Harmonix's Alex Rigopulos Loves...Stephen Colbert?

I wonder if there would be such a flood of comments if Alex had donated to charity rather than a fake political action committee - we know that Methodis would be much happier. Even if an article had been posted by Patrick about the donation, I doubt there would be the same wave of bile roiling around in this comment section.

The issue here is not that Alex donated money, and it's not even really Methodis wearing his crazy person pants. The issue is just that the news article was political. On a public forum you are hardly EVER going to get a common opinion when it comes to political ideas.

I have zero problem with this being a news article - it's cool, funny, and something to read at work. BUT - I can see pretty clearly why people are freaking out. It's mainly Patrick assuming that the audience here is fairly liberal politically - which is an easy assumption to make on a forum like this, albeit an incorrect one.

@Johntdrake Welcome back, son.

@Methodis said:

@benson said:

@Methodis said:

Why don't you cover real news instead of glorifying Harmonix who will be foreclosed this year? Is $10,000 to a SuperPAC really smart when your company stole money from Viacom?

Hey Methodis I heard John T Drake murdered your dog and Alex Navarro stole your lunch money, is that true?

No, I just don't stand for bad games and people who try to rip off corporations :).

Your stupidity pains me.

Colbert for starters isn't a french pronunciation to a "Cobair". Mainly, Steven is an unfunny idiot grabbing TV air time to make money. He is a Super Troll.

@GunslingerPanda said:

Huh. Must be no actual, relevant news today I guess. That seems to be happening a lot lately.

It's fucking Q1. Nice article, Kleptok.

I liked the article, but man, Patrick and Alex seem to be competing for smarmiest byline and I've had quite enough of it!

I came for the content, I stayed for the comments.

That ad is priceless

@Godlyawesomeguy: Naa I wouldn't call it a shitstorm yet. Its just one dickhead spewing shit at the moment.

@Brewmaster_Andy said:

I wonder if there would be such a flood of comments if Alex had donated to charity rather than a fake political action committee

Would have been a much better use of money!

But yeah, comments go to dark places when politics are involved.

Good article, better conversation.

For the record, I think the Colbert Super PAC is awesome.

@benson: Oh. So the satire of the Colbert Super PAC is just totally lost on those folks. Got it. That makes everything a lot clearer. <3s for explaining.

I do not understand.

@Methodis: Has there been a single Harmonix story this year?

My hatred of people who steal money from corproations - in this case Harmonix Music Systems -is no different from the army of drones who hate a hard working start up like Zynga irrationally. Especially when they claim that Zynga "steals" ideas, and then go on to praise PopCap, who stole many of their games from small indie developers. Except just because one time this paid public relations worker from Harmonix made a funny i'm the immoral one for seeing behind the veil of lies? I wonder if Zynga was friends with the site if people would still hate them.

We need people like you. We need people to defend the large multi-billion dollar corporations against the vile and despicable "little man". Because when they ask for money that they deserve there needs to be someone there to stomp their feet and say no. That's what's ruining this country: equality. America wasn't built on fairness and equality. It was built on slavery and wages people could hardly live on. When they got sick, we fired them. When they asked for breaks, we fired them. That's what made this country the great nation it is today.

If poor people and the middle class weren't so entitled we could continue to prosper. Companies like Zynga, who not only copy core gameplay ideas, but make pretty much make identical copies should be allowed to do what they're doing without so much as a raised eyebrow. This is America. We should be allowed to stomp on the little guy however way we please. Popcap would would prosper if only they weren't so creative about taking core mechanics and making it their own different style of game. That's coward hippy shit. That's not the American way.

USA: Fuck the little man.

@Methodis said:

Kotck has never stolen from workers...

Tell that to my friends at Budcat.

The real tragedy here is that Giant Bomb doesn't have an "ignore user" button, like every single other website I've ignored Methodis on over the last few years.

@DeliciousBees: Wait, are you telling me that Giant Bomb, Something Awful and Rock Banned aren't enough to contain all of his seething hatred for Harmonix? Tell us more. For the sake of comedy.

"Rigopulos has contributed to campaigns in the past, having donated thousands of dollars to President Obama's campaign in 2008."

So basically he's an idiot?

@CptBedlam said:

@benson:Alright then. Misunderstanding. I thought you quoting the "why is it hypocritical"-post and answering it that way meant you think it's hypocritical, too. My bad. ;)

Well I think it may be a little hypocritical. Sure, SuperPACs are a way for coorperations to give money to candidates, which is inherently ridiculous and imo wrong. Then we see that Alex donated money to the Obama Campaign a few years prior. It's like telling people "Corporations should not have the ability to donate to a candidate, but as an individual (and CEO), it is ok to give as much as you want." Am I wrong in thinking like this (chances are I'm wrong :)

@ABK_92 said:

"Rigopulos has contributed to campaigns in the past, having donated thousands of dollars to President Obama's campaign in 2008."

