Animal Crossing: New Horizons

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Oh, put your payment information on the site ahead of time under an account! It saves you time when you go to pay, I'm not sure when they reserve the console for you but if it's once the payment is processed, you might have a nice shot.
Nintendo had an unboxing of the console here on their YouTube. I'm very excited to get it, but I wish the grips weren't just black! I love holding the joycons in the grip...The review itself is a bit awkward and weird to watch.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I was considering replacing my Switch buttons but it looks like the tiny surgery would be wayy too much. I figured it would be a simple pop in, avoid the elctronics, yadda yadda, but you have to disconnect like 5 cables?    Maybe some other time. I don't want to risk breaking them.
Apparently any pre-orders placed on the console in the UK after Feb 12th will be shipped out in April.

[wystearya]

I traded in my 2ds xl and used the money to preorder New Horizons.   It will be my first Animal Crossing game.  Everything I have seen looks cute and relaxing.  I am thinking I will love the game!

[tailrustedtealeaf]

If there is continued manufacturing troubles in China, it is likely that there will be a hardware shortage in April. Despite Nintendo sending units to the US from Vietnam (I'm pretty sure) to avoid tariffs, pieces required to build the actual consoles are ordered from China. Those units for February and March are already en route and won't be an issue but there is no guarantee beyond that.

I traded in my 2ds xl and used the money to preorder New Horizons.   It will be my first Animal Crossing game.  Everything I have seen looks cute and relaxing.  I am thinking I will love the game!

Oh, so exciting!

[banditpony]

Are you getting the console tailrustedtealeaf?

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Are you getting the console tailrustedtealeaf?

That I am!! I'll get it a few days after release because I didn't want to pay for rush but I'd imagine it'd come in time for the actual game.
Direct announced! February 20th at 9 AM EST. Very exciting, I'll have to get up early for it or I'll just sleep through it. I think I'll stay off Reddit for a bit now though, I don't need to see all these analysi. Analysies?

[Carrehz]

I think I'll stay off Reddit for a bit now though, I don't need to see all these analysi. Analysies?

Analyses Although I like "analysi" better.

[Shaiyeh]

anybody watching/watched the direct?

Spoiler

THE MUSEUM. OMG. IT LOOKS GREAT.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

The direct just ended...oh my gosh, I am so, so, so, so excited!!!

Spoiler

-That you can edit the terrain is HUGE. It doesn't even matter which map you get because you can edit it!! That's amazing!! I know there are so many people prepared to reset for a new map that they liked and this is going to save so much time!
-I hope the museum is available rather early on. That's certainly my favorite part! But I think collecting the Nook Miles will keep me busy in the meantime.
-The online safeguards are such a good idea. It really sounds like they listened to the New Leaf players with a lot of these. So much customization!
-I'd love to hear some story about Label.

[Ragamuffin]

Pretty hype for the most part.

Spoiler

Except for the features that require you to download the Online app. I get you need a way to scan the QR codes but come on! Animal Crossing could've benefited from having a gallery system similar to Smash or Mario Maker. I'm the only person on earth who doesn't have a smart phone at this point, I don't really want to buy one just so I can have better-looking pathways in Animal Crossing.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Ragamuffin,

Spoiler

I was FULLY expecting some sort of gallery feature. They seemed to listen so much to the New Leaf online community that they should have found SOME way to incorporate that as part of the Nookphone. I understand that the Switch doesn't have a camera, but there should be an option to import QR codes from something other than a Camera so someone could use an iPod or emulator to use it. Or even directly from the Switch?

29 days away...

[Carrehz]

Spoiler

OMG the museum is absolutely gorgeous!!!! And wow, they've definitely listened to the community, every other thing was something people have been begging for for years :O I half expected them to say you can now boot out villagers (er, islanders now, I guess?) you dislike, lol.

