5 ms·

Minecraft creator challenges Bethesda to winner-take-all Quake deathmatch

82 points by jaybol 15y ago

zabraxias 15y ago
There's a startup somewhere in this idea. I'd pay to be a spectator of this match.
- MaxGabriel 15y ago
  Like justin.tv and teevox for Starcraft II? teevox.com
  - fletchowns 15y ago
    Justin.tv has a whole site dedicated to broadcasting video game matches now: http://www.twitch.tv/ http://www.twitch.tv/
- lallysingh 15y ago
  It's basically "The People's Court" for the web. Makes perfect sense.
kqr2 15y ago
This reminds me of a story about Herb Kelleher, one of the founders of Southwest Airlines. One outrageous incident was his arm-wrestling showdown with the CEO of Stevens Aviation in 1992. Both Stevens and Southwest were using the advertising tagline "Plane Smart." To settle the matter, Kelleher suggested an arm-wrestling competition with the winner keeping the rights to the slogan. Kelleher lost the match, but the event generated so much good will and publicity that Stevens let Southwest continue use of the tagline. http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/hkelleher.html http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/hkelleher.h...
- sp332 15y ago
  I posted this video of that event yesterday, but it's funny enough to post again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwU9m4oCtRE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwU9m4oCtRE
phoboslab 15y ago
It's incredible how Notch (the Minecraft creator) turned this lawsuit into a huge PR campaign. The smartest thing Bethesda could do is accept his invitation. Make it big. Live broadcasting etc. There's so much to win for both companies, regardless of the actual outcome of the match.
- DrHankPym 15y ago
  It's cheaper than litigation and just as predictable.
pseudonym 15y ago
People like Notch continually prove and re-prove, to me, the fact that you don't need a huge company, 3 million patents, and an army of lawyers to make money. Between things like this and his stance on piracy[1], it makes for a pleasant counterpoint to all the depressing stories on Techdirt. [1] http://notch.tumblr.com/post/1121596044/how-piracy-works http://notch.tumblr.com/post/1121596044/how-piracy-works
- citricsquid 15y ago
  It does however prove you have to either be incredibly lucky or talented to make lots of money which is not what a lot of people want to hear.
  - latch 15y ago
    you forgot work hard
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
dave_sullivan 15y ago
Haha, more lawsuits should be settled this way, that or thunderdome...
- Apocryphon 15y ago
  All software patent lawsuits should be decided through feats of strength.
sp332 15y ago
Bit of blogspam, the original was posted yesterday with a lot of comments. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491
plasma 15y ago
I'm sure this would go down awesomely with the board. Board: So why don't we have that trademark anymore? Bethesda: Oh we gambled and lost it in a game of Quake 3 deathmatch ... Seriously? :)
leif 15y ago
Quake champions, get ready to send your resumes to Bethesda. ;-)
biot 15y ago
Discussed yesterday from the original source: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491

82 points by jaybol 15y ago

zabraxias 15y ago

There's a startup somewhere in this idea. I'd pay to be a spectator of this match.

MaxGabriel 15y ago
Like justin.tv and teevox for Starcraft II? teevox.com
- fletchowns 15y ago
  Justin.tv has a whole site dedicated to broadcasting video game matches now: http://www.twitch.tv/ http://www.twitch.tv/
lallysingh 15y ago
It's basically "The People's Court" for the web. Makes perfect sense.

kqr2 15y ago

This reminds me of a story about Herb Kelleher, one of the founders of Southwest Airlines. One outrageous incident was his arm-wrestling showdown with the CEO of Stevens Aviation in 1992. Both Stevens and Southwest were using the advertising tagline "Plane Smart." To settle the matter, Kelleher suggested an arm-wrestling competition with the winner keeping the rights to the slogan. Kelleher lost the match, but the event generated so much good will and publicity that Stevens let Southwest continue use of the tagline. http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/hkelleher.html http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/hkelleher.h...

sp332 15y ago
I posted this video of that event yesterday, but it's funny enough to post again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwU9m4oCtRE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwU9m4oCtRE

phoboslab 15y ago

It's incredible how Notch (the Minecraft creator) turned this lawsuit into a huge PR campaign. The smartest thing Bethesda could do is accept his invitation. Make it big. Live broadcasting etc. There's so much to win for both companies, regardless of the actual outcome of the match.

DrHankPym 15y ago
It's cheaper than litigation and just as predictable.

pseudonym 15y ago

People like Notch continually prove and re-prove, to me, the fact that you don't need a huge company, 3 million patents, and an army of lawyers to make money. Between things like this and his stance on piracy[1], it makes for a pleasant counterpoint to all the depressing stories on Techdirt. [1] http://notch.tumblr.com/post/1121596044/how-piracy-works http://notch.tumblr.com/post/1121596044/how-piracy-works

citricsquid 15y ago
It does however prove you have to either be incredibly lucky or talented to make lots of money which is not what a lot of people want to hear.
- latch 15y ago
  you forgot work hard
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]

dave_sullivan 15y ago

Haha, more lawsuits should be settled this way, that or thunderdome...

Apocryphon 15y ago
All software patent lawsuits should be decided through feats of strength.

sp332 15y ago

Bit of blogspam, the original was posted yesterday with a lot of comments. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491

plasma 15y ago

I'm sure this would go down awesomely with the board. Board: So why don't we have that trademark anymore? Bethesda: Oh we gambled and lost it in a game of Quake 3 deathmatch ... Seriously? :)

leif 15y ago

Quake champions, get ready to send your resumes to Bethesda. ;-)

biot 15y ago

Discussed yesterday from the original source: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2895491