By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - We do need a coronavirus (COVID-19) article. Hopefully, we won't need another.
Joining KoopaTV's coverage of international Earth-based virus outbreaks is CORONAVIRUS. While many thought that World War III was going to dominate the early-2020 headlines, that whole thing was a media-driven scare. Meanwhile, coronavirus, while certainly also given scary characteristics by media hype, is a legitimately scary prospect with far-reaching consequences.
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| The entire World News page of the February 24, 2020 edition of the Wall Street Journal is just coronavirus fear. You can see an underlined section about Nintendo contained in the bottom story. Switch production is impacted. |
Strangely enough, despite this being all of the news, the Democrats in last week's debate didn't discuss coronavirus. If they let Tulsi Gabbard on the stage, she would've. They did discuss it in tonight's debate, though by spreading mistruths and platitudes about the quickly-spreading virus.
Other politicians aren't waiting for a debate platform to speak about it, though:
If you look at the stock market now, it's full of rapidly-falling values. Now might be a great time to buy stocks—well, unless you think it'll keep going down.The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2020
President Donald John Trump's position is that coronavirus is under control and the federal government is doing a great job, and you don't have to fear much—at least, if you're in the United States. That's true. So far. However, many companies aren't buying that, including Sony, which has backed out of both the Game Developers Conference and PAX East, both March events.
That decision got the Mayor of Boston (where PAX East resides), Democrat Marty Walsh, to write a stupid letter to Sony basically accusing the Japanese gaming giant of being xenophobic against Asian cultures. Rather than stress the safety of PAX East, he stressed meaningless dribble like:
“As a leader in technology, you can show that you are motivated by facts, not fear. As a leader in gaming and culture, you can show that you believe in connection, not isolation.”There's something really wrong with... every Massachusetts politician, I swear. But, hey, Sony does believe in connections. That was the whole theme around Death Stranding, which they heavily promoted. (It also happens that Kojima Productions, the developer for Death Stranding, also isn't going to Game Developers Conference due to the health risk.)
There's nothing wrong with avoiding big conferences and trade shows. I mean, they're big hotbeds of disease anyway. It's another reason why streaming E3 is better than going there.
In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends “social distancing methods.” They also seem to be a tad less optimistic than President Donald John Trump.
Right now, I'm personally concerned that this will turn into the next Ebola virus (which personally affected KoopaTV's staff in terms of our Earth headquarters being in Sierra Leone) or the next Zika virus (which personally affected members of KoopaTV's staff that were present in Brazil for 2016 Olympics purposes).
With coronavirus spreading everywhere, especially in Asia, what will become of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that I'm training for now? According to the BBC, the games are still on. But will that last? Or will they hold the games anyway even if there's a virus outbreak?
I want to be safe. So does everyone. That's why global supply chains (including in the gaming industry) are interrupted. Events are interrupted. Lots of things. This impacts everything. But let's just hope it doesn't interrupt your life. Permanently. Stay safe, and don't let anyone imply you're a racist or whatever for keeping yourself alive. Don't be dragged into their death wish.
For now, Team Koopa is still scheduled to attend the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, especially if Team Mario is still going to be there. He won't jump to the conclusion that Mario has anything to do with this... though he wouldn't be surprised.
More on the media's hype and false reporting on coronavirus here.
E3 2020 is cancelled and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics aren't taking place in 2020.
"abusing the Japanese gaming giant"
ReplyDeleteShould that be "accusing"?
(Also, is it just me, or does something feel off about an American politician telling a Japanese company that they're fueling stereotypes against Asians?)
...Well, I think it IS abusive. ...But not what I meant to write, you're right.
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