Bob Knows Not What He Does: Day 21 Brings Bad Threat
We all remember Bob, right? The developer of Bob's Game that has entered a 100 day protest against Nintendo in hopes of getting a DS developers kit? As an avid reader of Gay Gamer, of course you are. Well, things are not looking good for Bob.
Bob is having a bit of a melt down it appears. Not only has he decided to start releasing the names and addresses of various Nintendo execs, he has started resorting to threats:
If I cannot legitimately publish my game, the only option left to fulfill this goal is to bundle a KILLER APP with a DSi enabled 'homebrew device.' ... 'bob's game' is being translated into many languages, including Japanese, and will be released worldwide. Unfortunately, this has the potential to significantly cut into Nintendo's bottom line.
If there is one thing I know, it is don't pee where you sleep. Especially when it comes to the games industry. Bob, seriously dude, I know you're sans blogonets, but quit poking the sleeping lion. You're going to lose a hand.
Bobwatch Day 21: Things get kind of weird [Joystiq]
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 2 January 2009
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: bob, bob's game, deprivation insanity, flash cart, nintendo, threats
He's not threatening anybody... he's threatening to release his killer app (his game... people call things killer apps all the time... like Halo is Xbox's "killer app") on a homebrew device...
i.e. he's going to get it out to people whether or not Nintendo says it's okay...
The first day I heard about this, I immediately assumed he'd already given up hope of any official release and was just doing it to drum up interest in his game, either from an existing developer looking for a quick release or from the homebrew community.
What's the status of unlicensed console games in the US? In the 80s, Activision beat Atari, clearing the way for them. Nintendo beat Tengen in the late 80s because Tengen was using Nintendo's own code in their lockout chip workaround, but to my knowledge none of the DS homebrew hardware does so. Usually they're attacked using more recent laws like the DMCA that outlaw not actual copyright infringement, but devices that courts can be persuaded are meant primarily for copyright infringement. I think Nintendo would have an uphill battle if it made that claim about a developer finding a new way to fit his blade to their razor, but I'm no lawyer.
There are unlicensed Jaguar and Dreamcast games, but they were essentially homebrew and released after their systems had been discontinued. I have no idea whether there have been any unlicensed games with wide release (as wide as Tengen's, anyway) for actively supported consoles; naturally there's all kinds of black market Chinese stuff, but does anyone know of any recent cases of a legitimate publisher circumventing a console's nerfing chip?
If this was someone boycotting Sony or Microsoft he'd get unanimous backing from the writers here.
Nintendo are noted fuckers of smaller developers, hence the low quality party compilations the Wii gets cynically released every so often.
there needs to be more people calling Nintendo out on their shit business practices, they're as lousy as the other two.
When I first heard about this story I really felt for this guy, but shenanigans like this are unprofessional and not helping his case. I hope he finds a way of working this all out without resorting to further "stunts" that only make him look childish.
This needs to be what the next Silent Hill game is about. Silent Hill VI: Bobs Room.
I am sure we have all been there, make something we thought was awesome only to be completely ignored by the big boys. Well you just have to keep trying or get it out there by yourself. He is doing that now, but he seems to be making a name for himself in the worst possible way.
The video games industry careers as well as the movie industry careers are built on who you know. Few people get in with raw talent.
This kid is a psychotic...its become apparent to me that, for whatever reason, Nintendo has good reason to sever all communication with him quickly.
NO company will come ten feet of putting this kid's product anywhere near the hands of retail or distribution outlets - nobody. He's unstable, uncertain, and most definitely a bit on the scary/crazy side. Not to mention completely unprofessional and a bit scary.
I've checked out his website... he needs to seek professional help now, before he becomes dangerous, or does something so illegal that he'll live to regret it. He's dealing/threatening a major super publisher with his immature and ranting antics, and it would be a shame to see Nintendo resort to pursuing legal action against him to protect their privacy. He's setting back independent publishing relationships, not to mention making it more difficult for legit developers and artists to pursue their dreams.
Bob - stop it. Grow the hell up, get out of your box, realize defeat, move on, and learn what it takes to be a damn professional and stop acting like a child. Release your game on the PC, or move it over to the iPod/iPhone, where the SDK is relatively cheap (or free) and sell your game there. You've lost Nintendo with your ridiculous posturing, and you'd better quit before they (rightfully so) unleash their wrath.
I really hope he has the stones to release his game on a flash cart (it seems to me that there were a few releases done that way on the GBA, e.g. Qwak and Reaxion, but most GBA carts didn't have slots for external flash cards.) I'd love to see that become a workable model for distributing DS games, the way Lulu and CafePress are for books.
But it would be purely a scorched-earth maneuver on his part since even in quantity, the cheapest Slot-1 flash cart (e.g. DSTT or iTouchDS) plus the smallest MicroSD card is still over 20 bucks. It would be more of a spite maneuver than a workable business model unless he got thousands of sales and one of the pirate cart makers approached him to do a production run of "real" carts.
Qwak was very well-promoted by a friendly and non-antagonistic developer, and got a lot of press. It still hasn't sold 300 copies in 3 years. What does that say about this guy's game, which has no buzz at all other than "I swear to god I'll pull the trigger"?