Nintendo Addresses "Misinterpreted" Watergate Joke in Paper Mario: Color Splash

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Nintendo Addresses "Misinterpreted" Watergate Joke in Paper Mario: Color Splash

Nintendo has firmly denied that the joke in Paper Mario: Color Splash is about anything other than Watergate.

Nintendo has issued a statement following what it calls the misinterpretation of one of its jokes in Paper Mario: Color Splash. GamerGate controversy [http://www.depressionquest.com/], writing "what the fuck did I ever do to you, Nintendo, that y'all had to make my suffering into a fucking joke."

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/UnburntWitch/status/745714046511394816]

Several people were quick to point out that the two screenshots, when viewed on the video, were actually separated by a substantial period of time, and that much of the context was removed due to the way the images were presented. Some argued that it was a reference to the Watergate controversy, while others voiced their intentions to boycott Nintendo over the perceived GamerGate link, thinking the content was too specific to be a coincidence. Nintendo firmly denied that it was in reference to anything other than Watergate in a statement provided to Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-06-23-nintendo-denies-paper-mario-color-splash-link-to-online-hate-campaign], which you can read in full below:

"As many have observed, when viewed in its entirety the Nintendo Treehouse: Live segment for Paper Mario: Color Splash from E3 includes two jokes separated by commentary and gameplay that have no relation to each other. One joke has to do with Watergate, while the other is a nod to the Fungi Fun Guys from Mario Party 8.

"It was brought to our attention today that these two jokes have been spliced together and misconstrued as a crude reference to an online hate campaign. While we typically do not speak on localisation matters, we feel the need to confirm that these jokes are not linked in the game and were never intended to be linked.

"Nintendo firmly rejects the harassment of individuals in any way and was surprised to learn that its gameplay was misinterpreted in this manner."

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[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

...Yeah, definitely siding with Nintendo on this one. It's good to see Nintendo being rational and pointing out the flaws in Zoe's argument.

Can't really think of what else to say without seeming like I'm attacking anyone on either side of GamerGate. I'll just sum up by saying Zoe is coming off as a bit of a person who needs to have a spotlight on her every so often, and is willing to manipulate evidence to do so, and that's not the kind of person that deserves any attention at all.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

*pulls out some hair*

Why would anyone think "mr Family Friendly Nintendo" would make a reference to the Great Internet Flamewar? It's just...GAH!

 

[RJ 17]

Somehow I'm less than surprised that that's how Zoe reacted...

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Wait, i thought you meant the Nixon watergate scandal! That was a weird moment i had of considering Nintendo addressing US political corruption.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal

This, however, is infinitely less interesting and infinitely more disappointing.

 

[Kotoriii]

Not Zoe Quinn again, please. This is taken so out of context.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Wait, i thought you meant the Nixon watergate scandal! That was a weird moment i had of considering Nintendo addressing US political corruption.
This, however, is infinitely less interesting and infinitely more disappointing.

The joke was about the Nixon Watergate Scandal. The article is about someone taking it as a personal attack for some reason, manipulating screenshots to "prove" her point.

 

[Paragon Fury]

I'm not sure to make a comment here that won't use up my last strike, so I'll just settle for really? Had to make it about yourself Quinn?

 

[Zacharious-khan]

Lets be honest though, the idea that she was suffering, is a joke.

 

[shadoe14]

Come on Nintendo. You can't fool us.

It's obvious that this is a personal attack on Tom Brady.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deflategate

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

The joke was about the Nixon Watergate Scandal.

That is an intriguing reference for a Mario game indeed.

 

[90sgamer]

This just in, rapist*, nude "model," professional victim and would-be drama queen of morally ill repute damages Nintendo in an attempt to become relevant again, and various piddlesquats buy it as unquestioning people are wont to do.

Liz knows what's up. That's why you're the only game journalist I particularly like, Liz.

* Zoe admits to having diddled at least five guys, one of whom was her boss, while in a monogamous relationship. According to her published opinion, cheating on a partner is rape.

 

[Redd the Sock]

Next step Nintendo: ask that if this is how she and others took an innocent and unrelated reference, how much of the rest of their statements on other harassment may equally be over-reactions to something not intended to be harassment.

 

[Avnger]

This just in, rapist*, professional victim and would-be drama queen of morally ill repute damages Nintendo in an attempt to become relevant again, and various piddlesquats buy it as unquestioning people are wont to do.

Liz knows what's up. That's why you're the only game journalist I particularly like, Liz.

* Zoe admits to having diddled at least five guys, one of whom was her boss, while in a monogamous relationship. According to her published opinion, cheating on a partner is rape.

