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Friday, September 11, 2015

Unfortunate Anniversaries: Super Mario Maker on September 11

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Stop clinging to anniversaries, everyone.

People put way too much stock into anniversaries. I wrote about this concept last year when I titled our September 11, 2001 dedication as "Never Forget September 11? You Couldn't If You Tried." But it applies equally as much to videogames.

If you're going to say, "Never Forget X", then you need to be thinking about "X" all year, not just one day a year. And certainly not just once every five years, because apparently anniversaries only really matter in yearly increments that are multiples of five.

In Japan, Super Mario Bros. came out September 13, 1985, or a Friday. Incidentally, no one really knows when Super Mario Bros. came out in America, which is really weird. For the 30th anniversary, Nintendo insists that the game celebrating the 30th anniversary, Super Mario Maker, must come out on the same Friday. That Friday now coincides with the anniversary of two devastating terrorist attacks on Americans in the past fourteen years.

Pyro Guy Can't Melt Steel Beams jet fuel Super Mario Maker September 11
Pyro Guy is funnier than anything I could've picked that's actually from Super Mario Maker.

It's weird that there are going to be people reading this who were born after September 11, 2001. They'll never know how the world changed that day.

Anyway, a lot of people find it unfortunate that Nintendo is releasing their big Wii U game for the Fall season on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. I guess they say that this is no time to have fun — you must be sad and nothing else today or else something is wrong with you. We don't think this is a good philosophy, and it dishonours Satoru Iwata's memory:

"We may find it difficult to do our daily tasks and do what needs to be done today and this week. But if Iwata knew any day could be his last and he still did his best to go to the office to bring joy to millions of people, the least we could do to pay tribute to Iwata's memory is go through the daily grind with vigour.

That's what Iwata would've wanted.

...And when we're done with that, go play some of your favourite Nintendo games. Great ones include ones that Iwata worked on directly and saved from development oblivion, including Super Smash Bros. Melee and EarthBound. KoopaTV would also like to dedicate our rendition of Smiles and Tears from EarthBound in Iwata's memory." - Me
Even though we should never forget September 11 or its lessons, everyone should immediately cease using it to gain cheap political points. In other words, don't do what multiple Republican presidential candidates do. That's not the right way to remember it, though at least they're bringing the events of September 11 outside of the calendar day September 11.

Look at what people expect out of the Metroid series. "Oh, Nintendo did NOTHING for Metroid's 25th anniversary!" "Ugh, they're putting out Metroid Prime: Federation Force for Metroid's 30th anniversary?!" The fact that Metroid Prime: Federation Force is coming out in 2016 and Metroid on the NES came out on the NES in 1986 and the difference between those years is a multiple of 5 accounts for about half of the hate for the new game.

How about this novel idea: Games get to be released whenever they're actually completed, not by some arbitrary anniversary to commemorate 30 years ago. Some games get rushed just to meet an anniversary date, or some games get done but aren't released to meet that. That's stupid. It's one thing to miss Christmas. THAT will lose you sales. It's another to miss an arbitrary anniversary date or year. That really won't have any impact on your sales because no one purchases based off that.

So, what's my point? I don't mind that Super Mario Maker happened to come out on September 11 on an anniversary of terrorism. It's fitting, actually, that Super Mario Maker comes out on a terrorism commemoration day because terrorism is what Mr. Super Mario makes to my people. However, I do mind that videogame companies and fans alike are so concerned with meeting anniversaries above all else, and if a company doesn't honour an arbitrary anniversary in some way, then it shows their lack of commitment.

By the way, I feel the same thing about things like wedding anniversaries, or even worse, "we started dating on this day why didn't you remember it?!" Hey, I love you every day, why the hell does this arbitrary length of time signify anything different?

Every day is the anniversary of something. We must break the cycle of celebrating last year's anniversary in the present time or else we're only going to do 365 things every year. Anniversaries restrict the ability to create new things! Stop loving them!


Ludwig is obviously a hypocrite since he's written articles on KoopaTV landmark anniversaries before, including KoopaTV's first full year, KoopaTV's second full year, Trayvon Tyson's Punch-Out!!'s first full year, and Koopa Keep's ten year anniversary. Perhaps Ludwig isn't a hypocrite, but he's just writing what he assumes the audience would like or appreciate? So share in the comments your thoughts on anniversaries of all kinds, whether they influence tragic remembrances, videogame release dates, or article topics! Also, Ludwig obviously doesn't have Super Mario Maker and he doesn't plan to get it.


Two and a half years later, Ludwig continues making a mockery of anniversary-based articles.

4 comments :

  1. Fun Fact. The first Advance Wars came out on the actual day. Some will tell you Sept 10 but that is when stores received it for stocking purposes. It is supposed to go out in the public by the next day. Because of the event Japan did not get the game for years until it was compiled with AW2. And that was the downfall of Advance Wars which led to its obscurity.

    Also I am married and I am worried it will be me who will forget the anniversary because I am very bad with dates. I guess anniversaries (for good things) is to remember you just made it for another year. With divorce rates on the high, wedding anniversaries may have a reason to be celebrated. Think of video game anniversaries as a way to see that this particular video game has not been forgotten (sniff Advance Wars).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, why did Japan never get Days of Ruin until 2013? That whole thing gives me hope that it's possible for games that look like they'll never be localised to be localised. (Ace Attorney Investigations 2 and now Dai Gyakuten Saiban I guess.)
      Well it DID go public the next day, September 11 2001. Or at least the day it got stocked. Was there any... controversy over that?


      Why not let KoopaTV know when your anniversary date is? Then there's a higher chance of it being remembered by someone. ^.^
      People obsessed over anniversaries back before divorce became the epidemic it is now. :o

      Delete

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