Only eight days to
go. Only eight days and we (hopefully) have the full picture about
the switch. On January 12th Nintendo holds and event,
where they aim to answer all questions surrounding their next
console. And there are a lot of questions. From the actual Power to
the battery life to the games support.
We are on a sort
of final stretch with the Switch and naturally all the Leaker,
Insider and Rumor Provider are getting kind of nervous. If Nintendo
truly delivers and answers all questions surrounding the switch,
coming next Thursday they won't have much weight to pull anymore.
The rumor
situation surrounding the Switch has grown to absurd heights. That
can't be denied. Over the course of nearly two years every small blip
of miniscule information has been reported on. One could think that
the Switch has to be the best god damn thing that was ever created.
The Hype surrounding it is unreal.
I thought it would
slow down after the initial unveil in November 2016, but one glimpse
at a Nintendo News site right now proves me wrong. Rumors about the
hypothetical Zelda release, the unannounced Mario & Rabbids
Crossover or even a new Metroid Title are dominating the news scene.
People like Laura Kate Dale or Emily Rogers, which I don't doubt have
some insider information, are trusted unanimously. Rumors have mostly
replaced actual news.
Of course this is
also Nintendos fault. Their restrictive news policy with the Switch
created this environment in which Rumors could flourish unchecked.
Today I want to
take a look at rumors, how they affect the coverage and us gamers.
What is the implication this Rumor mayhem has for the future of
Nintendo and it's information policy?
You know I
heard...
A Rumor is first
and foremost just that. A Rumor. Nothing proven. Nothing concrete.
But in the face of no other news, it is often taken as face value.
People are hungry for information, any information. The longer you
deny them this, the hungrier they get. Until they start to ''devour''
anything. That is the basic problem with the Switch. It was announced
way too early.
It is a given that
each console manufacturer starts to work on the next generation of
consoles the moment the actual releases. Sony is probably working on
the PlayStation 5 as we speak. We all know this fact, but the
difference between the PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch a year
ago, is that one was real, while the other was (and is) still
hypothetical. The moment Satoru Iwata announced the NX as the
successor to the Wii-U, it got real. It also marked the end of the
Wii-U. From there on it's days were numbered.
The People always
crave new, and so the focus shifted from the Wii-U towards the future
and the NX. The problem that arose from this was that Nintendo was
unwilling to support those focus shift. To them the announcement of
the NX was a short statement to calm long term investors. In 2015
their focus was still firmly on the Wii-U. They were unwilling to
shift it, even though they had already done it.
From this the one
and a half year radio silence on the Nintendo NX was created. And
during this years several other actors stepped in to fill the peoples
need for information. They created a dependency on rumors and
Nintendo was unwilling to do anything about it. So instead of
information from Nintendo and their analysis the News were filled
with rumors and the discussion of those. Slowly rumors started to
become facts in the minds of many readers.
If you take a look
at a rumor article nowadays it's discussed as if the information came
from Nintendo directly. Taking these articles with a grain of salt
has vanished completely. Trust but Verify has been replaced by Listen
and Believe, if you allow me these short outburst into GamerGate
terminology.
This is a huge
problem ,because it creates expectations of things, that were never
real to begin with.
“I heard the
Switch only has 2 Hours of Battery Life.” “What? That Succks.
Well they just lost a customer.”
It is a sad truth
that a conversation like this has probably happened thousands of
times in the last months.
In todays fast
world we just don't have the time to wait for actual information or
confirmation. People have lost their patience. Of course, and this
has to be said again, Nintendos unwillingness to provide Information
or wait with the announcement of the NX only helped to create this
situation, but right now the customer is the only one capable of
pulling himself out of this.
The dependance on
rumors and the weight we give them has created a new set of problems
that are able to threat a game or console before it even releases or
in extreme cases even before it's officially unveiled.
And the harbingers
of this demise are...
I know a Guy...
Larua Kate Dale...
Emily Rogers... Everyone visiting a Nintendo or Gaming Newssite in
the last couple of months knows this names. Even though one of them
is only a anonymous twitter account these two people are the main
source for Nintendo News nowadays. At least you could think that.
Now first of all
let me make this clear. I don't think badly of those two, nor do I
intend to devalue their work. They both have provided us with
information when Nintendo was unwilling to do so. I also don't doubt
in the slightest that they have insider contacts, which provide them
with information. Their track record is too good to be pure
guesswork.
But I also think
that, in the last couple of months, they did more harm than good.
They have been wrong nearly as much as they were right, which is
understandable. They probably don't have contacts in all the
different divisions of Nintendo. And most of the time they heard
things from a guy, who heard things from a guy, who heard...
So there is bound
to be some misfires.
The Problem is
that even those misfires have huge consequences. Let's take a look at
the most recent rumor.
The Legend of
Zelda: Breath of Wild will release at Switch Launch in North America,
while it will miss it in Europe and only launch in June or even later
there.
This is a megaton
for every player in Europe. A true kick in the balls. And the outrage
here has been quite big already. Problem is that it may not be true
at all. People get upset and angry and even if it proves to be untrue
those feelings don't vanish so easily.
It is a fact that
we treat Laura and Emily as extremely trustworthy. If they announce
something on Twitter it's on every gaming site in a matter of
seconds. In a way they have earned a status were they can create
news. And with that they have a lot of responsibility resting on
their shoulders. And with rumors that have such huge and possible
negative implications as a Zelda delay, they should take extra care
to make sure it's not a misfire. Just shrugging it of with the notion
that sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong, doesn't do
it.
The unwillingness
of Nintendo to provide actual information has placed those Leakers
and Insider in a position of power. And now they have to act
accordingly, or they damage the very concept that is their life
blood.
Wish Fulfillment...
It is a fact that
we all have expectations towards a game or console from the moment it
is announced. The more vague the announcement is kept, the wider the
margin for projection is. For example we still don't know what you
can actually do in the new huge world in The Legend of Zelda: Breath
of the Wild. Apart from the Shiekah Shrines of course. So this leaves
a huge space for speculation and wish insertion.
Wouldn't it be
cool to hunt huge monsters? I'd love to go treasure hunting all
across Hyrule. Man I'm really looking forward to all the side quests
they packed into the game.
Rumors help to
fuel those hopes and wishes. They create expectations which often
can't be fulfilled, because what you expected was never real to begin
with.
Most humans are
positive creatures. So it's only natural that we gravitate towards
rumors, which align with our hopes and wishes. This, however, can
create a sort of dependency, the end results of which we can now see
with the Switch. People have already made up their mind on how the
Swtich has to be like, and the huge amount of rumors surrounding the
console made it easy to pick those, which support your view the best.
If we customers
want more information from Nintendo and demand more responsibility
from lLakers, then it's only fair to take a step back and look at our
own flaws. We need to be more critical and less fanboyish. Even if a
rumor supports all our hopes and wishes for a new game, we should
still remain skeptical. Treat rumors as what they are. Rumors. Not
news.
I hope you enjoyed
this little rant/excurse into the world of rumors, and I would like
to hear your opinion on this whole situation. Are you ok with it, or
do you also think it has gotten massively out of hand. Whatever your
opinion is, tell me in the comments.
And as always
thanks for reading
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