The Top 21 News Stories of 2008: 21 - 15
(contributors: Hal Halpin, President, ECA; James Fudge, David Chapman)
We count down the top twenty-one news stories of 2008, though picking which were the very best proved to be a painful, gut-wrenching exercise. There were so many interesting stories this year; we watched the interactive entertainment industry grow - and then later - retract as the global economy wreaked havoc on every kind of business you can imagine; players got their first taste of WiiWare, Home and the New Xbox Experience; we watched as the big three slugged it out for North American supremacy in the latest round of console wars and we saw Blizzard dust off its classic franchises and move million of copies of its Lich King expansion.
Yeah, 2008 was a good year, but not without its share of triumphs, disappointments, joys and sorrow. Here are the stories that moved us, made us angry, scared us and made us think about the industry we cover.
We begin with #21 - #15, starting now.
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Category DS, Industry, Mobile, Other, PC, PSP, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Public Interest, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tags: 2008,Capcom,CBS,CNET,Dawn of the Dead,Dead Rising,E3,ECA,ESA,Gamespot,George A. Romero,Giant Bomb,Lawsuit,LittleBigPlanet,NCSoft,Religion,Richard Garriott,Team Ninja,Tomonobu Itagaki
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Tecmo: Itagaki Gag Order True, Not in Effect
There were a lot a sensationalistic stories today about Tecmo playing hardball with former employee and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki. According to several stories, Tecmo filed a gag order on the now disgruntled employee, which would keep him from speaking to the media about aspects of the lawsuit he has filed against the company. According to those same reports, this would include talking about confidential insider information, talking about the business inside Tecmo in general, and making inflammatory remarks that have the potential to harm the company’s business.
A follow-up with Tecmo’s Kyoko Yamashita offered some further coloring on the story - including the fact that this gag order is not in effect yet:
“There are numerous sites reporting on each new action/movement regarding the two separate cases and as you can imagine, not everyone is 100% accurate. As for the gag order, from what we have been told (and read in Japanese), the order was filed but has not been issued yet. Hence, the order is not in effect ? yet. “
Tecmo also pointed out that - because this is about a pending lawsuit - chances are they will not be commenting on it any further in the future. No shock there.
Tecmo Responds To ‘Lawsuit Rumors’
Tecmo is not happy about the stories that are circulating around the internet about lawsuits, employees and .. well, fraud. The company issued a statement today denying key elements of these stories:
“On and around June 15, 2008, various websites in the US reported a rumor about ?dozens? of development staff members resigning and filing a lawsuit against Tecmo, LTD., following Tomonobu Itagaki’s departure from the company. The rumors are false and no such action is taking place at the company.
On June 16, 2008, two employees filed a lawsuit against Tecmo, LTD. with accusations of withholding overtime pay. Although a lawsuit was filed by the two employees, on April 1, 2008, Tecmo, LTD. did notify all affected employees that they would be appropriately compensated and is currently in the process of resolving the matter. There are several inaccurate reports stating that all 300 company employees are named in the lawsuit and the company would like to clarify that only two employees are involved in the suit.
In addition, there were reports that Tecmo, LTD., a publicly traded company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, withheld information from its shareholders regarding the lawsuit filed in May 2008 by Tomonobu Itagaki. The company has observed the provisions defined by the Exchange and has released information accordingly and in a timely manner.
It is unfortunate that false and inaccurate reporting of our organization and employees’ actions have caused some unrest among our development staff members. Tecmo, LTD. would like to assure its partners and loyal fans that its teams continue to focus and work on several projects to be released and announced in the future. The company is committed to providing high quality, entertaining products for our fans around the world.”
We’ll have more on this story shortly.
