And her father in hot water (part 2 of 2)

(tags game, Dead or Alive, sexual harassment, law, failure)

Another Dead or Alive game release means crank up the sex sells adverts. But the advertising push got an unexpected negative twist when it was reported that Tomonobu Itagaki (板垣伴信, producer and programmer of the Dead or Alive series and Kasumi's "father") was accused of sexual harassment from a former unnamed Tecmo employee (Kotaku, Gamasutra, Zakzak). Itagaki denied the charges but confirmed the relations as consensual sexual activity. Tecmo immediately and unconditionally demoted Itagaki from executive officer to corporate officer for the interim before the trial, which is ... a slap on the wrist? There were also salary reductions.

The more recent news which confirms the whole event (everybody was just pointing to the original Zakzak article) was Tecmo's official announcement about it (Kotaku, Gamasutra). In "A Statement Regarding Certain News Reports Concerning Ongoing Litigation" (訴訟に関する一部報道について), Tecmo reported its own internal "impartial" investigation findings. They basically claim that Itagaki was in the clear on sexual harassment charges, however the demotions were justified because the two employees disrupted the work environment. Itagaki is planning to counter-sue ("critical reversal"?!?) for defamication. It's not over yet, because the original suit is still on-going.

My first reaction was "should I stop buying Dead or Alive stuff now?". But who am I kidding? Just look at the last post.

But I grew more cynical and thought that in this world of hot-shot game creators, Tecmo is covering for their front-line human face for this multi-million dollar cash-cow franchise. The blogger reaction right now is muted (in the english-speaking world) on fire in Japanese blogs:

1. "Others are quick to condemn and don't ask Itagaki's side of the story"
2. "Itagaki has deceived fans and companies"
3. "It's also a hot topic in China and Korea"
4. "That Itagaki is still at the company after doing this awful thing is remarkable"

Come on! Where's the reaction from Game Girl Advance or the like? It's probably not an issue because these sites don't play "that bouncing breasts game". Would that IGN interview with Itagaki still run if published after the report? Why didn't Famitsu report it along side its breathless same-day report of Dead or Alive 4 selling 1 million units worldwide?

I'll be following this story for sure.