Within 48 hours of Robin Williams’ suicide, over 50,000 Nintendo fans had signed a petition to Nintendo of America for a non-player character (NPC) in their upcoming The Legend of Zelda game to be named after the actor. At the time of this article, the petition, which can be found on Change.org, is sitting at 110,257 out of a 150,000 goal, but Nintendo did not wait for the petition to reach its goal.
Nintendo has responded to Polygon.com about the petition with the following:
“We appreciate the outpouring of support from the gaming community, and hear the request of fans to honor him in a future game. We will not be discussing what might be possible for future games during this difficult time, but we will hold our memories of Robin close.”
In the age of the internet, our Facebook/Twitter/G+/etc. news feeds have been filled with myriad picture memes, videos clips, posts, and responses about the saddening end of the man, but this might one of the few things that actually make sense.
Robin Williams was a known fan of games, both table-top/pen and paper games like Dungeons and Dragons and video games like World of Warcraft and Battlefield 2 (amongst many others). In fact, he named his daughter Zelda after the Princess of the original Legend of Zelda games. The pair would go on to be star in a number of advertising for several Legend of Zelda titles. Here’s an interview piece recorded while filming the The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of time 3D :
When you have a man who not only loved the games, but also played a bit of front man for them along with his daughter, it would make sense to honor the man with a bit of a tribute.
However, on a personal note, I would also like to say that I disagree with the petition. It makes sense, but do we really want to see a big-headed goofy character named “Robin”? Would we want to see a dominant and beloved actor during most of our formative years portrayed as a sad, little man living in a hut with his wife and daughter (who would be named after the Princess) in some town that would be a bit of downer? Is that all Robin Williams was?
I will admit I feel a bit torn over it as I do think a tribute would be warranted, but at the same time, a tribute deserving of the man would detract from the game itself. I would be surprised if Nintendo doesn’t do SOMETHING, but I would expect it to be either an official announcement of some sort, a touching video of Zelda Williams playing the game, or even just a “In Memory of Robin Williams” in the credit.
What do you think? Should Nintendo name an NPC “Robin” or should they simply let it be? Did you sign the petition? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Variand
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I agree that a subtle reference would be way more effective than an outlandish caricature of such a gifted comic and actor. Honestly an NPC of him seems a bit disrespectful but I may be over-sensitive about this.
Agreed. I think a flat out NPC would be completely disrespectful, especially serving as a memorial. The gesture, should one be made, needs to be sincere but restrained and not thrown in everyone’s face.
Even if it weren’t for the disrespectful angle, I think Nintendo would be absolutely stupid to put an overt popular reference like that in a game. It will only serve to show off how dated the game is even after only a couple of years.
Well, I feel that people have taken this idea and automatically have a problem with what they themselves are imagining Blizzard or Nintendo doing. I highly doubt that it will be the spitting image of Williams or even a caricature, though even if this was the case, I still don’t see anything offensive about the premise.
Why should we treat it as mourning? In my opinion it is instead a celebration of a man who LOVED video games and celebrated video games himself.
Let me put it this way, If a man is BOLD enough to name his own REAL LIFE daughter after a fictional video game character, Is it not hypocrisy to say it’s unceremonious or unnecessary to name a video game character after the REAL LIFE man?
A subtle reference would definitely be more effective than a caricature of him. I like the credits idea as well.
I dig the item tribute idea cube!!! Like a rifle named Mrs. Doubtfire.
I imagine if Nintendo did go through with a tribute that it’d be a man on a hill. Just a happy villager who’s “gone to pasture” and carrying his name. Just smooth and subtle, he was a high profile player of their games and an official face of theirs for a while. It makes sense to give him a reference, from both a translator standpoint(just changing an npc’s name) from original source material and a business side as well. To thank him for his dedication, I personally don’t think Nintendo or Blizzard should feel it necessary to leave Robin Williams a monument or anything of that sort. Through I think it’s respectful I don’t think they should get bashed for not doing anything or even for doing something. I kinda have my fingers crossed for Robin having a house on a hill through, I think it’d be sweet of Nintendo.
I’m not sure video games have evolved to a point where they can act as an effective memorial. I think a subtle reference would be enough…maybe a piece of dialog or the name of an item or place or something similar.
The man was a legend, more present in my formative years than my own father. I didn’t know he was such a huge game advocate until I started playing WoW some years ago. He was brilliant, hilarious, kind-hearted philanthropist. The world is certainly dimmer without him.
Also though, Blizzard has stated they have something in the works to commemorate him in their own way. I’m actually a fan of the idea. Unless, of course, he’s not the funniest most charismatic NPC ever…. then it’s hog-wash