Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Manny Pacquiao dominating Joshua Clottey, America screwing over Alex Lambert, or David Beckham missing the World Cup, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Warning: this is going to be one of those “selfish” editions of Coffee Talk. You see, I had a pretty amazing time at GDC. The networking was fantastic — I bumped into hundreds of fantastic developers and great friends. I really enjoyed spending time in my old home city, San Francisco. It was just a wonderful blend of people, places, and circumstances…that was tarnished by two people from VGChartz. Before I get to that, let’s take a trip back to 2005.
Right around GDC 2005, I posted the biggest story of my career. It was a three-part series on the console that would become the Xbox 360. I was either one of the first people or the first person to reveal features like achievements, gamercards, gamerscores, and gamertags. I worked hard on the story and was very proud of it.
Kotaku’s Brian Crecente totally ripped the third part of the feature. To be completely honest, he was absolutely right to do so. My editor…strongly suggested a third part just to get more page views. I hated writing that fluff after two highly informative pieces. All that aside, I was still annoyed that Crecente dismissed the first two parts of the feature as “some new information”. Some new information?!? Bullsh*t. I revealed a ton of facts and features that were only known by Microsoft and its software partners at the time.
Okay, back to the future (1.21 gigawatts!). The site has been getting great traffic since Friday thanks to a story I wrote about the successor to the Nintendo DS. Yes, I traded my “verbal entertainer” outfit for a journalist’s hat and got some pretty cool results. The story capped off a great week at GDC 2010…or so I thought. I was pissed off to learn that two people from VGChartz wrote negative things about my story, my site, and me on N4G.
First up was public relations manager Brian Zucker who wrote:
Im at GDC 2010 right now and this story is completely false. rpad.tv lost all credibility before it had any.
Yes, a guy with “public relations” in his title actually wrote that unsubstantiated and libelous comment backed up by nothing.
Here’s a follow-up comment from his coworker, community manager and senior editor Nick Pantazis:
This is completely fake. I’m also at GDC, the Nintendo reps here are completely uninvolved with the future of the DS and its development. This is 100% made-up on the spot. Do not support this website with hits.
I guess Pantazis didn’t bother to read the part of the article where I said that none of the information came from Nintendo. Since he asked some rep at Nintendo’s booth about the article and he/she denied it, Pantazis felt it was okay to accuse me of making up the story and tell people not to go to my site.
VGChartz is a popular site and a great resource. It’s annoying that the company allows its employees to make accusations based on idiocy. It’s completely unprofessional. One of my friends said that I should cut these two a break since they’re college kids and I’ve been writing about games since before they hit puberty. I’m sorry. I can’t. I’m proud of what I’ve done over the years and I’m not going to let two children from a popular web site piss all over it.
When Brian Zucker has entertained and served as many readers as I have, then he can question my credibility. When Nick Pantazis questions all the developers I spoke to about the DS successor, then he can accuse me of making up stories and tell people not to visit my site. Until then, both of them should stop making baseless accusations and shut the hell up.
Preach brotha PREACH! I think its a shame that people that write articles CAN NOT read articles. Yo man don't sweat it people see and hear what they want, when they want. I for one can read and for what its worth so can anyone else who really matters.
Hey man. For what it's worth, I think you did a damned good job pulling that info out of GDC. There's a reason I check in with you and see what you've got brewing … and it's because you've always been a credible and talented journalist. It's a real pisser when you bust your ass to build up your reputation, and some guys who don't know any better call it into question w/o any basis.
and that's the bottom line, cuz Rpad said so!
Well, considering one of the articles I was planning on posting tonight was about the DS2 using this site as as source, I guess you can figure out who I think has more credibility in this discussion.
Their just mad because I've never even bothered to visit their site and I'm on yours all the time, Ray. VGCatz has more creditability than them IMO.
Also, not a big fan of Kotaku's color scheme or layout. Especially the color scheme. There, take that Crescente!!
So, a PR guy asked another PR guy about something the other PR guy has not announced and expected the other PR guy to actually say yes. Anyone else see a problem that?
