Game Lawyer Calls Bobby Kotick "Emperor Palpatine"

[soapyshooter]

well its up to Ben and Luke (West and Zampella) to win the lawsuit and get Kotick kicked out.

 

[Gindil]

I don't get why everyone gets all up in bobby koticks shit. sure, he is just a "corporate overlord", but, so is every one at the head of every game company.
personally, I think the guy is kinda endearing, especially the more recent shit thats been going on.


what exactly has he done to warrant this hate? other than some out of context quotes, I mean.

EDIT:

pictures snipped

yeah, if we are comparing miyamoto to kotick; why don't we compare their companies, because thats basically what it comes down to:
nintendo is a sloppy old whore that used to make great, engaging, original games, and now just retreads old ground, and is also responsible for the wii, an abomination. Activision company that is seeming to learn from its mistakes: less GH games this year etc, and that has lately seemed to be at least trying to explore new ground with games like mirrors edge and dead space (the former more than the latter). yet, because the current generation of gamers were breastfed by nintendo, they are given accolades, and activision has unreasonable hate thrust apon it (note: I don't love activision, I don't even like them that much, they just haven't been killing my close family members, as they apparently have been doing to the majority of gaming enthusiasts)

Whoa there pardner...

Mirror's Edge and Dice are EA. Same with Dead Space. The Guitar Hero is the very fact that the company that made the controllers was split up by Kotick. He doesn't care about the games he makes. Merely the money that they bring in.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I dunno he seems more like Guado (or whatever alien had Anakin as a slave) than Palpatine, Atkinson is far more like Palpatine.

 

[ReverseEngineered]

About time somebody put Kotick in his place. What a wonderful ribbing! Now get that pompous prick out of the way so we can have more good games and less regurgitated money-making shit.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Well, Palpatine was smart at least, if a bit insidious (I think I misspelled that).
Kotick is... stupid. Or crazy with money. Or maybe a main villain, yet to be defeated.

 

[Blimey]

Preach it brother! PREACH!

Seriously, I've never liked the smug bastard Kotick. He's a parasitic leech on the games industry. I understand that the buisiness world is never 'nice', but Kotick pins the needle on the "Evil Douche-Nugget-O-Meter". I'm sick of Kotick and his shit, and I'm glad someone gave a shout out on it.

 

[xDHxD148L0]

Seriously, that guy deserves all the bad thing that come to him, he killed the entire music game genre with his guitar hero spam, and now he's going to try and do the same to the fps genre with the CoD franchise.

 

[cartographer54]

Can Bobby Kotick use force lightning? I think not.

 

[Weaver]

Kotick's business plan:
1) Pump out sequel after sequel year after year of the exact same game
2) Fire my best developers
3) Treat the remaining developers like shit

So, for the short term this is going to work. The mass influx of games every year is going to sell. Then, once the word "Activision" equates to "shit" no one is going to buy your games anymore. Developers are going to leave your company and gamers are going to hate you.

Things might be good now, but he's heading straight for a crash course. 5 years max until Activision is in trouble. I call it right now, 5 years.

 

[Super Toast]

At least Palpatine was fun to watch. "POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!"

 

[soren7550]

*claps* Nicely said Mr. Buscaglia.

 

[duchaked]

lol oh lovely, Star Wars analogies

guess that makes the now fired Infinity Ward CEOs the Senate leaders remaining from the Old Republic...

 

[RelexCryo]

Game Lawyer Calls Bobby Kotick "Emperor Palpatine"

Game lawyer Tom Buscaglia compared Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to Darth Vader's boss in a rant at GDC 2010.

Game lawyer Tom Buscaglia, whose firm specializes in representing game developers, took Kotick to task for statements he made at the DICE Conference last month [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98461-Bobby-Kotick-Doesnt-Mean-to-Come-Off-as-a-Dick] and during an Activision shareholders meeting earlier in the year. Buscaglia made the strong statements at the "Fired and Fired Up!" rant at GDC 2010 in response to the recent "screw-job" at Infinity Ward.

"At the shareholders meeting earlier in the year," said Buscaglia. "Bobby Kotick said to his shareholders in public, and I know a lot of people heard this, 'We're going to take the fun out of making games. These people don't take this shit seriously. We're going to make sure that they're serious about making games.'

"Ok. If there's no fun in making games, then the games suck, but I don't think he gets that," he said.

