One of the best things about working retail are the nutty stories I get to tell.
Last night, I was helping a lady purchase a Nintendo DS for her child as a Christmas gift. She knew very little about the system and the games, and needed quite a bit of help. She was shopping with a friend of hers, who also was wanting to purchase a Nintendo DS.
I explained the different styles that the system came in, of course mentioning the brand new Gold DS that comes in the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass bundle pack, since we still had a few in stock. I was quite shocked at what the lady said next.
She turns to her friend and says "Don't buy that. The Legend of Zelda is way too violent." Her friend asks me if I thought the game was violent, to which I explained that while Zelda games may not be good for younger kids due to game play being a little too complicated for the younger group, I didn't think it was an overly violent game. The first lady then pipes up with this comment: "Let's put it this way: I'm a teacher. One of my students idolizes Adolf Hitler, and his favorite game is the Legend of Zelda. Zelda is not a good game."
I really didn't know what to say. I obviously wasn't going to argue with the lady. I needed to stay polite and courteous, as my job is to help customers, not argue with them. However, I did say "Well that's not a fair analysis, because my favorite game is Zelda, and I don't idolize Hitler." It didn't phase her, as she just continued to tell her friend not to buy anything with Zelda on it because it was bad. So, I just let it go, and finished the sale.
But stuff like that really does bother me. I hate the bad image gaming gets, especially when the reasoning is completely illogical. A kid worships Hitler. He just so happens to like Zelda. How exactly does that connect? How does that make Zelda an evil game?
All I can do is roll my eyes. I will never understand why people will always find a way to take something that is fun and find a way to turn it into a terrible thing.
I blame Jack Thompson.
Any of you have any similar stories? Or do you feel the same way I do?
The blog of toy enthusiast Pixel Dan of www.popculturenetwork.com
2 comments:
I totally agree with you. Those are the types of people that I hate. Never giving anything a chance because of one person thinking a certain way. Zelda games are so awesome and now her kid won't ever be able to experience them.
I take it she didn't realized that kind of blind following is what she was preaching against. Same crap Thompson says. I think he was threatened with disbarment for his lawsuit against Take Two/Rockstar.
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