12th February 2003, 3:05 PM
Well, I was going to get defensive, but I know that'll get us nowhere...so I'll try to keep a level head as a disclaimer. As always, everything I say is IMO.
If you're trying to gain interest among people whom identify with the younger brother, this a great commercial. However, I would feel dissed if a character I identify with is humiliated. It certainly would not make me say, "Wow, I was such an idiot for buying those shallow realistic games. I want to play Zelda because I want to be just like that guy who gets humiliated by his younger brother." Case in point: I made a statement that I thought was a fair post of personal opinion, but, from your opinion, my opinion was an attack on your idea. So you got defensive. And when you got defensive, I got defensive. And when one is put into defensive mode (as would a person who identifies with the older brother), the person stops listening.
OB1- Some things are so based on opinion that they simply cannot be logically refuted. Taste in art is one of them. I'm sorry to take you as an example, but I have experience so many people that believe, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...as long as I am the beholder." You're going to have a tough time convincing someone that their taste in art is wrong...just as it would be hard to convince you that your taste in art is wrong.
I think big guy was not making a statement about the quality of the art style at all. Here's an example of the above: "I like the Wind Waker art style." This is my opinion of the art style itself. He was stating that he believed that this art style of Wind Waker does not appeal to the mass market as much as the art style of Ocarina of Time. Oddly enough, I share his view. How can this be? How can one like the art style of a game and simultaneously think it will be unpopular? Because I'm okay with the fact that the mass market doesn't have to agree with my opinion, and I am going to have very little effect on the opinion of the mass market. The thing is, the very people I disagree with on the "kiddy" argument are the people I want to buy the game. So, saying "screw you" simply screws me over because it makes them want to buy the game less, which is my ultimate un-goal.
For example, I would love to see a commercial like that, lazyfatbum, but I know it would go way over the consumer's heads. So while I love the commercial idea, I don't think it would work as a commercial.
However, I must agree (with OB1) that simply pandering to the consumer does not work... Because the consumer cannot be overwhelmingly shocked and amazed at something that it knows it wants. The thing is, people don't want sequels, they want to be shocked and amazed like they were during the first movie/game/book. For example, people didn't really want a sequel to Super Mario 64 in Super Mario Sunshine, they wanted to be shocked and amazed like they were when they first played SM64.
However, where I disagree with OB1 is...what is that next step? What is not so foreign that it alienates the consumer, but foreign enough to shock and amaze? Simply put, I don't think the cartoon look is that next step...at least not by itself. It already has negative connotations among the teen market, so instead of irritating that connotation and rubbing it in their faces, Nintendo will have to do some slight of hand...making consumers focus not on the apprehension, but on something else...humor, nostalgia, fantasy, whatever. Fantasy seems like a good trend to follow, but if it really wants to have huge sales of Zelda, it has to take that fantasy image to the next level. The whole "Enya" thing is in right now, but to make an impact, it has to examine where that's going, and MAKE the next step in the image of fantasy. The game is finished, but the image of the game is just beginning to form in the hearts and minds of consumers.
If you're trying to gain interest among people whom identify with the younger brother, this a great commercial. However, I would feel dissed if a character I identify with is humiliated. It certainly would not make me say, "Wow, I was such an idiot for buying those shallow realistic games. I want to play Zelda because I want to be just like that guy who gets humiliated by his younger brother." Case in point: I made a statement that I thought was a fair post of personal opinion, but, from your opinion, my opinion was an attack on your idea. So you got defensive. And when you got defensive, I got defensive. And when one is put into defensive mode (as would a person who identifies with the older brother), the person stops listening.
OB1- Some things are so based on opinion that they simply cannot be logically refuted. Taste in art is one of them. I'm sorry to take you as an example, but I have experience so many people that believe, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...as long as I am the beholder." You're going to have a tough time convincing someone that their taste in art is wrong...just as it would be hard to convince you that your taste in art is wrong.
I think big guy was not making a statement about the quality of the art style at all. Here's an example of the above: "I like the Wind Waker art style." This is my opinion of the art style itself. He was stating that he believed that this art style of Wind Waker does not appeal to the mass market as much as the art style of Ocarina of Time. Oddly enough, I share his view. How can this be? How can one like the art style of a game and simultaneously think it will be unpopular? Because I'm okay with the fact that the mass market doesn't have to agree with my opinion, and I am going to have very little effect on the opinion of the mass market. The thing is, the very people I disagree with on the "kiddy" argument are the people I want to buy the game. So, saying "screw you" simply screws me over because it makes them want to buy the game less, which is my ultimate un-goal.
For example, I would love to see a commercial like that, lazyfatbum, but I know it would go way over the consumer's heads. So while I love the commercial idea, I don't think it would work as a commercial.
However, I must agree (with OB1) that simply pandering to the consumer does not work... Because the consumer cannot be overwhelmingly shocked and amazed at something that it knows it wants. The thing is, people don't want sequels, they want to be shocked and amazed like they were during the first movie/game/book. For example, people didn't really want a sequel to Super Mario 64 in Super Mario Sunshine, they wanted to be shocked and amazed like they were when they first played SM64.
However, where I disagree with OB1 is...what is that next step? What is not so foreign that it alienates the consumer, but foreign enough to shock and amaze? Simply put, I don't think the cartoon look is that next step...at least not by itself. It already has negative connotations among the teen market, so instead of irritating that connotation and rubbing it in their faces, Nintendo will have to do some slight of hand...making consumers focus not on the apprehension, but on something else...humor, nostalgia, fantasy, whatever. Fantasy seems like a good trend to follow, but if it really wants to have huge sales of Zelda, it has to take that fantasy image to the next level. The whole "Enya" thing is in right now, but to make an impact, it has to examine where that's going, and MAKE the next step in the image of fantasy. The game is finished, but the image of the game is just beginning to form in the hearts and minds of consumers.