It no longer comes as a surprise to anyone that Nintendo doesn’t listen to its consumers. It’s to the point that the company has become the hallmark example of how to show your fans how little you care about them. They have never allowed any feedback to influence their games. All they see are sale numbers. Even then, they have yet to admit how the Wii U failed, compared to other consoles. The company’s non-response to a petition to have an NPC in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild named after slain singer (and massive Zelda fan) Christina Grimmie is no different. In fact, this response is so expected that the petition itself could be seen as disrespectful.
I am not entirely sure why people have any kind of hope of being heard by Nintendo. Especially in the midst of the loss and tragedy of Grimmie, it almost seems to make the situation worse when Nintendo responds with their usual, “sorry for your loss, but we’re not going to anything about it”. Heck, Sony delivering the same line for Orlando felt more sincere than Nintendo’s two second moment of silence. That’s probably because Sony actually listens to its fans on occasion, as rare as it may be, and Nintendo does not.
Using Christina Grimmie’s death to petition Nintendo to “see [Grimmie] as an elf in a new Zelda game” seems to degrade her death more than it honors her memory. Never mind that a “superfan of Zelda ” would never actually call Hylians “elves,” but let’s move on from that misunderstanding. This petition is like asking the government to name their next law after your loved one. They are too far removed from the death and the person to truly care, and too driven by avarice to take the time to memorialize anyone’s death.
Why would someone use Grimmie’s name to prove to everyone what a royal jerk Nintendo can be? It blows my mind how insulting it is to ask, during a time of mourning, the emotionless, deaf corporation that is Nintendo to actually acknowledge that it has human fans, not numbers for the third financial quarter. Could we really expect Nintendo to listen to a petition about a singer who was barely out of the woodwork? It wouldn’t even consider one relating to Robin Williams’ death, and he was an international celebrity who advertised their games and even named his daughter after the Zelda franchise’s heroine.
Honor Christina Grimmie’s memory by keeping her alive in your hearts, in your minds, in every song still posted on YouTube. Do not put up her beautiful name as evidence of how unfeeling a company Nintendo is. Unless Grimmie was an activist who would want to make a political statement like that, this petition is not in any way a good thing. All it does is remind us how self-centred large corporations can be. Nintendo has always been a prime example of this.
I’m not saying we should stop trying to get Nintendo to listen to us. But let’s keep trying with issues that don’t pertain to the memory of a loved one. It’s far too much of an emotional strain.