Randy Pitchford, a poor man's Denis Dyack

[chronovore]

Getting money from one publisher and channeling that chedda into another publisher's project is par for the course in this industry

For serious. When I was at Accolade, my neighboring cube-mate was working on Bubsy 3D. Nearing completion of the game, we received a tech demo for a new project from the external dev making Bubsy. It was incredible; it was hard to believe that it was even the same company that was pawning off the legendarily bad Bubsy on us. It was hard to believe it was even running on the same hardware, except that we were running it on I our own devkits.

The dev wanted to give us a chance to pick up the project, grab first dibs for publishing. The management was so, so, pissed off. We could all see exactly where our money had gone, and it wasn't to Bubsy. They declined.

I was all for picking it up, and being more clear in subsequent contracts. I mean, we had already financed the new engine, and refusing to cooperate just meant we would never see any benefit from that money.

The dev went on to make Syphon Filter, and was purchased by Sony. Accolade was bought by Infogrames and more or less disassembled for IP which was never heard from again, save Test Drive.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Worst of all, this embezzlement is why we aren't getting a multiplatform Bayonetta 2, Gearbox pitchforded the cash right out of the Bayonetta jar in the breakroom!

This is actually true. Gearbox/Colonial Marines is why SEGA pulled funding from Bayonetta 2.

[Great Rumbler]

Apparently sales and player base cratered after the first week. What a shocker!

[Eel O'Brian]

On the one hand, this is pretty skeevy

On the other, I got Borderlands 2 out of it

[Trent Dole]

For as "in the know" as GAFfers claim to be they sure are acting like this is the first time anyone has ever pulled a pitchford. Some of them were boasting that this would shame him and Gearbox out of the industry forever.

Yeah the reaction to this whole thing has been a little surprising to me. This isn't the first time something like this has happened.

It's the first I've heard of such a thing happening but stopping to think about it it's not that surprising. Game industry is seriously fucked up.

[Joe Molotov]

On the one hand, this is pretty skeevy

On the other, I got Borderlands 2 out of it

 :ehh

[Stoney Mason]

For as "in the know" as GAFfers claim to be they sure are acting like this is the first time anyone has ever pulled a pitchford. Some of them were boasting that this would shame him and Gearbox out of the industry forever.

Yeah the reaction to this whole thing has been a little surprising to me. This isn't the first time something like this has happened.

It's the first I've heard of such a thing happening but stopping to think about it it's not that surprising. Game industry is seriously fucked up.

That's the thing. It happens all the time. Or at least a decent amount. It's just not generally publicized very much. For some reason people really were expecting a lot out of that Aliens game for some reason so it became a much bigger thing than it normally does. I also think that since gaming has kind of been dead since the year started with not a lot of big releases, the press seemed to latch on to this story more than they normally would have.

[Steve Contra]

This also happens to be a fairly obvious instance of this happening, and the outsourcing thing makes it doubly so.  This is also why the industry needs better technical milestones in place.

[ManaByte]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-04-03-sega-europe-admits-to-misleading-colonial-marines-trailers

Sega Europe has agreed to add a disclaimer to all videos published on its website and via YouTube stating that they depict a demo version of the game.

"We consider that with the disclaimer in place, customers are unlikely to get the impression that the trailer shows the finished product, and the ads are therefore unlikely to mislead," the A.S.A.'s response read.

[Great Rumbler]

You're about two months late on that, Sega.

[DCharlieJP]

I keep having a dream about playing an awesome next gen Aliens game

I seriously just cannot fathom how you can screw up an Aliens game - Ugh

[FoneBone]

I keep having a dream about playing an awesome next gen Aliens game

I seriously just cannot fathom how you can screw up an Aliens game - Ugh

  Here's hoping Creative Assembly's game doesn't get axed... sigh.

[Great Rumbler]

The suit claims that by sending out review code to the press under an embargo that lifted in the early morning of Aliens: Colonial Marines' launch date of Feb. 12, the game's pre-orderers and early adopters would have no knowledge of the discrepancies between the demo and final game. As such, it seeks damages for anyone who purchased the game on or before its release date.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/30/4287382/aliens-colonial-marines-lawsuit-class-action-sega-gearbox

[Don Flamenco]

yeah, no

[Great Rumbler]

yes

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This lawsuit is doomed to swift failure, because all this marketing and PR guff is too much a grey area. But if this whole fiasco somehow ended in the passage of law requiring all digital purchases to allow refunds, like they have in sociamalist Europe, that would be great. But it won't, because FREEDOM.

