Is it that time again already? Time for me to speak up again? Why, I do believe it is.

And if you’re groaning, “Not another webcomic review! I still haven’t finished reading the two comics you already covered!” well, you’re in luck! We’re taking a little break from webcomics this week. I mean, it takes time to read through a comic with a lot of archives**, and it’s only fair that I give you guys a break sometimes.

**(That’s what you’re doing…isn’t it? Reading webcomics? A worthier pursuit, while you’re supposed to be working, you’ll never find!)

So this week, I thought I’d hop on my tall pony and talk about something that’s very near and dear to me. I make it no secret that I’m a Nintendo fankid going way back. When other gamers were being serenaded by Sega’s scattered gems and ultimately doomed promises, I was happily trying to make that long jump in Super Mario Bros 3. I was finding the secret door in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I was fighting ring-stealing ninja and evil walking bushes as a green-haired archer elf in Arkista’s Ring on the NES (no, I’m serious; that’s really what you do in that game). I’ve always been loyal to the people at the big N, even when I’m shaking my head and saying, “That was not a smart move, Nintendo. That’s gonna come back and bite you in the sound card.”

What it all boils down to is, when you spend a couple decades closely following somebody, you get a feel for what they’re all about. You learn to trust them even when you don’t understand what they’re doing. You know that even though they might screw up sometimes, as we all do, they’ll come back stronger than ever in the near future.

So there was this little thing called “E3″ recently. And at this little thing, Nintendo unveiled its own little electronic thing, in which you stick your own little thing (FINGERS, people, I’m talking about FINGERS here). And lo, Nintendo’s little thing was called the Wii Vitality Sensor, and it could detect a player’s heartrate. And it was good. And on the final day, Nintendo rested.

Only…not so much.

The actual reaction of the Interwebz went something like…okay, no, I’m not going to repeat what was actually said. I like to pretend I have some class (though I’m sure we all know better!) But the gist of it was, many people were not happy with the Wii Vitality Sensor. They thought it was stupid. It wasn’t a new game, they didn’t understand what it did, it wasn’t a new game, it wasn’t Metroid or Zelda or Mario, and OH WAIT, THERE’S A NEW ZELDA GAME ANNOUNCED? FORGET THE SENSOR, LET’S GO LOOK AT THAT CHICK WHO LOOKS LIKE THE MASTER SWORD! BUT THE SENSOR STILL SUCKS. WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT AND IT’S NOT EVEN OUT YET, BUT WE’RE SURE IT STILL SUCKS. OOH, BOOTH BABES!

Oh, ye of little faith.

Since we really know nothing about the Sensor, I’m not here to judge its future rock-or-suckitude. And I’m not really here to talk about the Sensor itself anyways. I’m here to ask why people are so quick to hate on any unfamiliar product from a company that has proven itself over and over again. That’s not just talking about Nintendo; it seems to be “cool” to hate on any big name at the top of its game, be it Disney, Microsoft, or, again, the big N. Do we in humankind have some innate suspicion and jealousy of anyone who’s more successful than ourselves?

I can’t answer that one, so I’d like to present two stories regarding prejudice against anything new, submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society. And by “Midnight Society,” I mean “the discerning minds of Spwug’s readers.”

Item the first:
Back when the Nintendo DS was announced, I remember the reactions that dominated on the video game forums I haunted: “You play with a TOUCHSCREEN? That’s STUPID.” “No one’s gonna play it after the first time they lose the pointer-thing.” “What’s a STYLUS?” “Two screens? That’s just dumb. It’s gonna be too confusing to use.” “FAIL, NINTENDO.” “The DS is so totally gonna fail hard. PSP’s gonna kick its tail.”

Item the second:
Initial reactions I saw to the Wii’s announcement (ignoring how much fun people made of the name, which is now practically a household term): “EPIC FAIL.” “I can’t believe Nintendo is stupid enough to think that any gamer is going to want to MOVE while playing.” “Didn’t they learn anything from the Power Glove?”** “Motion sensor technology? Wii-mote? NO ONE CARES ABOUT THAT. GIVE US REAL CONTROLLERS.” “This thing is gonna be dead within six months.”

**(Considering the Power Glove served as a basis for the Wii Remote, I’d say, yes, Nintendo did learn from it.)

Those same people now play their DS’s and Wiis almost daily, while their “tail-kicking” PSP’s gather dust on a shelf or get traded in for new Nintendo console games.

Do you hear that?

That’s the sound of Nintendo’s laughter as they dance merrily to the bank, fat and jingling with the coin earned off those “failures,” the DS and the Wii.

But if you think that anyone’s learned that “different” does not equal “bad,” well, look at the reactions to the Wii Vitality Sensor. Where’s the love for the brands that raised many of you in your young geeking years? Where’s the trust that maybe, just maybe, Nintendo knows exactly what it’s doing, and the Vitality Sensor will be the number one item on every Wii owner’s holiday shopping list?

Sure, maybe it’ll be the biggest failure since Virtual Boy. But until we know more about it and actually get to put it into action, no one can say. Which means that, currently, no one can judge. And that applies to all new technology, and not just Nintendo’s technology. When Nintendo–or any other company–does something I don’t understand, I just sit back, wait, and learn. Sometimes I’m pleased with what results, and sometimes I’m not impressed. But I at least try to give everything a chance. You’d be amazed at the great things you find that you never expected, when you go poking into unfamiliar territory.

And now, I think we’ve all had just about enough of that, so if you’ll pardon me, I’ve got ring-stealing ninja to shoot with my little elven archer. Don’t bother making a Deadliest Warrior episode out of THIS matchup, Spike–when it comes to elves vs. ninja, the elves win every time!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm and is filed under DKM Marlink, games, geek love. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.