"Release the ninjas. Guard the Wiis. Save the children." I smell a flash game... Can somebody get on this?

PobreGizmo

I don't think the pirates are actually in the canal - geographically challendged much?

"Somali pirates have been plundering ships off the Horn of Africa for years, but the recent surge in attacks has spilled out into the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, threatening access to the Suez Canal."

Canoehead

Twice in about three weeks I've seen a pallet of Wiis in a nearby Best Buy. Not sure if it's the same pallet but it used to be you couldn't see a single unit at all.

AJ_Syrinx

@dc-united: @Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: :)

I am a simple man with simple tastes.

iPhone, MBP, home theater, fruitcake.

Is that so wrong?

dc-united

This is one of those posts where the read more option really shouldn't have been there.

Blinklink11

@Derry Quinn: I don't know about Europe, but France has quite a few ouis.

Lite

I think we need to just bite the bullet and drop sub-orbital flaming kinetic energy bombs in the form of holiday cheer (re-entry year-old fruitcake). It's cheap, plentiful, and will end the problem.

Lite

@dc-united: Enjoy your Blammo Log loaf! ya freak!

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

But Europe has plenty of Wii's or is that wiis... anyway, i hear America need them, right?

Derry Quinn

OK, I resent your including fruitcake in the "crummy holiday tradition" bundle.

I might be the only one on the continent, who does, but I LOVE fruitcake. Rich, dense, moist, with high alcohol content, tons of chopped fruit (you know, for good health). Plus, nobody else likes it, so I get it all!

Give all the cheap ties and weirdly-shaped Old Spice bottles to the pirates. Give ALL the fruitcake to me.

dc-united

And recently pirates just hijacked a tanker with over $100 million in oil. It's a busy few months on the high seas.

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

Wii Fit down! I repeat, Wii Fit down!

ripfire

I'm guessing this will affect European shipments more than US shipments?

steveyun

Sad we still have those type of people around. Karma will catch up to them.

Earthslide

@steveyun: Yes, and that is because they can just ship the Wii's to the west to America, instead of East into Pirate waters.

(I honestly have no clue)

Project_J187

Always blaming something else. Not selling enough movie tickets? Blame the pirates! Not selling enough CDs? Blame the pirates! Now they don't sell enough Wii's, and the pirates get the rap for that, too. I'm getting awful tired of the same old excuse.

Tired_

1. Heavily armor and arm ship.

2. Disguise it as a cargo vessel.

3. Sail into Gulf of Aden.

Problem solved. Is that so hard?

theimmc

The problem is, as I understand it, international maritime law will not allow any firearms aboard a seafaring vessel. So we have pirates, who are obviously thieves and are breaking the law, going after ships that can't legally protect themselves and their assets. Let the ships carry a couple RPG's and we'll be better off.

Codis

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: i dont know whats with all these pirates kickin it old-school. i prefer the modern pirate route: pirate movies and music and drink excessively. a pirate's life for me!

danger the pirate ★ feels as though he should have a star and a preposterously long name mostly because all the cool kids are doing it, but also because he likes typing in third person, and finally, to see if you can max out a screen name. It would appear as though they let you go for a while...

sigh... time to try and stop reading gizmodo due to the increasingly shitty posts again...

kidlucrative

I suppose those who bought the console for the sake of raping innocent folk on eBay next month are rejoicing...

Gilbert

@PobreGizmo: You sure that isn't just an episode of Heroes?

Lite

eBay blowout sale coming soon. I bet the pirates have a great powerseller rating.

fragglepac

f*** the Wii! Whatever happened to that shipment of like 100 main battle tanks that got hijacked by these pirates? Please someone pay the ransom cuz i need my tank!

diehippiedie

@Project_J187: See, we should have never allowed the Suez to slip out of Brittish hands...

Actually, I have no idea either.

eblingmis doesn't know why he chose his name

@diehippiedie: That's why it's always better to buy your tank in a store rather than order it online.

frigg

That last line sounded like something from Heroes.

unkpku has a really long fucking screenname because i saw some other people do it

DEPLOY THE NINJAS!!!!!!!!

vinnyr

please, matt - i believe we've already discussed how much more awesome pirates are than ninjas!!

Andi Wang

So, going to be a good time to sell the extra wii I bought for a decent profit? Hey, I gotta pay for xmas somehow...

lpranal

@theimmc: Hey, it worked in world wars I & II, why not today?

lpranal

@Amiash: okay hope OMG here forgives me for whoring his blogsite. and the link FAILS anyway. sorry :]

Amiash

i remember[www.omg-ponies.com] blogposts
telling that pirates are way better than ninja's I guess he's right then.

Amiash

@dc-united: All my fruitcake are belong to you?

whiteknight89

@Codis: Gun turrets FTW!

ywpark

@Earthslide: Yes. That's it. These dirty, Wii-stealing pirates that travel in hordes and have several deep, organized crime rings will be destroyed at the hands of some invisible, non-existent force.

