aggravation.

However, thanks to some people actually making good on their threat or trying to, authorities sometimes actually do hafta take it seriously. I suddenly recall that nutjob who tried to take a gun to, I think it was a pokemon tournament.

So thank the psychotic butt-holes for being horrible human beings.

@Zidentia
"Destroy them all"... oh my goodness, and all these years I thought Life Force was saying "Destroy the mall"! So it was actually telling us to destroy all the aliens. I completely vandalized my local mall with my friends, which led to us spending years in a juvenile prison, and now I find out that it was all due to a simple misunderstanding. Thanks for finally shedding light on this tragic mystery.