Open Apology to Community

Geddon_jt

Creator of the Master List,
20 Year Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2000
Posts
1,322
Dear Neo-geo.com community,

I write this email to humbly apologize to the community at large. If my report detailing my observations of the game has in any way resulted in unhappiness now on the part of some buyers, I offer my sincerest apology.

A little more about the report I would ask you guys to remember. I have believed for many years that aero fighters 3 US AES probably existed. This goes back to a direct talk I had over 15 years ago with Adol. This was many years before conversions and fake games, and when his memory was sharper than it is today, as his “sighting” had only occurred 3 years before that. Adol has never lied to me about anything and back in the DHP days he was adamant about that. Having seen no reason for him to lie, I always believed it.

So, when I saw the game for the first time, it was obviously leagues above and beyond any fakes that I ever saw before for ANY game. The obvious conclusion based upon the information I had at that time was that it was legitimate.

I learned about Power Spikes 2 ONLY AFTER completing all portions of my report on AF3. I realized then that we were dealing with a new ball of wax and the only answer to prove legitimacy was to have DavidG come forward publicly and explain all. Something I have been trying to accomplish for some months, but something I wanted since learning that fact.

I’m not trying to shift blame to anyone here. If anyone perceives I had a “role” in this, this email is to clarify the absolute unaltered truth about what my “role” was and what I did so you guys can understand from my perspective what my involvement was. Obviously, I agree that given the information presently known, these games have not been sufficiently proven to be legitimate (understatement of the year right?)

Anyhow, as a result of what has happened I have resolved to do the following:

Effective immediately, I am going to resign as a moderator at neo-geo.com. This is not something I was asked to do by anyone, but it’s something I want to happen. It really has nothing to do with my involvement in the AF3 thing. The primary reason for this is because there are fellow moderators who have gone out of their way to speculate about me and my integrity both publicly and privately to others and have proven to have no respect for me or my word. Other fellow moderators are long time friends whose opinions and judgments I will always respect. But, I’m tired of putting up with the daily dose of crap from these other people. There are additional reasons Shawn is aware of which I’m not going to discuss with anyone, publicly or privately, period. I wasn’t a very good moderator anyway because I never really “moderated” anything and my participation at the site over the years has dwindled. Not to say I haven’t enjoyed myself here, I just don’t want to be a mod anymore. And that is my final comment on that.

I want to turn over the Master List to someone else. I don’t want any perceived bias on my part to affect the value and credibility of the list. This is particularly important to me in light of the newfound “union and neutrality” between NGF and this site, something I will probably never understand. NGF was the whole reason I wrote the list 12 years ago. I hope you long time members will remain diligent in safeguarding the TRUE history of these guys and the system we all enjoy. Anyway, I digress… I also just have not had the time necessary to devote to it over the past few years despite the fact that I have a ton more knowledge and research about the Neo geo. That will probably come out from me in different ways but not in the list itself, at least as it currently exists. I do request the ultimate decision on who would be an appropriate person to take over and welcome all of your comments. I don’t have anyone specific in mind at the moment. Sorry, I won’t agree to the suddenly credible long time experts Dion, ChrisR, FTL or Vinh Trieu. Nor will it be DavidG or TonK, ok?

I spoke with DavidG briefly last night and applauded him for resolving to offer buyers refunds. I hope and trust that he will honor his word. Since this whole thing started a few days ago, I have done my best to resolve issues the buyers had, both privately and publicly. I have somewhat limited means to do so as I never handled anyone’s money associated with their deals with David.

For those of you asking if I will demand a refund for my copy of Aero Fighters 3, the answer is 100% NO. I weighed the risks when I bought it and made a decision with the full knowledge that public opinion of the game might turn into what it is today. And, to state again for those questioning, I DID buy it with thousands of dollars of MY money. Further, there are people who own the game who are much more upset about this than I am, and I don’t want to be an obstacle to them getting their money.

Again, I had nothing to do with the purchase, negotiation or handling of funds on the part of ANY other buyers. TonK did send me an email just prior to the chamane purchase where they went back and forth. Why, I don’t know, but I didn’t comment to either of them about their deal at all. I intentionally didn’t want to know about the terms of other’s transactions because it simply was not my business.

The only item I have ever purchased from DavidG is my Aero Fighters 3 cartridge, and I will not be engaging in any further deals with him until the day he can prove 100% the legitimacy of his claims, if that day ever comes. The ball is in his court on that.