[close]

[ManaByte]

In other news, the only person to give the game a 9+ review is no longer writing for that publication...

Hope the check from Sega was worth it.

[Don Flamenco]

yes

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This lawsuit is doomed to swift failure, because all this marketing and PR guff is too much a grey area. But if this whole fiasco somehow ended in the passage of law requiring all digital purchases to allow refunds, like they have in sociamalist Europe, that would be great. But it won't, because FREEDOM.

[close]

It's not even unfair marketing fluff.  I assume the whole case is "I saw the previews from a long time ago, then ignored the review embargo, didn't wait for the embargo to go up, bought the game, and it wasn't like the previews I saw months ago.  Gimme money."  I'm not sure what else it could be.  The fact that nobody has a gun to your head to buy it day 1 pretty much kills it.

This is definitely not the case for digital refunds.  Shit has to be super on point to set precedent like that.  The only precedent this would set is more class actions for people disappointed by games they impulse bought  

would be nice to get some money back for NGS2+ though

[ManaByte]

yes

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This lawsuit is doomed to swift failure, because all this marketing and PR guff is too much a grey area. But if this whole fiasco somehow ended in the passage of law requiring all digital purchases to allow refunds, like they have in sociamalist Europe, that would be great. But it won't, because FREEDOM.

[close]

It's not even unfair marketing fluff.  I assume the whole case is "I saw the previews from a long time ago, then ignored the review embargo, didn't wait for the embargo to go up, bought the game, and it wasn't like the previews I saw months ago.  Gimme money."  I'm not sure what else it could be. 

This is definitely not the case for digital refunds.  Shit has to be super on point to set precedent like that.

The Madden lawsuit was successful and it was just whiny NFL2K fans who were pissed that they couldn't have their game anymore so now anyone who ever bought a Madden game from 2005 on is going to get money.

[Don Flamenco]

yes

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This lawsuit is doomed to swift failure, because all this marketing and PR guff is too much a grey area. But if this whole fiasco somehow ended in the passage of law requiring all digital purchases to allow refunds, like they have in sociamalist Europe, that would be great. But it won't, because FREEDOM.

[close]

It's not even unfair marketing fluff.  I assume the whole case is "I saw the previews from a long time ago, then ignored the review embargo, didn't wait for the embargo to go up, bought the game, and it wasn't like the previews I saw months ago.  Gimme money."  I'm not sure what else it could be. 

This is definitely not the case for digital refunds.  Shit has to be super on point to set precedent like that.

The Madden lawsuit was successful and it was just whiny NFL2K fans who were pissed that they couldn't have their game anymore so now anyone who ever bought a Madden game from 2005 on is going to get money.

Monopolies are a different story, we have laws against that. 

but you know, maybe they could find review embargos to be anti-consumer.  that would be pretty nice, actually...finally game journalizm taking a hit.

[Great Rumbler]

Getting rid of review embargoes would be nice, but they've been doing the same thing with movies for a long time so I don't know that this would do anything to change that practice.

[Don Flamenco]

I think they'd have to bring in all the review sites to the case too.  that shit would be epic beyond belief! 

[Joe Molotov]

Could you imagine Polygon being called to the stand? At what point would the judge just be like "fuck this gay earth" and walk out of the courtroom?

[ManaByte]

yes

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This lawsuit is doomed to swift failure, because all this marketing and PR guff is too much a grey area. But if this whole fiasco somehow ended in the passage of law requiring all digital purchases to allow refunds, like they have in sociamalist Europe, that would be great. But it won't, because FREEDOM.

[close]

It's not even unfair marketing fluff.  I assume the whole case is "I saw the previews from a long time ago, then ignored the review embargo, didn't wait for the embargo to go up, bought the game, and it wasn't like the previews I saw months ago.  Gimme money."  I'm not sure what else it could be. 

This is definitely not the case for digital refunds.  Shit has to be super on point to set precedent like that.

The Madden lawsuit was successful and it was just whiny NFL2K fans who were pissed that they couldn't have their game anymore so now anyone who ever bought a Madden game from 2005 on is going to get money.

Monopolies are a different story, we have laws against that. 

but you know, maybe they could find review embargos to be anti-consumer.  that would be pretty nice, actually...finally game journalizm taking a hit.

