Welcome to haken in Animal Crossing podcast your podcast dedicated to all things Animal Crossing episode. 114 is brought to you by Fraser Connell one of our newest patreon patrons today Sergio and I are joined by Peter Embassy multimedia editor for Loop pots and host of podcast will be getting to know his history with Animal Crossing his thoughts on New Horizons. And of course Course answering the most recent 100 day countdown to New Horizons questions. So to begin. Hello Sergio. How you doing? Hi Chuy. I'm doing pretty great. It's been a really good week, huh? What about yourself? I'm doing great and then Pete nice to see you. Nice to meet you. Hey, thanks for having me guys. Yeah, we're excited to have you. I'm I've been a listener of podcast for a long time. And yeah, I really enjoy your show and all the things that you do over at loot spot Loop pots. Thanks so much, man. Yeah. You're a real. Remember the Discord it's always great hearing from you. And I'm glad that we could finally make this happen. Yeah, yeah always excited to talk about Animal Crossing and we don't get to talk about it nearly as much as I'd like to on the podcast. So yeah, I'm so ready to get into the nitty-gritty with you too. Yeah. I'm waiting for you and Steve did really just like go all out Animal Crossing pretty soon. I'm sure that's going to happen. Yeah. Yeah, I mean once I once March rolls around I think that's all we're going to be talking about for quite some time, but I very much looking forward to it. It yeah, what what I love about the game is just like, you know, it's a daily type of game you play it for a long time. So it just keeps coming up in conversation once it's out. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think one of the things that I am excited about New Horizons is that it looks like it's a little bit more than it kind of allows you to play for longer portions that I think we're probably used to but that was something I really really dug about about New Leaf was just playing it like on my lunch break. Work every day, you know like going out during the summer sitting outside in the sun playing a little bit little bit of Animal Crossing very very beautiful. Yeah, that'll be a lot of fun when it happened. So I guess before we get too far into this I actually wanted you to give us like a little bit of background about yourself all the things you do throughout the internet because I mean I listed a couple but I'm sure there's so much more out there. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm all over the place on the web. So if you guys don't know me, I'm Pete and Bessie. I'm a content creator. Or you can find me at loud underscore Pete on Twitter and Instagram as Chu already called out. I am the multimedia editor over at Loop pots as well as the host of our weekly Nintendo podcast the podcast where we talk about what we've been playing we talk about the news, you know, all kinds of you know the stuff you generally get on a Nintendo fan podcast our site Lou pots.com. We do news and reviews. We you might have actually seen our name recently because we broke the story about Bioshock coming too. Tendo switch that ended up getting picked up by like every games that let out there which was pretty crazy. We were thankful that this servers didn't blow up that day and but beyond that I'm also the host of a weekly comic book podcast called the comics Pals. I also make a little bit of music. You can go check out my band keep the money. It's at keep the money PA on Twitter and Instagram and I also I'm all over the place doing stuff. So the easiest way to keep up with me and check out some of the stuff I'm doing is too. Just go follow me on Twitter. I'm always plugging what I'm doing over there. Yeah, and you know what, I'd forgotten about the music thing, but then I remembered we talked about this before and I kind of told you about my plans to eventually start a Ska band called Scott Pilgrim. Yes, and II am such a such a supporter of that idea. Everyone should go start a scab and yes, especially one called Scott Pilgrim. Yeah, that makes it even better. Yeah, well, that's a lot of cool stuff. So I guess I did want to know kind of like what does a multimedia editor for Loop pots do like what does that entail? So I'm basically the creative lead for all of our multimedia content. So like I along with Steve was the creator of the pots cast and obviously I host that show and put it together. I also spearheaded the creation of our patreon exclusive show after dark, which if you go and support us over the five dollar level you get access to that show and it's like a A off-topic kind of you know just nonsense talking about what's going on in our lives talking about, you know pixel and I just recently did a review of Netflix's The Witcher, you know, sometimes I'll pull DJ who's the editor of the pots cast on the show and just like ask him questions from dating websites and it's like goofy stuff like that and I edit some portion of our YouTube videos as well as like kind of help some of the other contributors get their ideas off the ground. Like Max who is one of the you know, the the people over in the loop hot steam. He his most recent video was something that I collaborated with him on and did about you know, I edited the whole thing. I helped him kind of like turn his feature script into actual video product that we could get up on YouTube, which was a ton of fun. The only thing in that realm that I don't really like have my hands on is when pixel goes away for like two weeks and makes one of his crazy 45-minute and Analysis videos. That's all him I can I can't take any credit for that. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen the Zelda ones and all of the like Pokemon ones, right and they're pretty cool. But yeah speaking of Pokemon. I know you also did you do some reviews as well? You reviewed recently Pokemon sword and shield did and I've got to tell you Sergio is obsessed with these games. It's always great to meet a fellow Pokemon Master. Yeah, I Mmm, I've always been a big Pokemon fan. I take them pretty slow these days now because I'm like, you know, I've been playing Pokemon my whole life. So it's not something that I need to down all in one sitting but it's definitely something that I'm like, you know, I take it at my own pace. I'm finally at the at the league. So I've got an eight badges. I'm sitting outside. Just waiting to beat it now, very nice. Yeah. I am. I'm a big fan of like competitive Pokemon. I don't know if you do that at all Sergio, but That's like really where I live and I so I I've been really lazy though. Like I was so excited to get into the metagame for for gen8 here. And I you know, I got I got my 6 IV International ditto. I'm all ready for breeding and everything and then I was just like, you know, I'm gonna go play God of War like I'm gonna go I'm gonna go do something else and I don't know I've been I've been lazy about getting in there and doing the nitty-gritty but I've just been playing a little bit