I really don’t have anything else to say about this whole debacle. I’m a big man and can admit when I’m wrong, or have made a bad decision. However, I absolutely did not defraud anyone, knowingly leave things out of my report, write the report to “generate sales”, and I was not paid to write it, asked to write it (I volunteered) and I can assure all of you, regardless of what you ultimately believe, that my intentions were 100% honorable.

That is the 100% TRUTH here. I hope you guys can accept that as well as my apology.
I hope this post, at least in part, helps the community move forward and talking about Neo Geo again.
Best regards to all
John
 

Rot

Calvin & Hobbes, ,
Joined
Jul 8, 2003
Posts
11,441
I have NO problems with John...

..I believe everything he wrote.... people make mistakes... and sometimes blind faith is a BAD thing....

So my respects for John for being big enough to come out and say it...

...I'll ALWAYS consider him my friend...

xROTx

PS. Anyone have a prob with that... then you're more than welcome to come into chat and talk to me about it... I'm DEFO not going anywhere....
PPS. Make sure you read the quick chat starter guide in the SUGGESTIONS forum first... geez...
 
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Yodd

Iori's Flame
20 Year Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2002
Posts
8,214
John,
Thanks for posting this and I am sad to see that you stepping down as a Mod. I wish you would reconsider it.

Its good to know your side of the story and I hope that these games are proven legit.
 

cdamm

Trust the French?
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Posts
10,587
John,

while i'm sad to see you stepping down, i understand why. your presence here is a big deal to me for not only your knowledge, but also your tact. i could only hope you would reconsider your decision, but if not im glad to see that you are going to be sticking around. i think we all know that you were acting with the best of intentions here.

-c.
 

LWK

Earl of Sexyheim
20 Year Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2001
Posts
18,070
so why the hell is ngf all buddy buddy here now?
 

trenog

Gai's Trainer
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2011
Posts
1,344
so why the hell is ngf all buddy buddy here now?

This instability has led to off site conversations between Shawn and the NGFreakers wherein a papal pardon of sorts has been granted. The full extent of which we won't know for a while
 

TMOSteel

,
20 Year Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2000
Posts
624
This instability has led to off site conversations between Shawn and the NGFreakers wherein a papal pardon of sorts has been granted. The full extent of which we won't know for a while

Ah money, truly the root of all evil...
 

90s

This is the hand that launched a thousand batches.
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Posts
1,149
Your statements come across as sincere and this is a respectable decision.
 

Shito

King of Typists,
20 Year Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Posts
9,353
Ah money, truly the root of all evil...

Actually:

Proof_that_women_are_evil_by_grammaton485.jpg
 

Dr Shroom

made it in japan
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2005
Posts
23,233
But it really held the room together.
 
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68k

Tung Fu Rue's Prize Student
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Posts
6,780
I really feel for whoever bought these games.

They now have to deal with the ultimate insertion marks.
 

trenog

Gai's Trainer
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2011
Posts
1,344
I really feel for whoever bought these games.

They now have to deal with the ultimate insertion marks.

Are those insertion marks the ones that the giant dildos left after going up the arses of the affected?
 

Renmauzo

MS Paint Master.
10 Year Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Posts
3,624
John, I find it hard to believe anyone could truly impeach your character. Your post feels honest and genuine, and you've been very respectful of the whole situation from the beginning. You aren't leaving N-G.com right? That would be a big loss to the community; even us noobs can see those here that stand for something and help to elevate the community in their own way.
 

aria

Former Moderator
Joined
Dec 4, 1977
Posts
39,546
I just wanted to make it clear that I personally believe it's a damn shame that John feels he needs to do this.

What he did was state that, as a big-time Neo fan, the game seemed legit to him --he never held himself out as a printing or engineering expert, in fact he clearly stated he wasn't in his report. Unfortunately, that put him in the middle of a very, very messy situation. But I do, without a doubt, think he was acting in good faith and would not have ever been dumb enough to risk his attorney's license by acting in bad faith. It's just not him; in my mind he's always been, and remains, one of the good guys.

I've said pretty early on, before his report came out, that I would be careful with putting serious credence in it. He and I are both attorneys with a passion for the Neo. He even wrote a solid article for that British rag. Still: I know I wouldn't trust my own expertise on authenticating a cart like AF3 because I'm not a printing or engineering expert...I'm a lawyer and that's just not something I'm as familiar with. With that said, John compared stuff and seemed to be convinced. He was willing to stick his Neo Geo-related rep out there a bit and, in the end, it didn't go over that well. I'm a little more risk adverse, but that's neither here nor there.

