Not long ago, the news broke via Twitter that employees at Sony and others in relevant industry circles got something special to celebrate the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy . It was a disk version of the game that was enclosed in a PlayStation case. It was delightfully retro, the transfer of the art to the smaller case was flawless, and the world shared in a generalized sense of jealousy. I was swept into the frenzy as well. The original PlayStation case might have been the easiest style to break from a simple jolt, but I wanted it. Not only for myself, but my boyfriend who is a game collector at heart. He saw the case and shed but a single tear in knowing he would never hold one.
He’s not the only one either. Plenty of other people hit social medias, forums, and sites to share their jealousy. “This would be awesome if it had a commercial release!” We made our voices heard. Now all we can do is cross our fingers and go about our lives as best we can. It’s moments like these that, the more I think about them, the more I become ever so slightly troubled. If I worked at Sony and received one of those cases, you can bet your behind I’d post a photo of it proudly on Twitter. At that point I will have worked hard to get to my position, and the benefits will have been well earned. But there’s also a nagging thought that I just can’t clear out of my head.
Posting photos of these industry exclusive items or event photos that include benefits that the average Joe or Jill will never be able to enjoy is kind of a dick move. I mean really. How many people can say they’ve been to early screenings of movies that were only available for those within the industry or as a member of the press? How many can say they got merchandise for a game that wasn’t publicly available? How many people (the world over) can say that they received a PlayStation case for the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy ? Frankly, it’s a bit of a slap in the face.
I can imagine it as the same sort of schoolyard teasing and bullying that we all hated growing up. You know the kid that got Dunkaroos in their lunch box, while your mom just packed a handful of strawberries? Don’t get me wrong, strawberries are heavenly fruit. But the chemically-charged sugar-load contained within the packages of Dunkaroos were the stuff of childhood heaven. In posting photos or videos of things that will never be available to the general public, industry members are sort of shout, “Nyah-nyah, look what I have that you’ll never get!” Imagine that in the most childish, nagging, mocking voice that you can and we’ll all be on the same page here.
Take what I say here with a grain of salt, mind you. Do I think that all industry members who get cool stuff and post pictures of it are doing it maliciously? Absolutely not. That would be an incredibly ignorant and gross generalization of people that I couldn’t even wrap my brain around. People post things that they think are cool, regardless of the potential reaction from those around them. It’s not unusual that I find rocks on the ground that I think are pretty cool. I’ll point them out to people, whether or not I think they’re interested in the same thing. Sure, there might be a mocking moment of, “It’s just a rock,” but at least I got to see something I enjoyed.
The same is true of those that proudly posted their Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy PlayStation cases. They thought the cases were awesome and felt lucky to have one. They weren’t generally posting it just to say, “Look at this piece of epic swag that you’ll never lay a finger on.” To those of you industry folks out there that did post it with the latter thought process: you’re a jerk. Sit in the corner and think hard about what you did.