of Pokemon Showdown, which is this browser-based. Pokemon battle simulator that a lot of competitive people used to like test out their teams. So I'm still I'm still there. I'm still playing Pokemon. I'm still like getting my head around who I want to throw on my actual team and put in the work for but yeah, I've definitely been slacking a little bit and I think yeah, let's go. So, where are you in the Pokemon craves right now Sergio? Well, honestly right now I'm just waiting for the DLC. I completed the living Dex. I don't do much competitive, but this was my first time. I'm going for a living the exit. It was a journey actually my first playthrough of Sword. I only play with one score bunny. I didn't let him evolve. It was it was it was a nice challenge. I love the journey. Yeah. I'm cool. So we actually wanted to get a little bit of your background Pete on Animal Crossing. So this night like when did you first start playing Animal Crossing? So I started with the original Animal Crossing? Well, not technically the original I see. Because this is a real fan podcast. I know you guys have all that Animal Farm but I started with Animal Crossing on the GameCube when it first came to the states. So I must have been what year did Animal Crossing come out. I think it was 2002 2002. Yeah, right. I think I think is accurate. So I must have been I was born in 1992. So I was 10 when I came out and I remember like going grabbing the box that came with the special memory. Card that had the Rover sticker on it and everything because it took up an entire memory cards worth of data. That's your town. And I remember that like blew my mind and yeah it that really was my my first entry point and I immediately got sucked into it from there and I've been I've been a fan since although I did kind of take a break during the city Folk Erica's man. I didn't like that game. Oh, yeah, we'll probably have to talk about that pretty To so I guess like when you first played what was it that got you hooked onto the game. I think one of the things that I always really appeal to me about games in general when I was a kid was a little bit of wish fulfillment and kind of giving giving me a sense of like agency and power, you know, so in Animal Crossing obviously that's not like physical power anything like that but having the ability Leti to be like oh like this is my house and I'm going to decide what it looks like and what's going to be here and how I'm going to spend my time and you know, I can work to get this money to spend it. However, I want and those are all things when your kid that feel super novel and super, you know, like again like give you the sense of power like, oh I have the agency in this world, you know, and and doing it in a way that was, you know, not focus on combat or something like that was Different than most games I had played before I don't recall if I had tried Harvest Moon yet at that point. So it might have been the first time that I ever played a game that really had that kind of where it was still gamified where there were so goals for you to achieve but they weren't through, you know, just killing things or winning battles or whatever and that's right. Yeah. It was it fired a very different kind of neuron for me, you know, and and even then I knew that I liked that kind of game and I ended up checking. Checking out more stuff. Like like I said like Harvest Moon or The Sims or whatever that were more of those slice-of-life kind of kind of games or even like getting into like Sim games and stuff like that, you know, like like City Sims and and more, you know, spreadsheet e kind of games like that like Animal Crossing was a huge Gateway for for stuff like that for me. Yeah. Yeah, that's really awesome. And that's it. Like, you know, you're 10 years old. That's a really good age to start to feel that too because I feel like that's the point where you're starting to And there's like this thing called responsibilities. My parents are trying to prepare you because they're like, oh man this kids going to be a teenager and they are doomed right and yeah, I feel like that was probably around when I first started having like an allowance and stuff like that and like had you know, like I was had a concept of money and it was like, oh like wouldn't it be great if I could just run errands or whatever and have as much money as I wanted. Yeah. Yeah, and I do really like that about the game where it's just like like, you know, it presents you these, you know menial tasks throughout the day that you can do and then you start to learn that that earns you these bells and those bells can be traded and it really just helps your understanding of like, oh, here's how like just basic economics tends to work like you get something and you can trade that thing for another something that you may want a little bit more, you know, and it taught me the value of the gig economy, you know, which unfortunately I feel like America took a little You seriously? But okay, we've taken it too far. Now. We've got side hustles during our side hustles for sure. So I guess you now that we know that you've started essentially from the beginning. What is your favorite animal crossing game so far? I still think it's the original because I think that in a lot of ways there's a lot of innovation. And that's come with some of the new iterations but I miss some of the more like nitty-gritty stuff that was in the original. Like II don't love as much how they've kind of like gotten away from some of the regional holidays in favor of stuff that they don't need localized as much, you know, and I think those those were events that made I think especially at the time right in 2002 that made the world of Animal Crossing feel so alive was that Like there was a reason to play it on Christmas morning, even if it wasn't a new game that there is a reason to go play it around Halloween and and have all these different experiences and in some ways some of those things have survived. But I also think that like some of that has kind of gotten rounded out a bit in favor of you know, making something that's a little bit more globally friendly, you know, and that's like right saves them a little bit of time and energy. I think when it comes to making it work region to region and I totally respect the design Choice behind that but I do miss that kind of like deep connection to the calendar that it felt like it used to have. Yeah. Yeah for sure because I mean like wild world pretty much let go of like all of those different types of holidays and then replace them with like Animal Crossing specific ones Ryan, which I think you know to some extent I think. Is still cool and everything and I do like them sticking around but definitely getting that balance between here's this just like quirky world of Animal Crossing and something that only exists here and then here's something that just matches up with your real life too. And I feel like those connect you both to the game and also to just your personal life when you're