Honestly, I've been known to be a little snarky in my own articles, but never directed at someone else who's trying to dig up the same info as me. There's kinda this line in my head that I don't think should be crossed, and ripping another site/writer for posting a Q&A relating to info that's "already out there," while dismissing the rest of the article as "some new information" is pretty bush league. Unfortunately what some journalists sometimes forget is that not everyone reads everything that's out there because not everyone is as dialed into whatever is going on as the journalists following it, and sometimes the 5th person to post the information is actually the first post the reader sees on the subject.
@Nightshade386 I got over the Kotaku thing a long, long time ago. Plus, that snub wasn't nearly as bad as what these kids did. At least Crecente had a point.
That's pretty low, considering I think you show your sources better than I see most other websites cite any of their work. Just me being me, credibility is a pretty important factor, and for what it is worth I think this site gives it pretty well. I actually am usually disgusted by other sites that I see that don't really show any source link or give a source in their piece. Disappointed in the other guys who don't really know what they are missing here at rpad.tv
@RRODisHere Ha! Patrick Klepek is a true reporter and has way more class.
@Raymond Padilla
Yeah, I thought so but Brian and Patrick could pass for twins judging by that picture.
So this is really bugging me, because as many of you here know, research is kind of my thing. And credibility is a big deal in research. I don't know how things are run at other colleges, but here at Ball State the PR program and advertising program are both run out of the journalism department. Being a former advertising major I have seen plenty of that department, and part of the reason I left it is because I got sick of dealing with people who really weren't doing the greatest at what they were teaching. They just remind me of this Brian Zucker, and right now he sounds like he would fit in perfectly with the PR program here. What I have seen of the journalism department, the professors, the students, and what they are teaching there- they would teach people to do exactly what Brian Zucker did, and what Sandrock323 mentioned earlier. Anyone with an ounce of common sense should be able to tell that Nintendo is not going to confirm anything about a DS2 before it has been announced by Nintendo, and any good journalist (or verbal entertainer) should be able to dig a little for a story. It seems to me like all of that should go without saying, and the pure ignorance that I see come from so many people's mouths (and fingers when they are typing) when it comes to something like this is just astonishing to me. Being a PR person, he should know that one of the last people Brian Zucker should be trusting, is another PR person.
@Ray: Yeah, I'm sure you are over it. But I see that kind of writing out of Kotaku all the time and I find it to be lacking.
As for the guys at VGChartz, I've never actually even read any of their articles, and I'm certainly not feeling so inclined to do so right now.
@Ray
Every now and then it's good to vent and makes for an interesting read. Also I would tell you to shrug it off and continue on without giving it a second thought, but I know how it is. My family has a small restaurant and if someone says something bad about a place when the are trying to get up and running it can really hamper things or at least make you second guess yourself. But you are doing a fantastic job and I love the site. I only got 2 places now days here and Tom's for my news.
Two college kids? Really? Maybe once they get past their 200 level courses (not a certainty judging by their words) they'll have a huge future in made up media. If they guy didn't read and understand the article, how in the hell does he attempt to impugn your work? You would think that someone who has to read and write for a living would have the sense to do that. Oh well…gonna be a tough road for those two pricks once mommy and daddy stop paying the rent.
@SlickyFats and Everyone Thanks for the support! These two guys actually ruined a few hours of my Saturday and cut into my FFXIII time. For that…they must pay!!! *joke*
@Smartguy I didn't want to hold their age against them. A lot of the top guys in the business started in their teens — Sam Kennedy, Geoff Keighley, Klepek, etc. All of those guys are exceptional, so maybe I shouldn't use them for comparison. *shrug*
Hey Rpad, I loved your article, so much so that I linked it like 5 times in my article about your article! I greatly appreciate what you do.
Sounds to me like these guys are just jealous that you got the scoop on everybody else.
As for N4G, I think that I have those guys figured out.
I may be wrong, but most of the people who approve or fail an article are members of the media. If you get the "drop" on them, then they will tear your article a new ass. Whereas if they wrote it, it would be treated like gospel.
As for VGchartz, dont give them any attention. Do like Rhianna says "walk tall against the rain", dont lower yourself to their level (I know how hard that it is by the way)
oh yeah, you have more credibility in your little toe than most full staffs of other websites.
haha, the beauty of this is that rpad exposed their screenames on n4g. well done, rpad, well done!
