deckardbr Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 At this point someone needs to do an on camera sit down interview with Mike or a podcast interview. I think enough time has passed (except this thread!) where he can do a sober look back and talk about what really happened. And plug his magazine as incentive to even do the interview. Certainly an interview with him would be a major "get" and would drive up big views to a youtube page. If anything it would be entertaining. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Yeah, but it couldn't be a softball interview, he's done tons of those. Someone would have to sit down with an exact timetable and say "On date x, you said y, when z was known to be true. Why was that?" He wouldn't do it. If be shocked if he's moved beyond the "I was the biggest victim of all" Schtick. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 (edited) He already answered that question in the post earlier in the thread: he felt he had to keep going. At least he had the decency to stop before the kickstarter, but we'll never know if it was his own choice or if his hand was forced by a third party given the overwhelming evidence of the project becoming a disaster. Either way I think its also better for him that the thing is over. He can focus on something else and learn from this to be more open in future endeavours. Edited June 3, 2016 by Newsdee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Well, at least he can do the 'focus on something else' bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Certainly an interview with him would be a major "get" and would drive up big views to a youtube page. If anything it would be entertaining. Ugh, not for me. I like reading him in print, where he can be quoted and held to his words. In person, he's slippery and talks too much, "entertaining" or not. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 (edited) Yeah, but it couldn't be a softball interview, he's done tons of those. Someone would have to sit down with an exact timetable and say "On date x, you said y, when z was known to be true. Why was that?" He wouldn't do it. If be shocked if he's moved beyond the "I was the biggest victim of all" Schtick. If someone sued him civilly, he wouldn't have much of a choice in the matter. He would be deposed and have to give testimony if the case went to trial. West River Brands/Coleco may have a case for fraud and damages for tarnishing their brand. He would not be able to field only the softballs. He already answered that question in the post earlier in the thread: he felt he had to keep going. At least he had the decency to stop before the kickstarter, but we'll never know if it was his own choice or if his hand was forced by a third party given the overwhelming evidence of the project becoming a disaster. Either way I think its also better for him that the thing is over. He can focus on something else and learn from this to be more open in future endeavours. His choice was forced on him by the uncovering of his pathological lying. He had no prototype, he lost his branding partner, his kickstarter campaign would have never have gotten off the ground. I see no reason why his future endeavors would be any more positive than his existing endeavors. A pattern of lying, using and discarding people, suspicious activity and constant disappointments and delays is what you can expect from him. Edited June 3, 2016 by Great Hierophant 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 I was being civil he will have to do a lot of effort to recover the reputation he's lost as far as I'm concerned. At least with the latest Retro deal it's pretty obvious what's up. Exorbitant shipping fees notwithstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidGameR186496 Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 (edited) And this topic doesn't even end,after all the stuff that happend. Edited June 3, 2016 by KidGameR186496 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKMike Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 We thought about doing a tell all interview but there were a lot of prerequisites. Also, there is no way he can come clean on all the shenanigans so in that case, what's the point? 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amstari Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 I agree with all that, with one exception: Mike Kennedy shouldn't be banned from the forum. It needs to be clear that he doesn't visit because he's too much of a coward, not because he isn't allowed. Mike has made a post on AA recently just not in this topic. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/250420-ok-seriously-tempted-by-vr/page-3?do=findComment&comment=3510139 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 If someone sued him civilly, he wouldn't have much of a choice in the matter. He would be deposed and have to give testimony if the case went to trial. West River Brands/Coleco may have a case for fraud and damages for tarnishing their brand. He would not be able to field only the softballs. That would be interesting. I always found it fascinating that "Coleco" was willing to license the brand with nothing up front except for the same empty promises that were given to the public. I do not think there's much of a case they could make though, they were completely negligent here, giving MK the benefit of the doubt in spite of not having a speck of proof that he could deliver. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 That would be interesting. I always found it fascinating that "Coleco" was willing to license the brand with nothing up front except for the same empty promises that were given to the public. I do not think there's much of a case they could make though, they were completely negligent here, giving MK the benefit of the doubt in spite of not having a speck of proof that he could deliver. They had his word as a gentleman, and a firm handshake, which should be all that is needed 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 (edited) That would be interesting. I always found it fascinating that "Coleco" was willing to license the brand with nothing up front except for the same empty promises that were given to the public. I do not think there's much of a case they could make though, they were completely negligent here, giving MK the benefit of the doubt in spite of not having a speck of proof that he could deliver. Mike secured the rights sometime around the "inkjet printed prototype" stage, so if he showed them what he had and said that it was ANYTHING other than paper and rubber bands, Coleco could technically say Mike defrauded them. At this stage, we don't know what Mike said he had (if anything), but he could theoretically be on the hook if he promised them anything other than magic beans. This is all academic, however, as I'm pretty sure Coleco Holdings won't pursue Mike. Right now, they just want to be rid of him and the bad publicity he brings. They want to let a sleeping dog lie. Filing a suit would accomplish exactly the opposite of what they want. Also, bear in mind that an effective suit has to claim damages. They'd have to quantify the damage Mike did to their brand, which isn't impossible, but would cost them more money than it would return. I agree with you on one thing, though. Coleco definitely thought outside the box (and not in a good way) when they partnered with Mike. I would be interested to know what he said/did/promised that got him that sweet licensing deal. Was it as simple as writing a check, or did he actually have some snazzy presentation to dazzle them? Edited June 3, 2016 by godslabrat 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 I agree that Coleco is unlikely to sue Mike Kennedy, there is little to gain by such a lawsuit. Plus, if you claim fraud, you must be able to prove something like the following : https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/1900/1900.html If Coleco's claim were to fail, it would probably start at the "reasonably relied on" requirement. #5. What about Sean "Lee" Robinson? He may have a defamation (libel/slander) case against Mike Kennedy. Now there is a lawsuit that can provide lots of entertainment and further development of the story. I'd certainly like to be a fly on the wall during their mutual depositions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Reading back through some of this, now that enough time has passed that things are very calm -- although I suspect there's still more to be coming out soon -- it just strikes me again something that I thought off at the time but the sheer, oh, I don't know how to phrase this -- WTF nature of it just hits me over the head. More then a year passed in which this project was being worked on, with money spent, people doing some kind of work, cheating and lying, backtracking, FB announcements, planned Kickstarter's, hype videos, announcements..... And not ONCE was there EVER A WORKING PROTOYPE! Talk about putting the cart before the horse! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leods Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Talk about putting the cart before the horse! You just have no business sense. The project was geniuous. With 2 million bucks you buy the cart, you buy the horse, you pay someone to put the horses in front of the cart, you pay someone else to make the whole stuff run, and you still have a million dollars to save your other failed businesses. The project was perfect. The only flaw in the whole plan was: For once, people were not stupid enough to give the 2 million dollars. Other projects like Mighty number 9 worked on the same basis. They released what, 2 games with the funding for Mighty number 9, and the promised game comes soon... Capcom is not even mad at Inafune for doing th megaman game and not giving them a cut. They're mad at how much better than them he was at milking the fans of their franchise. One of these days I swear, You'll see Microsoft crowdfunding Office 2020. for only 60 buck you get the license for a year. BTW, do people actually do that rental to use F*** office? I am 100% sure Mikes whole though procvess was: There is stuff even worse out there, so this should not be a problem. It's like that guy that steals, and beats his wife, but hey, he never touched the kids.. He's such a nice guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 The difference is unlike this vaporware project we can actually expect Mighty Number 9 to come out in our lifetimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leods Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 The difference is unlike this vaporware project we can actually expect Mighty Number 9 to come out in our lifetimes. If the first IGG was successfull it was highly likely it would be released. Even if a year or two later. For the money they were asking it was ridiculously easy to make the console. To be honest, Inafune had much less reason to ask for crowdfunding than Mike had. How much money did the guy need to just make and publish a new megaman-line game? With his experience and name he could put something out in around 6 months and with that raise funds to start working on a larger project. But he went the crowdfunding rounte, got an absolutely diriculous ammount of money for making a 2D platformer, and still they delay the game. I'm not defending Mike, what he did was terrible. But