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Epidemics and diseases are generally overrated in their scope and magnitude. For an example just look at the Swine Flu scare. More than likely the amount of people to die from the regular flu will out number those of the Swine Flu. Yet, what caused the more panic and purchases of sterile masks? I think we can all say the media had at a part to play some where down the line.
The media (unfortunately) is the painter of truth in this world which is scary considering how very few of the media members know what they’re talking about. This same fallacy can be found in the video game journalism world as well. Take this article from Destructoid, by Jim Sterling for example. Basically, he rips Nintendo for trying to act like they’re pandering to the “hardcore” crowd and at the same time milking money from what he calls the “casual” gamers. Here’s a good synopsis of his writing:
Whatever the reason, I hate that Nintendo sticks around, tossing down chicken feed with one hand and smacking people around with the other. Nintendo of America ought to have the balls to go the whole way with its attitude. Shit or get off the lavvy. Not act like the two-faced bitch it’s currently being.
That’s not a criticism of the Wii, I hasten to add. The Wii just is what it is. It’s neither good nor evil, merely shaped by good or evil hands. I don’t have an issue with the Wii’s wasted potential, I just wish Nintendo would keep it on shows like Chelsea Lately where it belongs. That’s Nintendo’s core audience now. Still pretending that’s not the case is just adding insult to, well, insult.
Oh but wait, there’s another Mario game! All is forgiven!
Sterling is suffering from what I like to call Nintendo Wii Hateritis ($0.05 anytime someone says it). More than likely you’ve seen this condition pop up around the internet before. Generally, it’s coming from websites that are trying to pander to a certain crowd or enrage it into a slew of comments. Because in all honesty, most sites judge their success by the amount of people that react to their writing. So, here are some symptoms to look out for when diagnosing Nintendo Wii Hateritis…
- Distinct lack of knowledge of the Nintendo Wii software library: This is one of the easiest symptoms to diagnose, as there’s one of two things you’ll find. A.) A mention of three games (Zelda, Mario, Metroid) as the entire lineup that Nintendo has released thus far. B.) They only mention the less traditional games that Nintendo has released (Wii Sports (Resort), Wii Music, Wii Fit). Something else to look out for, though not always the case are ramblings that look like this: ‘Nintendo has nothing on Halo 3, or KZ2, they are teh l33t gamez and r 4 teh hardcore crowdz’. The less that can be discerned from the message, the more likely that Nintendo Wii Hateritis has taken effect.
- Mention of E3 2008: This can be a tricky symptom to attach to Nintendo Hateritis, because in all honesty even Nintendo fans were disappointed by it. A way to discern between the two scenarios is to read the context of the message. If something like this is uttered — “E3 2008 is proof that Nintendo has abandoned it’s audience, and may God have mercy on their souls” more than likely Nintendo Wii Hateritis has taken effect.
- Confusion of Third Party Title Success and First Party Title Success: When looking for this symptom you’ll want to look for Zack & Wiki or The Conduit references. Mostly, The Conduit references though as it’s the newer title and what many “hardcore” fans were referring to as their ‘white knight’. Many people blame third party failures on the big house of N. You read correctly, they blame Nintendo for the failures of other companies. It hasn’t been discovered yet as the time frame that this symptom arrived. What is known is the people who show this symptom have no clue as to the in-and-outs of business. Nor do they have knowledge of the fact that The Conduit sold poorly because it wasn’t that good of a game.
For examples of Nintendo Wii Hateritis, here are a few online postings to sift through. See which symptoms you can find, and perhaps you should have an examination as well.
GamingVice - Nintendo of America, Fix Your Hardcore Marketing
The Spong - Nintendo Not Sure Why Hardcore Wii Titles Don’t Sell
ShackNews - Losing Faith: Nintendo’s Ignorance of the Hardcore
August 17th, 2009 at 10:23 am
hateritis is a disease that infects all, not just the wii unfortunately.
August 17th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Agreed…hate is among all the consoles, and unfortunately seems to be connected to the so-called ‘core’ player. I wrote a blog about it earlier this year. (http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RussellCarroll/20090624/2103/Theyre_Called_Games.php)
Like what you wrote though, it was fun and humorous :).
August 18th, 2009 at 3:27 am
trust me when i say this isnt just for consoles, over the last 2 days there was an issue with a manga called 1/2 prince, where ppl who slogged their guts out to scanlate it from chinese, not japanese, did a lil puzzle so the smarter ppl cud read it early. well someone leaked the answer and it was pulled and everyone got mangateritis…yes i made that up. they turned into ungrateful ppl because they were either too dumb to answer it, or they had done so just after it was pulled. i told the scanlators to forget about the crowd, do it for themselves and dont go on the forums. not cus i dislike them but because ungrateful ppl shud do the hard work themselves. maybe if critics got to try and make a game and sell it they wud shut their mouths.
August 18th, 2009 at 7:34 am
@Russell Carroll
thanks for the read, and I thoroughly enjoyed your blog. Awesome Finding Neverland reference, and I agree that too many times we forget that the #1 attribute for any game be it a shooter, sports, puzzler or mini-game compilation is that it’s fun.