Acclaim sued by...the Olsen Twins?

[AndrewTS 0]

This is such a beautiful story, I simply had to share. Having not played a single entry in this franchise and knowing Acclaim well, I can only conjecture that this franchise was composed of brainless, poorly-programmed, fetid pieces of unplayable pablum rushed out to Wal-Marts around the country for a quick buck.

 

However, it's comforting to know that greed is a powerful force that can sometimes break the unholiest of alliances. I'm somewhat disappointed at the paltry sum MK+A are seeking, but oh well.

 

Teenage media moguls take publisher to court over their "blatantly abandoned" game franchise.

When they hear the names Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, most people think of the words "cute" or "perky." Some unsavory souls think "jailbait." Rarely, however, does "lawsuit" come to mind.

 

However, less than two months before their 18th birthday, the former Full House stars are engaging in some very grown-up legal action. Late last week, the television tabloid show Celebrity Justice revealed that the twin queens of 'tween media are suing Acclaim, former publisher of their Mary-Kate and Ashley game franchise.

 

According to the suit, which can be viewed in full on the Celebrity Justice site, Acclaim failed to pay Olsen-owned Dualstar Entertainment $177,966.32 in game royalties. The suit seeks the back royalties plus "maximum interest" and an additional $300,000 Acclaim was to pay Dualstar as part of a termination settlement reached last fall.

 

The termination settlement came after several months of behind-the-scenes legal wrangling between the two companies. According to a letter from the Olsens' lawyers, which was filed with the suit, the split came after the cancellation of Mary-Kate and Ashley in ACTION!, a GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, and PC game scheduled for a fall 2003 release.

 

According to the letter, the game was canceled after Acclaim told Dualstar that the game's publication was "definite" while failing to pay the game's unnamed, "Seattle-based" developer $1 million. "As a result," said the letter, "Acclaim...has blatantly abandoned the mary-kateandashley brand and has taken the mary-kateandashley brand in video games which had flourished and has now run it into the ground."

 

When contacted by GameSpot, Acclaim representatives would not address the charges brought up in the suit. "We can't comment on ongoing legal action," said one rep. However, the Olsen Twins suit is not the first time Acclaim has had legal troubles with a famous game licensee. In 2003, the publisher settled a $21 million suit brought by Dave Mirra following his displeasure with BMX XXX.

 

By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot

POSTED: 04/26/04 01:55PM PST

[Sandman9000 0]

It's Acclaim.

 

They deserve to lose all their money after what they did to the ECW games.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

It's Acclaim.

 

They deserve to lose all their money after what they did to every game they ever made.

Edited for accuracy.

[Anya 0]

I played one of the MK&A games. It wasn't really that bad. I could maybe see liking it if I was younger.

 

 

If Acclaim owes the girls money they deserve it. Well that and it'd just be funny to see them lose money.

[AndrewTS 0]

I played one of the MK&A games. It wasn't really that bad. I could maybe see liking it if I was younger.

Humor me: what the hell kind of game could they possibly make out of them?

[starvenger 0]

Ack!Lame! ruining a franchise? I'm SHOCKED!!

[Renegade 0]

Good. Fuck acclaim.

[AndrewTS 0]

Good. Fuck acclaim.

Indeed. Sadly, it's going to be for a mere million or so.

[Sandman9000 0]

It's Acclaim.

 

They deserve to lose all their money after what they did to every game they ever made.

Edited for accuracy.

Fair enough.

[AndrewTS 0]

Does Probe still work under the Acclaim umbrella? They seemed like the only development house capable of making decent games.

[Anya 0]

Humor me: what the hell kind of game could they possibly make out of them?

In the one I played you were like trapped in a mall or something and it was basically just a bunch of mini-games, like collect-a-thon platforming stuff and fashion shows.

[Guest El Satanico]

They need to do a Double Dragon style fighting game with them. They also need to do a Mortal Kombat style fighting game with them and all other character connected to them(Kimmie as the boss and Jesse's sons as the villian before the boss).

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

"According to the letter, the game was canceled after Acclaim told Dualstar that the game's publication was "definite" while failing to pay the game's unnamed, "Seattle-based" developer $1 million."

 

NINTENDO?

[Guest Choken One]

do those bitches really need ANOTHER Million dollars? greedy whores.

[razazteca 0]

The twins are jealous of Lindsey Lohan and Hillary Duff who are taking their market share.

[Mole 0]

And they should be afraid because those two can actually act, while the Olsen Twins were just good at being cute little babies on Full House.

[Guest El Satanico]

Afraid? pffft The Olsens are an Empire, they aren't "afraid" of Lohan and Duff. That's like saying Donald Trump fears the owner of a local mom and pop grocery store.