@RRODisHere I'm not sure if they were jealous or immature. If they doubt the validity of what my sources told me then they should have their own sources refute it.
@Nightshade386 Or they'll just hear from my lawyer next week. Muahahahaha!!! (95% kidding)
@Ray
/b/ makes more sense than what they did.
@ R Pad
Just as a weird tangent, I had a dream last night that we were playing in a band together.
We played a show at some massive hall, and our cars got stolen with our laptops in them.
@N8R What was I playing?!? Did I have a natural gas Civic?!? Intriguing!!!
@All: As much as us all griping about these two guys here makes us (and hopefully Ray) feel better, it would be much more productive to defend Ray's article over at N4G. We should keep it civil, be better than these two guys. But make the point that dissing a colleague like that is unacceptable. I've already done so and I encourage you all to do the same.
@ R Pad
You were playing guitar, keys, and vocals. We had an orchestra backing us up as well.
I have no idea what car you had because it was gone by the time we left the venue.
Oddly, the show was in Pittsburgh, but not at a hall that exists there, my car was much nicer than the scrap heap I have now, and I don't even own the Macbook I was so worried about in my dream.
Also, a friend of mine who died a few years ago lived nearby and was describing the people who took the cars.
On the most recent 4Guys/1up podcast they talked about your DS2 article and one of them said you have been working very hard on the story. Did you know of any other people at GDC who were also asking Devs about any DS2 info? I'm adding RPAD.TV to my favorites list so I can keep up on any other DS2 info you can dig up. Those two VGChartz guys who were giving you a hard time are just jealous that you got the scoop not them. keep up the good work.
@ Smartguy
I don't dream of PC's. My brain just won't go there.
@N8R
I dream of pr0n
@Nightshade386 That's a great and productive idea. Thanks!
@N8R That sounds like quite the show we had. If we're that big then I probably had a hydrogen car.
@Bill I actually asked a few people after the story posted and nobody else was searching. I'm guessing it's because handhelds aren't that "sexy". While I do hope you come back and hang out with the crew here (it's a great crowd), I have to be honest with you and let you know that I rarely pursue journalistic missions like this one. I just happened to get some information in February and wanted see if I could dig anything up at GDC. I don't know that I'll get any further info before E3 2010. For me, the site is about chatting with fun and smart people rather than breaking news.
@ Smartguy
Don't lie, you dream of Dudikoff.
Speaking of martial arts greats, Chuck Norris turned 70 last week.
@smartguy
Do you dream of Kate pr0n?
If Nintendo does indeed announce "DS2" this year and it has all the features you talk about in your article you need to be nominated for a Pulitzer prize!
@N8R
everyone has a Dudikoff dream.
@Tokz
I hope she dies cause "you stowl my baybee!"
@Bill I think I'll just follow up President Obama and take the Nobel Peace Prize. Ha!
@smartguy
I hope she dies because she's a horrible actress. She was in the hurt locker for maybe 10 mins total. She had few lines but she made me hate her character in that movie too. also, I read an earlier comment you made about 3-d movies, I wear glasses to and having to put those glasses over mine does not bother me one bit. I went to see Alice in Imax and it was kool but not as epic as the Tron trailer looked!
@Ray
just for the cash right?
@tokz
it's more of the weight difference. A few ounces makes a difference. Aside from that I find the glasses just annoying.
A bad actress who steals bay-bees
@rpad
I think it would make him jealous if you were to make that into a clock and wear it.
Also, check your P.E.S.P. It let me down saturday.
@smartguy
I didn't feel it but i think it was because those seats were uncomfortable. It was the first time i had gone to that theater since they got IMAX. I usually boycotted this theater because their seats are always uncomfortable but it was a good alternative to the Navy Pier IMAX because you didn't have to pay the outrageous price for parking there. So, i'll have a big decision to make on next IMAX venture. Oh I was also blown away by the Hubble 3D trailer as well.
Wow. So another editor at VGChartz just posted a story on the "DS2" that used my story as the source. That's frickin' hilarious. Two of their employees said I was making it up, but they posted their own story about it. One of their employees said not to go to my site, but they linked to it.
