The famous Avenger Controller shipping debacle gone viral, thanks to a chain of emails, has resulted in the dismissal of third party contractor Paul Christoforo. The incident which found its way to the internet thanks to the folks at Penny Arcade has led to memes, jokes, and an all-out war against Ocean Marketing's Paul Christoforo – and rightfully so.
By now, you've probably heard of the controversy. Basically, Christoforo was beyond rude to a customer inquiring about his Avenger Controller. The string of emails, which contained some ridiculous statements, was made public for all to see and, within 2 days, chaos ensued. Obviously, this caught N-Control, the makers of the Avenger Controller, by surprise.
Amidst the chaos and controversy, N-Control released an official statement dismissing Paul Christofor and his marketing operation. According to the press release, "This separation from Mr. Christoforo extends to all business interests of N-Control, its founders, and its officers. Mr. Christoforo does not and never did own, in whole or in part, a stake in N-Control LLC nor its affiliated companies (Kotkin Enterprises, iControl LLC)."
Creator, David Kotkin, had originally designed the Avenger Controller to "help one of his students who had a physical disability. The student wanted to play games the way that everyone else could. The Avenger evolved from a homemade solution for a deserving child into an even more sophisticated controller accessory, capable of enhancing even the most skilled gamer’s performance."
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to be a part of the gaming community in a fun, positive way.” said David Kotkin, Avenger founder. “I created the Avenger to make people happy. I deeply regret that so many people have any negative feelings toward it as a result of what has happened, especially since I’ve seen first-hand what an impact it can have on gameplay.”
Kotkin continued, “What I’m most concerned about is doing right by our customers. We have dropped the ball by giving them delivery estimates that did not come through as expected. We didn’t expect that the demand would be so great, and we should have done a better job communicating that. Our new team is taking all necessary action to correct that going forward. I hope that people will give us a chance to earn back the faith they may have lost.”
According to N-Control, all existing orders will be honored, and PS3 Avenger pre-order customers will all be extended the same $10 discount that some have already received.
N-Control publicly apologized to the entire gaming community and emphasized that "the Avenger was invented to provide greater accessibility to disabled gamers, and bullying tactics are the last thing that should be associated with this product."
All PS3 Avenger pre-orders are currently slated to ship by January 15th at the latest. Some orders will ship in advance of January 15th. In consideration of the events of the past two days, N-Control ask their customers to bear with them as they sort out updating individual order estimates. General updates regarding shipping will be regularly delivered to customers starting next week.
