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6/21/2025, 8:35:07 AM
>>11813479
>The look was consciously planned and perfectly realized; it merely backfired horribly because of Nintendo yet again overestimating their audience.
It was more than that. We take it for granted now but the idea that gaming was just a thing everyday people do like reading and watching TV/Films was not as well established back then, there was a huge swath of the population, usually older people who thought gaming was a pass time for children and that kids would grow out of it like they did action figures and cartoons. Flying in the face of that idea was PlayStation and PlayStation 2 with games and advertising meant to appeal to adults.
Basically 2003 was the absolute worst time to introduce a console that looked like a colorful lunchbox with a Fisher-Price looking controller. It felt like Nintendo was leaning heavily into the 5-12 year old market making it a little embarrassing for an adult to get the console compared to say a PS2. If that wasn't enough they turn around and make one of their (slightly)more mature franchises extra child-like after showing off that demo. So now Zelda fans are buying the Fisher-PriceCube to play baby Zelda.
Of course now most of us don't give a fuck, we aren't prickly about it because no one really cares if you play a game with a cartoony aesthetic. It is easy to say how lame they were now that the storm has long since past and gaming has nothing really to prove. I like Wind Waker but I get why people were annoyed / embarrassed.
>The look was consciously planned and perfectly realized; it merely backfired horribly because of Nintendo yet again overestimating their audience.
It was more than that. We take it for granted now but the idea that gaming was just a thing everyday people do like reading and watching TV/Films was not as well established back then, there was a huge swath of the population, usually older people who thought gaming was a pass time for children and that kids would grow out of it like they did action figures and cartoons. Flying in the face of that idea was PlayStation and PlayStation 2 with games and advertising meant to appeal to adults.
Basically 2003 was the absolute worst time to introduce a console that looked like a colorful lunchbox with a Fisher-Price looking controller. It felt like Nintendo was leaning heavily into the 5-12 year old market making it a little embarrassing for an adult to get the console compared to say a PS2. If that wasn't enough they turn around and make one of their (slightly)more mature franchises extra child-like after showing off that demo. So now Zelda fans are buying the Fisher-PriceCube to play baby Zelda.
Of course now most of us don't give a fuck, we aren't prickly about it because no one really cares if you play a game with a cartoony aesthetic. It is easy to say how lame they were now that the storm has long since past and gaming has nothing really to prove. I like Wind Waker but I get why people were annoyed / embarrassed.
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