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Sunday 5 October, 2003
I may be developing an Animal Crossing....problem. This game is compelling in a very odd way. I think partially because it taps into the collector's impulse. There are so many things to collect. Bugs, fish, fossils, paintings, furniture, clothing, old school Nintendo games... Another thing is it taps into the creative impulse. You can decorate your pad, create new patterns to put on the walls or floor or clothes. And the achievement impulse. You are constantly paying off your debt to old Tom Nook..and when you pay the debt off, you can get a larger house and more debt. Plus it tracks how "complete" your collection of bugs and fish is. Not only that, but the characters are so great. The animals are so funny! They say very surprisingly clever things. Speaking of which, that is another thing, the surprises. There are so many things which pop up around the town at different times of day and on different days. Last night, I got to see KK Slider perform and he gave me a tune that I could then subsequently put in my boombox. (You can collect tunes, too...) It was kind of a country desperado sounding song. So I put it in the boombox, and then decided I needed to re-design my living space to reflect the theme of the song. Tom Nook sold me a southwestern-style rug, and then I made a new wallpaper pattern with cactuses on it. This is just one gameplay example. Tomorrow "Crazy Redd" who sells rare furniture will be in town and I can't wait to see what he has. And then I found out about a ghost that prowls around late at night. Have to check that out too! I actually am finding myself being intensely tempted to buy an e-reader, just so I can extend my Animal Crossing experience further. And the addiction is spreading. My boyfriend (who previously called the game boring) has now moved into my town. Unfortunately, he also figured out how to make the character run instead of walk and trampled my flowers! Hmph. Time to plant more flowers.
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