Honest question: Why are you this angry and upset with a small-time dev who was completely unknown until she began receiving an immense amount of harassment from anonymous internet users? Were you her boyfriend? Did she personally harm you and/or a friend of yours? If not, I fail to see how one could have such blinding hatred against another random person on the internet that would cause you turn go off on such a rant about her.


On topic: Meh another article about Zoe. To be fair to the people getting mixed up about the reference, Nintendo purposely referencing the Watergate scandal is more than a little out of character in a Mario game; Also, the whole "gamergate" thing is still on a lot of minds in the gaming community.

 

[Karadalis]

* Zoe admits to having diddled at least five guys, one of whom was her boss, while in a monogamous relationship. According to her published opinion, cheating on a partner is rape.

Not completly correct.

According to quinn:

Cheating on a partner and then having sex with said partner without informing said partner that you had sex with other people is in her book rape.

Wich was the exact thing she did to her boyfriend.

Considering how many nasty STDs you can get from sleeping around it should legaly be counted as battery in my book.

But yeah, ofcourse quin would make this all about herselfe... i guess her patreon and rebel jam funds kept drying up... gotta cause drama to remember people to throw money at her!

 

[Saltyk]

Wait, i thought you meant the Nixon watergate scandal! That was a weird moment i had of considering Nintendo addressing US political corruption.
This, however, is infinitely less interesting and infinitely more disappointing.

The joke was about the Nixon Watergate Scandal. The article is about someone taking it as a personal attack for some reason, manipulating screenshots to "prove" her point.

And coming off as a pathetic liar in the process. I don't know how anyone could construe that as an attack on them. You have to be quite mentally nimble to pull that one off. Mental gymnastics gold medal winner there.

* Zoe diddled 5 guys, one of whom was her boss, while in a monogamous relationship. According to her published opinion, cheating on a partner is rape.

Even if true, it's an assine definition of rape. It really only paints you as attacking her for the sake of it. I mean I'm attacking her, but that's because the idea that Nintendo was attacking her is idiotic. It's obviously a joke on our tendency to add "-gate" as a suffix to words when there is a controversy. Deflategate, Gatesgate, etc.

 

[Karadalis]

Even if true, it's an assine definition of rape. It really only paints you as attacking her for the sake of it. I mean I'm attacking her, but that's because the idea that Nintendo was attacking her is idiotic. It's obviously a joke on our tendency to add "-gate" as a suffix to words when there is a controversy. Deflategate, Gatesgate, etc.

Said assinine definition came from Zoey herselfe. Calling her a rapist by using her own definitions is fair game since she put up that definition in the first place.

Thought not legaly a rapist, having sex with a bunch of guys and then having sex with your boyfriend without his knowledge of you sleeping around should be considered battery atleast... seeing how many STDs are going around nowadays she needlesly endangered her boyfriends health so she could get the attention she so depseratly seems to crave.

So no... he wasnt attacking her needlesly, only throwing her own words back at her.

 

[Gorrath]

* Zoe admits to having diddled at least five guys, one of whom was her boss, while in a monogamous relationship. According to her published opinion, cheating on a partner is rape.

Not completly correct.

According to quinn:

Cheating on a partner and then having sex with said partner without informing him that you had sex with other people is in her book rape.

Wich was the exact thing she did to her boyfriend.

Considering how many nasty STDs you can get from sleeping around it should legaly be counted as battery in my book.

While I am loathe to dive into this thread much at all, one can actually be prosecuted for transmitting or seeking to transmit some STDs to a partner if you know the danger you pose to them and don't inform them. This may or may not only apply to HIV, I am not well versed on the subject.

OT: I don't know what to make of things like this. Many of us don't want to revisit and rehash anything to do with Quinn. On the one hand, she's notable but on the other, it's only because of controversy. Stirring up more controversy in order to keep her being notable seems like a bad idea and seems like it might play into what she wants. I am genuinely curious as to what kind of mindset it would take for someone to see something like that in a game and seriously think the big N is taking a potshot at them personally. The levels of delusion or deception are brow-raising.

Also, "misinterpreted?" That's a rather kind assumption. Misrepresented may fit the situation better.

 

[Erttheking]

I...wow Zoe. I think the hate against you is overblown, but thinking this had something to do with you is rather narcissistic.

 

[Fat Hippo]

The craziest thing about all of this is that Zoe Quinn has a sufficiently large ego that she could believe Nintendo knows or cares about her existence enough to put a joke into their game that would go over the heads of 95% of their audience, if it had actually been about Quinn.