 

 

 

Wait...did you just say Hilary Duff can act? She's no better than the Olsens.

[AndrewTS 0]

The Olsons singing would be really disturbing, like the Mothra twins.

[razazteca 0]

Disturbing would be all of the girls along with Amanda Bynes singing the SNL Xmas song.

[Guest Banders Kennany]

Afraid? pffft The Olsens are an Empire, they aren't "afraid" of Lohan and Duff. That's like saying Donald Trump fears the owner of a local mom and pop grocery store.

I've always wondered.....how are the Olsen twins making so much? Since Full House, they've had a couple TV shows that didn't last too long, not really any movies until the upcoming "NY Minute"....how do they become an empire in the face of popular, visible young Hollywood beauties like Duff or Lohan?

Why does everyone hate Acclaim? I've never noticed. Are all their games usually that bad? I can't think of a lot of what they've published besides Turok and the WWF/ECW games....what else have they done? Are the bad games the only reason people hate on them, or is there more to it?

[cynicalprofit 0]

I saw this today, and I wondered, is it really acclaims fault? How do you make a video game based on 2 girls? Really, what can you do? I mean your ave. gamer is male 18-28 right, unless theres blood, sex, or violence, you don't get that main demographic right there, so your chance to make the most cash is gone out the door asap.

 

The target audiecne for that game is girls probably 14 and under, which is NOT a large market, last I knew. So really, was there any possible way this game was gonna be a winner? The girls don't want to have sex violence, or blood in their games, so what are they gonna use to draw someone into buying the game. I dont know about you, but changing a girls clothes in a video game without even the slightest hint of it being dirty, doesn't even make me consider renting the game no matter how much crack I smoked that day.

 

I can't fault acclaim on this one, them being in a video game made ZERO sense in the first place. It would be like William Hung getting a video game, what does he have to offer in a video game format? Video games are escapism(sp), unless the girls were gonna have computer images of them fucking, which will sadly never happen in real life, no one will give a crap about their game.

[Guest El Satanico]

I'd buy a Double Dragon style fighting game or Mortal Kombat style fighting game starring them.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Afraid? pffft The Olsens are an Empire, they aren't "afraid" of Lohan and Duff. That's like saying Donald Trump fears the owner of a local mom and pop grocery store.

I've always wondered.....how are the Olsen twins making so much? Since Full House, they've had a couple TV shows that didn't last too long, not really any movies until the upcoming "NY Minute"....how do they become an empire in the face of popular, visible young Hollywood beauties like Duff or Lohan?

Why does everyone hate Acclaim? I've never noticed. Are all their games usually that bad? I can't think of a lot of what they've published besides Turok and the WWF/ECW games....what else have they done? Are the bad games the only reason people hate on them, or is there more to it?

Every game on from the PSone days to present have sucked complete ass, the graphics are terrible and glitchy, and overall lazy efforts put into everything.

 

I saw this today, and I wondered, is it really acclaims fault? How do you make a video game based on 2 girls? Really, what can you do? I mean your ave. gamer is male 18-28 right, unless theres blood, sex, or violence, you don't get that main demographic right there, so your chance to make the most cash is gone out the door asap.

 

The target audiecne for that game is girls probably 14 and under, which is NOT a large market, last I knew. So really, was there any possible way this game was gonna be a winner? The girls don't want to have sex violence, or blood in their games, so what are they gonna use to draw someone into buying the game. I dont know about you, but changing a girls clothes in a video game without even the slightest hint of it being dirty, doesn't even make me consider renting the game no matter how much crack I smoked that day.

 

I can't fault acclaim on this one, them being in a video game made ZERO sense in the first place. It would be like William Hung getting a video game, what does he have to offer in a video game format? Video games are escapism(sp), unless the girls were gonna have computer images of them fucking, which will sadly never happen in real life, no one will give a crap about their game.

 

Post of the F'N milenium gentlemen and.......more gentlemen.

[starvenger 0]

I saw this today, and I wondered, is it really acclaims fault? How do you make a video game based on 2 girls? Really, what can you do? I mean your ave. gamer is male 18-28 right, unless theres blood, sex, or violence, you don't get that main demographic right there, so your chance to make the most cash is gone out the door asap.

 

The target audiecne for that game is girls probably 14 and under, which is NOT a large market, last I knew. So really, was there any possible way this game was gonna be a winner? The girls don't want to have sex violence, or blood in their games, so what are they gonna use to draw someone into buying the game. I dont know about you, but changing a girls clothes in a video game without even the slightest hint of it being dirty, doesn't even make me consider renting the game no matter how much crack I smoked that day.

