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Games under Ouya's "Free the Games" fund on Kickstarter looking suspicious

C

Camwi

Member
Holy crap, the devs are actually threatening to sue people now? The thought that that might give them negative press NEVER crossed their minds?
 
M

mclem

Member
ZealousD said:
http://kotaku.com/accused-kickstarter-scammers-we-are-not-scamming-anyb-1224503476
"To the best of our knowledge, we do not have a problem with falsified contributions. But there has been no violation of any KickStarter or Ouya rule."
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Fun linguistic fact:

To the best of our knowledge, we do not have a problem with X
Click to expand...

does not necessarily mean

To the best of our knowledge, we do not have X (Which would be problematic)
Click to expand...

It can easily mean

We have X, and (to the best of our knowledge) that is not a problem
Click to expand...
 
P

PetriP-TNT

Member
Reminder to self: if low on money, scam OUYA.

edit: Please see my OUYA Bitcoin Miner @ Kickstarter (funding goal: 100000 dollars (or 1000000 bitcoins if you please)
 
D

d0g_bear

Member
This program doesn't require games to be exclusive to Ouya forever - just six months. That other game "elementary my dear Holmes" is coming to windows abs Linux 6months after ouya release.
 
T

Tripon

Member
d0g_bear said:
This program doesn't require games to be exclusive to Ouya forever - just six months. That other game "elementary my dear Holmes" is coming to windows abs Linux 6months after ouya release.
Click to expand...

Considering how poor the OUYA is doing, that could be 6 months of dead time. People have got to eat, and even with the extra funding from OUYA, if your game is legitimately good and can sell on any platform, you really are looking at potential lost sales.
 
F

FunInfusedGames

Member
Tripon said:
Considering how poor the OUYA is doing, that could be 6 months of dead time. People have got to eat, and even with the extra funding from OUYA, if your game is legitimately good and can sell on any platform, you really are looking at potential lost sales.
Click to expand...

This is why I don't think a lot of legitimate games will take advantage of this promo. The base of installed Ouya devices isn't that high. Most of what we're seeing on Ouya is ports, which makes sense given that you can't really expect to sell a lot of copies.
 
M

mclem

Member
Tripon said:
Considering how poor the OUYA is doing, that could be 6 months of dead time. People have got to eat, and even with the extra funding from OUYA, if your game is legitimately good and can sell on any platform, you really are looking at potential lost sales.
Click to expand...

Lost, or simply postponed?
 
J

Jobbs

Banned
I'm a good example of the damage Ouya is doing to itself. I was very interested in it early on, I liked the idea of an easily accessible Indy console.. And I was still, at minimum, sympathetic to Ouya and hopeful for it even after it came out and the experience, most felt, was lackluster.

This shadiness is it, though. I can't deal with this. They've now got stink all over them and it'll be impossible to wash off.
 
P

Ponn

Banned
Man I really need to quit my job and start making money with Ouya and this Kickstarter thing. My first game, anyone remember that really old computer game where you typed in coordinates to make the giant monkey throw a banana and hit a target? I want to do that but it's throwing its own shit.
 
T

Tripon

Member
Not even being subtle.
g2bsbOk.png
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bTMIeyW.png
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L

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Dam, I need get into that gravy train I will kickstart an Ouya game for $10k if I get $15k in return. Just drop a PM!
 
F

Feep

Banned
Fuck these guys. I hate when people take advantage of a system like this.

However, the NFL is going to fuck them up, BAD. Good luck going against a team of lawyers nearly unrivaled in the United States.
 
T

Tripon

Member
Mogotxt, inc will be suing Steve Favis / Ameon, INC for allegations that Ameon posted as ‘Tyler Durden”

See below threaded e-mail from Mogotxt:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Steve,

Who do you think you are dealing with?

Post the apology now or suffer the consequences. I do not make empty threats.

Andrew Won

On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Steve Favis <steve@ameon.net> wrote:
I have terminated H**** *****(name) loosely around the time I contacted Perone. He was the one that made misrepresentations and he is gone.

Ameon was toast when I gave ***** permission to come on board.

He possibly might have access to my logins etc,.

Steve

ameon.net

On Aug 30, 2013, at 9:31 AM, “Andrew Won” <andy@mogotxt.com> wrote:
Mr. Favis,

And to be clear, I have all of the messages that you previously sent to the Chucklenauts including a nearly identical accusation that you made about us last month.

All that I need to do is put you under oath in a deposition and take you through a detailed set of questions about your statements and actions.

Then you and Ameon will be toast.

You should really consider posting that apology now. I will give you until 10:00 a.m. If you fail to do this, you should expect a complaint and summons from us early next week.

