1. Dawn alleges that Defunct Games took money from Sony, a claim that is completely false. In the three years Defunct Games has been infecting your computer, we have NEVER taken money for advertising. Just take a look around the site, there is absolutely no advertising of any kind, no banner ads, no pop ups, nothing. Defunct Games is completely ad free ... and that's the way we like it. So to claim that I was some how paid off by Sony to discredit this women is not only baseless, but comical as well.

Defunct Games exists because the creators believe there is a need for it on the Internet. Unlike television, it's fairly inexpensive to maintain a website, and it's easy to collect a strong cult following that is always interested in what the site has to say. This is what makes Defunct Games possible, it's this support I get from a fan base I will probably never talk to or see. In TV you have to constantly get ratings, but we're not tied down by that, we can say what we want and do what we want, we're not afraid to offend advertisers.

There would be absolutely no reason for Sony to pay me to run a news story, it would not be in their best interest and certainly wouldn't be in mine. What do they care if a dinky little comedy game site bashes their products? And besides, in case you didn't notice, Defunct Games is all about systems that DIDN'T have a chance to succeed. That's the reason we are constantly reviewing games for the Neo*Geo, Lynx, and Sega CD. Let's just be honest here, Defunct Games is not your first stop when it comes to PlayStation 2 news.

2. Dawn claims that she will be watching how many Sony interviews I am given and how many of their games are advertised their site. But so far I have yet to have a single article on this site with a Sony rep. Not a single one. Her interview was literally the FIRST interview I posted on Defunct Games (as I mentioned in the opening paragraph on the article in question). I don't know what I would ask Sony, considering I don't cover their game systems and don't review their games.

Likewise I have never had any advertising for Sony, not in the last three years, and not in the next three years. This site is not open to advertising; surely Dawn must know that if she's been to the website. By now this must all sound pretty stupid, considering that anybody who has been to the site for more than a few minutes would know that we don't have advertising, we don't have PlayStation 2 games, we don't have any of that.

3. Dawn claims that she did not get to review her article before I posted it, which is simply not common practice. I presented Dawn with a copy of the article (via email) and didn't hear from her again until last week (May 14, 2004) when she sent me the nasty email you just finished reading. When I've worked with game companies in the past I would conduct and interview, write my article, post the article, and then send them the article ... they never once had editorial control.

Had some of this been off the record I can understand the problem, but since Dawn had expressed that she wanted me to get the word out, I figured I'd do that by using her own words. I thought it was a cute and creative article, one that would show people how much different Defunct Games is to the other websites online. If Dawn feels she came off looking foolish, I would point to the guests on Jerry Springer who likely say the same thing when they actually see themselves on TV.

4. Dawn claims that my magazine "slandered" her, which is impossible on two points. For one thing, "slander" is to ORALLY make false statements to damage ones reputation, my website is written, the worst thing I could do is "libel." Also, Defunct Games is a website, not a magazine ... if you don't know the difference, find a forest and kick a tree, that'll be a magazine one day.

5. Dawn admits to having a copy of every letter and article I wrote about her. I expected nothing less, since I do the same thing for just about all of my email. I have all of her emails to me as well, and have no problem with putting it all online so the people who surf this site can see who she really is. If this escalates, I may just do that, but for now I feel like taking the high road and just calling her bluff. I'm not sure what she can do with our correspondence since there's nothing incriminating in them, but like you, I'm interested in finding out.

6. Dawn has somehow linked this fight we're having (which is about me discrediting her in an article) to her handicap. Although I did not bring it up or tie it to this battle in any way, she constantly referencing it, even going as far as to use it against me in court. She has yet to show me any link between these two things, and as far as I'm concerned is exploiting her handicap for cash. I can only speak for myself in this situation, but let me assure you that I think this is an offensive act, and I find it repulsive that somebody would turn a personal struggle into a tool to hurt others.