So basically he's an idiot?

So basically you're the typical hate-spewing right-wingnut?

@Korne said:

@CptBedlam said:

@benson:Alright then. Misunderstanding. I thought you quoting the "why is it hypocritical"-post and answering it that way meant you think it's hypocritical, too. My bad. ;)

Well I think it may be a little hypocritical. Sure, SuperPACs are a way for coorperations to give money to candidates, which is inherently ridiculous and imo wrong. Then we see that Alex donated money to the Obama Campaign a few years prior. It's like telling people "Corporations should not have the ability to donate to a candidate, but as an individual (and CEO), it is ok to give as much as you want." Am I wrong in thinking like this (chances are I'm wrong :)

Yes, you're wrong. Corporations are not people. Donating directly to a candidate is not the same as donating to a Super-PAC. So donating to a candidate's campaign and at the same time donating to a cause that wants to end Super-PACs is not at all hypocritical. Quite the opposite, actually.

YO EVERYONE, LETS LET OUR POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS GET IN THE WAY OF ENJOYING GAMES.

I'll line them up for you:

Harmonix are all dems

ID are all independent(Carmack is a big libertarian)\

of course, EA are all republicans.

So remember: when it comes to companies, everyone that works at a company is the same political affiliation as the head of the company. Please remember to buy your games according to appropriate party lines.

I support this article and more like it.

@Korne said:

@CptBedlam said:

@benson:Alright then. Misunderstanding. I thought you quoting the "why is it hypocritical"-post and answering it that way meant you think it's hypocritical, too. My bad. ;)

Well I think it may be a little hypocritical. Sure, SuperPACs are a way for coorperations to give money to candidates, which is inherently ridiculous and imo wrong. Then we see that Alex donated money to the Obama Campaign a few years prior. It's like telling people "Corporations should not have the ability to donate to a candidate, but as an individual (and CEO), it is ok to give as much as you want." Am I wrong in thinking like this (chances are I'm wrong :)

I think one of the key point you're missing is that, unlike campaigns, Super PACs are allowed to receive UNLIMITED funds as long as they keep pretending that they don't coordinate with the candidate they're supporting (and we've seen several times that it is just a facade, like when Gingrich directly adressed his Super PAC on tv). It's basically a loophole that allows corporations to finance the canditates that best serve their interest as much as they like.

Wow, you guys.

Be more srs about teh newses guys.

@RockBandAide said:

@Methodis said:

Kotck has never stolen from workers...

Tell that to my friends at Budcat.

Of which nothing happened? I know you like to drink the Harmonix Cola a little too much, but please keep your hyperbole in check!

Budcat was paid for all of their work done, and they had a long history. They weren't profitiable so they had to close down. How is this "stealing from workers" unless you don't believe in America and think that everyone should be paid no matter what.

@patrickklepek said:

Wow, you guys.

You knew this would happen, this is politics dude!

@SeriouslyNow said:

It's nice that you touch yourself and think of Bobby.

But then he thinks about Harmonix, his boner goes soft and he starts crying. "WHY" he shouts at the heavens "WHY DO PEOPLE RESPECT A COMPANY I DON'T LIKE AND DON'T GIVE PROPS TO GRANDPA BOBBY?". But the angels don't answer him, and he weeps himself to sleep, a sleep filled with nightmares of cackling Harmonix representants and melting plastic guitars.

@patrickklepek: I kinda feel bad that you read the comments :( Don't worry, some of us are happy with whatever you decide is worth posting.

Pfft, Colbert's old news now he's out of the running for President. Now, Gerstmann/Davis 2012: That's a ticket we can all believe in! Space garbage! Criminals to the Sun! Genuine prosperity!

@Methodis said:

@RockBandAide said:

@Methodis said:

Kotck has never stolen from workers...

Tell that to my friends at Budcat.

Of which nothing happened? I know you like to drink the Harmonix Cola a little too much, but please keep your hyperbole in check!

Budcat was paid for all of their work done, and they had a long history. They weren't profitiable so they had to close down. How is this "stealing from workers" unless you don't believe in America and think that everyone should be paid no matter what.

Budcat did have a long history, and was ultimately purchased by Activision to exclusively work on porting Guitar Hero to other consoles. It wasn't about profitability as you claim, rather Activision decided it was easier to terminate everyone and dissolve the company when the project they assigned them had run its course, rather than allowing the company to purchase themselves back to continue working on other projects as they had in the past. To add insult to injury, the employees found this out via gaming news sites rather than from Activision.