We will also start telling people how you lied to all of us about the technical team that you did not actually have and publish the apology that you sent to Will Perone about your behavior.

You have 30 minutes.

Andrew Won

On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 8:24 AM, Andrew Won <andy@mogotxt.com> wrote:
Mr. Favis,

Please let me know who your legal counsel is so that I can arrange for efficient transmittal of our complaint and summons.

I don’t think you realize what you have brought on yourself.

You should consult with your counsel.

Andy

On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 8:18 AM, Steve Favis <steve@ameon.net> wrote:
Dear Mr. Won,

I have read the email/ kickstarter thread you mentioned below.

As far as what you have said below about your accusations of me being ‘Tyler Durden’ -my best advice is to check your ‘irrefutable’ proof as you have obviously made a gross error.

Since you have threatened to sue, there will be no further communication between you and me. The only communication will be between your lawyer(s) and mine from now on.

Sincerely,

Steve Favis
ameon.net

On Aug 30, 2013, at 3:31 AM, “Andrew Won” <andy@mogotxt.com> wrote:

> Dear Mr. Favis:
>
> We know that you are the one who made the defamatory post on our KickStarter page as Tyler Durden.
>
> Before you attempt to deny this, you should know that we already have irrefutable evidence that it was you.
>
> Please read what I just posted in response to your defamatory statements and make a very forthcoming public apology on our KickStarter page as yourself this time (as Steve Favis of Ameon and not Tyler Durden) by 9:00 a.m. PDT or expect a major lawsuit to be filed and served against you and your company early next week.
>
> You should state in your apology that you had no basis for (1) accusing MogoTXT of money laundering (which is a very serious crime that I do not think you even understand the elements or gravity of) and (2) that you had no basis whatsoever for accusing me of being the subject of an ethical investigation when you made your statement (such a thing has never happened as you know).
>
> You should also explain in your written apology that when we recently considered retaining your company Ameon for some development work that you falsely represented to me and my colleagues that you had game developers working for you who did not actually work for you.
>
> It is time to come clean Steve and pay the piper for your sins.
>
> You will either come clean voluntarily as I have requested above by 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning or you will pay a very heavy price in litigation.
>
> Unlike some other lawyers, I always finish what I start. You cannot run and you cannot hide.
>
> Very truly yours,
>
> Andrew Won

_________________________________________________________________________________
Below is a statement from Steve Favis, Ameon INC regarding this matter:

This is simply a statement, a public statement nor an admission of any sort of the above accusations/ allegations.

First of all IF kickstarter discloses me (Steve Favis) as the above poster then there is some serious security/ confidentiality issues within their system as within 4 hours of this “Tyler Durden” Post, MojoTXT managed to pinpoint me as their ‘Tyler”.

If Kickstarter managed to have their system breeched and my usage stats/network footprint name placed in for ‘Tyler’s Durden’s” login credentials then Ameon, INC will be pursuing legal action on Kickstarter for their system getting breeched/hacked/pseudo’d as it has clearly caused damages to Ameon, INC.

Second, to MogoTXT and Chucklenauts congratulations on your successful kickstarter campaign.
Click to expand...

http://ameon.net/mogotxt/
 
V

Vamphuntr

Member
This is kind of funny. He's threatening to sue another guy because he thinks that person said in the comments section that the project is a scam. The thing is that well, it's really a scam with all the fake backers and he doesn't seem to have concrete proof that he's the one that made the comments.

Mr. Won doesn't look very professional. Mr. Faris said that from now on the case will be discussed between lawyers but Mr. Won doesn't seem to understand that. Mr. Won will soon understand what it means to be taken to court when EA and the NFL come banging at this door.
 
T

Tripon

Member
Neuromancer said:
Sounds like they got private backing.

Click to expand...

I don't think they got the private funding yet, or they would have mentioned it. Maybe they can get private funding, my question would be is if they do have access to private funding to make the game, why were they on KS in the first place?

I have my issues with KS, but one of the bigger ones are devs using it when they have the option and ability to get private funding instead.
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
Neuromancer said:
Sounds like they got private backing.

Click to expand...
Marketing 101. Create controversy. Buzz about the controversy. Pretend there is no controversy. Cancel the project and say "We got private backing." Release the game when its done and people will already know about your game more than any other indie in the same position as them.

Cheapest marketing ever.
 
S

Septimius

Junior Member
shagg_187 said:
Marketing 101. Create controversy. Buzz about the controversy. Pretend there is no controversy. Cancel the project and say "We got private backing." Release the game when its done and people will already know about your game more than any other indie in the same position as them.

Cheapest marketing ever.
Click to expand...

Or better yet. They're set with the NFL game.

