By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Hecker Apologizes for Wii Comments

staticneuron on 09 March 2007

Darc Requiem said: Death2009 said: I am a strong supporter of freedom of speech and the press. You take the good press with the bad and never suppress it. Nintendo's world will not collapse because one man hates their product. Death2009, freedom of speech has nothing to do with it. This is about the work place. You can't call your clients product "a piece of shit" and not expect reprecussions. In most businesses he would have been fired for his out burst. His statement could have potentially caused EA and Maxis problems with Nintendo. For example, lets say I'm a car sales men. The company I work for sells Toyota, Chevrolet, and Fords. What would think would happen to me if I singled out one of those brands publically and called them "a piece of shit"? I would be fired. Because if weren't, either of those vendors could with hold product or worse decide not to do business with my company because of my statement. The bottom line is this. Hecker could have stated his opinion in a professional manner and everything would have been okay. He conducted himself like the average forum troll which garnered him extra attention. This attention shined a bad light on his employers. He could have said. "I'm disappointed in the Wii. I don't like how the Wii features what is essentially an overclocked Gamecube chipset. I think that this, along with Nintendo's new controller, promotes overly simplistic games. I think that games are an art form and that Nintendo hasn't provided an adequate way to display that art." Same thing he said, but I stated it like someone in his position should have.
I haven't been keeping on top of this. I normally would agree with you but wasn't this a ranting an event at GDC that allowed to devs to sound off with opinions? I would imagine that this was not intended to represent a company in the first place but company put a pr blanket over this.



Games make me happy! PSN ID: Staticneuron Gamertag: Staticneuron Wii Code: Static Wii - 3055 0871 5802 1723

Around the Network
superchunk on 09 March 2007

staticneuron said: I haven't been keeping on top of this. I normally would agree with you but wasn't this a ranting an event at GDC that allowed to devs to sound off with opinions? I would imagine that this was not intended to represent a company in the first place but company put a pr blanket over this.
Exactly. I abhor the way he presented his personal opinions, however, that is one part of th GDC's purpose and he was in a discussion panel, not EA's or Maxis's booths. This is obviously a pr move pushed on him by EA/Maxis maybe even Will Wright himself. Either way it makes him look like an ass.



Darc Requiem on 09 March 2007

staticneuron said: I haven't been keeping on top of this. I normally would agree with you but wasn't this a ranting an event at GDC that allowed to devs to sound off with opinions? I would imagine that this was not intended to represent a company in the first place but company put a pr blanket over this.
Thats the point. Every developer there sounded off. He was the only one that went into a profanity laden tirade. He wasn't professional. He could have said the same thing in a professional tone and nobody would have paid much attention to it. His immaturity turned a footnote into a headline.



mancandy on 09 March 2007

He apologized? What a pansy. I agree that his professionalism was lacking. It's okay to rant, but when you're making a speech with press coverage I don't think anyone should be starting off with "The Wii is a piece of shit!" It could be any product, but having the word "shit" in your first sentence or anywhere in your speech... not so smart. When you're high up as these guys are, you're ALWAYS representing your company, no matter where you are. For example, if Miyamoto goes on vacation and gets arrested the headlines will read "Miyamoto, Nintendo's Game Guru, Gets Arrested for DUI." He's not representing Nintendo on vacation, but Nintendo is represented in the press anyways. If someone is news worthy in the first place, the press will remind you why they are news worthy.



Wii Code 8761-5941-4718-0078 

Darc Requiem on 09 March 2007

Excellent post Mancandy. It felt weird typing that BTW



Around the Network
mancandy on 09 March 2007

Thanks Darc. I'm glad that you didn't think it was "a piece of shit!"



Wii Code 8761-5941-4718-0078 

Kwaad on 09 March 2007

EA public affairs spin team... I doubt he would word it that well. It smells political. Dont take it seriously.



PSN ID: Kwaad


I fly this flag in victory!

Death2009 on 10 March 2007

It's not so much that he apologized, but he blindly praised Nintendo in doing it. If he felt he should have expressed it better, then say that; but don't go around and praise a system you hate. What a tool. But I am in no way a "professional" type of person. I am the type that would find it funny or even agree if Bush told the Chirac to go fuck himself. Fairly, I did know that it was either cheany or rumsfeld that said the f word to a congressman, I was amused by it. Maybe it's time I worked on my "Professional" behavior and took a class in how to be a corporate tool.