Bottom line is that I want the people who are reading this thread to know that I think John shouldn't have to resign from anything, that he tried to do his best, and that I am very disappointed in the at times lamentable behavior behind the scenes that led to John taking this action...by two mods no less. I won't name names, but you can guess for yourselves.
 

SNKorSWM

So Many Posts
No Time
For Games.
10 Year Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
15,152
I'm puzzled as why he would volunteer the authentication when he himself knows that he is not qualified to do so in the first place.
 

Tacitus

Volatile Memory Construct - SN://0467839
Staff member
Joined
Apr 26, 2002
Posts
15,120
I just wanted to make it clear that I personally believe it's a damn shame that John feels he needs to do this.

What he did was state that, as a big-time Neo fan, the game seemed legit to him --he never held himself out as a printing or engineering expert, in fact he clearly stated he wasn't in his report. Unfortunately, that put him in the middle of a very, very messy situation. But I do, without a doubt, think he was acting in good faith and would not have ever been dumb enough to risk his attorney's license by acting in bad faith. It's just not him; in my mind he's always been, and remains, one of the good guys.

I've said pretty early on, before his report came out, that I would be careful with putting serious credence in it. He and I are both attorneys with a passion for the Neo. He even wrote a solid article for that British rag. Still: I know I wouldn't trust my own expertise on authenticating a cart like AF3 because I'm not a printing or engineering expert...I'm a lawyer and that's just not something I'm as familiar with. With that said, John compared stuff and seemed to be convinced. He was willing to stick his Neo Geo-related rep out there a bit and, in the end, it didn't go over that well. I'm a little more risk adverse, but that's neither here nor there.

Bottom line is that I want the people who are reading this thread to know that I think John shouldn't have to resign from anything, that he tried to do his best, and that I am very disappointed in the at times lamentable behavior behind the scenes that led to John taking this action...by two mods no less. I won't name names, but you can guess for yourselves.


“Our age knows nothing but reaction, and leaps from one extreme to another.”

Reinhold Niebuhr


Unfortunate. utterly unfortunate.
 

Renmauzo

MS Paint Master.
10 Year Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Posts
3,624
I'm puzzled as why he would volunteer the authentication when he himself knows that he is not qualified to do so in the first place.

Someone who has/had been a good friend asks for help, most people say "I'll do my best" and help. It's really sad when good people trying to come to a friend's aid get burned.
 

evil wasabi

The Jongmaster
20 Year Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2000
Posts
60,434
Gentlemen,

Wow. Geddon is going down swinging. That's the spirit...

So Geddon is stepping down from what? A position or an honorary title?

We were pushing him to reveal that he owned the cart but he refused to speak about it. Don't you think that if people knew he had the cart, and what he had to do/pay to receive it, that they would have acted differently both as buyers and as spectators? Even when he finally admitted to having AF3 he still asked it to be kept in the mod squad. I know that there were at least three different prices paid for those AF3s, and I doubt Geddon paid within that range. 20k, 21k and then, what 31k? 32k?

He didn't keep that information obscured to protect himself. He did it to protect DavidG. Why? We won't know.

He said PS2 was a whole different ball of wax? Like what, it set off alarms suddenly that this guy had 2 distinct euro carts for a game that was mvs only? He didn't seem that perturbed by it. But that was where things went south.

That whole thing stank so badly and I wish that Geddon handled it differently. More transparently. He didn't. Things were none of our business. Maybe so if he was just a buyer, and not part of the sales pitch.

If Geddon wants to say he's leaving because of me, then I wear that badge proudly. He held himself as one of the three amigos working for the source, and defended the source when he could have sat back and said he'd just wait for the source to reveal things on his own.

He stepped up to the plate and helped the source do what TonK could not do on his own.

And at no time during that, or the past few years preceeding, did he move/close and threads, ban spambots, handle feedback disputes, or do any actual moderation.

John was, maybe still is, passionate about the neogeo. Anyone like that should be welcome here. But I don't see his "stepping down" as anything more than posturing. He wasn't a mod. He could have been if he wanted to. He had the right user setting to do everything that you, me, tak, and occasionally neo mike, jeff Kurtz, and kitkit do.

I don't see it as a loss that he's giving up his honorary title. In fact I think it's disgusting that he did it as an act of spite. The loss is that he betrayed members by obfuscation of his ties to the seller, and for month he played the role of an unbiased third party. 10 years of honor trashed. That's a loss.

But the biggest loss is the trust our members will have In long standing members. The air of apprehension that the odds are always good that the goods are odd.

Ps: Go to hell, John. You're the typical kind of lawyer that gives our profession a bad name.
 
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