Developer Dischord at “The Big A”…. a historical fairy tale
Once upon a time the pre-eminent development firm for computer games had several top developers.
These developers were responsible for a goodly portion of the market for this top firm.
And the developers were looking at the dollars they were making, and what the company was making… and weren’t happy.
It did not end well…. for any reconciliation.
The company’s name was Atari, and the independent developers formed a company called… Activision.
Here’s a couple of links to the historical story of Activision’s formation.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1537/the_history_of_activision.php
Movie Props page of Atari http://www.movieprop.com/videogames/atari/
Classic Retro http://www.retrothing.com/2007/09/the-poultry-tha.html
I’m inviting my readers to contribute in the comments their own ending for this latest modern-day nursery rhyme.
Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.
Tags: Activision, Case Updates, Infinity Ward, online games, Videogame history, West and Zampanella
The games designer agrees, lets the scorpion clamber onto his back and starts swimming.
In mid-river, the scorpion stings him, dooming the two of them. When asked why, the scorpion explains, “I’m a scorpion; it’s my nature.”
Nice to see someone else finally pick up on this. As the saying goes, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
And, as has been said before, this is the cancer killing the game industry. Businesses too interested in their own short-term profit not to see the bigger picture. Trying to control people’s behaviors through restrictive contracts and lawsuits instead of fair deals. Just sad.
Once again, let’s hope the indies can pull us out of this slump.
jaymoffitt Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
You see cycles like this in all the entertainment industries. After a series of growth, there is a great division of opinion about whether to reward the corporate or the creative side. Hopefully the money the players have put into games and also MMOS will be replenished into good games and not just merely the stockholder’s pockets. We’ll see; appreciate the comment. I’m constantly amazed by how little video-game history most people, even hard-core gamers, understand; glad to see you enjoyed the irony.