playing the game. Absolutely. Yeah, and and it's not as though the difference of those things. Makes the game like worse or something like that and as super measurable way, but it is it is a little flavor that I think I missed quite a bit Yeah. So I guess my next question is have you played any of the spin-off games? I have not. I don't know. I guess do you count Pocket Campus been off because then I played that I guess yeah, I bet I'd say so yeah, I never touched happy home designer or amiibo Festival. I just didn't really have much. Interest in either of them, you know, like I didn't want to get in on the cards and I just didn't you know, I was kind of like, you know, like I like Animal Crossing but I like Animal Crossing not as much I want to play games that feature Animal Crossing characters, you know what I mean? Mmm. Yeah, I get that. So I guess based on your experience with pocket camp. Like how did you feel about that game? I really liked pocket camp for what it was. I think my biggest problem with it was I felt Out like when I first started playing it felt like there was a ton to do and eventually I just it was kind of like I hit a wall where I know that they've added stuff since I stopped playing but by that point I'm kind of already out, you know, and there was never really a reason for me to go back to it. So I just you know, I never really I enjoyed it while I enjoyed it and then I don't really think about it anymore. So I don't feel like that's the most successful thing that it could be but But I also feel like for what it was aiming to do as like kind of mobile of flying the Animal Crossing formula. I think it did do a good job and I definitely enjoyed it for what it was while I was into it while I wanted like something to tide me over for more actual Animal Crossing. Unfortunately that way it ended up being quite a bit longer. So I've just been struggling. Yeah we us to but yeah. No, I think you're capturing a Exactly what I like tell people when they're asking about pocket Camp because you know, there's a bunch of people who are like mobile gaming isn't for everybody. I've recently tried to be more active playing like Nintendo's mobile games. Like I've been keeping up with Mario Kart tour. I log into Fire Emblem Heroes a lot more and pocket Camp. I've kind of kept up with from the beginning but what I tell people about pocket Camp is like, you know when it started out it was pretty Bare Bones. Bones, I'd say now there's a lot more to it. And so I'm like if you're starting pocket Camp right now, I really think you're going to get a lot of game out of it in the next few months. If you're wanting to wait for like New Horizons, you know, because it's like it's packed with things but if you've played from the beginning like me, there's really just not too much there anymore. But but yeah. No, I think anybody who hasn't started the game like definitely try it out because there's a lot A lot to do there. There's a lot more than you'd expect writing from other mobile games, I think. Cool, so I guess just some real quick general questions. I'm sure you know what there's one not on here that I think Sergio will want to ask a little bit later, but we'll get to that but who is your favorite special character? And I guess the ones that we consider special characters that kind of like the Tom Nook sand Isabelle's of the world for me. It's got to be KK Slider. Yes, he is just he is so on unbelievably cool and I remember from the first time I saw him. I was like, well, he's just this cool dog who rolls into town every week and plays guitar for everybody and then he becomes a DJ like yeah. Absolutely. Are you kidding me? He's the voice of Our Generation. Yeah, and then Sergio, I feel like you have a question based on cake a slider that I forgot to put on here. Yeah, definitely. So what is your favorite cake a slider song? Oh, um, I don't know. I don't know that I have a favorite like I think my mind goes to like a cage as probably hmm. But I there's so many good ones, you know. Yeah, I know for what I used to do in at least the original like where you have the tape deck like I would I had like two or three that I would kind of switch between but I think that's probably oh nice. I think that's yeah. I'll go with that cool that I love that you mentioned KK Jazz because I've talked about that song a lot where I've had a love-hate relationship with like the intro to take it to KK Jazz, but then I just love the rest of the song so much but even now like I'm leaning toward I like the intro to that one and it just the whole song. It's like it's like actual Jazz where it's like you listen to it for the first time and you're like, I don't know about this, but then eventually you're like, oh, no, you know what I get it. It I get it. Yeah, it's like a fine cheese, you know. Yeah, I've gone through those emotions with that for sure so follow up to favorite special character, who is your favorite villager, so I thought about this one a lot and I think I'm gonna go with Bob Bob was always a favorite of mine. He's in every game which helps so I yeah he I definitely like a lot of the like lazy like laid-back goofball characters and I feel like he's like the poster child, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's got it all he's got that nice purple color and then cats like cats are themselves pretty lazy. They sleep a lot. Yeah throughout the day so I'm a cat dad IRL. So I definitely have a bit of a kitty bias there too, but it's funny too because he in he's been in every town. I've ever had. Oh, wow. I think that definitely helps put him over like in my first town. He you know, I had he was in the quadrant directly south of my you know, my little for house neighborhood thing, right? So yeah, and then like every other game I've played he's been in my neighborhood and if he wasn't there in the original role he's moved there and I'm always just like oh, yes my boy Bob. Yeah, it's crazy how that like happens to people like they're For four hundred characters that could like pop up in your game and you know, just like the same one manages to make it to your town. It's insane. Yeah, like I him Olivia is one that I always feel like I end up getting she was in my first neighborhood as well and like Ed like there's just all yeah, like I feel like I always end up Kiki's another one. Like I feel like I get a lot. Hmm, you get a lot of cats. It's yeah, man, they just they're drawn to me. You know? Yeah, I like them cats are fun. Sergio likes dogs. Yeah, just I've pretty well in real in real life. I don't consider myself by petzl, you know, like they're all you know, they're all good. You know, I think they both bring very different things to the table. It's just right now I happen to have two cats and no dogs. So, you know, that's just that's just what happened to be right now. Yeah every once in a while we do. A little bit of trivia here and I like to ask I put Sergio on the spot every time and ask him to name as many cats as possible and it's fun to see him