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[chespace]

So if he left Ziff Davis tomorrow he could still blog there to his heart's content with no conflict of interest with his former employer or anything...right?

Sure, as long as it doesn't violate his severance agreement (i.e., ZD probably wouldn't want him spreading all of its secrets on his blog after he's left the company, etc.)

 

[teruterubozu]

Whatever - blogs are so gay

 

[Legal Step]

Sure, as long as it doesn't violate his severance agreement (i.e., ZD probably wouldn't want him spreading all of its secrets on his blog after he's left the company, etc.)

Ok..well then I suppose they do ulitmately serve their purpose without creating enemies for ZD.

Does EA own you guys?

 

[Shadax]

Are you guys actually complaining that editors are speaking candidly about the industry? You would rather have us be more like Famitsu or something?

A little OT, but I wonder what your bosses (or the general counsel) at ZD think about your support of piracy (i.e. BitTorrent). I often wonder how many game journalists (a.k.a. professional fanboys) have their hands in downloading (hell, even distributing) pirated games/movies/music.

But back on topic, I wholeheartedly support Davison and his opinion. DS deserves to have the harsh light of day shined on it.

 

[john tv]

Whatever - blogs are so gay

Sorry to do this to someone I know, but... this was a totally worthless post and it violated the TOS. You can come back in a few days. No hard feelings.

 

[Shadax]

Oh shit, the e-penises are out now, duck and cover everyone.

 

[Alcibiades]

btw, I don't feel totally negative towards John Davison, especially not as a person, reading what he is saying about his family was really heart-warming and funny, although it seemed really out of place right after a DS rant. LOLl I wish his wife and baby the best but I think anyone's issues would be with his gaming side...

I definitely think some of his comments are a little overdone, I mean whether he wants the best for Nintendo like John R. says, saying "What's with the barely-16-bit visuals?" about Wario Ware is silly because of all the media out there and especially the 2 Wario Ware games previously released in the US, and saying that Mr. Driller had the fun removed on the DS just didn't make sense to me; I mean it's a puzzle game, does Tetris or Puyo Pop get less fun on different systems?

I mean, he never took back these comments from early December '03:

"Sure, the GameCube is only $99, but they could give it away with boxes of Apple Jacks and it wouldn't help. The Cube is out of the race, and the real action is between the Xbox and the PS2."

The situation is different in '05, but after he made those comments the Cube came out on top of the XBox for 2 NPD reports and ended up beating XBox for that holiday season and Nintendo came in 2nd for the year and even had a shortage of GCN for Christmas (I send him an e-mail asking him for comment on his comments after the numbers were in but got no response)...

I first made a thread about those comments pre-NeoGAF it no longer exists but I think that is more than just worrying about Nintendo, but I can see he was OPM guy so hatin' on Nintendo was probably good for the audience except the Think Out Loud went to all EGM subscribers e-mails who signed up not just OPM...

I think the worst I ever said of him though was "who is this guy" or something like that in that thread in December '03 but I'm not hatin' and have never used insults though I would probably be classified anti-Davison only insofar as I'm pro-Kohler, just a general stance most Nintendo fans would take anyway...

 

[chespace]

A little OT, but I wonder what your bosses (or the general counsel) at ZD think about your support of piracy (i.e. BitTorrent). I often wonder how many game journalists (a.k.a. professional fanboys) have their hands in downloading (hell, even distributing) pirated games/movies/music.

But back on topic, I wholeheartedly support Davison and his opinion. DS deserves to have the harsh light of day shined on it.

Huh? What am I pirating or advocating people to pirate?

 

[FortNinety]

It's not as if Davison is personally insulting the fine folks at Nintendo or anything. He's simply voicing his frustration and concern over what he feels are bad business strategies for Nintendo when it comes to DS.

And yet when EGM gave Super Street Fighter a 6 or something, it pissed Capcom off so much that they pulled all ads for a while. So it may seem like nothing to you right now, for the game companies, its a big deal.

And while blogs seem harmless enough, as they grow in popularity and importance (well, if they continue to do so), what a game journalist says in his or her blog is going to be become more of an issue.

 

[chespace]

And yet when EGM gave Super Street Fighter a 6 or something, it pissed Capcom off so much that they pulled all ads for a while. So it may seem like nothing to you right now, for the game companies, its a big deal.

And while blogs seem harmless enough, as they grow in popularity and importance (well, if they continue to do so), what a game journalist says in his or her blog is going to be become more of an issue.

Yes, well Capcom pulling ads was unfortunate. Companies do it all the time because Ziff averages quite low in terms of scores relative to the other pubs... but oh well, what can you do?

It's the ever-present tension between sales and edit, and, you wouldn't know this of course, but I think it's pretty balanced at Ziff. We never hear complaints from sales folks who are getting harassed by publishers on the phone (at least not in the 5 or 6 years I've been at the company).

Again, thanks for your concern though. I'm sure it's something the higher ups think about on their way to work.

 

[Shadax]

Huh? What am I pirating or advocating people to pirate?

My bad, I confused you with "che." My apologies.

<---self-owned

 

[chespace]

My bad, I confused you with "che." My apologies.

<---self-owned

Now thoroughly confused. Who are you talking to, and what does "che" have to do with bittorrent?

You're about to own yourself twice!

On a more serious note, an online journalist I know just got stung in "Operation Fastlink" -- he sent an email out to publishers telling them what had happened. I guess it's better than all his contacts finding out via CNN. He'll be serving time, but I'm not sure for how long. FYI, he was heavy into warez.

Scary stuff.