I have personally seen Activision's decisions steal the lives and dreams of several friends. It's not about drinking the kool-aid, or debating about which rhythm gaming franchise is better, because in the end this stuff is irrelevant. What ultimately matters is PEOPLE, and Activision's quest for shareholder wealth fails to comprehend any sense of social consciousness, and has rightly earned the ire of many stakeholders left behind in their wake.

You can spin it however you want (and I'm sure you will), but if you think a 1.34% dividend is worth ruining the lives of several hundred people, that's your prerogative. I work in accounting and have seen how this plays out for many clients, and it's not a sustainable business practice.

@Fuga said:

as a republican i'm never buying another harmonix game ever again

You're trolling right? please tell me you're trolling...

@RockBandAide said:

@Methodis said:

@RockBandAide said:

@Methodis said:

Kotck has never stolen from workers...

Tell that to my friends at Budcat.

Of which nothing happened? I know you like to drink the Harmonix Cola a little too much, but please keep your hyperbole in check!

Budcat was paid for all of their work done, and they had a long history. They weren't profitiable so they had to close down. How is this "stealing from workers" unless you don't believe in America and think that everyone should be paid no matter what.

You can spin it however you want (and I'm sure you will), but if you think a 1.34% dividend is worth ruining the lives of several hundred people, that's your prerogative. I work in accounting and have seen how this plays out for many clients, and it's not a sustainable business practice.

You clearly are irrational and don't understand business. Also I doubt it "ruined the lives of several hundred people". In this day and age, losing your job should be something that's expected, not some huge surprise. Doubly so in a industry that revolves around how well you sell at market.

I wonder if you felt the same way when Harmonix laid off a bunch of people a few years back. Did they "ruin the lives of several people" then? I'm willing to bet not. :)

@Methodis: I'm glad to see that you didn't disagree with the fact that Activision did steal from their workers. You're not very good at defending them. Bobby would be disappointed in you.

@RockBandAide said:

@Methodis: I'm glad to see that you didn't disagree with the fact that Activision did steal from their workers. You're not very good at defending them. Bobby would be disappointed in you.

You never stated how Activision "stole" because they didn't. You don't understand the word "stole". I'll use it in a sentence for you:

You stole the brain cells I had left in my brain with your horrendous, fellating-of-harmonix fansite that posts horrible news stories that you stole from others.

Do you get it now?

e; Oh and lol mfw if you honestly think "stealing the hopes and dreams" is stealing something of tangible worth. My hopes and dream is to have sex with beautiful womens. I don't say god stole this away by making me horrendous looking.

@Methodis said:

You clearly are irrational and don't understand business. In this day and age, losing your job should be something that's expected, not some huge surprise.

If I didn't understand business, wouldn't I be more familiar with losing my job?

@Methodis said:

You never stated how Activision "stole" because they didn't. You don't understand the word "stole". I'll use it in a sentence for you:

You stole the brain cells I had left in my brain with your horrendous, fellating-of-harmonix fansite that posts horrible news stories that you stole from others.

Do you get it now?

Thanks for checking out the site!

@Methodis said:

I don't say god stole this away by making me horrendous looking.

Now we at least know where the irrational anger comes from. I'm sorry, dude. :(

@RockBandAide said:

@Methodis said:

@RockBandAide said:

@Methodis said:

Kotck has never stolen from workers...

Tell that to my friends at Budcat.

Of which nothing happened? I know you like to drink the Harmonix Cola a little too much, but please keep your hyperbole in check!

Budcat was paid for all of their work done, and they had a long history. They weren't profitiable so they had to close down. How is this "stealing from workers" unless you don't believe in America and think that everyone should be paid no matter what.

You can spin it however you want (and I'm sure you will), but if you think a 1.34% dividend is worth ruining the lives of several hundred people, that's your prerogative. I work in accounting and have seen how this plays out for many clients, and it's not a sustainable business practice.

You clearly are irrational and don't understand business. Also I doubt it "ruined the lives of several hundred people". In this day and age, losing your job should be something that's expected, not some huge surprise. Doubly so in a industry that revolves around how well you sell at market.

I wonder if you felt the same way when Harmonix laid off a bunch of people a few years back. Did they "ruin the lives of several people" then? I'm willing to bet not. :)

@SeriouslyNow said:

He's quite clearly rational. He's a numbers man. You're quite clearly irrational. You just compared Harmonix with Activision. Not only are you clearly not any sort of numbers person (beyond shouting them randomly as if it's some reflection of your post Rock Banned failed protest Tourettes) but you're also incapable of crafting a rational soapbox on which to stand.

You're right, I should compare a developer and publisher who actually makes money with Activision. :)

@tourgen: @tourgen said:

“Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission.” AKA Money = Free Speech AKA Corporations are more important "people" than actual people.

Corporations are grouping of people, who individually have first amendment rights. Logically, corporations (and ANY association of people) should be entitled to full first amendment protection. Ultimately the real way to address the excessive amounts of money involved in politics is through appropriate legislation, not judicial rulings.

