The second that the Majora's Mask 3DS XL was announced during today’s Nintendo Direct, the internet was awash with contrasting comments. On one side of the fence, you had the enamoured fanbase, exclaiming their love for the franchise, Nintendo, and anything else in sight. This side of the fence also doesn’t seem to have a strong grasp of the economy, as Tweets often include requests for Nintendo to “take my money”, or questions asking how said people can give the company their hard-earned (that’s debatable) cash.
The other, slightly thornier side of the fence, includes people bemoaning any and all existence of anything limited. These bespoke consoles catering to fans of a certain franchise seem to invoke anger, spite and questions of “why” from the curmudgeons of the community. Both sides are equally extreme and knee-jerk, but those who ask why are posing the wrong question.
I, like many, was very excited by the news of a Majora’s Mask XL. I grabbed the Link Between Worlds 3DS XL a couple of years ago, have bought numerous special editions of games, and love all the tat and collectibles they come with.
It’s not the individual collectibles that sell me on committing the extra cash towards, what is ultimately, the same game I’ll be playing. I don’t spend my time yearning for a Legend of Zelda steelbook, nor do I get a leap at the idea of a Majora’s Mask limited edition comic, but it is the love of the franchise that makes me, and many others, go the extra mile.
I’m a huge Zelda fan. Having grown up ignoring the series, focusing more on the Marios and Mega Mans of this world, I picked up Zelda in my late teens, and have continued to play through as many of the entries as possible. I started watching all the amazing speedruns that the dedicated community put together, particularly for Ocarina of Time, in awe of the glitches that these players managed to expose.
The sense of adventure is unrivalled in any other series, and that’s why I place any and all Zelda games among my favourites (except for Skyward Sword, because), so whenever Nintendo puts together a package that allows me to a) play the games again via re-releases and b) gives me a chance to adorn my consoles with Zelda decoration, I’ll take it.
There is no reasonable explanation behind the purchasing of limited, special or game-centric editions of anything, and nor does there need to be. These cater to those who love a franchise beyond all reason. We enjoy the tat, we hang it on our wall, put it on our shelves, taking its rightful place as the latest dust collector to be looked at once a day, then once a week, once a fortnight and so on before it is neglected until friends visit and notice the item, to which we’ll reply 'oh, yeah… that thing...anyway'.
Again, those who don’t understand the fascination, you probably don’t love a franchise enough, or weren’t loved enough as a child. This, is of course, a joke. But it’s just one of those stupid obsessions that hasn’t bitten you. There’s no need for you to care, so put down your anger, and let us run along with our happy new Zelda 3DS’.