Too bad the NYPD and CIA don't think they way you do. "Bin Laden? Nahhh man, fate's got this one."

rcast1986

Maybe we should send in a few Black Hawks!!!

What? Too soon??

Diskoboy

next time on mythbusters.....

takemetoyourtoaster

@rcast1986: Karma being them being shot by AK47's from their buyers.

Earthslide

@dc-united: No, no it is not wrong. Enjoy your lawfully gained fruitcake.

JoshS

@Earthslide: lol, Wii-purchasing, AK-47 touting badass Nintendo traffickers. Sounds like an SNL skit gone bad.

rcast1986

@Canoehead: Yeah not to mention attacking ships in a canal would severly limit the escape routes of the pirates. Plus I would think they would be hesitant to let boats full of pirates though the locks.

tande04

It's amazing how organized these pirates are getting. They speed up to ships on small speedboats, but these boats are often launched off of larger craft, and these guys are armed with machine guns and often RPG's, whereas the crew have squat. Armed escorts are only a bandaid solution, but getting the government(s) in Africa to deal with Somali pirates won't be easy to say the least.

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

@Codis: My understanding was that it wasn't laws holding it back. Its insurance and gerneral safety concerns.

If you've got a ship full of people with 0 weapons training trying to fight off people who have no qualms about killing, well people are going to get killed. Thats if they even get attacked. Even if that doesn't happen you've now got a hazzard on the ship that didn't exsist before.

The article I was reading about it earlier pointed out that the even the cost benifit of hiring trained gaurds for the ships wasn't even there since they usually get back the cargo, ship, and crew for a fraction of what its worth and a fraction of what armed guards would cost (again, assuming they ever even got used).

tande04

Fucking jerkoffs. I don't mind the oil being taken, but Wiis? Prepare for an attack, you fucking Somali pirates. If you ruin even more kids' Christmases by looting PS3s/XB360s, I'm gonna go up there with a few sniper rifles and a MJOLNIR suit.

I freebase cocaine for a living

"Because if 'Santa' was real..."

And what is THAT supposed to mean?!

andyc52042

Gulf of Aden, not Suez. Anyway, I'll be there next week - I'll see if I can sort something out for you.

MrKobie

@rcast1986:

[news.yahoo.com]
Since september even NATO forces are afraid to attack them.

Pirate attacks off Somalia have surged more than 75 percent this year, hitting dozens of freighters, tankers, yachts and fishing vessels. The pirates raised international alarm bells in September when they seized a Ukrainian freighter, the Faina, carrying a cargo of battle tanks and other weapons. The Faina and its 20-member crew are still being held off Somalia, watched by warships to prevent the removal of its cargo.

rrwakc

1000 Wiis stolen can affect the "innocence of millions of children" :D

Poor kids! 1 Wii shared between 1000 kids! :P

ArmyCats

The pirates must have taken all the good Wii games as well.

ThinkerTDM

The Suez canal is infested with pirates??
Actually it is the SEA off Somalia. That includes the Gulf of Aden if I am not mistaken - and vast tracks of the Indian Ocean. The Gulf of Aden LEADS EVENTUALLY to the Suez canal... (On a map it is that blue strip between Africa and Arabia.)
And the Cape of Good Hope is actually South Africa - another country waaaaay gone from Somalia right there at the southern end of Africa (a continent that is bigger than North America....)
You guys prove Jay Leno right in those shows where he corners US kids on the street and ask them basic geography questions.

Rustydog

@LiquidGravity: Given that there is WAY more fruitcake around than any sane man should attempt to eat, I think a 50-50 split will work fine.

I feel better knowing I am not alone.

dc-united

@dc-united: The fruitcake is a lie?

I like holiday fruitcakes too! Can we split them 50-50?

LiquidGravity

@Earthslide:
Karma. James Karma.

BEERxTaco

The hell with the Ninjas, deploy those Bad ass Gundam Oil tanker transformer

AXSLV2

@fragglepac: Yeah, those pirates has all figured... for every 2 wiis they sell on ebay, they will ship u a barrel of sweet crude oil, free no shipping and handling... that's a hell off a deal

AXSLV2

Yeah.. That's one part.. What I got to know is it's Japanese Ship with Indian Crew on it.. Recently one guy from India went to Hong Kong or Bangkok talk and settle deal for 5 Crores INR with these pirates to get the ship released...

arunkamal.chowdhary

@Mr.SithNinja: on it

Mr.SithNinja

I am no it....

Mr.SithNinja

Funny...I never thought I would read an article talking about pirates stealing video game systems. I guess I was wrong.

GTgeek

@dc-united: Fruitcake looks like what happens hours later after eating said fruitcake.

FiveLiters