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Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 19.01.2008 in Articles

I love it when the gaming industry has another storm. For the past few years it’s been Jack Tompson this and that. Everyone is sick of that crap now.

The latest in the ring is between GameCock Head Mike Wilson and John Romero.
John was the first to say something.

So, over on Kotaku they have a news item about Gamecock’s release schedule. Once again, just like with Godgames, Wilson is taking all the credit away from the indie devs and pasting his asinine logo everywhere.

I got a chuckle out of reading the reader’s comments on the article. People are now starting to get a clue about how Mr. Wilson operates. Hey everyone, he hasn’t changed in over 10 years – these are the kinds of jackass stunts he pulled at Ion Storm with Daikatana. Remember the bitch ad? Yeah. He also ran ads (“image ads”) that just had pictures of Ion Storm founders, himself and our COO. That was just the beginning of his madness.

It got much worse at Godgames where he pretty much just partied all the time and after the whole thing got reined in by Take 2 he went underground for a while, waiting for his next victim/investor so he could go hogwild all over again. And thus was born Gamecock.

Then came the blow from Mike.

Dear John, I’m writing this letter from Moscow, having just read your lovely post about me, which a good friend forwarded me and implored me to reply to. I really never thought I would relive the joy that was Ion Storm, circa 1997, or that the memories of those times still troubled you so 11 years later. Then again, I would guess you live in the memories of your twenties as much as you can, given the reality of your thirties. Glad to know I’m still in your thoughts.
I enjoyed your comments very much, but several of my friends (especially those that were around for those heady time to witness the truth of it up close) did not find it quite so funny, and thought that I should take the time to set a few things straight as publicly as the flame you chose to randomly launch my way.

While I am not at all interested in reliving those days, I will also not allow you to rewrite the history of it all, more to your liking and to my public detriment, and I will in no way take the rap for what you did (or didn’t do)with your dream company. So here are just a few reminders to jog your memory.

While my job title (which you gave me) was CEO of your company, I was one of two “junior partners” in a partnership of 6. I made about 1/3 of what the ‘big boy partners’ (as you liked to call yourselves back then) did and owned less than five percent of your company. I wasn’t awarded a 250k signing bonus like you were for signing up to your own startup and I didn’t have a personal assistant like you, nor occupy one of the 4 corners of power in the original Ion Storm building. And unlike you, I didn’t get to file a federal trademark for my own personal catch phrase,” Suck it Down.” I remind you of these things only to remind you that there was absolutely nothing done by me or Ion Storm, including the advertisements which bore your name and which you happily posed for, that didn’t require your full approval and grand signature.

And while I did think that famous Bitch ad was pretty funny, I’ll remind you that you signed that one too, and I’m fairly certain I wasn’t holding your hand or using a Jedi mind trick on you when you did it. I’ll also remind you that the whole reason for running the teaser ad was that we felt we should be starting to advertise the game since it you said was shipping so soon, for Christmas in 1997. Even though we had nothing but a logo and that signature promise to use for an ad 6 months before you promised Eidos and your partners that Daikatana would be ready to redefine shooters on shelves worldwide.

Our former employee also reminded me that I fought on a daily basis to try to save that company from the poison which you had invited into it (and watched spread like a cancer while you kept your head in the sand), only to find myself ushered out the door, since it was such a buzz kill to hear my incessant complaints about the way things were being run, which were really those of the 80 or so young fresh faced developers we hired in the 10 months I was there. But hey, it was clear that I was the problem there, as you guys really took off the year after I left. Or, more accurately, nearly every one of those 80 hires did.

I do owe you a thank you for that little shove to get me started on Gathering of Developers, a company that I was an actual partner of, and which Take Two ‘reigned in’ buy buying for 30 million dollars, two years after we opened an office, which resulted in no less than eight million unit selling PC games and over 350 million dollars in revenue for TTWO (my investors) during roughly the same amount of time that it took you and the remaining ‘big boy partners’ to shit away Eidos’ (your investors) 30 million and deliver one of the biggest heaps of dung ever put onto a CD Rom, just before being foreclosed on. Thank god for Warren Spector, who was also made a ‘junior partner’, and later delivered Eidos Storm’s only salvation in the form of Deus Ex.

And please don’t be too concerned for the independent developers I work with… just like with GodGames, and like the deal I struck for you with Eidos, Gamecock owns their IP and is branded above the publisher on everything, and has a great royalty rate. Royalty rates are what you make if you actually make a game that is good and sells. Remember Quake one?

I’m also grateful for your concern over my incessant partying, which has somehow led me to be married to the same beautiful woman for 17 years now, while raising two incredible daughters together. You should maybe try the partying, since your unparalleled work ethic and strong character has (just in the time I’ve known you) left only a bloody trail of ex-wives, fatherless kids, and ill advised breast implants strewn across this fair nation, even before you flew all the way to Romania for your latest wife. If she’s not still around, let me know, and I’ll see if I can pick another one up for you here in Russia.

Its been great catching up, but I’m off to dinner now with Harry Miller, my best friend and business partner for the past decade (ever had one of those, John?), and our very happy new investor, followed by some crazy partying to keep it real, just for you.

You take care now, and remember just because id, Eidos, and then Midway fired you doesn’t mean you’re not still awesome!

Suck it down,

Your pal Mike

First I like to say this. Dikatania fucking rocks. You guys have no taste. (I’m talking to the general public here) Second you guys shouldn’t make judgments about these guys afairs. Third now to the parties involved. Stop bitch fighting through Kotaku you look like bloody kids.

