Pardon?
As you may have noticed, this website now bears the legend above (and if you don’t see it, press CTRL+F5 to refresh from the server).
This came about after somebody from a forum came to koffdrop.com read a few posts and branded me “dangerously anti-Nintendo”. I think the statement says a lot about today’s gamers and gamer culture. In fact, I believe it says far more about that than it does about me.
Those that know me understand I have a bee in my bonnet about Nintendo. This isn’t because I hate them, it’s because they are universally adored for being a ruthless capitalist corporation and that their vocal fans will merrily avoid facts and conveniently forget or attempt to disprove poor behaviour on Nintendo’s part so as to ram the “can do no wrong” ideal down the rest of this culture’s throat.
Whilst Nintendo talk about innovation as they pitch Zelda sequels and re-brand Tetris so heavily that anyone might assume Nintendo actually invented it the general gamer consensus is that they are the golden boys of gaming. Unjustly knocked off the top-spot by ‘evil’ Sony. Oddly enough it’s unlikely that Sony would ever have created the PlayStation if Nintendo hadn’t got greedy on their SNES-CD dealings with them in the first place.
No, I don’t blindly dislike Nintendo. Certainly not in the way that huge swathes of gamer culture blindly adore them or blindly hate another company.
What I seek are facts about the movements of these companies, the industry and the culture. What the culture responds to and believes so clearly in are not facts but urban myths. Combine this attitude with one that cannot handle criticism, is frequently the first one to throw abuse and is generally the least understanding or informed and the result your average vocal gamer. The alternative is someone like me. A gamer of twenty-five years, working with a respected developer in the games industry watching the monkeys take over the zoo and deciding that enough is enough.
To be anti-Nintendo is not ‘dangerous’. I might ask why some people think it is. They might suggest that my stance on Nintendo must be down to some misunderstanding, lack of appreciation, unfamiliarity or plain bigotry. Few have ever entertained the notion that my stance might be based on the opposite of all these things.
“Dangerously anti-Nintendo” has a strong whiff of McCarthyism about it. It suggests that, to be anti-Nintendo or to be perceived as anti-Nintendo by those that glance at me and judge me so quickly, is somehow wrong. It threatens the status quo of gamers perhaps?
Those comfy, happy campers who think innovation is spelled with an N at the front and that endless remakes of 20 year old games are a testament to the ingenuity of grinning Japanese corporation might not like such sentiments. Whilst they dish out accusations of copying to anyone who comes too close to their electronic idol they resolutely refuse to see the full picture of what it is they are so determined to protect. They refuse to have their illusion shattered.
That makes my stance dangerous?
I prefer to think of it as a disruptive approach. 😉
If you’re a free thinker, a gamer that can formulate an opinion beyond the media hype and the herd mentality then you too can be dangerous – just like me! Koffdrop.com will soon be hosting dangerous buttons and badges for you to use. Don’t believe the hype. Be disruptive! Be DANGEROUS!
Watch this space.
I actually respect you not liking Nintendo, I have no problem with that, I think they’re just fine. Sure they’ve done things wrong… but I still prefer them to the other two mega companies
so if i have a right to like nintendo (I avoid PRO nintendo, cuz im not a blind fanboy) you have a right to not like them.
The only thing that bothers me is your statement that “huge swathes of gamer culture blindly adore them or blindly hate another company” Have you checked system sales lately? Is gamecube dominating over the other systems? I dont think so!
Nintendo is commonly dismissed as childish, a little cartoony. Sony IS sort of perceived as souless… and Microsoft… still doesnt have all that much respect (being as young as they are in the gaming industry)
anyways, its impossible to be “DANGEROUSLY” anti nintendo, you can be anti nintendo, but its not gonna hurt anyone, its not as if you’re going to overthrow the nintendo regime or anything. You have an opinion and people have to respect that. People should also stop being so single minded!!! Sony can make crappy games, Nintendo can make crappy games, and so can Microsoft, you cant blindly love one system and no other! You can choose a system based on your personal preferences, or get more than one… I dont care!