But EA doesn't have a monopoly. Their NFL exclusivity only applies to consoles. So again it was just butthurt 2K fans crying.

[Don Flamenco]

...it's about their monopoly on madden and ncaa and some overcharging business.  i don't think it's just a well-coordinated group of fan boys.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/15/madden-ncaa-class-action-lawsuit-extended

Could you imagine Polygon being called to the stand? At what point would the judge just be like "fuck this gay earth" and walk out of the courtroom?

the moment their documentary gets shown as evidence of their deceptiveness

[Flannel Boy]

But EA doesn't have a monopoly. Their NFL exclusivity only applies to consoles. So again it was just butthurt 2K fans crying.

Even if they were butthurt, being butthurt is not a cause of action.

NFL exclusivity in conjunction with an NFLPA agreement effectively killed non-Madden NFL games on other devices (ignoring this, there isn't much incentive for publishers to develop an NFL game if they can't put it on consoles).  EA combined these deals with NCAA and AFL exclusive licensing agreements to get a monopoly on realistic football sims.

EA settled, so it isn't precedent.

[Great Rumbler]

The tale of Aliens: Colonial Marines' mismanagement gained an additional layer on Wednesday when the game's co-developer TimeGate Studios filed for bankruptcy protection with the Texas Southern Bankruptcy Court.

TimeGate's bankruptcy protection filing comes on the heels of a 2009 legal battle with SouthPeak Interactive, in which SouthPeak was awarded $7.35 million and full control of the embattled Section 8 license. The final ruling on the arbitration award is pending within the U.S. Court of Appeals; in the bankruptcy protection petition, TimeGate listed their financial obligation to SouthPeak as "unknown."

Other items on TimeGate's list of creditors include:

Epic Games (developers for the Unreal Engine)

Agora Games (online game service)

DJ2 Entertainment (a transmedia firm)

Birthplace Management Group (a video game agency, owed $20,539.20)

A local pizza establishment (owed $34.80)

TimeGate's total liabilities fall within the range of $10 million to $50 million.

[Stoney Mason]

Section 8: Prejudice was't a bad game. They should have been working on a free to play version of that.

[Don Flamenco]

Section 8 Prejudice is a fucking terrible name for a game being sold in the U.S.

[Great Rumbler]

Section 8: Prejudice was't a bad game. They should have been working on a free to play version of that.

As mentioned in the article, they lost control of that franchise to Southpeak.

[Stoney Mason]

Section 8: Prejudice was't a bad game. They should have been working on a free to play version of that.

As mentioned in the article, they lost control of that franchise to Southpeak.

It would  have helped if I read that wouldn't it. 

[ManaByte]

Section 8 Prejudice is a fucking terrible name for a game being sold in the U.S.

Makes you think the game is something it isn't

[Great Rumbler]

[chronovore]

So, that's... Where in the storyline? Pre-Alien3?

[Great Rumbler]

So, that's... Where in the storyline? Pre-Alien3?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hicks shows up on Fury 161 in time to watch Ridley swan dive into molten lead.

[close]

[chronovore]

:smh

[fistfulofmetal]

I bought Alien Infestation for the DS

[Great Rumbler]

Back in May, Gearbox Software was dropped from the controversial Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit brought against the company and SEGA, alleging false advertisement of the game. Gearbox always maintained that it should never have been included in the lawsuit as it was neither the game’s publisher nor seller. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz this week, Gearbox President and CEO Randy Pitchford said that the lawsuit was a “huge waste of time” and that the legal system was being manipulated using “mafia style extortion tactics.”

[D3RANG3D]

Back in May, Gearbox Software was dropped from the controversial Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit brought against the company and SEGA, alleging false advertisement of the game. Gearbox always maintained that it should never have been included in the lawsuit as it was neither the game’s publisher nor seller. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz this week, Gearbox President and CEO Randy Pitchford said that the lawsuit was a “huge waste of time” and that the legal system was being manipulated using “mafia style extortion tactics.”

I'll just leave this here.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thank God for Jim!

[close]

[Great Rumbler]

Pre-ordering Colonial Marines was probably the biggest L I've taken on The Bore. Took me a good year to come back from it.

[D3RANG3D]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

You should add in the quip about Randy being a poor man's Dennis Dyack in the title.