struggle cool. So let's actually move into talking about New Horizons because obviously it's going to be a huge game. It's essentially the only game that's remaining for March at this point. What else is getting cancelled, but you know it's going to Carrie got we still got Doom. All right right today, but not on switch, you know? Yeah that one got delayed. But you know if people are going to play Doom they're probably not going to choose the switch to play it. So not the biggest deal but you know, I think I'll probably pick up both that day. And when I finally run out of chores or running animal crossing I'm like, all right. Well, then we'll kill some demons. Yeah. Yeah, what's hilarious about that is like I have a friend. He was the first guest that I had on the show. Funny enough like doom and Animal Crossing are his two favorite games. So that's what it is. Hey, what a day for this man. Yeah. That is he's been looking forward to March 20th for so long now, that's fantastic. Yeah, so I guess like when you saw New Horizons the first time like what were your initial impressions of it? Like what did you think of the game when you saw it? I was pretty blown away. You know, I think obviously Animal Crossing has a a very distinct visual style and you know, there's only like so much they can do to kind of iterate on that without changing the look but I think that this feels like such a it feels like such a step up graphically because we're so used to the 3DS Graphics which are terrible, you know, but in comparison to the switch anyway, so II was definitely visually Blown Away by it and I really like the setting I think the The tropical island is like a really fun idea because you know, I always kind of associate Animal Crossing with like summer for some reason. I think that was when I played it the most when I was younger because you know, you got plenty of time off from school. So I was playing them. So yeah, I'm gonna play Animal Crossing for like an hour every day because I can and I so II like that setting quite a bit but I think the all of the new stuff that they're adding like the crafting and all these things that seem like they're going to kind of knock down some of the walls that I feel like have always existed in Animal Crossing where there's nothing worse than the first time you play an animal crossing game in my opinion because you play it and you're so excited and then you run out of things to do in a few hours and you're like no like have to wait till tomorrow and the fact that there's all of these, you know new systems at play that will let you kind of build things on your own and you know have a little bit more control over over what you're doing like Into moment hour to hour I think that's really going to enhance the experience of the game and allow you to get even more out of it than we used to. Yeah, and you know, what's funny about that is to like it kind of fixes that barrier that barrier to entry with the game because I feel like more and more I've seen people who essentially say like, they tried Animal Crossing once and they just didn't get it, you know, and it's hard to really capture that this Is a game that you play over several months, you know, it's something that grows with you as you play it and when you enter that first day and you're able to do basically nothing it's it's that it's that point in the game that just like you're either you get it or you're just like I don't see what the hubbub is about this thing. Like what am I supposed to do? But yeah, like the crafting definitely goes toward that where it's just like here is This really big main mechanic that's going to follow you throughout the game and essentially like throws you exactly what you're supposed to do right from the beginning. Whereas like, you know paying off this really huge loan right from the get-go. You're like what how am I supposed to earn money? There's only one tool in this thing and it's a shovel right? And now I have to send these fossils off to this other Museum to get and it's gonna take days to do this. What so yeah. No, I feel like it definitely speeds up the ability to get into it, you know and start actually playing right exactly and not kind of be hit a roadblock because of randomization in those first few hours and be like, okay cool. I'm stuck because that's how I remember the first time I played the game. I ended up like looking up a guide. Like I went to like cheat cc.com or something like that or whatever. It was back when I was 10 years old and was looking up like, okay, like, how do I get it? Like shovel or how do I get a thing and it's like, oh you have to go to the shop every day and it's like so I have to wait a week to get all these tools like so I went and changed the hours on my GameCube clock got and and reset it until I had every tool and then went back to the actual date and was like, okay cool. I can actually play now like so the fact that you'll be able to at least get started right away and start like building out your character and you know kind of at least like setting a foundation for yourself. In those first few hours, it's something I think will allow you to feel like you're being productive a lot quicker and get to the parts that are van. Yeah. Yeah, definitely and you know, I feel like over time the team has definitely taken that into account too. So this whole system seems based around just removing those roadblocks kind of I guess embarrassing roadblock for me because these things just get in the way of some games in general. So like I'm trying to figure out like, what are some Warnings to get into games because I'll tell you Metroid is actually like a big gap for me because I tried to play Metroid Prime back in the day, but I did not understand the concept of like metroidvania as where you're like, you're going to hit a wall and you're going to have to go back to some other area and find some things before you can pass through that wall. So to this day like I hit some wall way back in the day and Metroid Prime the first one and then I never played it again. Yep. And I'm just like and I'm like, they're people missing out on games because there's just like the stuff that they don't know about these things and I feel like Animal Crossing maybe has that roadblock for people and I'm also want to just go back and play Metroid now and finally experience that you know, yeah, and it definitely seems like they are trying to optimize the first few hours of the game so that people can get to the meat quicker and understand. What what is it that makes this appealing to other people? Mhm. Yeah. Yeah, because I mean I remember my mom would watch me play video games sometimes and I was really surprised because she'd watch me like play these really bloody Fighters and be cheering me on and then she see me playing like Animal Crossing me. She's like, I just really don't understand what's going on here. Like why? Why is this fun? I remember I remember my dad saying that to me two, or he's like, why would you want to play this