Also, I question if you would say the same thing if the ruling only applied to labor unions to the exclusion of corporations.

@SeriouslyNow said:

He's quite clearly rational. He's a numbers man. You're quite clearly irrational. You just compared Harmonix with Activision. Not only are you clearly not any sort of numbers person (beyond shouting them randomly as if it's some reflection of your post Rock Banned failed protest Tourettes) but you're also incapable of crafting a rational soapbox on which to stand.

You're right, I should compare a developer and publisher who actually makes money with Activision. :)

great story! :D

interview Alex Rigopulos about it! :D

It would be a great read about politics from a game developer's point of view. How about it???

@Alex_Carrillo said:

@Methodis: Has there been a single Harmonix story this year?

My hatred of people who steal money from corproations - in this case Harmonix Music Systems -is no different from the army of drones who hate a hard working start up like Zynga irrationally. Especially when they claim that Zynga "steals" ideas, and then go on to praise PopCap, who stole many of their games from small indie developers. Except just because one time this paid public relations worker from Harmonix made a funny i'm the immoral one for seeing behind the veil of lies? I wonder if Zynga was friends with the site if people would still hate them.

We need people like you. We need people to defend the large multi-billion dollar corporations against the vile and despicable "little man". Because when they ask for money that they deserve there needs to be someone there to stomp their feet and say no. That's what's ruining this country: equality. America wasn't built on fairness and equality. It was built on slavery and wages people could hardly live on. When they got sick, we fired them. When they asked for breaks, we fired them. That's what made this country the great nation it is today.

If poor people and the middle class weren't so entitled we could continue to prosper. Companies like Zynga, who not only copy core gameplay ideas, but make pretty much make identical copies should be allowed to do what they're doing without so much as a raised eyebrow. This is America. We should be allowed to stomp on the little guy however way we please. Popcap would would prosper if only they weren't so creative about taking core mechanics and making it their own different style of game. That's coward hippy shit. That's not the American way.

USA: Fuck the little man.

Some of us believe the rule of law should be followed in all cases, irrespective of an individual party's wealth and success. Honestly, I'm amazed by the amount of vitriol some people have against large corporations. It's called economies of scale. Sure, small developers and publishers are great, but if we want games with large production values (e.g. Skyrim, BF2, MW3), then we need to be willing to accept largeness as a precondition.

It's the same reason we accept the existence of "Big Oil". Drilling derricks, pipelines, refineries, tankers, and service stations don't lend themselves to smallness. And ultimately our desire for affordable gasoline can only be met by these massive economies of scale.

@FierceDeity said:

@Alex_Carrillo said:

@Methodis: Has there been a single Harmonix story this year?

My hatred of people who steal money from corproations - in this case Harmonix Music Systems -is no different from the army of drones who hate a hard working start up like Zynga irrationally. Especially when they claim that Zynga "steals" ideas, and then go on to praise PopCap, who stole many of their games from small indie developers. Except just because one time this paid public relations worker from Harmonix made a funny i'm the immoral one for seeing behind the veil of lies? I wonder if Zynga was friends with the site if people would still hate them.

We need people like you. We need people to defend the large multi-billion dollar corporations against the vile and despicable "little man". Because when they ask for money that they deserve there needs to be someone there to stomp their feet and say no. That's what's ruining this country: equality. America wasn't built on fairness and equality. It was built on slavery and wages people could hardly live on. When they got sick, we fired them. When they asked for breaks, we fired them. That's what made this country the great nation it is today.

If poor people and the middle class weren't so entitled we could continue to prosper. Companies like Zynga, who not only copy core gameplay ideas, but make pretty much make identical copies should be allowed to do what they're doing without so much as a raised eyebrow. This is America. We should be allowed to stomp on the little guy however way we please. Popcap would would prosper if only they weren't so creative about taking core mechanics and making it their own different style of game. That's coward hippy shit. That's not the American way.

USA: Fuck the little man.

Some of us believe the rule of law should be followed in all cases, irrespective of an individual party's wealth and success. Honestly, I'm amazed by the amount of vitriol some people have against large corporations. It's called economies of scale. Sure, small developers and publishers are great, but if we want games with large production values (e.g. Skyrim, BF2, MW3), then we need to be willing to accept largeness as a precondition.

It's the same reason we accept the existence of "Big Oil". Drilling derricks, pipelines, refineries, tankers, and service stations don't lend themselves to smallness. And ultimately our desire for affordable gasoline can only be met by these massive economies of scale.

There's no problem with industry centralization as long as it is sufficiently regulated. The United States has lax regulatory standards in nearly every respect compared to the European Union and even rapidly growing economies like China, India, and Brazil.

@FierceDeity: Large corporations are more often than not really evil. That is the reason I don't like them.