The views of Mid-Boss do not necessarily coincide with those of the GameCola staff.
Recently, Mid-Boss visited a game store in town and encountered an ex-girlfriend of his. Pleasant greetings were exchanged and things ran smoothly—until it emerged that the reason she had entered the establishment in the first place was to pre-order Nintendo’s new DSi handheld. Mid-Boss took this opportunity to accuse the poor girl of being a Nintendo shill—something he would later come to regret.
You see, upon returning to his base, Mid-Boss entered his games library and took note of the nine (handheld games excepted) King of Fighters games that sat upon its shelves. You see, these games are all precisely the same. Who, then, was the shill? Mid-Boss returned to his quarters, banishing all underlings from his presence. He sat upon his throne and pondered long into the night, wondering exactly what effect gamers actually have on the games they play. Of course, high sales figures for a particular series are bound to encourage more of the same, while low sales will obviously prompt changes in long-running franchises.
The most obvious example is the Sonic series. This franchise sells in droves, pushing (let’s face it) worthless games to idiots. In order to understand why these games continue to suck yet continue to sell millions, you need to understand the two distinct Sonic audiences. That is, the fanbase—and everyone else. The Sonic fanbase does not seem to understand that if they all buy a terrible game, another terrible game will result. Mid-Boss has questioned this online and received responses to the effect of “it won’t make any difference if we don’t buy it.” Well, of course it bloody will. The fanbase is huge. If even 50% of them don’t blindly purchase the terrible software Sega’s been crapping into stores, they’ll take a significant sales hit. Do these people honestly believe that Sega listens to them? As far as they’re concerned, consumers vote with their wallets.
It comes back around to the old adage, “one vote can make a difference.” It’s true; it can. If a game isn’t satisfactory, DON’T FRICKIN’ BUY IT. This is 2009. You can see gameplay videos of upcoming titles well before their release. Watch them and see if the game is any cop. You don’t have to play it first—if there are obvious problems with the mechanics, visual evidence ought to be enough. Really, this all comes down to one essential rule—if you buy bad games out of blind faith to a series, the series will continue to be disappointing. It’s not rocket science.
When Mid-Boss challenges these gamers, he sometimes gets the “I just like it; that’s all that matters” defence. Piss off. Mid-Boss isn’t prepared to endure shit games just because some wishy-washy, half-assed slackers who don’t care about quality “just like” piss-poor games. You don’t “just like it.” You’re just feebly attempting to justify what you know is an obsession.
Speak in a language the publishers understand and vote with your wallets. Leave the crap on the shelf and eventually it will go away. Now, leave Mid-Boss—he has to order a copy of The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga. If it ain’t broke….
Until next time, Sodies–
Mission all over!