[close]

[Great Rumbler]

Speaking of Denis Dyack:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/05/26/veteran-game-designer-denis-dyack-most-of-the-developers-i-know-are-pro-gamergate/

[chronovore]

Speaking of Denis Dyack:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/05/26/veteran-game-designer-denis-dyack-most-of-the-developers-i-know-are-pro-gamergate/

That's probably because the only developers who are still willing to speak with him are nuts.

[Madrun Badrun]

Denis Dyack, former president of development studio Silicon Knights, director of the critically-acclaimed Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, and 2011 inductee to the Canadian Gaming Hall of Fame.

 

[Joe Molotov]

Denis Dyack, former president of development studio Silicon Knights, director of the critically-acclaimed Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, and 2011 inductee to the Canadian Gaming Hall of Fame.

 

That's his full title, and the only way you are allowed to address him.

[Huff]

LOL the SJW media and NeoGaf thought that there'd never be a day of reckoning when they insulted Dennis Dyack long ago. They were of course as always, wrong.

Bored people in large numbers are dangerous. Boredom + too much money + lack of struggle in life= why SJW's exist to begin with. Well that and the edJEWcation system brainwashing a generation of youth with Communist thought as per ex KGB Uri Bezmenov's lecture videos about this.

GG could only win. We actually play games and like games. The anti GG people don't even play in most cases. They're just activists flitting from issue to spittle covered issue.

At the end of the day, we will remain because we actually play games. They're not buying games. Nothing. Not a single game they've promoted has gone on to commercial success. They're not selling PC gaming hardware. They're not selling console hardware. They're not selling games. They are nothing useful or meaningful to the industry.

We are... we buy the hardware. We buy the games. We care. They don't. We win.

Game over. GG.

The dominos are tumbling, aren't they?

Oh man this stuff is great

[Kara]

Bored people in large numbers are dangerous. Boredom + too much money + lack of struggle in life= why SJW's exist to begin with. Well that and the edJEWcation system brainwashing a generation of youth with Communist thought as per ex KGB Uri Bezmenov's lecture videos about this.

#Protocol16

[brob]

The developers Dyack knows are probably great people

[Steve Contra]

Please change Vularai's name to edJEWcated gentleman. thanks in advance.

[benjipwns]

Denis Dyack, former president of development studio Silicon Knights, director of the critically-acclaimed Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, and 2011 inductee to the Canadian Gaming Hall of Fame.

 

That's his full title, and the only way you are allowed to address him.

Commonwealth Nations are so weird.

[benjipwns]

NCRelite  Liberal_Men_Are_Pussies • 2 months ago
Cucktaku

JenkPac Shakur  Guest • 2 months ago
Faux and MSNBCuck are both controlled by the same hooked nosed nation ruining parasites as is the rest of western media. None can be trusted.

Billy  OzzieIsaacs • 2 months ago
I always read comments like this and shake my head in shame because there have been a lot of "complex female characters" throughout time that just didn't receive any kind of recognition for their roles in the games.

For instance, the media loves to tout how "progressive" today's gaming scene is but it's not like there's been a quality follow-up to something like No One Lives Forever, or The Colonel's Bequest, or Phantasmagoria.

Many games made back in the day starring women have gone ignored in today's gaming circles, much in the same way that many games starring women in today's games go ignored in many gaming circles.

You bring up the "scantily-clad, wooden placeholders" but this was mostly for games aimed at a specific demographic. Unsurprisingly, stuff aimed at teenage boys featured games that most teenage boys would enjoy: guys with big muscles, big guns and beautiful women.

It's no different than finding that many of the games aimed at more neutral audiences back in the day, like some of the King's Quest titles or Alone in the Dark (another game where you could play as a male or female protag but often never gets any recognition for such) had female characters that weren't just there for "wall decoration".

I mean, I'm probably sure you've never heard of the game Meat Puppet or Traffic Department 2192? The latter game had some very interesting characters that put many of today's games to shame.

Unfortunately, most people unfamiliar with the gaming industry only believe what they've been told and most media these days only tell you that female representation in gaming didn't "get good" until recently, which is a very disconcerting bit of misinformation.

[Great Rumbler]

"Some old games from 20 years ago had a woman as the main character, isn't that more than enough?!"

[Steve Contra]

I do want another NOLF though :'(

[recursivelyenumerable]

Denis Dyack, former president of development studio Silicon Knights, director of the critically-acclaimed Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, and 2011 inductee to the Canadian Gaming Hall of Fame.

 

That's his full title, and the only way you are allowed to address him.

So why isn't there an autocorrect filter?