Mike Wilson makes John Romero his Bitch

I didn’t care about this story until I read Mike Wilson’s reply to John Romero’s initial burn… and then I pictured Romero’s face melting off with the 3rd degree trauma-burn that Wilson leveled against him, and thought it was hilariously worth posting (Thanks to VE3D for summing it all up nicely!).

Quick back story…

1. Remember Doom? John Romero is credited as being the rock-star game developer from back in the day for that.
2. Romero worked at Ion Storm with Wilson and apparently the guys never liked each other.
3. Romero sank from the public spot light after the over-hyped game, Daikatana, was released and turned out to be a pile of shit game… but all the marketing and hype around it said it was going to redefine gaming and blow out faces off. Part of the problem was the really in-your-face “John Romero is about to make you his bitch” ad campaign that flew around the web:
   
4. … which was then followed by the game… which was a complete failure.
5. ION Storm, thanks to Warren Spector, only ever made Deus Ex then sank into hell. Romero effectively never contributing anything.

Anyway, now that you know the backstory, you can appreciate the burn, then counter-burn-to-hell. Because it’s a bit long, I’ve posted the letters after the jump:

It started off with Romero recently knocking Wilson and his new company Gamecock about some release notes or information:

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.

Ouch… what a douche bag this Wilson guy sounds like… right? Not-so-fast… check out Wilson’s counter-reply to Romero:

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 shit 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!

It starts off weak, like a typical “I’m being sarcastic but am really pissed off” letter, but then he starts busting out the facts and different markers in history that the two have gone through and it just starts to sting. By the end of it, Wilson is on a roll and Romero likely threw a clot and died reading it… at least you figure so.

Anyway, I just found that little spat hugely entertaining. It’s the lame version of desperate house wives for gaming nerds, enjoy!