Awesome.
@Ray
you should get that friend of yours to coerce an apology out of them….or some funding.
Clearly not an editor at their site who's first language is English. Direct quote:
"Website RPAD dig up information on Nintendo's handheld successors at the Game Developers Conference, they spoke with several third-party developers, and according to their findings the DS2 look a lot like current Nintendo handheld, only with better screens and better performance."
Er, whose. Nothing like ripping someone's awful grammar while dropping a stink bomb of your own. lol.
Also quoting:
"Take this as a rumor, since the info is not coming from Nintendo, but as of right now these DS2 rumors sounds very interesting and on the same line of previous rumors. E3 is at the next corner, so stay tuned!"
Wow. This is just terrible. How does this guy that can't string coherent sentences together have a job in the industry and you do not?
Seriously, I'd ask if they had an editor, but I'm guessing he's just too busy bashing other websites to pay attention to what's going up on his.
Back to N4G I go…..
@ N8;
I stole the cars with your laptops in them!
@ topic;
I've never heard of "VGChartz" and I will never visit the site ever. (Negative publicity is still publicity). I will, however, continue to frequent this site for information, shopping, and verbal entertainment.
-M
@Nightshade386
Maybe there is hope for my dyslexic ass after all?
@Sandrock: lol. I was a Communications major in college (a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away), so these sorts of things really bother me. I mean, we all make the occasional mistake that slips through, but that article looks like it was written by a D average 6th grader and NO ONE double checked it at all.
Also, it should be noted that there's no reason to go look at the article in question yourself because other than what I've already posted here, it's all a direct quote from Ray. So yep, the stuff quoted above is the only original work in the piece, and it's horrid.
@Blasphemous: That was you? Awesome….
@Nightshade386
I'm actually not bad at grammar, out of practice though. I'm just horrible at miss spelling words in a way that spell checks can't find them. Needless to say, even I can't even f a sentence up that bad. (Even without spell check.)
@topic
"the Nintendo reps here are completely uninvolved with the future of the DS and its development"
I just wanted to point out that the reps did not deny anything. They completely avoided the question asked.
I do repeat myself sometimes though….
@Sandrock: lol.
And yeah, it just proves that they didn't even read the article before they bashed it.
@Raymond Padilla
Good for you, but are you sure this Brian Zucker kid isn’t Patrick Klepek?
@nightshade
where exactly are you guys posting at N4G? I'm curious to see what's going on over there, but I'm not too familiar with the cite.
The bad grammar and reporting bothers me a lot as well. The lack of research, credibility, or validity of the source also bothers me a lot as well; so it is frustrating for me to see all of this happen.
@topic
I took a look at VGchartz.com (I've also never heard of it before, like iceman) and it looked like a horrible cite. Not very good reporting going on over there, it is pretty disgusting to read anything there.
@bsukenyan: Just follow the hyperlink to N4G in Ray's article above. Takes you right to where you want to go.
@nightshade
thanks a bunch!
@Ray
You can use the guys you mentioned for comparison because it is what guys their age should try and emulate. Dipshits like that can really hurt someone’s livelihood with uneducated libel. Honestly if they had even read and tried to counterpoint you besides saying Nintendo has no official comment then that would be a different thing…but you clearly said you got info from devs not named Nintendo.
Those two tards have no defense. They can go with 1 of 3 options:
1. They are butthurt over you getting that info
2. They don’t know how to read and interpret or understand plain english
3. They are both 1 and 2.
@Smartguy I actually contacted both of them, as well as the owner of the site. Only one of them responded and the explanation was…unsatisfactory.
I was actually so peeved on Saturday that I was thinking of calling my lawyer friend to see if I could be his pro bono work. That reminds me…I should take a screen of their offending comments before they disappear.
[Btw, I’m not really the type to sue. Writing about it has already made me feel better.]
@blasphemous
haha. I like the comparison!
These kids were clearly jealous.
@Ray: If Nintendo does go ahead and announce this at E3 or TGS, you should demand a public apology from these guys (or a job, since you’re clearly doing theirs better than they are).
