Topic: John Romero vs Mike Wison

[idolminds]

Jonh Romero

So, over on Kotaku they have a news item about Gamecock's release schedule. Once again, just like with Godgames, Wilson is taking all the credit away from the indie devs and pasting his asinine logo everywhere.

I got a chuckle out of reading the reader's comments on the article. People are now starting to get a clue about how Mr. Wilson operates. Hey everyone, he hasn't changed in over 10 years - these are the kinds of jackass stunts he pulled at Ion Storm with Daikatana. Remember the bitch ad? Yeah. He also ran ads ("image ads") that just had pictures of Ion Storm founders, himself and our COO. That was just the beginning of his madness.

It got much worse at Godgames where he pretty much just partied all the time and after the whole thing got reined in by Take 2 he went underground for a while, waiting for his next victim/investor so he could go hogwild all over again. And thus was born Gamecock.

Mike Wilsons response

I'm writing this letter from Moscow, having just read your lovely post about me, which a good friend forwarded me and implored me to reply to. I really never thought I would relive the joy that was Ion Storm, circa 1997, or that the memories of those times still troubled you so 11 years later. Then again, I would guess you live in the memories of your twenties as much as you can, given the reality of your thirties. Glad to know I'm still in your thoughts.

I enjoyed your comments very much, but several of my friends (especially those that were around for those heady time to witness the truth of it up close) did not find it quite so funny, and thought that I should take the time to set a few things straight as publicly as the flame you chose to randomly launch my way.

While I am not at all interested in reliving those days, I will also not allow you to rewrite the history of it all, more to your liking and to my public detriment, and I will in no way take the rap for what you did (or didn't do)with your dream company. So here are just a few reminders to jog your memory.

While my job title (which you gave me) was CEO of your company, I was one of two "junior partners" in a partnership of 6. I made about 1/3 of what the 'big boy partners' (as you liked to call yourselves back then) did and owned less than five percent of your company. I wasn't awarded a 250k signing bonus like you were for signing up to your own startup and I didn't have a personal assistant like you, nor occupy one of the 4 corners of power in the original Ion Storm building. And unlike you, I didn't get to file a federal trademark for my own personal catch phrase," Suck it Down." I remind you of these things only to remind you that there was absolutely nothing done by me or Ion Storm, including the advertisements which bore your name and which you happily posed for, that didn't require your full approval and grand signature.

And while I did think that famous Bitch ad was pretty funny, I'll remind you that you signed that one too, and I'm fairly certain I wasn't holding your hand or using a Jedi mind trick on you when you did it. I'll also remind you that the whole reason for running the teaser ad was that we felt we should be starting to advertise the game since it you said was shipping so soon, for Christmas in 1997. Even though we had nothing but a logo and that signature promise to use for an ad 6 months before you promised Eidos and your partners that Daikatana would be ready to redefine shooters on shelves worldwide.

Our former employee also reminded me that I fought on a daily basis to try to save that company from the poison which you had invited into it (and watched spread like a cancer while you kept your head in the sand), only to find myself ushered out the door, since it was such a buzz kill to hear my incessant complaints about the way things were being run, which were really those of the 80 or so young fresh faced developers we hired in the 10 months I was there. But hey, it was clear that I was the problem there, as you guys really took off the year after I left. Or, more accurately, nearly every one of those 80 hires did.

I do owe you a thank you for that little shove to get me started on Gathering of Developers, a company that I was an actual partner of, and which Take Two 'reigned in' buy buying for 30 million dollars, two years after we opened an office, which resulted in no less than eight million unit selling PC games and over 350 million dollars in revenue for TTWO (my investors) during roughly the same amount of time that it took you and the remaining 'big boy partners' to *beep* away Eidos' (your investors) 30 million and deliver one of the biggest heaps of dung ever put onto a CD Rom, just before being foreclosed on. Thank god for Warren Spector, who was also made a 'junior partner', and later delivered Eidos Storm's only salvation in the form of Deus Ex.

And please don't be too concerned for the independent developers I work with... just like with GodGames, and like the deal I struck for you with Eidos, Gamecock owns their IP and is branded above the publisher on everything, and has a great royalty rate. Royalty rates are what you make if you actually make a game that is good and sells. Remember Quake one?

