I have been perusing message boards and comment sections (yes, a folly of mine, I know) about the reaction towards the Wii U launch. Let's face it, the launch is one of the worst in recent memory. Not as bad as the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death, where gullible fools bought 2-10 systems one after the other to replace their dead 360s, (Way to show Microsoft that we won't back their total negligence, fellow gamers!) but that happened after the launch and not day one. The Wii U's problems actually manifested themselves on launch day.
We've seen a plethora of third party ports that are god awful, either because Nintendo's system is too difficult to develop for or third parties are once again putting crap on a Nintendo console and expecting them to sell. (No, I'm not going to bring up the self-fulfilling prophecy on how third parties are setting themselves up for failure yet again on a Nintendo platform, as I don't think that's the issue.) There's also reports of bricking systems. Though if you turn off a system while it is updating its firmware, then you probably deserve to have your console bricked as that is how it works for most platforms, Nintendo or not. Additionally, there are long loading times, too, to worry about. It is an absolute travesty of a launch, and I'm just glad I'm not playing beta tester for Nintendo by having bought a Wii U day one. It's really hard to be apologetic about the launch, regardless of Nintendo being new to the HD scene and not being as technologically advanced or as well versed in OS and online as Microsoft/Sony.
Then we have the reviews of some games like ZombiU, with some people actually beside themselves with pleasure for saying the game would be bad. (I'd get an earful if I didn't note that the actual game has been getting polarizing reviews, both good and bad.) It's as if some gamers are saying, "Yes! This game sucks! It's one less game that people are unable to enjoy! Ah-ha-ha-ha! This makes my day!" Seriously, people?
This isn't just about the Wii U and some of its games reviewing in a fairly mediocre fashion either. Nor is it about the mess of a launch. No, it's about some gamers' reactions towards these things. I've seen multiple (i.e. dozens upon dozens to hundreds of hundreds) posts and comments on how some people are absolutely happy that the Wii U launch is going horribly and how "Nintendo deserves this", as if Nintendo beat these people up as schoolchildren and have never forgiven the company. They laugh at how thousands of Wii U owners are having problems with their systems. They giggle with delight as the third party games are horrible. They do naughty things to themselves as other Wii U caveats come up.
This isn't exclusive to those who dislike Nintendo at all. How about those who find happiness in Sony's PlayStation Vita doing less than stellar in sales? How about the adoration of EA's Medal of Honor: Warfighter not doing remarkably well in sales as well? How about when the Xbox 360 had all those aforementioned dying consoles, and how some fanboys loved every minute of it? It's a problem that spans all fanboys, all trolls, and a worrying amount of gamers online.
I sort of want to go back to my article called If We Want the Industry to Grow Up, We Need to Grow Up First and edit it to say "Tough Luck, Gamers. This Industry Is Never Going to Be Taken Seriously Because Most of You Have the Maturity of Freaking Five-Year-Olds" This Wii U fiasco and the humiliating reaction from so-called gamers once again hammers the point home that this industry is never going to grow up, and it's because of the people who inhabit it. Whether they are on message boards, comment sections, or having fanboy-laden discussions with some mouth-breathing GameStop employee, more gamers than I would like would rather see games fail to spite the companies, studios, and fanboys they hate for whatever reason(s) rather than see the industry thrive and do well. This isn't positive behavior for people who would like the industry to continue on. Believe it or not, most failures are not good.
All of this is not meant to say "Oh, we should be happy for every company no matter how anti-consumer they are" either. That isn't what I mean. However, in a lot of cases this isn't the reason for poor gamer behavior. On the contrary. The reason for a disturbing number of gamers is because of some deep-rooted hatred of a company or a total devotion to another (see trolls and fanboys -- or as I like to call them "system/studio/company zealots"). As gamers, we should WANT to see the industry and the companies, studios, and developers that inhabit it succeed. We should put aside petty fanboy squabbles and champion achievements more than we champion failures. I see more "I'm happy this failed" comments more than I see "I'm happy this game did well. Much deserved." Quite frankly, if you grow pleased or even sexually aroused as some message board posters come across as for something pivotal to the growth of the industry failing such as the Wii U or any other important platform, for that matter, it is my wish that you let the door hit you on the ass on the way out of this hobby. You obviously don't care about the future of the industry, and if you do, you're very much misguided in thinking that any company's failing is for the good of it. This stupid and indefensible behavior makes it exceptionally challenging to see the positives of this industry, and it makes gamers look even more immature to the mainstream than they do already.
This rant is what I like to refer to as a work in progress. As I see more stupidity, I will add to it. If you have something you'd like to contribute that makes sense for this piece, let me know in the comments section.
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