7. As part of Dawn's compensation, I am to feature an article about her that she would have complete editorial control over. Luckily I live in the United States where that isn't common practice. Considering that my article got put each of her arguments out there, gave her a voice, and didn't judge her, I can't quite figure out why she's upset with the article. Do you suppose she's also suing GameSpot or IGN for NOT running her story?

8. Dawn calls me "Sybil" which makes me sound like a girl, which I'm not. I'm actually a guy named Cyril. I know it's hard to remember, but it's on every single page on this website! If she intends on suing Sybil, she better know where to find her.

9. I never once revealed Dawn's real and full name, not even in the email I'm responding to. I have kept her name out of it for good reason, and frankly, feel that this fact alone proves she does not have a case. There have to be millions of Dawn G's in the United States, and even if you do a search on Google, you still wouldn't be able to figure it out. Her identity is safe with me, which is why I feel a little hurt that she claims her reputation was tarnished.

I did not put words in her mouth; every single line in that article was taken from her emails to me. I framed them and gave them context, but outside of that, they are her words. It's clear that Dawn failed to read the article, or she would have noticed that I allowed her to make all of her arguments. Dawn was picking a fight from the very first email, accusing me of not covering her lawsuit.

10. Dawn alleges that Sony paid for my web site redesign, which is 100% false. The truth is that nobody paid for the redesign, because it was done by our good pal, and friend of Defunct Games, Pat O'Connor. With the help of me telling him what I wanted, Pat was able to turn something good into something amazing. And as much as I would like to pay him for the work, it's just not financially possible since I don't bring in any cash from the site. I have given him trinkets and toys from conventions I've gone to, and he's the first person I turn to when I want to play games online ... but that's not what Dawn means when she talks about Sony money.

11. Dawn claims that I have all the time in the world to post pictures of Grand Theft Auto, but really, I don't. You won't find a review of the game on this website, and outside of a top ten list or two, there's not much to see about Rockstar Games' crime franchise. We did archive the postcards for Vice City, but I would hardly call that "all the room in the world."

12. Dawn calls me a fake, which kind of hurt. But then a started to think about it and realized, I am a fake. I run a video game website with fake games and fake news; I'm constantly judging the world around me yet I have very little experience in it. Defunct Games should not be your first stop for honest video game news! We are not that kind of website. Defunct Games is to video games what the Daily Show or Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update are to current events.

I want people to know how fake my website is, it may curb some of the emails I get from people who want to download the Mario & Sonic game, but can't find it anywhere. Clearly Dawn thinks she is hurting my feelings by attacking me in this way, but as a white guy, and a man, I'm not hurt by it. I am a fake, and I'm proud of it. My email address (the same email address she contacted me at) has the word "loser" in it ... and that's not just a flashy ringtone!

13. Dawn claims we have membership dues ... which we don't. At least, I don't think we do. Does anybody remember filling out a form and agreeing to pay me money? Because, if you did, I'm sure as hell not seeing any of the revenues. For somebody who is interested in suing me, you'd think she would be more interested in getting some of the facts right.

14. Dawn alleges that I had help writing the article in question, she credits my "friend who did the last interview" among the people on the payroll, but I wrote the article alone. Outside of the emails she sent me (which I credit in the article), I wrote the article by myself. She can go after whoever else she wants to, but the only name on that feature story was mine.

15. Dawn seems to think I don't want her to advertise my site, when in fact there's nothing I want more. If she posts her story about me, I would love to bring it to the fans of Defunct Games. So if the last part of her letter was meant as a threat, it certainly wasn't taken as one. I expect a rebuttal, and scan her website every day for news about when I'll be able to see it. I'll let you know when we get that far.

16. Dawn claims that we have a "show" ... and implies that we got that from the money we took from companies like Sony. Defunct Games does not have a show, not a TV show or radio show, just a website. We have a game show we call Service Gaming: the Show, but that shouldn't be confused with actual "shows." Furthermore, we like to call all of our articles shows, since I feel this site is more like a TV station than a website. But that doesn't mean we are doing "shows," which implies we are making money off of this venture.