Pretend you'll make it, say some crazy thing about having rights. Put 50k of your own money into it in various ways, get OUYA to double that money. Get a Cease&Desist letter from EA. Stop making the game, and blame EA. Keep the money. Say it had to go to lawyer fees.
 
T

Tripon

Member
Septimius said:
Or better yet. They're set with the NFL game.

Pretend you'll make it, say some crazy thing about having rights. Put 50k of your own money into it in various ways, get OUYA to double that money. Get a Cease&Desist letter from EA. Stop making the game, and blame EA. Keep the money. Say it had to go to lawyer fees.
Click to expand...

If I was a developer who has a game on OUYA, I'd be pretty mad at OUYA right now. They basically turned a potentially good marketing angle blow up in their faces because they couldn't do simple background checks for their marketing campaign.
 
V

Vigilant Gambit

Member
shagg_187 said:
Marketing 101. Create controversy. Buzz about the controversy. Pretend there is no controversy. Cancel the project and say "We got private backing." Release the game when its done and people will already know about your game more than any other indie in the same position as them.

Cheapest marketing ever.
Click to expand...

Er, this would kind of make sense, except the project was suspended by Kickstarter rather than canceled by the project creator.

Septimius said:
Or better yet. They're set with the NFL game.

Pretend you'll make it, say some crazy thing about having rights. Put 50k of your own money into it in various ways, get OUYA to double that money. Get a Cease&Desist letter from EA. Stop making the game, and blame EA. Keep the money. Say it had to go to lawyer fees.
Click to expand...

It sounds like they either found a legal loophole or otherwise got a license to make the game. Non-EA NFL-branded football games are not unheard of. See: NFL Rivals for iOS by Naturalmotion.

I speculate that these allowances are all by games that are not in direct competition with Madden.

Edit: And I think the way Gridiron Thunder gets around any issues is that you're only able to play using fantasy teams, not real teams.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
As for Elementary, My Dear Holmes, Chandola told Joystiq that he is turning to other funding methods. "We had quite a few venture capitalists interested in the project after seeing our initial pitch video and the traction we were getting, and that is the path that we will be taking now," he said. "I have already received mails from a few of them after the plug was pulled expressing their support and interest for the project, so Elementary, My Dear Holmes will definitely be a game that will see the light of day."

Ouya added, "We are confident in Kickstarter's process for verifying the integrity of campaigns on their site. We launched this fund to find the next great game developer as determined by gamers. It's unfortunate that this has happened, but we know the next great game is out there."
Click to expand...
http://m.joystiq.com/2013/09/06/ouy...kstarter/?post=1&icid=joystiq_home_latest_art
 
X

Xanathus

Member
The "private backing" is likely coming from Ouya themselves, considering how blatantly they ignored the allegations and controversy it seems obvious to me that Ouya themselves were the ones funding the fake backers in the first place.THIS IS ALL MY PERSONAL OPINION DON'T SUE ME.
 
A

Axass

Member
Meanwhile game journalists:

<<Kojima said he's exploiting horny teenagers!!!11!!!1!!!!1!!!!!111!!>>

<<The Death Of Nintendo Has Been Greatly Under-Exaggerated>>

<<It was pure Hollywood. A random, breathtaking moment of awesome directly stemming from a decision I made. A purely emergent, life-and-death dance more exciting than every pre-constructed, quick-time event I’ve ever half-heartedly button-bashed my way through.

Make no mistake; Grand Theft Auto V is made of moments just like this.

And it feels incredible>>
 
C

CTLance

Member
Axass said:
Meanwhile game journalists:

<<Kojima said he's exploiting horny teenagers!!!11!!!1!!!!1!!!!!111!!>>

<<The Death Of Nintendo Has Been Greatly Under-Exaggerated>>

<<It was pure Hollywood. A random, breathtaking moment of awesome directly stemming from a decision I made. A purely emergent, life-and-death dance more exciting than every pre-constructed, quick-time event I’ve ever half-heartedly button-bashed my way through.

Make no mistake; Grand Theft Auto V is made of moments just like this.

And it feels incredible>>
Click to expand...
Add to that neogafs reaction.
hcb0ar1.jpg
+
N8ESDlo.jpg
 
M

monlo

Member
this is almost comedy to a different level. And not just like a "make fun of Ouya" sorta way. Just in general, it's all cracking me up. What a circus.
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
I'm sure Gridiron Thunder will absolutely not look and feel like a game that's been slapped together in about two months on a budget of about $50k. Clearly just a lot of very generous backers really want this game on their extremely niche console. And Ouya are so desperate for a bit of publicity and some exclusive games they'll willingly be duped out of hundreds of thousands.
 
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