I'm also grateful for your concern over my incessant partying, which has somehow led me to be married to the same beautiful woman for 17 years now, while raising two incredible daughters together. You should maybe try the partying, since your unparalleled work ethic and strong character has (just in the time I've known you) left only a bloody trail of ex-wives, fatherless kids, and ill advised breast implants strewn across this fair nation, even before you flew all the way to Romania for your latest wife. If she's not still around, let me know, and I'll see if I can pick another one up for you here in Russia.

Its been great catching up, but I'm off to dinner now with Harry Miller, my best friend and business partner for the past decade (ever had one of those, John?), and our very happy new investor, followed by some crazy partying to keep it real, just for you.

You take care now, and remember just because id, Eidos, and then Midway fired you doesn't mean you're not still awesome!

Suck it down,
Your pal Mike

While kind of funny, Wilson took that way too far into personal territory. It goes to prove Romero correct: the dude likes to stir up shit and make a lot of noise.

Quick, name 3 released or upcoming Gamecock titles.

Thats what I thought. Everyone is going to know Gamecock as the guys that crashed the Bioshock speech, and then the dude that flamed Romero. Which is really the kind of shit you want to be known for when trying to get your new publishing company out there.

[Xessive]

Hehe All the drama behind the games

[idolminds]

Romero response:

In David Hasselhoff's words: "This is a mess....".

Mr. Wilson needed to email Kotaku a nice long letter to recount his version of events at Ion Storm and slam my personal life - way to go Mike! Media manipulation at its saddest. It's analogous to a crotch shot of Britney in Hollywood's media circus.

Anyway, I think we're both mature enough to end this flame war. I just wanna see the cool games that gamecock is gonna release.

[Pugnate]

haha I've been following this on Kotaku with some disbelief. Also Romero probably lost some cred. by quoting Hasselhoff.

[Xessive]

Haha it's just so weird! Outside of the gamers' world they're like two obscure relics going at it

[Jedi]

What's funny is Romero started this shit slinging and now its gotten personal he's trying to take the moral high ground. Good stuff.
By the sounds of it their both as bad as each other just one is married.

[Quemaqua]

Frankly, I think Romero gets more of a bum rap than he deserves.  He's sort of an idiot at times, but not as bad as people usually make him out to be.  And while I was a fan of Gathering of Developers back in the day, I never liked Wilson much.  He always seemed a little... I don't know.  Maybe sort of the way Romero describes him, but it's been so long I can't really remember.  I didn't even know he was behind Gamecock, but they haven't exactly left a great impression on me other than the stupid Bioshock stunt.  Whatever.

[gpw11]

Interesting.  It's like two incredibly unathletic children fighting it out for second last pick in a game of backyard football.  I didn't even know who Mike Wilson was until I looked it up, and yeah, he's probably the bigger of the two failures.  He's just a bit luckier because no one knows his name.  GOD was the most successful thing he contributed to and in the end it folded back into exactly what it originally was created to not be like. 

Then he moved onto one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard of (video-magazine on DVD), and that crashed and I guess he decided to start up GOD games, which seems a bit like the ill-fated Factory Records without the talent.  The guy is just a media hawk and possibly the videogame industry version of a corporate raider.  Gamecock will probably release under six shitty games before it folds and 3 years down the road he'll throw out some more sensationalist garbage for his next media blitz.  Who cares? 

The weird thing is that with the coming of digitial distribution, there really isn't a need for what he claims gamecock is doing. 

[scottws]

I'm a bit of a car connoisseur.  I still remember seeing John Romero's eBay auction for his Ferrari Tesstarossa (or was it a 512M?).  Anyway, it listed a bunch of modifications he made to the car to make it more like models that came out in subsequent years.

Anyone who knows anything about Ferarris knows that you just don't do that!  They are far more valuable and respected in original condition.  Idiot.

That right there said all I ever really care to know about John Romero.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, because the real measure of a man comes from how much he knows about cars.

[MysterD]

Shouldn't these guys be working on making an actually worthwhile game? 

[scottws]

Yeah, because the real measure of a man comes from how much he knows about cars.

Aww come on.  I was exaggerating.

But I really do think that John Romero is pretty much a complete moron.  The car thing is but one example.

Edit:  WTF is wrong w/ me lately?  I've been subconsciously swapping "thing" and "think" for awhile now.

[Quemaqua]

Heh, I was just making a smartass remark because I saw the opportunity.