 

[Ramirez]

Oh shit, the e-penises are out now, duck and cover everyone.

:lol :lol

 

[TekunoRobby]

On a more serious note, an online journalist I know just got stung in "Operation Fastlink" -- he sent an email out to publishers telling them what had happened. I guess it's better than all his contacts finding out via CNN. He'll be serving time, but I'm not sure for how long. FYI, he was heavy into warez.

My apologies for for asking but do you think you can explain the situation a bit more? I've always been interested in journalist piracy since I'm aware of quite a few of them help piracy groups in attaining the ISOs or roms of the games. Sorry for prying, thanks chespace.

 

[john tv]

Now thoroughly confused. Who are you talking to, and what does "che" have to do with bittorrent?

You're about to own yourself twice!

On a more serious note, an online journalist I know just got stung in "Operation Fastlink" -- he sent an email out to publishers telling them what had happened. I guess it's better than all his contacts finding out via CNN. He'll be serving time, but I'm not sure for how long. FYI, he was heavy into warez.

Scary stuff.

That dude was at my party last year. The DON was at my party! I feel like Arty Bucco.

 

[skip]

:lol :lol :lol

I'm just waiting for some gaming journalist to get on his/her soapbox and yell out, "Dammit, they both have assloads of weaksauce for software at the moment!", and end this charade right now.

dammit, they both have assloads of weaksauce for software at the moment.

but the DS still sucks.

 

[TekunoRobby]

NEVERMIND I got the info.

Seth Kleinberg was arrested lasty April as part of Operation Fastlink.

Here's the DOJ file: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/April/04_crm_263.htm

Here's a snippet of his letter:

I am sure you are aware of last April’s “Operation Fastlink.” Unfortunately, I made some bad choices, and was involved in the warez scene. I am accepting responsibility for what I did, and pleading guilty tomorrow in the United States District Court in Connecticut.
I am very sorry for what I have done, and after I serve my sentence, I hope I will be able to continue my career in the game industry, and move on with my life. This last year has been incredibly hard for me emotionally, facing the consequences of my bad choices, and I am hopeful for your support, but I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with me.

 

[Shadax]

Now thoroughly confused. Who are you talking to, and what does "che" have to do with bittorrent?

You're about to own yourself twice!

On a more serious note, an online journalist I know just got stung in "Operation Fastlink" -- he sent an email out to publishers telling them what had happened. I guess it's better than all his contacts finding out via CNN. He'll be serving time, but I'm not sure for how long. FYI, he was heavy into warez.

Scary stuff.

There's another poster on GAF named che who's very anti-copyright and pro-piracy (and thusly pro-BitTorrent) and I confused your nickname, chespace, with him. Hence my apology. Good to hear that asshole got nailed. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, jesus h. christ.

 

[Doth Togo]

On a more serious note, an online journalist I know just got stung in "Operation Fastlink" -- he sent an email out to publishers telling them what had happened. I guess it's better than all his contacts finding out via CNN. He'll be serving time, but I'm not sure for how long. FYI, he was heavy into warez.

 

[fennec fox]

Wow, I know Seth (though I haven't seen him lately). Sorry to hear about his warezin' habit.

 

[chespace]

Wow, I know Seth (though I haven't seen him lately). Sorry to hear about his warezin' habit.

15 (max) years, ain't no joke son.

 

[SantaC]

15 (max) years, ain't no joke son.

jesus that's tough.

 

[skip]

he'll probably receive less with his guilty plea. but still, too bad (all around).

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

Maybe he's hating on Wario Ware because its not fun? I seriously do not understand the Wario Ware hype. The Nintendo DS so far has been a disappointing machine. I still like it for whats coming out but lets be honest, its exceptionally weak. The Game Boy Advance had a lot of great titles right from the release and so did Game Boy Color. The only game worth owning right now is a 1996 port. I don't understand why he thinks that Mario 64 DS sucks because it wasn't meant for a D-Pad. I thought it was fine, it just took a few minutes to adjust. It added some much needed difficulty to a game that is pretty easy.

He criticizes Nintendo for the same reason I often do -- because he cares about them and wants them to stop being so out of touch with reality

Thats probably why most people dog Nintendo because they have done better in the past. Nintendo gets increasingly weaker. I hope they really have some surprises for E3, DS, and the Revolution. They've been slipping for nearly a half decade now.

 

[chespace]

Maybe he's hating on Wario Ware because its not fun? I seriously do not understand the Wario Ware hype. The Nintendo DS so far has been a disappointing machine. I still like it for whats coming out but lets be honest, its exceptionally weak. The Game Boy Advance had a lot of great titles right from the release and so did Game Boy Color. The only game worth owning right now is a 1996 port.

<cue someone's defense of the DS through its Japanese library>

 

[Catchpenny]

Come on, less DS/warez talk and more about John Davison's insightful commentary. GT4 is for people that really love cars! Did you know that God of War is the shit?!

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

dammit, they both have assloads of weaksauce for software at the moment.

but the DS still sucks.

Que?

Maybe he's hating on Wario Ware because its not fun? I seriously do not understand the Wario Ware hype. The Nintendo DS so far has been a disappointing machine. I still like it for whats coming out but lets be honest, its exceptionally weak. The Game Boy Advance had a lot of great titles right from the release and so did Game Boy Color. The only game worth owning right now is a 1996 port.

<cue someone's defense of the DS through its Japanese library>

Exactly my point; a spring lull after the inaugural holiday? No way! More (non-port) stuff is coming. I just hope people don't do the same around July with the PSP when it hits a lull in software coming down the pipeline in another quiet time of the year.