When these guys can get a large number of the favored readers to chose on their own free will to leave a massively popular site like g4tv.com and start going to another site that they started from the ground up… I may give them some credibility.
Until then, Smartguy and Blasphemous hit the nail on the head.
I got money that says they’ll be giving away magnets within a month.
hey nightshade! Direct Tv has versus back. too bad the Blackhawks can't keep a lead late in the game.
@nightshade
I think a cut out would do a much better job than Huet. They'll lose in the first round if they keep up this horrific defense and goaltending.
Macs??
@Ray: here's our article on your story:
http://www.gamerswishlist.com/news/520-Details-Ab…
@Smartguy Nah. I think it would make an awesome necklace charm that would make Flava Flav jealous.
i followed nightshade back to n4g, man, I had to post his comment again. you guys should go and read what he said
Great way to respond Ray
@tokz: My best friend is a Blues fan, and I told him at the the beginning of the season that ‘Hawks would be a force to be reckoned with this year if they could replace Cristobal Huet with anything more convincing than a cardboard cutout. Seems I wasn’t too far off the mark with the way he’s played lately.
@Tokz, they should have tried to get a GK at the trade deadline. but offloading Huet and his loaded contract couldn’t have been an easy task. I know if I were a GM I’d pretty much laugh them off.
@nightshade
Yeah but its not like they weren’t trying. No one wanted Huet’s ridiculous contract for his mediocre talent. I’m ready to petition for Crawford and Niemi for the rest of the season.
I make music and its sad that I didn't go to school for writing but I can write a better and more interesting article like so…..
Ladies and gentleman……….Vagina!
AT&T SUCKS
Can't make 3G calls AGAIN!!!!!! The are worthless. Contract up July 11th. Anyone suggest a good carrier?
@Slicky
TMObile seems to be upping their game…and you can use your Bold and get a good price on a month to month to try them out. Worth looking in to.
@Smartguy
Really? My current phone will work over there. I had never thought of it. I have been with AT&T so long (11ish years) I hadn't looked into anything else, but it is starting to get ridiculous with them.
@Smartguy: I have a hard time seeing any system that launches at roughly $50 more than the current iteration on the market as a "beta."
@Nightshade
The increase in price does not reflect an increase in Cost. The increase can be seen as a new benchmark for handheld pricing actually. They sell plenty of them to collect enough data even with the "premium" price. It makes sense. Get paid for doing market research…every company's dream.
Also, DS sells were slipping at the time and they needed a product to support them until they finished their next handheld. The DSi even acted as a clear beta for their new DLC store.
@Nightshade
I like to think of the DSi as simply a beta for the Nintendo mobile platform software store. I liken it to how it seems MS treated the first Xbox…simply a glorified beta for Live with the real meat and potatoes coming in the second build (360).
It makes sense in both scenarios…Nintendo never has a problem selling handhelds, so it is natural to assume people would buy the DSi (and they turn a healthy buck on it since most of the system in a 5 year old DS) and the Xbox based on how MS treats a lot of their products.
Closing, I don’t think the introduction of the DSi a short time ago has any market consequences for the DS successor.
@Slicky
Yeah it will. Your 3G won’t work because of different frequencies but you could at least test the service and see how the voice connection is for you. I’m thinking of going to TMobile myself sometime this summer after I see what is going to be new on the Iphone. TMobile increased their 3G footprint times 3 in my area in the last 6 months.
Sadly if you want 3G you would have to buy a 3G capable device for their network…and to keep the plan at the low rate you can get, you need to buy the handset outright. However for test sakes, you can use their Sim in your Bold.
Hey Rpad! More proof that you should worry about those two kids anymore. you get a mention as a source on CNET
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20000450-1.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0
I meant shouldn’t! Crap! I left my glasses in the car and i’m too lazy to get them.
Fuckin' A right, brother. Flavor of the month gaming parrot sites better pay some dues and pay some respect before they harass someone who's been in the shit as long as you have.
You know I have your back.
@Justin Let's fight them at E3! I got the skinny one. :)
You know your fans support you! I hope these kids get the kharmatic kick to the nuts that’s coming to them one day.