After that, Buscaglia said that Kotick began orchestrating what would be known as the scandal with Infinity Ward CEO Vince Zampella and CTO Jason West [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98761-Rumor-Security-Locks-Down-Infinity-Ward-Ousts-Studio-Head-UPDATE]. "They instituted the deal to screw West and Zampella out of the bonuses for their team and all that other shit. If you read the lawsuit, it's just amazing. Then [Kotick] goes to DICE and starts off his speech by saying, 'You know, I used to think that I was Luke Skywalker but now I find myself on the Death Star.'

"Bobby, you're not on the fucking Death Star. You're Palpatine," Buscaglia said to laughs from the crowd. "You didn't get there by accident, you got there by the decisions you made."

Buscaglia then took umbrage with Kotick's attempt to curry favor with game designers in his DICE speech by saying that he respected their talent, all while he was performing the "screw-job at Infinity Ward." Buscaglia summed up his two messages to Bobby Kotick with his parting words:

Pull your head out of your ass, cowboy up, you are the fucking evil Emperor. Just be who you are and stop trying to pretend like you're one of us. Number 1.

And number 2, all you have is money. You sell games. We got the fucking games, and you got shit without us. So pony up and back your talent, and treat them right. If you won't do it, somebody else will, and then they're going to replace you and your big company.



Permalink

Thanks for showing me this. This is awesome. I hope he pays for trying to screw Infinity Ward.

 

[Something Amyss]

Did Kotick issue a response by shooting lightning at the lawyer?

Or perhaps getting his own lawyer to choke him via video screen?

"I find your lack of appropriate conduct...Disturbing."

 

[theultimateend]

Corporate execs are good at making money, NOT at making videogames. People who are passionate about games are not making the major decisions about their developent under the big publishers.

Some other things Corporate Execs are bad at...

...making healthy food.
...providing quality healthcare.
...providing honest information.
...protecting the environment.
...protecting people.

However. If the only goal of capitalism is to make money, Corporations are the awesome sauce that we all wish to be.

As it stands though they butcher healthcare, produce food that not only is bad for you but mask the fact, lie in nearly all commercials about their products (outright), destroy the environment to the point where every fish tested in the US waterways have troubling levels of mercury and other toxins in them, and they can't provide any services the government does (such as protection) without being incredibly poor at it.

The irony behind it all, is that the government gets blamed for being incompetent, when it is the only corporation like entity in the US that actually functions in some quazi positive manner. That MAY have to do with its ability to literally print money though.

If you were curious I am a little bitter about people being more concerned about profits than the health and safety of strangers (or even people they know).

 

[Timotei]

Well I have been saying this for a while, I even made a pic a few weeks back!

You sir have won a plate of freshly baked cookies and a nice, cold, heaping glass of Internets. I commend you on work.

 

[elricik]

I'd say he's right on the money, I think most gamers are fed up with activison.

 

[Squiggers]

For once, I'm agreeing with a lawyer. I LIKE this guy. Almost reminds me of the Arkell v. Pressdram (1971) case. Lawyers can be so much fun sometimes, especially when they develop a sense of humour.

That said, as a professional he should probably keep a lid on the expletives, its something that stops people from listening, and taking you seriously unfortunately.

Mind you, those who are comparing Nintendo to Activision.. Theres a key difference here. Kotick wants to take the enjoyment out of development - and stupidly, the vast majority of the people who wish to develop stuff are there because they enjoy their work, and they enjoy art as that is what a game is, and should be. I'd also like to point out, don't lump developers and publishers in the same boat here. Publishers are the ones who want to make the most money possible, while developers generally want to make the best game possible.

Remember - developer, and publishers are different things, and always will be in terms of philosophy.

In regards to the IW debacle, I can't see that one ousting Kotick unless there was a serious uprising from shareholders in the event of them having some rather legally unsound practices.

 

[TSPhoenix]

And number 2, all you have is money. You sell games. We got the fucking games, and you got shit without us. So pony up and back your talent, and treat them right. If you won't do it, somebody else will, and then they're going to replace you and your big company.

This is where the problem lies. The reality is that people aren't willing to quit their jobs and have to go without just to make a point. Of course when there are so many people out there and so few jobs you can understand why people take what they can get. But in doing so everyone devalues themselves and enables the rule of big business. If everyone said no it'd be one thing, but the reality is it'll probably just be you and then someone will take your job.

Its the same for us gamers, we say we aren't going to accept this or that from a developer (RaineHero's post illustrates this perfectly) then most of us run out and buy the game in question anyway. If we can't even stop ourselves from buying a single sequel, what makes anyone think they are going to go jobless just to boycott their employer?

Why would someone take offense to an insult that was made in the form of a Star Wars reference?
That just seems petty to me.

A bit high and mighty there. Its gets his point across clearly to his target audience.