LionHearted78 Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) I really can't believe the way that Mr. Kennedy decided to address this whole debacle. Even a year later after initially hearing about all of this, I'm dumbfounded regarding the way this was addressed. Almost like it would have been better to say nothing at all. So you are looking to start this Coleco project and basically do no research into whom your hiring or to even check if they are qualified to do what they say they can do, despite the aforementioned issues with the original idea, never take one look at what was being made, if it worked correctly, how it ran...etc. Why in the world would you feel confident going to ANY convention with no knowledge on anything regarding the development, how the unit worked or what was going on with the project at all?? What sort of person managing a project and trying to build a multi-million dollar Kickstarter campaign would do something like that? You either have to be an effing MORON or you know you are trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes AGAIN. In this case it sounds like a little bit of both. I in no way would go into a convention presenting ANY type of product without knowing 100% how the unit was built, what hardware it ran off of and the development process. Especially for such a high profile project. How can you complain about someones criminal history if you never bothered to look into ANY of that before you hired the person? I'm not saying that "Lee" wasn't shady, but people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. With regards to anyone that signed onto the project to possibly develop games, why would you do so without seeing a working demo and meeting with the entire team? Who the hell in business takes peoples words for stuff without any proof? Not to beat a dead horse, but hopefully these people have learned a valuable business lesson. One that they probably should have learned LONG ago. Edited January 19, 2017 by LionHearted78 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 I know it was already said, but cart makers can't be reminded too much: rvgs_simpleasthat.png I really can't believe the way that Mr. Kennedy decided to address this whole debacle. Even a year later after initially hearing about all of this, I'm dumbfounded regarding the way this was addressed. Almost like it would have been better to say nothing at all. Just FYI, that Facebook post was old. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I really can't believe the way that Mr. Kennedy decided to address this whole debacle. Even a year later after initially hearing about all of this, I'm dumbfounded regarding the way this was addressed. Almost like it would have been better to say nothing at all. So you are looking to start this Coleco project and basically do no research into whom your hiring or to even check if they are qualified to do what they say they can do, despite the aforementioned issues with the original idea, never take one look at what was being made, if it worked correctly, how it ran...etc. Why in the world would you feel confident going to ANY convention with no knowledge on anything regarding the development, how the unit worked or what was going on with the project at all?? What sort of person managing a project and trying to build a multi-million dollar Kickstarter campaign would do something like that? You either have to be an effing MORON or you know you are trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes AGAIN. In this case it sounds like a little bit of both. I in no way would go into a convention presenting ANY type of product without knowing 100% how the unit was built, what hardware it ran off of and the development process. Especially for such a high profile project. How can you complain about someones criminal history if you never bothered to look into ANY of that before you hired the person? I'm not saying that "Lee" wasn't shady, but people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. With regards to anyone that signed onto the project to possibly develop games, why would you do so without seeing a working demo and meeting with the entire team? Who the hell in business takes peoples words for stuff without any proof? Not to beat a dead horse, but hopefully these people have learned a valuable business lesson. One that they probably should have learned LONG ago. From my experience (part owner of the original company that the console originated from, original designer on the project, many years of knowing MK as a close friend and co-host, and having spent DOZENS of hours on the phone with Sean as he was involved with this console) I think it all boils down that MK wanted to get past the gatekeepers by shortcutting the prototype process because he didn't have the resources to properly develop one. His master plan was to get the funding then worry about the design (other than words), and as I have said in the past China would have eaten him alive and the thing would have never shipped. He expressed that thought to me citing that he felt OYOU didn't really have a prototype, and asked Sean, Clay Cowgil, and I believe one more person, for a smoke and mirrors prototype for Kickstarter. Remember, they tried the RVGS Indigogo with a mountain of renders and only produced the first fake prototype when it started spiraling that they didn't have any prototype. While the others asked flatly refused to create a fake Sean was willing to. Perhaps that speaks to his alleged past, or not. However he was compromised enough by that past to be a plausible