Wii-deprivation drives man to kidnap himself
By Nilay Patel 
posted August 1st 2008 10:34PM
posted August 1st 2008 10:34PM
Sure, Wii is great and all, but we're guessing a man in China who tried to extort $1,400 from his parents by "kidnapping" himself and demanding a ransom after they refused to buy him a "Nintendo computer" was probably a little too infatuated with Ninety's white box. The man -- who we're hoping is more of a "boy" -- apparently hired two men to kidnap him, and was arrested after he withdrew his own ransom from an ATM. Genius. Quick tip, kids: real tennis, bowling, golf, and boxing are almost as much fun as Wii Sports, believe it or not -- and they involve just slightly less jail time.[Via Wii Fanboy]
Did it really cost less to hire 2 guys to kidnap him than it would cost for him to buy a wii?
$1400 = Ransom
$363.91 = Wii
$1036.09 = ???
Well, looks like one big bill... Besides, when he gets a Wii, how can he play it without getting seen!?
making Engadget news = priceless.
The funny thing about all this is that he's going to do exactly what I did with my Wii. It's collecting dust when I'm not playing GameCube games...
I stood outside for 7 hours for this damn thing on launch day... and this douche is so desperate he hires people to kidnap him? Oi vei...
It's China. Lower-class city workers often make less than USD100/mo. Rural areas can get much worse.
@kamokazi
Might be true, but if his parents had $1400 to pay his ransom, then I don't think being strapped for cash was an issue. That, and he must have had a tv if he was asking for a wii.
he shoulda just gotten a Vii
He lives in China... so we should take into consideration the act that he might not have a TV. If this were the case... I'm curious as to what he'll do to buy a TV.
"In other news, Hsu Lin, a man from Beijing, has kidnaped his father in exchange for a TV. Fortunately, he has been captured and his hands have been cut off.
The Beijing Olympic Games......"
@jupiterthunder, kamokazi was referring to why the 'kiddnappers' would cost so little. Obviously, this dude's parents had a decent amount of money.
omg thats so LAME !!!
go get a life!
Does real tennis come with instant replays? Noooo. Wii 1 Real Life 0
Not unless you record your game... Wii-0 Real Life-100
Don't be an idiot, the Wii is great for when its snowing out and theres nothing to do, but in the summer, go out and play, meet girls, hang out with friends, party.. etc. Don't just consume yourself on the Wii.
Cheers,
Nick
Getting a life would involve social and physical skills that this guy probably doesn't have.
He wonit do jail time. In China, he will be executed.
or they might send him to guantanamo bay.
which is only code word for Chuck Norris' Basement.
It wasn't a Wii, it was a Nintendo Computer like this one: http://gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/11/nesadvanced.jpg
PS: When I become ruler of the world... Automatic death sentence for anyone referring to Nintendo as "Ninty."
That includes you Nilay Patel.
Whoa, I want that.
dude that was never released that was the original prototype of the NES for America and that picture was taken at Nintendo world in new york.
@ link2877
Yeah, no sh*t Sherlock.
I guess I should put a "j/k" or a ":-)" or a "/sarcasm" tag just for you. If only Engadget would let us edit our comments.
It's a good bet that you'll never become ruler of the world by being a dick to people who have the power to edit, delete, and ban you.
yea I had a feeling you were messing around, just thought I make sure. You forgive me right :( I'll give you a cookie.
Cookie accepted :-)
@James, really smartass to be threatening an Admin/Moderator on Engadget.. Really smart.. Not.
Shame that theres so many people like you, thinking one sided and being arrogant as always, i suggest changing the attitude as a word of advice before you get banned for good.
Cheers,
Nick
Woah, he was clearly joking, everyone dismount the high horses!
And nick, we can all see your damn name above your post no need to put a pretentious sig at the end.
Cheers
Ijustwokeup
@James
Apparently, Engadget editors need j/k tags, too. They could even add them themselves, with their mighty "edit" feature that makes them closer to ruling the world much more than you could ever be, but that would first require them to accomplish the incredible feat of understanding the jokes in the first instance.
/sarcasm
Brilliant.
The future belongs to these.
It's better than people killing each other to get a PS3.
Depends on if the people were planning to kill to get the PS3. Orchestrating this is just stupid.
Depends on what? Accident vs intent? "Oh, I'm sorry. I just happened to have this gun/knife on me and I was willing to use it. Killing you was just an accident." That's still murder of the 1st in many states. Kidnapping oneself is nothing compared to that.
"DADE CITY -- A man police say shot his neighbor over a missing Playstation 3 was arrested Wednesday night."
"The latest report of violence over the Playstation 3 comes from San Francisco. It seems Hani Attia was killed on Monday for doing the right thing. Attia was a witness of a man trying to steal a PS3 from two women who were attempting to sell it to him. Attia confronted the man, got into an altercation and was stabbed. He was announced dead at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital."
"A Cal State Fresno student from Hayward shot three men -- killing one -- after getting in a fight over a video game console [a PS3] at an apartment near campus, police said Tuesday."
What would he do to get his dirty hands on my 3g iphone? Scary!
take it and run. im sure most of the readers here would support him.
Wii is a one time fee, but the real sports are pay as you go. Different deal. One time fee or long term payments?
My concern is, and I've got to check with my accountant, but that this might bump him up into a higher tax bracket.
you should be David Cross' understudy
Best story I've heard in a long time.... Keep it up, World.
1. Hire 2 guys to kidnap you
2. Ask for a ransom.
3. ?????
4. Profit!
This couldn't be any funnier.. shame that half the people are so desperate for something material that they all start shooting at each other with guns and stab each other.. oh well, to be out of the ordinary, I still like Luigi. That can't be changed..
*remembers back when his dad bought him the NES and SMB 1-3, best ever.*
Cheers,
Nick
I'm imagining the phonecall to the distressed parents now.
"If you do not immediately go down to the shops and buy a Wii console with Wii sports, and an extra controller and .. what you want a nunchuck instead.. and 2 nunchuck's in 24 hours little Chan will.. what was that, a Wii Sh*t.. oh and a WiiFit then you will never see your son again.. "
OK. Isn't anyone going to be like hey, where'd you get that wii when he came back? I see a flaw in his cunning plan....
Baldrich? This is Black Adder!
HAHAH. You guys have to read the original story on the "read" link from Chinadaily...
the title is "Computer-crazy youth fakes self-abduction". "fake self-abduction"? um.....What the hell is a real "self-abduction" ????
when you kidnap yourself and wont let yourself go untill you get the ransom
@ Bobs
Like a savings account?
LOL, fake kidnap becomes real jail time .
Lol, fake kidnap becomes real jail time.
I'm gonna take a guess and say he asked for 10,000 yuan, which is $1,461 USD. Makes sense :)
what?......really?
A man? maybe it's a 40 year old virgin living in his parents basement.