the fact is, it's done all the time. You can go right now to IGG, you'll fund 10 projects more flawed and useless than the Retro VGS. Of course, by the time this was the Coleco Chameleon things were actually even worse, and at that point I have to agree, there is no evidence something could be released. But officially they never asked for money. Everything was so ridiculous the project never went up. In a way, after a while of reflecting on this all I kinda believe it is possible Mike was conned. I am not saying he was, but I find that a possibility. But still, the level of negligence is just amazing. But at the same time Coleco was on-board, and were just as negligent, and there were other people in the community defending the project even during the SNES fiasco. That's damn negligent too. And yet, Mike is a scumbag, and everyone else was just conned by Mike. Well, to me, if Mike is guilty even if he WAS conned by Mr. Lee, than these other people who turned a blind eye are just as guilty for being conned by Mike. And there I go inflating this pile of junk here. Now just take into consideration, I am still talking about the Retro VGS, not discussing wether Mike's socks stink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StopDrop&Retro Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Reading back through some of this, now that enough time has passed that things are very calm -- although I suspect there's still more to be coming out soon -- it just strikes me again something that I thought off at the time but the sheer, oh, I don't know how to phrase this -- WTF nature of it just hits me over the head. More then a year passed in which this project was being worked on, with money spent, people doing some kind of work, cheating and lying, backtracking, FB announcements, planned Kickstarter's, hype videos, announcements..... And not ONCE was there EVER A WORKING PROTOYPE! Talk about putting the cart before the horse! Without trying to sound pompus, we now live in a "post-RETRO VGS" world. So of course there's going to be a big "WTF nature" when looking back at the history of what happened here. It is a defining moment in crowdfunding and it has made an impact on how the public approaches starry-eyed project creators from now on. Before some people started asking Mike the tough questions, believe it or not, but people just weren't asking tough questions. People here ate right out of his hand. Remember, he didn't even know you needed a prototype on Kickstarter until I wrote about it on NeoGAF. No one was demanding that he show his work before that and you guys just assumed he was "hard at work" and that a cardboard PCB is one step away from the real thing. That kind of shit will never fly again. Some people will argue - "it's so sad, now real creators are under even more scrutiny and have an even harder time trying to bring something to the market." Which is an incredibly idiotic thing to say, I couldn't disagree more. The only thing we ever asked was that Mike meet the minimum requirements to get on Kickstarter. Simple as that! (sorry, I couldn't resist) If he was able to make a real working prototype and raise $1m on KS, I'd still call his backers idiots but he'd be completely entitled to take that money. But no, instead he wanted his own "special exception" to launch a KS without a prototype or a SNES in a Jag shell to skirt the rules. So the only additional burden creators bear today as a result of Mike is the burden to not be an asshole e-beggar that lies through his teeth and refuses to start working until the check clears. So yes, the RVGS story is humorously absurd in hindsight and we are now much more critical of project creators, but I'm proud of that. We should have been that way since the beginning, it's your money at stake, not theirs. I'm glad we look back on this and ask "WTF??" because that's a question we should ask about a lot of projects today. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 I think that right off the bat there were quite a few people not drinking the Kool-Aid. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 369 isn't far from 400. It can happen if you believe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevnaguy Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Ok, I have not said much on this whole fiasco but now I am. This is the last straw http://www.ebay.com/sch/socalvideogames/m.html?_nkw&_armrs=1&_ipg&_from&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2046732.m1684 That son of a @!@ is selling off some stuff that I gave him for the ColecoVisions podcast that was not to be sold! He even attempted to sell of a item I paid for and sent to him to play with the understanding it was not to be sold but returned to me. He unfriended me on facebook, stopped calling and such. Dont know what the hell I did, but did take heat for his stupidity by being a so called "friend". Now he is happily selling off stuff that I asked not to be sold due to being on loan. PiperCub and UKMike were definately correct about him - use a friend then dump them. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Wow what a piece of crap he is . Very sorry that he did that to you . Does he not own GameGavel ? If he does why would he sell things on ebay I wonder .. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
random_dave Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Wow what a piece of crap he is . Very sorry that he did that to you . Does he not own GameGavel ? If he does why would he sell things on ebay I wonder ..Perhaps because noone would see them if they were only on gamegavel Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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