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Another ZX Spectrum device indiegogo fundraiser

SeanR

By SeanR,
in Retro & Arcade Gaming

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gone fishin

gone fishin

Posted
Posted

@Robo_1 reposted this tweet in the Next thread. Except zoom in on the picture and they've got a Vega+ on the table (which seems to be working). Which is bizarre considering it's a Next game they're designing - which I presume won't be able to run on the Vega+?

 

Hmmm.. strange that RCL/Lee Fogarty aren't all over this. Or is it a snub to the Vega+? Who knows!!!

 

 

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andys

andys

Posted
Posted

TBH, it's quite feasible that if the Vega existed it could emulate the NEXT. The suggested specs (faster Z80 + sprites) aren't going to tax any modern ARM, and they've said it will be public information.

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ulala

ulala

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, Vimster said:

Great, so people essentially funded RCL's legal fees, and now it's likely there will be some daft Ponzi scheme to deliver goods. Is anyone doing a time machine Kickstarter?

 

All people have funded appears to be salaries and court costs !

 

if they still had money left to produce product, the accounts would have been published. 

 

It apoears, as predicted a year ago, the aim is simply to make bank, then draw it out as long as possible before they get three strikes and are liquidated. 

 

What was interesting, was the website that was going to sell the devices to non-backers. Just adding to the cash reserve before the plug is pulled. It wasn't a ponzi scheme in my book.

 

if a company did this, could they see jail time?

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gone fishin

gone fishin

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5 hours ago, ulala said:

 

All people have funded appears to be salaries and court costs !

 

if they still had money left to produce product, the accounts would have been published. 

 

It apoears, as predicted a year ago, the aim is simply to make bank, then draw it out as long as possible before they get three strikes and are liquidated. 

 

What was interesting, was the website that was going to sell the devices to non-backers. Just adding to the cash reserve before the plug is pulled. It wasn't a ponzi scheme in my book.

 

if a company did this, could they see jail time?

Unfortunately stupidity and the inability to run a business is not illegal!

 

If your scenario were to happen, RCL would likely be inestigated for fraud, but in reality you're looking at a company that has around £450k in cash after Indigogo charges were removed. Remove the legal fees and payments to the ex directors and you've got under £300k. 

 

If the £300k was spent on design, pre-production units and salaries then I'm not sure how it could be seen as fraud. Maybe he Machiavellian goal might have been to drain the company of funds and go bust, but I don't think that any of the fees could be seen as excessive or fraudulent as part of an investigation. 

 

Unfortunately what looks like the likely outcome is RCL being declared bankrupt and the backers getting nothing, with no legal ramifications. Maybe I'm wrong but I think RCL only had a slight chance of delivering the units based on the initial funds raised. (£108 per device, before Indiegogo and payment fees) The legal costs have now likely made it impossible for them to deliver.

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maryliddon

maryliddon

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, SeanR said:

 

no wai!?!

 

:D

 

He's had a few ventures in the past that were er... commercially confusing?

Something they all seem to have in common was a shit load of drama.

 

This is his take on the Brain Game's Network saga:

 

http://www.kingpinchess.net/2010/02/david-levy-on-the-brain-games-scandal-2000-2003/

 

Levy falls out with former partners, calls them crooks and alleges theft of company funds.

 

And oh look! The only member of BGN he has praise for is current RCL MD Suzanne Martin.

 

I'm pretty sure there are other points of view about how all of this went down so for the sake of balance:


 

Quote

 

AFTER Brain Games Network's sponsorship of last year's World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, little had been heard of the company until some far-fetched allegations from their former CEO, Suzanne Martin, appeared in the News of the World claiming that the match was used "to launder Russian mafia-money."

 

A serious allegation (which no-one believed for one moment), the matter is now part of an ongoing Police investigation with officials at BGN helping them with their inquiries. It transpired that Ms Martin had become a "disgruntled ex-employee" after being sacked for incompetence and now looks as if she herself will be pursued in a civil action by BGN. It's also been disclosed that, just before leaving the company, Ms Martin also signed 17 cheques to herself for (UK)5,000, her maximum limit.

 

 

Crivens! Who to believe?

 

There was also the Enterprise  Elan, partly Levy's responsibility; a Z80 machine that ended with the company who made it going broke:

 

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/24/elan_flan_enterprise_micro_is_30_years_old/

 

Shame, the machine is actually pretty interesting for it's day.
 

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deKay

deKay

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, ulala said:

It's probably a given that no one is ever going to get the product they paid for.

 

all that's left is to trace where exactly every penny of that 500,000 went.

 

Facts_Nose.jpg

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Lorfarius

Lorfarius

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, ulala said:

It's probably a given that no one is ever going to get the product they paid for.

 

all that's left is to trace where exactly every penny of that 500,000 went.

 

I think we already know... we've seen Levy posting pictures in Rio with a unit on the beach :lol:

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ulala

ulala

Posted
Posted

Sad to hear episode 157 of retro Asylum use words to the effect of 'I'm not shilling for the vega + but....' on their podcast.

 

im afraid they really went down in my estimation.

 

they actually think backers will get their product. Laughable.

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Gregory Wolfe

Gregory Wolfe

Posted
Posted
On 20/05/2017 at 14:59, Lorfarius said:

There's been reports that Suzanne Martin is also his daughter!

 

Genuine question as my knowledge on this campaign is sketchy but would this be a big deal?

 

I could probably find the evidence to prove it if it were true.

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Lorfarius

Lorfarius

Posted
Posted
Just now, Gregory Wolfe said:

 

Genuine question as my knowledge on this campaign is sketchy but would this be a big deal?

 

I could probably find the evidence to prove it if it were true.

 

She keeps getting well paid positions and very involved with the company after the fact (has happened before). If they were related explains it even more when one of the ex directors wanted to let her go and Levy got all defensive about it. They were desperate to save money and weren't even taking a salary yet they were paying her £300 or so a week for marketing.... when she wasn't doing anything.

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Gregory Wolfe

Gregory Wolfe

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Lorfarius said:

 

She keeps getting well paid positions and very involved with the company after the fact (has happened before). If they were related explains it even more when one of the ex directors wanted to let her go and Levy got all defensive about it. They were desperate to save money and weren't even taking a salary yet they were paying her £300 or so a week for marketing.... when she wasn't doing anything.

 

Would there be any mileage in me proving it?

 

Based on what you said and having done a little research it is certainly a possibility. ;)

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gone fishin

gone fishin

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, Lorfarius said:

 

She keeps getting well paid positions and very involved with the company after the fact (has happened before). If they were related explains it even more when one of the ex directors wanted to let her go and Levy got all defensive about it. They were desperate to save money and weren't even taking a salary yet they were paying her £300 or so a week for marketing.... when she wasn't doing anything.

To be fair, I wouldn't expect anything for £300 a week on marketing....

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Lorfarius

Lorfarius

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, Gregory Wolfe said:

 

Would there be any mileage in me proving it?

 

Based on what you said and having done a little research it is certainly a possibility. ;)

 

I think the exDirector has all sorts of legal stuff that proves it and more. There's loads he can't say at this point though but he's promised to release loads later.

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gone fishin

gone fishin

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1 hour ago, Lorfarius said:

 

It's all online marketing as a consultant,  BS basically. So doesn't even have to be there.

She's probably getting made minimum to keep her under the £11,200 tax free allowance. Then get paid in dividends on top - which don't need to be declared until the end of the year (and they've not filed their accounts yet).

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