like game? This is just doing things you can do. In real life and it's like well, I can't now as an adult. It's just like oh man, it's just lets me get away from it. You know like yeah it lets you it gives you the Escape of like, oh you can get out of crushing debt and actually own a home, right? It gives you yeah, it lets you live out your dreams now the millennial escapism simulator exactly cool. So kind of based on your initial Impressions, and I wanted to ask like What are you most excited about with this game? Definitely the crafting? I think that's the thing that sounds the most fundamental that's like really like changing things in a meaningful way because I think going into New Horizons. I had the question of kind of like, what do we do from here? You know, like now that we've done the mayor thing. Like, how do you how do you up the ante again? And it seems like this is a really really smart way to do that and I like that not only do I have the ability. T2 like kind of craft right from the beginning that like you can kind of fundamentally affect the layout of the island. It seems like from the beginning and I like the idea of having a little bit of like a almost like City Sim kind of feeling to what's going on and I think the whole crafting system feels like it's at the core of that. Yeah, yeah, definitely and I think funny enough like this. I've seen this be a very resistant feature from a lot of the fanbase like going into it people were just like man, I really hope they don't add crafting or you know, that kind of thing, but I don't know for me. I'm just like, you know what I've played every animal crossing game. I know kind of how it goes. I know the beats the steps that they all take but I was in the same boat as you Where I was like, what are they going to do? That's different and changes these things up and kind of expands on like what's already there in a way that is good, you know, right and I think in general I don't like crafting in most games, but this is the kind of game where you want it. I think yeah, I guess why would you say that because the whole point of Animal Crossing is to to amass manage and utilize resources, you know, and I think giving you the ability to have more control over like like if you want to really build out like a specific furniture set the way you set out to do that was to like hope that somebody offered it to you in order that it showed up in the shop right and giving you the ability to be like, well I want this I can go and put in some work and create it myself like that that Is I think a good move for Animal Crossing because yeah thing is about giving you that ability to like express yourself through your house and your town or your island or whatever, you know, and I think it feels like it's building on a fundamental aspect of Animal Crossing rather than certain games where like you just for like the the sake of example, right? Like I mentioned earlier I'm playing through God of War right now and that game is about action. And and the crafting system is like very very very simple and like that's good because it accentuates it. Right it incentivizes you to like explore and find things that you can become a Little Bit Stronger but it's not like something where it's a game where I want to just keep moving and it keeps asking me to crack things or it gives me this option to craft things when I could way more easily just get high quality weapons through progressing the game or completing side quests or it doesn't feel like it's tactile. On it feels like it's taking something from the the fundamental DNA of Animal Crossing and being like, how do we improve on that? How do we or how do we build on that to make it actually have a new hook because we've done this four or five times already, you know, and what makes this the new one. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're definitely spot-on with like the previous kind of mechanic was really just like, oh go to bed wake up tomorrow. See if the store has what I want this time, you know. Right and go talk to everybody in the town once and then I'm done. Yeah, and then this system just seems like it makes you a more active role in The Collector aspect of the game which which now, you know, we always talk about what we've often talked about like how we describe Animal Crossing two people who just have no idea what it is. And now I kind of go in that direction of like, oh, it's this game where you move into a place and you collect a bunch of stuff. Because again people understand that as fun a lot more easier than just like, oh you're paying off your mortgage. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's really about like moving somewhere and making it a home, you know? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So follow up question, like we know you're excited about crafting. Is there anything that makes you worried about this game? Not particularly. I think that I think that what I've seen has made me confident and the fact that they delayed the game without really like making a fuss about it, you know just being like hey, we didn't want to Crunch we're taking our time. We're making sure that it's checking all the right boxes. Like that's all they really need to do. Like I don't think that the bar. Our first success here is very high and I don't mean that as like a dig but it's just like we only got an animal crossing game like every six years and you know, we're just excited by the idea of a new one. Let alone one that is seemingly innovating a lot. So as long as these systems that were excited about don't go belly-up. I'm confident that everything else that I like about Animal Crossing. I still want you know, so they don't need to do a lot here to make it knock it out to knock it out of the park and it seems like they're doing all the right things already. So I'm pretty confident. It's going to be a good game. I think my only real concern is my lifestyle and time has changed so much since the two times that I have been at Peak Interest in Animal Crossing, which was the original and with new leaf, and am I going to Have the time to sink into it that I want to yeah. Yeah, that's a good mention too. Because like I think often about like where I am now versus like when you leave came out where New Leaf came out like just as I was maybe finishing up College just before that I guess and now I'm just like, oh man, I work full time. I'm doing all of these side things all the time making podcasts and things like that and I I find that. I was really surprised looking at like my stats from Nintendo. I like that year review thing that I got to play like 40 hours a month. I was like man, it doesn't feel like I played a rush. I'm really surprised but that was like, you know the average and I was just like man, I feel how could I like I feel like I maybe play two hours a week if that you know, but yeah, it's a different. To be for the game. And you know, I also remember, you know, you talked about your partner on Loop pots every once