Eight players in one island is rad. I know when the new Pokemon games were announced, there were a lot of people saying "aw, I play that with my family member/lover/etc but I don't want to get another Switch.." so it's nice that Nintendo seem to have anticipated that and done something about it with this game. If that makes sense.

I wonder why so many of the NPCs got replaced, though. I miss Nat already :< Daisy Mae is soooo cute, though.

It's all so shiny and pretty :O

[aluke]

Ahhh! I was going to wait a bit to buy NH (no online sub so no playing with others) but that direct was too good!

Spoiler

All that customization ability, moving houses, changing the map layout, REAL PATHWAYS!!!

So happy to see others excited too.

What villager/s is everyone hoping to get. I mostly want O'Hare back, and also Bella and Pierce. 

[Ragamuffin]

Spoiler

I wonder why so many of the NPCs got replaced, though. I miss Nat already :< Daisy Mae is soooo cute, though.

It's all so shiny and pretty :O

Spoiler

Ok, it's time to get cynical about Baby Game. I'm not a fan of them replacing the characters like this. I do like the new designs, but I feel like it's all about marketing. You can't make merchandise of Chip, Joan, and Nat. They're all "ugly". Nobody wants to buy stuff of them. However, CJ, Daisy Mae, and Flick? VERY merchandisable! Everyone on Twitter already loves Flick, drawing tons of fanart of her! When was the last time you saw someone gush about how much they love Nat?

Same with the villagers. I love the horse one at least, and I always love cats. But this batch of villagers they've shown off caters to the crowd who loves those kinds of characters. Think of Marshal, Merengue, Goldie, etc. The "cute" characters. They are even heavily featured in trailers and merchandise. The snow cone-looking bear? The cutesy sheep, the hipster cat? They're all going to be fought over. And if it weren't for amiibo cards, people would probably resort to buying/selling them on eBay like they did with ACNL. People who didn't play ACNL back in 2013 wouldn't understand the Marshall hype, I think. I STILL don't understand the Marshall hype. He's not that cute or unique. He's just a squirrel and one of many smug types you can get.

I guess I'm going to be Old Man Yells At Cloud at this, because ACNH offers a LOT of things I'm excited about, a lot of quality of life improvements, but a big part of Animal Crossing is having villagers you don't like, having ugly villagers. And sometimes you grow to really like them. And if you don't, you can beat them over the head with a net and push them into pitfalls. It's all part of the experience. Being able to call up anyone you want and having all of the new ones be super likeable and not-at-all ugly? Isn't as fun. I guess you don't have to do it if you don't want to but still... These new characters are all "Marshall"-esque... when are we going to get someone who's more like... Prince, for instance? It also feels superficial. Instead of befriending and liking anyone who comes into your town because they're nice or cool or something, it's all about the
~ .: * a e s t h e t i c * :. ~. People are going to get all the cutesy villagers solely because they match their pastel fairytale town theme.

Not only that, but it also goes into the "Animal Crossing now is too nice" thing which I wholeheartedly agree on. I talked about this before earlier in the thread how the animals nowadays are too nice and lack and personality. There's no incentive to go and make friends because their personalities all boil down to "Hey neighbour! Beautiful day, huh! I think I'm going to go eat some fruit!". Compare to the other games where the animals would gossip about each other and insult you...

Okay, rant over. I just never liked this trend of villagers. Which leads into...

What villager/s is everyone hoping to get. I mostly want O'Hare back, and also Bella and Pierce. 

Bella is cute! My favourites are Kiki, Kabuki, Bud... Agnes... there's probably more but I can't think of anyone else... I like Savanna too...

[tailrustedtealeaf]

My absolute favorite is Mitzi but I want a whole island of cats and horses. Perfect mix. Oh, and Tabby rules.
The Marshall fever was unreal. It still is. I think it's because he resembled an anime trope or something, but I'm still not quite sure. I agree there is more fun to be had in not just having cute villagers and I think it's sweeter when people like random villagers that you otherwise wouldn't care about.