[ad_1]
ANimal Crossing has been a thing for almost 20 years, but this year it has exploded. You can’t scroll through social media without seeing one of his benign, big-headed characters in a screenshot or video showing someone’s beautiful desert island. Celebrities like Elijah Wood have delighted fans by visiting their cities. People who rarely played games before have seen it as a blocking distraction, including Lauren Laverne, who got excited about it on her Radio 6 Music show. American Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez picked it up a few days ago and has been visiting her followers on Twitter.
Since the last game came out, New Horizons on March 20, it has become a cliche to say that this is the game we all need right now. But if the numbers have anything to do with it having been setting new records, selling 11 million copies at the end of March, then it is absolutely true.
jessa 🦋
(@directedbyrian)Guys, I tweeted my turnip prices and Elijah Wood just came to my island and hanging out – this is the best day in quarantine. pic.twitter.com/H3mYJWnvgR
For those who have not been touched by the Nook cult, Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows them to establish an alternative life on a pleasant island populated by gently bizarre animals. You fish, catch insects, water flowers, plant fruit trees, and collect cute things to decorate your home and dress up the island. Players have put together everything from haunted houses to Zen gardens to small farmers markets and libraries. It is a relaxing game with a relaxed atmosphere, in theory.
In reality, many players are separating it, turning their islands into aerial portraits of Sailor Moon, delving into the theory of hybrid flower farming, or connecting to shadowy networks of turnip traders to accumulate wealth of 1% at the “market level”. of the stem “of the game. (Yes, that’s one thing). But this is part of the magic of Animal Crossing: you can really play it however you want. It can occupy you for a few hours a week, dragging and pulling weeds and catching up with your neighbor penguin; or for hours every day, accumulating wealth, furniture, and clothing until his virtual home looks like a 12-year-old boy’s dream mansion.
In Kyoto, Japan, the creators of the game on Nintendo are finding the immense virality of Animal Crossing: New Horizons validating, because this is a game designed to be shared.
“Animal Crossing is a communication game,” says Aya Kyogoku, who has worked on all Animal Crossing games since 2003. “I hope that throughout their lives in the game world, people will enjoy communicating with each other, either playing with other people or talking enthusiastically about the game. What would make me happiest is that people with all kinds of different tastes come together and enjoy the game in their own way. “
Hisashi Nogami, producer of the Animal Crossing series, who has been with Nintendo since 1994, says: “If, when you are playing, you are thinking of one day showing someone what you have accomplished or telling them about it, then maybe you will feel different We continually ask ourselves what kind of place gaming could have in people’s real lives. “
It is important to understand this: the game is played in social groups. I have four Animal Crossing group chats, with participants ranging from moms and dads playing with their kids to well-known game developers and furious friends, all of whom continually exchange DIY tips, wanted furniture, and screenshots. We visit each other’s islands to share fruit and admire the island’s decor, or hang out on the beach to wish for shooting stars and chat.
Animal Crossing is absorbing because it evokes the effect of a living world, one that continues regardless of whether you are there or not. Time passes as it does in real life, with changes in climate and seasons; animal neighbors talk to you and write letters to you as if they had their own mind; and everything on the island feels interconnected.
This illusion is difficult to achieve, says Nogami, and the introduction of new bells and whistles can upset the balance. “We put a lot of thought and feeling into even the smallest features,” he says. “Instead of seeing if individual ideas are good or bad, we first think about the overall experience we want players to have, deciding on the concept that will form the mainstay of the game. Everything we build must align with that concept. For this game, the concept was the desert island. “
“It’s very difficult,” says Kyogoku, “to make decisions about individual parts before all the features are connected, and that’s a process we struggle with again in this game. Even when we come up with ideas, we’re not thinking about that. feature by itself. We thought about where this feature would be located within Animal Crossing as a whole. “
Kyogoku uses New Horizon’s DIY manufacturing as an example: “It’s not just about making items; you also need resources, and you can harvest these resources from trees and other things on the island. So having this feature, the plants that existed earlier in the series they now get a new purpose, and the feature was included in part because of this new value it brings. “
Animal Crossing has always been popular, especially in Japan; Launched in 2012, New Horizons’ predecessor New Leaf sold over 12 million. But there is no doubt that it is attracting a lot of new players. Part of that is surely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stuck at home, millions of people turn to video games for fun and safe social interaction, and a game that offers the comfort of a carefree existence in nature has been especially appealing. Suddenly, Animal Crossing veterans find valuable insight and are delighted to share it.
“Animal Crossing is a game that experienced players and newcomers can enjoy,” says Nogami. “It’s also okay to join later, after launch. People who have played longer will have more insight and advice on how to live in the Animal Crossing world, and by sharing this information with others they will be able to enjoy their life even more in island. “
A series of subtle changes in New Horizons make it more inviting than previous Animal Crossing games. It gives new players more direction in the first few days and weeks, guiding them toward self-directed fun and self-expression. It is also a game whose time has finally come. Social media, connectivity, and even the way we now use smartphones have helped him break into popular culture.
“When Animal Crossing came out 19 years ago,” says Nogami, “it was difficult to explain what it was in-game until then. Although I thought it was fun, I wasn’t sure if many users would understand it. [But] I felt that the parts that were difficult to understand brought a uniqueness to the game and may be the reason why fans have loved games for so long.
“We have added all kinds of features appropriate for the modern era, and made improvements to make games more convenient, but the core has not changed. One of our goals with these games is to connect people. The people who played the version N64 when they were kids they probably now have their own families. I hope people play with family and friends, having fun from generation to generation. “
[ad_2]