To those people who now bitch about GameCock’s game line up etc. They are a publishing company that is why they don’t have ‘games coming out from them’. Second they have published good games Dementium: The Ward for example. The team who made that seem to be happy with what they get from GameCock.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 13.11.2007 in Ideas, News

A few months ago, quite a stur happend in the gaming industry. Someone decided to shout ‘ONE CONSOLE’. Well you get the picture it carried.

The past few days Nintendo revealed their new idea for the Photochannel, fuck it up by canning mp3 support.

I’m now going to shout ‘Open Console Allience’ and hope that I get attention, because fucking hell. It’s time.

Each console has their flaws. Nintendo is great at making games, sucks at everything else. Mircosoft has some idea for online. Sony well…fuck Sony.

So you get the picture that everyone has these flaws. Now what if they were to go away? One Console, one dream, everyone’s problem.

So let’s say the big 3 decide to join this allience. Well how would that play out?

Let’s say we make it like Google’s Android. That way they can all develop their own console with say 500 ports etc. Basicly how they are now. BUT their OS and games and applications stay the same.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 27.10.2007 in Articles

Many people have a computer. If not all people who have a computer run Windows. There are other means such as Linux or Mac OS. But these days that’s a blur, the PC market doesn’t care when it comes down to it, while their games are not raw for Linux or Mac OS half the time. You can get the same games to run globally with a bit of tinkering.

The past few weeks have been home to some comments from the video game industry about a ‘Standard One Console Future’. While comments like this have been happening all year, when EA stuck their head out and said something on the topic it was at a bad time for them. Rumours were flying about EA interested in ‘buying profitable game developers to make a console for themselves’.

But it seems EA wasn’t the first, John Romero who is a respected game designer had this to say eailer this year “My prediction is that the game console in the vein of the PS3 and Xbox 360 is going to either undergo a massive rethink or go away altogether,” Romero said. “The hardcore gamers are going to either be playing on their PCs or a new PC-like platform that sits in the living room but still serves the whole house over wifi, even the video signal.”

But the resent outburst was from Dyack from Silicon Knights. He muttered the usual marketing stuff such as the industry will die in its current state etc. But one of his comments was interesting what he believes will happen is that a standard will be decided upon, such as with TV, and different companies will be able to build a console for the format. Software companies will be able to reduce game prices because of an assured 100% market penetration for the one SKU.

Well I agree, the industry is starting to become very expensive. Having 3 consoles for home gaming alone is a pain. A Nintendo fan boy? Well what if you want GTA? The answer, get yourself a Xbox360. At the end of the day you need many consoles for your ‘select’ games.

If the industry was to go the way of video for example how a war is made before deciding a ‘standard’ then we will still have 3 consoles and generation will always begin with a console war to decide the ‘standard’. People will go with the last generation for ages like DVD, anyone here even bother entering the HDDVD or Blue-ray war? I thought not.

Everyone would love a one console next generation, but there are many questions we must ask.
Who will make the standard?
How will it work?

We will also have to consider how to do it; this is not something we should rush into. We can’t do it like PC’s were we upgrade every dam week to play a game. While on the same token it can’t be like consoles now. The last long but at the end of the generation they are weak.

When it comes to control that is all that determs a console these days. Graphical power will always rise and components such as messaging, internet, media etc. Channels have become a ‘standard’ in itself. Controls are going to be a remote in the future, like the Wiimote but the same time will have to be ever changing introducing new and different ways to play a game or use the old style. For example a wheel on a PC we never had that to begin with, it came around one day and people were excited and wanted to try it. We can keep the same style in gaming but it has to advance each generation.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 17.09.2007 in Articles, Ideas

Many of my articles consit of the future of gaming. But now I will dive into the making side of things.

In the future I belive anyone will be able to make a video game using the suit of software I will describe in this article. But not everyone will be able to master it.

In my idea you design 3d sprites. These 3d sprites can be used in the game or other animations. You construct it by moving around the base etc. You have a blur etc too, a colour tool, fill, rubber and a penical a spriters main tool.

When it comes to making it move. You can ad ‘limb’ areas which you can then make it animate etc. Move grasp, etc.

This system will be great for building PC games as well as making console homebrew.

When it comes to making the game everything should be done by ‘links’ for example character1 is linked to edvent1. Edvent1 will make character2 walk to character1. Chracter3 will join later. Etc. Character2 walks and goes into building etc.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 07.09.2007 in Articles

“The gaming shop is one of socialisation, RRP and dangerous deals…what if they could be replaced” – Trent Petronaitis 8/9/07

That is the thought I have had for ages. Now with my prevous aritcle I can come alive and tell you my ideas.

Last year I pondered on the idea after getting some photo’s done of a system just like the photo computers for games and wifi downloads. But I wasn’t considering my resent idea then. It was a simple system of you go to the computer, look at current game stock and prices, print out a docket of what you want then go to the desk at Kmart for example. This way you have a nice clean crisp box with no retarded stickers on it.

My resent article told you of a system which you download games like a PayTV service. But what if you don’t have the interent at home? What if you need that latest update for your console or that new release title when all games go digital?

Simple you go down to EB select one of the many computers and then do what you do best. Insert a SD card to download games with a pin which transacts to your account, and then also download updates and other goodies.

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