So basically, you're saying that game developer are at fault for trying to expand their market?

 

Here's the thing - the market that the Olsens et al target is huge, and you'd be nuts to not even ATTEMPT to make inroads into it. That's why you get the Barbie games, the Britney games and the Olsen twins games. Yes, you're not expecting the regular gaming demographic to buy this stuff, but if you can draw another market in, why not take a stab at it?

[Anya 0]

When I was like 14 I played games with violence.

 

 

Developers would be smart to try to get a young female demographic involved in gaming. Besides buying the crap like the Olsen games as kids they'll eventually grow up and be potential customers for their regular games.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Kinda on topic, but not really, I downloaded one of those Barbie games for Gameboy and well...I regret wasting 7 minutes of my life. Damn anyone who think girls actually play video games. Let me rephrase that. for people who think the majority of females play video games.

[cynicalprofit 0]

I saw this today, and I wondered, is it really acclaims fault? How do you make a video game based on 2 girls? Really, what can you do? I mean your ave. gamer is male 18-28 right, unless theres blood, sex, or violence, you don't get that main demographic right there, so your chance to make the most cash is gone out the door asap.

 

The target audiecne for that game is girls probably 14 and under, which is NOT a large market, last I knew. So really, was there any possible way this game was gonna be a winner? The girls don't want to have sex violence, or blood in their games, so what are they gonna use to draw someone into buying the game. I dont know about you, but changing a girls clothes in a video game without even the slightest hint of it being dirty, doesn't even make me consider renting the game no matter how much crack I smoked that day.

So basically, you're saying that game developer are at fault for trying to expand their market?

 

Here's the thing - the market that the Olsens et al target is huge, and you'd be nuts to not even ATTEMPT to make inroads into it. That's why you get the Barbie games, the Britney games and the Olsen twins games. Yes, you're not expecting the regular gaming demographic to buy this stuff, but if you can draw another market in, why not take a stab at it?

Because that market DOESN"T play video games. They play with barbies and are more about social interaction escpasim then violent fantasies. You just have to face facts, 12 year old girls just aren't big game players for the most part. You're not gonan brake through that wall because their ways to escape don't transfer well into video games. All the Barbie games proved that.

 

Acclaims should have had the olsens be in creative control so if the games did bad, it would have been all their fault.

[AndrewTS 0]

Afraid? pffft The Olsens are an Empire, they aren't "afraid" of Lohan and Duff. That's like saying Donald Trump fears the owner of a local mom and pop grocery store.

I've always wondered.....how are the Olsen twins making so much? Since Full House, they've had a couple TV shows that didn't last too long, not really any movies until the upcoming "NY Minute"....how do they become an empire in the face of popular, visible young Hollywood beauties like Duff or Lohan?

Why does everyone hate Acclaim? I've never noticed. Are all their games usually that bad? I can't think of a lot of what they've published besides Turok and the WWF/ECW games....what else have they done? Are the bad games the only reason people hate on them, or is there more to it?

Every game on from the PSone days to present have sucked complete ass, the graphics are terrible and glitchy, and overall lazy efforts put into everything.

Since the PS1 days? Heck, from 8-bit onward they've pumped out plenty of shitty games with only a few exceptions (stuff made by the Probe team and translations of Midway games to home consoles). Take a look at WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game. Now look at the sequel produced in-house by Acclaim. Ugh.

 

Acclaim is the king of shitty cash-in licensed games.

 

Acclaim also does not have a quality control department. They simply do not care about the mediocre-to-terrible games they create.

 

BMX XXX--need I say more?

 

Acclaims should have had the olsens be in creative control so if the games did bad, it would have been all their fault.

 

I seriously doubt they'd want the responsibility. They just wanted to sell their name for profit.

 

 

When I was like 14 I played games with violence.

 

You're in a very small minority of females, then. Therefore, you don't matter to large game companies.

 

Developers would be smart to try to get a young female demographic involved in gaming. Besides buying the crap like the Olsen games as kids they'll eventually grow up and be potential customers for their regular games.

 

Acclaim isn't competent enough to capture that audience. That would require them to assemble a game that could hold the attention span of a human being over the age of 10. They have a hard time doing that without restrictive licenses.

 

Square would be in a far better position to do that in between Final Fantasy What-the-hell-ever, since their games are far better and far more appealing to young females than Pop Star Flavor of the Week in Collect-A-Ton XXXII.

[Drury37 0]

When they hear the names Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, most people think of the words "cute" or "perky."

To be honest I think of Michelle Tanner.

Thanks.

[TheFranchise 0]

When they hear the names Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, most people think of the words "cute" or "perky."

To be honest I think of Michelle Tanner.

Thanks.

No, thank you.