in a while and I was wondering if she was also excited for Animal Crossing. Yeah. So yeah, my partner Sarah is a big gamer and I know that she has expressed a lot of interest in this Animal Crossing, but she's never played one before she definitely is into Slice of Life stuff to a certain degree. Anyway, like when I got her a switch the okay, so she has always kind of historically been a PC Gamer but I was kind of like when we first got together, I was trying to get her interested in the switch and she started playing breath of the wild. I think for the second or third time on my switch and was like, yeah, this is pretty cool. But like I just want to be using a mouse and keyboard whatever and we went on a vacation and I got her to start playing stardew Valley and I didn't realize what I was doing. When I did that like like with her so hard and she really got into it. And so I finally was like, all right, cool. I'm gonna get her her own switch for her birthday. And then since then she like that's where she plays most of her games now, you know, like she beat breath of the Wild on Master mode at wow, like immediately after beating it the first time she did to run through some fire emblem. Like she's playing The Witcher right now all kinds of stuff. So So like I know that she is in on the switch now and she has interest in it, but I am wondering if she's gonna bite on it because she definitely like is such a like gets in one game and plays it for a long time. I could see her getting into Animal Crossing like what like way later like, I don't know. She's gonna pick it up at lunch and get in on it with me or if she's going to come back to it like a year later and be like wow, this is great. Yeah. I'm hoping I can get her into it. I hope so too because it's like I I think about games like smashing ultimate and I'm just like man, I know people where this is their very first Super Smash Bros game that they've ever played. I'm just like to go into that type of entry into a game where it's just like this is the best it's ever been and I'm just I wish I could experience that like it was my first time. Yeah. Yeah for sure. It's funny because that was actually That's the first smash game that she really played. Like she's played some of the others like a little bit but we got you know, we got her into it into it when ultimate came out and got she got so good so quick like it started where it was like, oh, yeah. Wow, you're like really good for a new player. And then it's like Oh, no, you're better at this than me. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's really awesome to see people like just get to experience a game for the first time with all of these new games. I feel like yeah games are like one of those things. It's like, you know, you get like a movie sequel and you're like, you know, it wasn't as good as the first one but like games just like build on. What was there previously so well that I'm I don't get that feeling. I'm just like man, I love what you did here. It's so much better now. Yeah often anyway, like that's kind of the nice thing with games is a lot of times when you go into a sequel It's almost always learning from its predecessor in ways that translate to you getting a better and better experience, especially when Nintendo game Ames mhm. Yeah not always but usually yeah, so yeah, I guess I wanted to know how you felt about the news that we've gotten so far with New Horizons you feel like Nintendo is saying enough. Do you think feel like they've been too quiet about it so far? Um, So like selfishly I would like there to be more news, but I also I don't know what I'd this is kind of something. I've said about Animal Crossing for a while. I don't feel like Animal Crossing is a game that you handle the same way as as their other IP, you know because I I don't feel like it's a game that previews very well unless you already like it because how much can they show of you running around and talking to people and doing errands and doing any of that kind of stuff where it looks like. Oh, this is the thing like this is going to get get people in the door, you know, like it's not it's not a game that you mark it around like hype moments or something like that like you Market it around systems and I think looking at this game like there's That much that's new but what's new fundamentally changes the game and two people like us who are fans. It means a lot to the average person. It's like oh cool. They added crafting whatever. Hmm. So I think that the more of the game they show the more likely they are to kind of shoot themselves in the foot I think and like over show and then people like us who want to go in like and have surprises are going to have everything spoiled for them and it's not going to really do much for the marketing of the game. Because the people who like Animal Crossing or going to buy it and evangelize for it. Anyway. Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. No I get that for sure. And now I'm kind of thinking of like, oh man. I really got to look back and see how the previous Animal Crossing games were talking about and shown off by Nintendo. I know because I'm pretty used to getting very minimal news for Animal Crossing. I always talk about like new Leaf. I think it was like a three year period waiting for that game and we I it maybe five times in those three years which you know, you get games like smash which came out 2018 right the end of 2018. And so I think March it was shown the first time and we saw it like maybe five six times within that first year, you know. Yeah, and yeah and it keeps popping up like we keep getting like new Smash info we keep getting new. Ders and things and it's definitely a game you approached differently for different reasons. So I'm kind of wondering like now I just want to compare all of the other ones all of the other animal crossing games at least and see like what did they focus on? What were they telling people? You know? Yeah. I mean, I I'm trying to find some of the old ones and like I remember there being this one from for the original that like had this very like 90s kid and he like closes on a house and there's like a GameCube very front and center like it like it. I think it was just it was way focused on the kind of like goofy weirdness of it, you know. Yeah, I think Ali I think that's kind of the move to some degree, you know, it's like you don't want to you don't want to give too much. Yeah, and if anybody knows that kid from that commercial like I've put this call out because I wanted to talk to them in some get this kid on the show. Yes. So yeah somebody if you can track them down let them know that I've had cast and I want to talk to them to find the I am DP the IMDb page for that that that trailer some I really hope it exists cool. So I guess you know, we're at this point a little more than eight weeks away from the game. What are you playing while we wait for the next New Horizons come out? Oh, man. I can't wait. So like I said right now I am playing