scapegoat, at least in MK's view, others didn't buy it. I believe that Sean did exactly what MK asked, gave him a smoke and mirrors prototype that MK knew was fake and MK went out and presented it to the world as the real deal. If you want to read a few hundred pages back we along with Stone Age Gamer proved that RetroGaming Roundup received and reviewed the SD2SNES multicart that MK claimed was an original prototype made by them. I mean shit, it had the word prototype printed right on it! LOL. So when the heat came down that the NYC and DVR prototypes were fake, true to the established pattern someone had to go under the bus and be the scapegoat and Sean was damn convenient. And add to that the fact that MK knows nothing about software/hardware development, that is why the project was totally absent of any of the normal ephemera that would surround such an undertaking. The only semblance of a normal development environment was what Kevtris, myself, and Clay tried to inject and it was rejected out of hand by MK in favor of more buzzwords and hype. Again, a few hundred pages back our thoughts on the total lack of a normal managed development process are pretty clearly stated. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LionHearted78 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 From my experience (part owner of the original company that the console originated from, original designer on the project, many years of knowing MK as a close friend and co-host, and having spent DOZENS of hours on the phone with Sean as he was involved with this console) I think it all boils down that MK wanted to get past the gatekeepers by shortcutting the prototype process because he didn't have the resources to properly develop one. His master plan was to get the funding then worry about the design (other than words), and as I have said in the past China would have eaten him alive and the thing would have never shipped. He expressed that thought to me citing that he felt OYOU didn't really have a prototype, and asked Sean, Clay Cowgil, and I believe one more person, for a smoke and mirrors prototype for Kickstarter. Remember, they tried the RVGS Indigogo with a mountain of renders and only produced the first fake prototype when it started spiraling that they didn't have any prototype. While the others asked flatly refused to create a fake Sean was willing to. Perhaps that speaks to his alleged past, or not. However he was compromised enough by that past to be a plausible scapegoat, at least in MK's view, others didn't buy it. I believe that Sean did exactly what MK asked, gave him a smoke and mirrors prototype that MK knew was fake and MK went out and presented it to the world as the real deal. If you want to read a few hundred pages back we along with Stone Age Gamer proved that RetroGaming Roundup received and reviewed the SD2SNES multicart that MK claimed was an original prototype made by them. I mean shit, it had the word prototype printed right on it! LOL. So when the heat came down that the NYC and DVR prototypes were fake, true to the established pattern someone had to go under the bus and be the scapegoat and Sean was damn convenient. And add to that the fact that MK knows nothing about software/hardware development, that is why the project was totally absent of any of the normal ephemera that would surround such an undertaking. The only semblance of a normal development environment was what Kevtris, myself, and Clay tried to inject and it was rejected out of hand by MK in favor of more buzzwords and hype. Again, a few hundred pages back our thoughts on the total lack of a normal managed development process are pretty clearly stated. Thank you so much for your kind and thorough reply. The AtariAge community is really awesome. I planned on going back and reading through this whole history of events (most of which I have gotten piecemeal over the past year from podcasts and different youtubers) but I had the main sticking points down. I guess a lot of that I was kinda alluding to in my original post, although admittedly, sarcastically. I appreciate the more insider information regarding the project though. Based on some of this newer information that I wasn't quite aware of and with this information added to what I already knew, there is no other way in my mind that Mr. Kennedy had any other intentions than to cheat his backers and the public. What he hoped to accomplish after that is beyond me. It's fairly apparent to me that he didn't think any of this through at all even if his intent was to cheat people out of money. I mean this wasn't even that good of a con job. I mean even if he did intend to do this just to get the money to develop a REAL console and try to hide that from anyone, I have no idea how he figured he would accomplish that considering he knows nothing about console development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I believe that Sean did exactly what MK asked, gave him a smoke and mirrors prototype that MK knew was fake and MK went out and presented it to the world as the real deal. Wow. He was really telling everyone to have trust, that they where working 'diligently' on their prototype etc. (for the second time...) The only semblance of a normal development environment was what Kevtris, myself, and Clay tried to inject and it was rejected out of hand by MK in favor of more buzzwords and hype. That's sad. I think I still like the idea, but at a smaller scale, not trying to take over the world. