Okay, it's time to get something off my chest that is long past due. Nintendo World Report is dying.
Or should I say, has been dying for a while now, and I feel it has been getting even worse over the past year. Increasing bias and anti-Nintendo sentiment run free without consequence. For example, in the recently-locked Final Fantasy topic, Ian derailed the thread with random trolls on the Wii's 3rd party support even though it had absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand (which in fact had to do with the financial and managing issues FFXIII was facing) AND arguing that we were only making such claims because we were fanboys and wanted the game on the Wii. Classy. Pale's response? To consider Deg and myself the trolls for reprobating Ian on his derailment, and then closing the topic. Sounds like bias to me. Well, whatever. I shook that off just like the countless other times Ian has gotten away with it. No skin off my back.
Fast-forward to today. Mario has been perma-banned by Pale. Meanwhile, canker sore Ian still roams free. Why? Rants with opinions that change based on just what Ninty is doing. Rants that complain about a single Mario-focused game in the face of a dozen other original games. Rants that complain about Ninty's focus on casual games when they currently make up only 20% of Ninty's published Wii titles. Can you actually find a productive post where Ian actually sat down in a topic with us and discussed something positively about a specific game? Does no one find it odd that he tends to stay out of topics that bring tidings of good news about Ninty or that completely destroy one his prior rants? Instead Mario is perma-banned for "personal attacks" that were most likely precipitated by Mario's frustration over getting constant warnings for stupid things while others get away with much worse. It's sad to see a TRUE Nintendo fan banned over one who is clearly not, regardless of the circumstances. Now I don’t mean to put the spotlight just on Pale, as this is only an example that illustrates my point and opened my eyes to what I should have seen for a while now.
I love games, I love talking about games, and I love discussing games with other people. What I don't love is having threads derailed with random angst (such as the case where a certain mod plopped into the Wii Sales Thread only to say that the Wii was only selling to casuals and grandmas). I don't love having to pussyfoot around mods with obvious biases towards HD gaming. If I did, I'd post at GAF more. But at least GAF has the excuse of not being Nintendo-focused. I don't love game discussion threads being abandoned in favor of threads groaning about how casual games are killing gaming and the embarrassingly pointless Staff Blog board (which was created solely so the staff could supplement their bias even more). That was what was so magical about Planet Gamecube back in the day; excluding Ian, everyone participated in game discussion and rants were few and far-between. Over time, it was clear that the oasis was beginning to dry up. First was the PSP fiasco, where mods like Rick and Dragona (the others, you know who you are) were clearly PSP-biased and made their points clear that they thought the DS would flop. Great atmosphere that built up, guys.
Then came this generation. I don't know if it was the result of the HD war, the change of NWR staff, just a lack of interest in games in general, or an amalgamation of the three and others, but the topics really do show. Talkback news is usually late. Game-specific topics are full of information posts with little actual insight or discussion from other posters. The topics with the most posts and discussion come from those that aren't even really game-specific, be it arguments about sales, "casual games", third party support, or any other drama-charged groanfest. And all these topics do is destroy bonds between posters that should instead be tightening through enjoyable discussion. From someone who wants nothing more than to see everyone enjoying positive discussion about upcoming games, it's really depressing to see how the site has crumbled, and it's clear to see why Mario (and others before him) gave up the ghost. Why bother putting effort into a post when it's bound to be derailed by a third party support monologue? Why bother putting effort into a post when no one even cares anymore?
Am I being too harsh? Yeaaaano. I'm not. It shouldn't be too much to expect a Nintendo-oriented site to be slightly Nintendo-biased. But no, I'm only seeing the opposite these days. So I'm sick of it. It's not fun anymore. Talking about games here is no longer fun. I really wish I could force myself to keep doing it, but I can't; the atmosphere is too suffocating. I tried my best to salvage what I could, but ended up staining my own hands with the hypocrisy of adding to the very rants I wished to destroy.
And it's painful because I really do like most of you, and wish I could have gotten closer to those I'm on bad terms with. It's been a fun 7+ years, and I thank all of you for all the (mostly) positive experiences, and wish all of you the best of luck in your respective lives. For those of you that DO still try to keep positive game discussion alive, I also wish you luck here at NWR. Perhaps you guys can bring the forums back to its former glory where I failed.
Oh wait, Silks is the Director now, never mind.If anyone wants to get a hold of me for some reason, my email is Splush23 @msn.com and you can usually find me on MSN Messenger in some form. There are still a bunch of you I haven’t played online with, so hopefully we can fix that in the future.
One last thing: Remember why you picked up the controller in the first place. Remember why even after all these years you still hold it in your hands. Cherish the games you like and don't let anyone tell you different. And never, EVER, let the Nintendo fan in you die. ^_^
Best regards,
Bill