Just leave the other systems alone, sure its a competition between companies, but it foesnt need to be a competition between gamers “my system can beat up your system, give it a wedgie and shove it in a locker”
…. and just a little hint… if your sarcastically describing yourself as dangeroulsy anti nintendo and all that… you might not wanna bash nintendo for an entire article… just a thought
Thanks for your comments Thyson.
Having checked what vocal gamers are talking about and how they are talking suggests there are some very clear allegiances to certain boxes of circuits at the expense of facts, history or logic.
I can present an argument about how Nintendo didn’t invent analogue controllers and be presented with technicality upon technicality about how they were first for consoles (wrong) and how they were the first to have games made specifically for analogue control (wrong) how they deserve credit for ‘making it a success’ (debateable) and more so that, with enough extra restrictions imposed on the argument (to the point of ‘how they’re the ones with a Nintendo logo on them’) that it becomes impossible to talk reasonable to huge swathes of gamers.
Look at the internet, Sony can do no right. They announce a completely free online service as a challenge to Xbox live and the response is “It’s too cheap” “you get what you pay for”. They go the other way with their PS3 pricing and “It’s too expensive, nobody wants it”.
Sides have been chosen and nothing as trivial as facts, logic, common sense or rationality are going to dissuade any camp from seeing the fallacies in their choices.
The outcry and savage criticism over the “Talking with Jon” Google video where he criticises the Nintendo DS for 12 minutes was a testament to how bad things get. If you rubbish Nintendo then you’re an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
About 90 seconds research and a mild smattering of common sense would show that he’s taking the piss and a follow up video of him bashing the PSP with precisely the same mentality damns these swathes of gamers in two ways by showing that he wasn’t half as serious about his criticisms of the DS as all these Nintendo fans are about their attacks on Jon and that they all suddenly love him when he rubbishes a Sony machine.
A final note, I want to make it really clear that I didn’t brand myself “dangerously anti-Nintendo” it was an accolade foisted upon me by someone who, no doubt, regards themselves as enlightened and non-biased. It’s such a ridiculous statement that I think it shows just where this culture’s mindset is at and how preposterous things are getting. That’s why I like it so much!
I love “dangerously” anti-Nintendo. It makes you sound like a terroist organisation of some sort. 😀
I would agree that there is no such thing as dangerously anti nintendo. Hitting them with a bit of flak throws the fanboys into your path, where you can then issue more flak. EVENTUALLY, one of the fanboys might cotton on to the idea that Ninty ain’t as “Revolutionary” as they thought.
If I was running a gaming company, I’d take critism on the chin. Critism can change a way a company thinks. It can also turn a games company arrogant.
Nintendo have taken the latter path, IMO.
Arriving Soon – Revolutionary Nintendo Dual Shock! 😀
I wouldn’t go so far as to call the Fanboy Crusade a variant of McCarthyism- in the end the bizarre loyalty’s only skin deep. The majority of…
…Ah, screw that. That comparison makes no sense whatsoever. You make a very good point in comparing the two.
I don’t think you can be dangerously anti-Nintendo until you run into their H.Q. with a bomb strapped to your back.
As a matter of fact- I don’t really consider you anti-Nintendo, you just point out a lot of things about them that no-one else will.
Is that so wrong?
Dangerously anti-Nintendo. That almost sounds like someone’s threathening you. 😉
I completely agree with everything you say, you are so objective, I can not be, I am in the middle of writing some anti-Nintendo essays (read: mindless rants and chants), and I will make a FreeWebs for them (try: http://www.freewebs.com/kevinsantinnintendorants, I have not even made the site yet, I do not know if that is available, but if it is, I will probably put my stuff on it). I liked Nintendo until the N64, now I hate it.
And about Sony and Microsoft, I hate the anti-big-business thing these days-in fact, I respect and support these people more, as they overcome vicious, and even barbaric, antitrust laws and bias.
Nintendo is turning into Apple, with two differences: 1.) Apple is American, so it is better (call me a racist if you want, I do not care, and by the way, I do not hate black people at all); and 2.) Apple has one good product: the iPod (at least until Microsoft has an MP3 player). The Nintendo GCN sucks. The DS sucks. The GBA sucks. The Wii sucks.
**** Nintendo, Long Live Microsoft!!