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Sauron Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Keiren Hawken 'The Laird' is now involved with Mike and has just uploaded a video 'review' of Retro Magazine on youtube saying how brilliant it is. Totally impartial of course. Wow, the combined powers of a scam artist and pathological liar will create a rupture in the space-time continuum. We're f****d. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 (edited) Sauron, on 20 Jan 2017 - 2:35 PM, said: Wow, the combined powers of a scam artist and pathological liar will create a rupture in the space-time continuum. We're f****d. Not only that, but he's gotten involved in one of the Atari retro gaming podcasts also. I stopped listening once I found that out, which I hated to do as I like the show and the other hosts, but I have the same gut turning reaction that you do to that liar. Edited January 20, 2017 by SoulBlazer 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Not only that, but he's gotten involved in one of the Atari retro gaming podcasts also. I stopped listening once I found that out, which I hated to do as I like the show and the other hosts, but I have the same gut turning reaction that you do to that liar. I know exactly which podcast you're talking about. I hadn't heard of it until recently, but it is focused on an area that I'm interested in, so I checked it out and got as far as the names of the hosts. As soon as I saw "Liard" on the list, I said "Nope. Sorry. It might be a fun podcast, but I guess I'll never find out." The fact that he's now associated himself with Mike just gives me one more good reason to avoid anything that either of them are involved in. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) He also appears in 'Retro Gamer' (that other retro magazine...) Edited January 21, 2017 by roland p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Personally I was just surprised that he tried to fake it after the Toy Fair He totally faked it as a idiot, as 90% of the forum could tell in the first 10 minutes that the PCB ends right before the cart, since Kennedy Used a bright blue PCB Not to mention he made sure to show clearly the dozen of so Capacitors and non of the big chips had the Altera or Xilinx marks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClassyGamer Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I think one of my favorite parts of the whole Coleco Chameleon debacle, was how fast the pictures of the DVR card prototype fake came down after being outed. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I liked how fast it was identified. Three days, and the AA sleuths had the exact board! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 When does this system release? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StopDrop&Retro Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 My favorite memory is the dead silence from the morning of the Kickstarter campaign launch. It was such a tense moment mixed with confusion, skepticism and hilarity. Remember, this was back when Mike still had an army of insufferable fanatics defending him on Facebook so when launch day came and Mike disappeared it was so gratifying to read their posts as they squirmed around trying to figure out what went wrong. Then over here it was just validation that we were right and Mike truly didn't have anything to show. Meanwhile he was deleting bad Facebook comments even quicker than usual so we all knew he was still around, only fueling more interest as to why the KS campaign wasn't live. For them to go dead silent something had to be going catastrophically wrong. I was literally laughing out loud all day while this went down. Then he finally reappeared in the late afternoon announcing a delay "TO MAKE IT EVEN BETTER!!" That first line in the update has to qualify as an assassination attempt because I almost fucking died of laughter. After all the build up to this much anticipated day by both fans and critics, he arrives fashionably late and acting as if nothing is wrong. That update post was the cherry on top and it included the debut of the final 'capture card' prototype. His last bluff before he lost it all. Truly a magical day in RVGStory. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 OK, I'll play. My favorite moment, was the moment my phone rang mid morning the day after the DVR card was identified and it was none other than Socal Mike who I had not spoken to since the Indigogo era, who was no doubt following up on the email he sent to UK Mike and I earlier that morning trying to plant to story that he woke up and saw the DVR pics posted on our FB site and almost fell out of bed and desperately wanted to talk to us because he was clueless as to what was going on. That story of course runs counter to the images being deleted from their FB page within about 20 min of the DVR card being identified. But, even if I had been inclined to take the call, I was busy on the phone with Chris at River West/Coleco advising him on how to effectively demand the prototypes be submitted for inspection. I recall saying to him, HOLY SMOKES Chris, you will not believe who just tried to call me! Never doubt that RIver West/Coleco were deadly serious about doing the right thing as soon as the evidence was in front of them, their quick thinking and default position of honestly likely saved the brand for future re-emergence. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 The Carlsen video took this thing to a new level, and stands out to me in this sea of craziness. I was absolutely flabbergasted. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 My favorite memory is the dead silence from the morning of the Kickstarter campaign launch. It was such a tense moment mixed with confusion, skepticism and hilarity. Remember, this was back when Mike still had an army of insufferable fanatics defending him on Facebook so when launch day came and Mike disappeared it was so gratifying to read their posts as they squirmed around trying to figure out what went wrong. Then over here it was just validation that we were right and Mike truly didn't have anything to show. Meanwhile he was deleting bad Facebook comments even quicker than usual so we all knew he was still around, only fueling more interest as to why the KS campaign wasn't live. For them to go dead silent something had to be going catastrophically wrong. I was literally laughing out loud all day while this went down. Then he finally reappeared in the late afternoon announcing a delay "TO MAKE IT EVEN BETTER!!" That first line in the update has to qualify as an assassination attempt because I almost fucking died of laughter. After all the build up to this much anticipated day by both fans and critics, he arrives fashionably late and acting as if nothing is wrong. That update post was the cherry on top and it included the debut of the final 'capture card' prototype. His last bluff before he lost it all. Truly a magical day in RVGStory. The fact that the planned Kickstarter was on my birthday made this even better for me. I'm sure I had a MUCH better day then MK, playing games at Dave and Busters on hardware that actually, you know, existed. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I decided to get involved with nonexistent & fake hardware, too. Played emulators all day. While MK was furiously deleting baddie posts I was furiously blasting aliens. I cornered them little bastards too. All on fake hardware. FAKE HARDWARE!! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I'll be one of the first in line for a printed copy, too. But if it can only be released in electronic form, I'll be sure to preserve it forever the Mike way: by writing the book contents onto a extra-long-life ROM, which I will then mount inside a limited edition Jaguar cartridge. Then I'll label the cartridge with my little P-Touch label printer and show it off at trade shows. Are you going to instruct the publisher to make it typo-free? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 My three favorite moments were the SNEZ Mini Toy fair prototype, and BTBfilms doing a video expose on how MK wanted him to shoot a forgery, which he promptly refused, and the other big expose podcast by Piko/Eli about his phonecall with the mysterious Dr Lee aka Sean Robinson. The sheer stupidity involved in this circus literally could not have been fabricated or made up! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 (edited) ...and the other big expose podcast by Piko/Eli about his phonecall with the mysterious Dr Lee aka Sean Robinson.Has 'Dr Lee' already spoken? His side of the story would be interesting too. BTBfilms could make a nice movie out of it. Seriously, his first movie about the Retrovgs was done really nice. I wan't to credit him for actually doing 'work' on this project. Edited January 22, 2017 by roland p 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schizophretard Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 One of my favorite memories was the reveal of the stupid name and the announcement that,"Coleco is back!" 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Every time the big man opened his yap was pure comedy genius. This was my favorite: That "COLECO is Back" title was added at the last minute by our PR firm. And I guess we can all debate what "Back" means. In a sense it is back. Even if in name only. The future of what that means remains to be seen. If this product, with the COLECO name on it, becomes a success at some level, then what will that mean? Is it "back" then? Is there a future in that brand to bring out or lend their name to other "new" products? I really don't think most are reading much more into it other than, "Hey, it would be cool to see that brand name back on a new product." The Chameleon will be the first "new" forward thinking product to adorn that brand name and none of us know where it could take the brand. It was never our intention to indicate this was anything but a licensing deal. All together now: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Never doubt that RIver West/Coleco were deadly serious about doing the right thing as soon as the evidence was in front of them, their quick thinking and default position of honestly likely saved the brand for future re-emergence. Mmm.. They were dumb enough to have gotten fooled by MK all the way to the toy fair though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Mmm.. They were dumb enough to have gotten fooled by MK all the way to the toy fair though. To be fair, Mike's bull crap was the variety that might actually sound good to someone outside the hobby. If you didn't know squat about pre-Xbox video games and didn't have the luxury of knowing about Mike's later lies (SnesJag, DVR) then it might have sounded believable that the RVGS was a viable concept that just didn't have enough funding or publicity. It's geeks like us that knew enough to say "There are no real specs" and "There are a dozen real products on the market today that can already do this." Post-indiegogo Kennedy still had many layers of dirt to go before hitting rock bottom. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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