User warned: Inappropriate direct call-outs of other individual members
It's been a really eye-opening day on ResetEra. There has been an emerging discussion in the Steve from Minecraft Announced for Super Smash Bros Ultimate thread about the gaming bubble that ResetEra occupies – with various labels of Boomers and Zoomers being thrown around with abandon. It's an interesting subject – how reflective is ResetEra of gaming as a whole, and how inclusive and accepting many are our members to the most popular genres and franchises in the world.
The context is this: Steve from Minecraft was announced as a playable character for Super Smash Bros today. The introductory video demonstrated the character – with many optional skins reflecting various characters and enemies from the franchise. Gameplay was demonstrated, with new combat mechanics such as building and seemingly crafting, introducing radical new concepts into the Smash universe. The procedural-generation of stages was also included, with an arena that seemed to change for each playthrough – with Minecraft biomes also programmed in. It was also reveal that the Smash team had reprogrammed every single Smash stage to facilitate the new mechanics.
When you consider all of the above, it is immediately clear that this new character and all of their related content, has been done with considerable effort and respect for the source material. It is an addition that is going to appeal to millions upon millions of gamers of all ages.
A substantial portion of the era-community had a… different view.
MOD EDIT: Quoted posts removed
There's a lot to dissect here. A few common themes in the above quotes, and the linked thread at large were:
The disconnect between the above, and the wider gaming ecosystem, is eye-opening. In the thread, the topic came up that those engaging in the above discourse were an equivalent of the "Boomer" stereotype – older gamers unwilling to accept the new, possessing what is perceived to be their franchise, with hostility towards inevitable change and newer gaming conventions. A good number of posters referred to the "Resetera Bubble"
So what do we think? Is Resetera a community with gaming "Boomers" and less "Zoomers" (to use the suggested labels)? Are we trapped in a gaming bubble in which a weight of voices in our community cannot recognise trends and popularity in wider gaming?
Contrast the above quotes to reactions across Twitter, YouTube and other places – the celebration, praise and excitement for Steve's inclusion is overwhelming. The Resetera quotes and much of the content in the linked thread, bitter and defensive as they are, seem to be a major outlier, as bubbly as bubbles get.
The context is this: Steve from Minecraft was announced as a playable character for Super Smash Bros today. The introductory video demonstrated the character – with many optional skins reflecting various characters and enemies from the franchise. Gameplay was demonstrated, with new combat mechanics such as building and seemingly crafting, introducing radical new concepts into the Smash universe. The procedural-generation of stages was also included, with an arena that seemed to change for each playthrough – with Minecraft biomes also programmed in. It was also reveal that the Smash team had reprogrammed every single Smash stage to facilitate the new mechanics.
When you consider all of the above, it is immediately clear that this new character and all of their related content, has been done with considerable effort and respect for the source material. It is an addition that is going to appeal to millions upon millions of gamers of all ages.
A substantial portion of the era-community had a… different view.
MOD EDIT: Quoted posts removed
There's a lot to dissect here. A few common themes in the above quotes, and the linked thread at large were:
- Minimal acknowledgement that there is an audience wider that is larger than themselves
- Bitterness that a popular, gaming megastar was chosen over some obscure characters from decade-old dead franchises
- Fan fiction that Masahiro Sakurai has been forced into this inclusion by Nintendo, and would never have ever chosen this character
- Derogatory references to Minecraft as being a game for children and only children – despite the game being a decade old, one that has sold millions upon millions of copies to a healthy all-age audience. This is repeatedly expanded into the assertion that children and only children, could be happy with this outrageous character inclusion
- Petty insults towards Minecraft in general - comparing it to an N64 game, etc.
- Bitterness towards "Zoomers", who should be kept well away from the Smash franchise
- Protestations that Minecraft is unworthy of inclusion in Smash, based on some arbitrary criteria in which it doesn't have some vague measure of credibility
- A slippery-slope fallacy, that including Minecraft opens up the floodgates to other contemporary franchises – Fortnite is cited many, many times as an "enemy" of sorts
- Critique that the Minecraft aesthetic is an anathema to the Smash Bros aesthetic, despite Smash Bros including dozens upon dozens of art styles and designs
The disconnect between the above, and the wider gaming ecosystem, is eye-opening. In the thread, the topic came up that those engaging in the above discourse were an equivalent of the "Boomer" stereotype – older gamers unwilling to accept the new, possessing what is perceived to be their franchise, with hostility towards inevitable change and newer gaming conventions. A good number of posters referred to the "Resetera Bubble"
So what do we think? Is Resetera a community with gaming "Boomers" and less "Zoomers" (to use the suggested labels)? Are we trapped in a gaming bubble in which a weight of voices in our community cannot recognise trends and popularity in wider gaming?
Contrast the above quotes to reactions across Twitter, YouTube and other places – the celebration, praise and excitement for Steve's inclusion is overwhelming. The Resetera quotes and much of the content in the linked thread, bitter and defensive as they are, seem to be a major outlier, as bubbly as bubbles get.
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