And I don't know... I sort of feel bad for Romero.  I guess it's just that I wouldn't call him a moron, I'd call him an interesting and sometimes creative guy with severe personality defects.

[Pugnate]

Kinda like me minus the creativity!

[MysterD]

Romero really needs Carmack.
Or someone a lot like Carmack controlling him; namely someone (a technical game designer) who can put up with Romero's creativity and insanity -- and actually find a way to control it.

It sure as hell ain't the other way around.
Carmack obviously doesn't need Romero.

[Pugnate]

I just heard the GFW podcast where they talked about this.

Jeff Green, the EIC, started the discussion with this piece of gold,""Ionstorm is the ten year old clusterfuck that just keeps on giving."

[gpw11]

Romero really needs Carmack.
Or someone a lot like Carmack controlling him; namely someone (a technical game designer) who can put up with Romero's creativity and insanity -- and actually find a way to control it.

It sure as hell ain't the other way around.
Carmack obviously doesn't need Romero.

Well, Carmack makes a great engine, but to be honest, all of the "recent" Carmack games I've played have felt really empty.  When Id announces a new game, I think about how great it will be when someone with some creativity and imagination gets a hold of the license for the engine, not how great it will be to play the same game they've been making since Doom with nicer graphics.

That's just me though.

[Xessive]

Well, Carmack makes a great engine, but to be honest, all of the "recent" Carmack games I've played have felt really empty.  When Id announces a new game, I think about how great it will be when someone with some creativity and imagination gets a hold of the license for the engine, not how great it will be to play the same game they've been making since Doom with nicer graphics.

That's just me though.

Exactly. That's exactly how I feel about Id games. I think about how great the new engine will be.

[Pugnate]

When was the last time iD really made a good game, as opposed to a great engine? Never?

I enjoyed Doom 3, it was very moody etc., but really, it felt like it lacked a soul.

[Cobra951]

Doom 1/2 and Quake 2 are the standouts for me.  Those two games owned me for a while.  I also played a huge number of amateur Doom 1/2 add-on levels.

[Pugnate]

Yea but at the time all you had to do was make a good engine, and you'd make enough to get a Ferrari, and be a gaming rock star.

[Quemaqua]

As a pure shooter update to a classic pure shooter, I thought Doom 3 was fantastic.  It did what it set out to do: basically the same thing, just with more cinematic flair and a lot more atmosphere.  It pulled that off with aplomb, IMO.  Not the best game ever maybe, but I wasn't expecting it to be.  I was expecting it to be a shooter with fun environments and lots of demons to shoot.  I wasn't disappointed in the least.  I do think it's time that id branched out a bit, and hopefully they will with their next one, but I still think it's very silly to knock them for Doom 3.  As far as I can tell, it was everything it set out to be, and anybody that wanted something different out of it simply didn't want what id had always planned to deliver.

[K-man]

As a pure shooter update to a classic pure shooter, I thought Doom 3 was fantastic.  It did what it set out to do: basically the same thing, just with more cinematic flair and a lot more atmosphere.  It pulled that off with aplomb, IMO.  Not the best game ever maybe, but I wasn't expecting it to be.  I was expecting it to be a shooter with fun environments and lots of demons to shoot.  I wasn't disappointed in the least.  I do think it's time that id branched out a bit, and hopefully they will with their next one, but I still think it's very silly to knock them for Doom 3.  As far as I can tell, it was everything it set out to be, and anybody that wanted something different out of it simply didn't want what id had always planned to deliver.

While I agree, I think Doom 3 lost a lot of the charm that made Doom 1 and 2 so special.  Of course, those were different times, and games have evolved a lot since then.

I really get a little nostalgic when thinking about computer games in the early 90's.

[Quemaqua]

Heh, you aren't alone.  And it's true, in trying to be a bit more serious, Doom 3 lost that almost goofy kind of baddassness that it had before.  Can't have everything, I guess.

[Pugnate]

No I still liked Doom. I am just thinking that iD need to show they can innovate in their upcoming I.P.

Also it does make me nostalgic as well. My first experience of a multiplayer game was with Doom. It was so freakin' awesome with the BFG and all. It was totally unlike anything I had ever experienced.

[gpw11]

This is pretty good

[Quemaqua]

Heh, that was actually pretty awesome.

[MysterD]

Agreed.