God of War which is I am as well as being a big Nintendo fan. I'm a big Sony fan. And God of War is one of the few Sony first part of See games I never really got around to finishing up. I started playing it when I first dropped but that was right around the time that my partner Sarah and I first started seeing each other and you know as anyone who's been in a new relationship can tell you that you you get distracted. So there wasn't there wasn't a ton of time for me to tend to my virtual son. And I just it was a game that I was really enjoying and I was kind of like I don't want to play for an hour at a time here. You know, I really want to wait until I have more time to dedicate to it. So now that there's kind of this quiet period between the end of 2019 and the absolute just hurricane of games coming to hit us in 2020 Animal Crossing, you know among them. You know, I was like cool now's a chance like here's an open moment. I did the same thing with Last of Us in the fall where I was like, oh there's a breath of fresh air cool. I'm gonna play a backlog game that I never got around. And to let's do it. Yeah, that's awesome. And yeah, I mean that's what it kind of what I recommend to people to. I'm just like there are so many games and I know we're like anxiously always waiting for something and you know, it makes us forget about like what's in the backlog what we haven't gotten around to so yeah, there's a lot of stuff out there to play. Yeah. I just have so many games to play right now like from some stuff that's like older stuff that I should have played. Now in sums just stuff that slip through the cracks from this year. So it's kind of like with all this news at all. These games are getting delayed. I'm like good good. Give me time. Give me some space. Give me some breathing room for these. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I'm essentially wait. I've got my list of three games that I'm like, these are the three. I'm focusing on until it comes out, but I'm just like finished Pokemon Luigi's Mansion 3 and funny enough Fire Emblem three houses. I'm all right. Oh nice. So you better get started. Well, no, I mean like I'm like halfway through about but then I got distracted Luigi's Mansion came out. I only spent like two weeks with that before Pokemon came out. And so now I'm just like these are the three games. I'm finishing before you had some to get to the the halfway point of the game will say I am just before that I would say, okay, so, you know what it is. I know there's going to be Sort of time. Skip but no I don't know is the thing like I'm somehow avoided that happen. But you know, you haven't spoke a cool, but you're not going to to there yet. Yeah. Yeah. Oh man, you got so much left. Yeah, and you know, I always tell myself like playing I don't have to go all out on these games and then I just end up doing it anyways, so all of my units are like way high level right now. I'm getting them. Um, I'm over-prepared. I feel absolutely you were were you golden deer? I went with black Eagles just I was really torn between Golden deer and black Eagles and then I ended up doing black Eagles and said I wanted to be an imperialist bootlicker. That's fine. I get it. Yeah, I mean why them? Yeah. Well, you know, like that's the one thing I really love about the game though to like when you start playing. Those different paths at least from what I've heard from like other people's experiences of the other houses and stuff. I'm like, oh man, there's really a lot. You don't know about the other houses before you play. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah and the the paths are surprisingly different Mmm Yeah. So that's the thing. I like about it because I've talked to a friend who like played blue Eagles first and he's like man, I hate or not blue eagles blue lions and he was like, man, I hate black. Eagles and I was like, I don't know why but I could I have a suspicion as to why you'll see you'll see. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm really excited to get through those and unfortunately, like if I don't before Animal Crossing comes out, like it's never gonna happen all other games are dead to me exactly so so yeah, that's that's what I've made my goals for now Sergio. Is there anything on your list? Before this game comes out, you know others than already to which I'm definitely playing right early March. I was actually also planning on playing Fire Emblem three houses Because of You Know by lifting the additional house they added unfortunately it / fortunately I recently pick up the Dragon Ball Z card game for Xbox Halo and it is amazing. I'm so afraid like it. Oh, yeah every part of it. It's a lot of fun like even just roaming around collecting stuff. So it could take a while. I think I'm just going to focus on this one guy was I like kind of forgot about that game and then all of a sudden everyone's talking about it. I was like no it's been quiet period indie games from last year to play disko Elysium. I bought outer world. I haven't even opened it yet. Yeah there they just keep throwing backgrounds. Good. Yeah. Yeah. It's gonna kill me man. Yeah, you know what's funny to is. I thought this was going to be like 2019, you know, but everything got pushed kind of 2020 and I was just like, all right. I thought 2019 was going to be the best year but now 2020 that's where it is 20 is gearing up to make 2017 look like it was like average. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, and you know, we're all still like waiting for that next Nintendo Direct where they're possibly say saying breath of the wild to is this year? Who knows but I don't know and I hope so I do too but I'm also like I can wait ever since pixel for that out in the world. I'm just like, ah, it's probably gonna happen now, I don't want it to because cyberpunks coming out in September. So if they both come out at the same time, I'll literally die. Yeah. It's getting crazy people need to slow down with Fitz play games. There's like 10 psi. AAA games coming out in 2020 and PS 5 and the new Xbox and maybe maybe we finally get a switch Pro who knows? It's insane though. I think it's gonna be easy to spend like two grand on this year, you know, not even thinking about it. Yeah, it's just going to happen. And then later on you're going to be like my regret none of it. And that's why they were on vacation this year. I guess. Yeah, we need. It's that besides, you know, like the only place to go. This upcoming year is Japan for Nintendo World, right? And it's gonna be really packed anyway, so you might as well just play games and wait, I'm just gonna take oh a week off during like right after Animal Crossing comes out and be like, I'm going to a tropical island. Everyone knows there's no reception there. Don't talk to me. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know Sergio serious about that. He's already got his two-week vacation with upper and wow. We yep. Wow. Yeah, you know and it's funny because I forget I'm like, oh man my vacations coming up. Oh, no, but I never Crossing to why this is why you guys are the number one Animal Crossing podcast. That is dedication. Yeah, that's true. You gotta just stream it for like 12 hours a day for two weeks. Yeah. I'll be there Sergio watch them all very cool. So let's go ahead and move on to answer. During these 100 day countdown questions so back, I guess how many days ago was it now? We started counting down when we were a hundred days away from this game. And so every day we've had a new question and Sergio and I answer them here on the show. But today we're joined by P. Of course, so we'll go ahead and go through them together day 65 was create a new area to which you can travel and some of these are more geared toward drawing, but we have not drawn. He's in a while. I drew the first one for the first one of these questions but not since then but Pete what were you thinking for a new area to go to an animal crossing? I would love for them to bring back the like kind of Downtown City area that they had of city Folk but to put it in a good game. That would be my yeah, that's a good spot. I mean a lot of people really liked that City aspect and We're overall kind of underwhelmed by city Folk with it being like not too much of a game that pushes animal crossing any direction, you know, like it was very old. You're so annoying. Yeah. The point in Click is not for everybody to not good. Yeah, Martin was tired after playing for 20 minutes. Like I can't do this. You got to work out to play video games. What is this ring fit Adventure? Oh, yeah, I guess for me. I just came up with like a raw materials Island for New Horizons where you just go and pick up raw materials and make maybe make it a Dungeon Crawler to like make it a procedurally generated Island that changes. That's awesome. You know it. Yeah. My answer is actually one of your previous ideas to choose all credit to you on this one, but I like your idea for today as well, but I would want like a water park area that it's basically a water park in the summer. But in the winter, it becomes like a mountain resort with snow Sports and everything. Yeah. Yeah like that. That's a good one. Yeah, I like that. So date 64 the question was your favorite Rover transportation. And oh man, I just read everybody's answers but we're all the same here. We all put train because it's the only answer. Yeah train. Nobody wants to ride the bus. Yeah, have you ridden buses lately? I haven't rings are romantic. They sound cool buses there. Usually smelly and cramped. Yeah. Yeah and taxis. They're expensive. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Chloe's Rideshare. It's 20 20 people. That's right day. 63 the question was what is your favorite museum exhibit Pete at you followed my lead in I just ranked them. Yeah II was I saw you a done that so I was like, okay. I'm good. I'll rank them. So I would say number one is fossils to is bug 3 is fish for his art. I always liked the fossils a lot just because I've I think dinosaurs are cool. And again, I started playing this when I was 10, so, you know dinosaur fossils were a very very cool thing at the time and then you know the bugs I think that's always like the coolest live room. I think after that because I'm like, All the noise and some of them flying around and everything like it has a real it feels like very alive art is really the only one that it's just like this is this isn't worth having. Yeah, I guess for my order. I went bugs followed by fossils followed by fish followed by Art. And I mean, I like them all I think just like overall. I like the variety you get with the bug displays, you know, and then the All's I like it mostly because like it's the first thing you fill up so you get to see it kind of really cool right away. And then I put the art last just because like it's so hard to fill in the art and then it just looks empty most of the time, you know, yeah. Yeah, that's what about you Sergio. So for me, I went with a buck 60 of it first and the majority of that is because so personally I'm pretty creeped out by bugs but in In Animal Crossing, you know, it's a nice controlled area. There's a risk there. You know, the box is stay where they belong basically they don't bother you and you can observe them in their habitat, which is pretty cool. So box first then art the in fish and then fossils I do like your the art because like I said to is a challenging, I guess that's why because you know, it's very rewarding when you get an actual legit piece that you can add to the exhibit. Yeah, that's true. It takes a lot of work to get anything. Yeah. So day 62, the question was your favorite version of Nooks crannies. So Pete. What are you thinking on this one? I put the original. I love how like ramshackle it is, you know, like it's just this like very low fi Shack made of like sheet metal and he's in there with his tiny apron and it's like dirt floors and that's just how I always think of Tom Nook, you know is the The OG Lo-Fi version. Yeah, it's a good pick. I went with Nick way because it's just like so kind of convenient story Easter store sterile kind of look to it. Oh, yeah. I just like the kind of theme that goes with it just feels like you're shopping in a convenience store. Nice. That's what about you Sergio for me. I also picked the original. I guess you could think of it as like the very first version in whatever game it is. But yeah, even the the most original like the very first one from population growing I completely agree with you Pete. That's Tom Nook that's his environment right there with the apron and just that's that's the first Nooks crannies you get that's that's easy one. Yeah, absolutely. So day 61 the question was are you planning on having? More than one playable character in your town / Island at the I guess. What do you think? I'm Pete probably not. I don't ever have more than one character for myself and unless Sarah decides to you know, use my town like there wouldn't really be any reason for me to have to yeah, I get that. I put yes, ma'am mostly yes, but it just because like, I don't know if there's going to be if there's a limited edition. Fission switch that's Animal Crossing themed probably going to get it and if that's the case like Jackie my wife. She's probably I'm gonna been no. I know I'm torn about whether we're going to be living on the same island are doing our own thing. So yeah, maybe yes, I don't know nice. Yeah, what about you Sergio? You know, most likely I won't because I kind of bothers me to have like a house that is just there mostly empty. Really need the storage space if they do a lot of cool things with the floor patterns and they also kind of limit you to how many you can have per character. I may think about it, but I'm hoping there's enough flow patterns that you can do with a single character. So I don't have to have an extra character that I wouldn't really use for anything else. Yeah. That's true. A lot of people kind of make second character just for storage reasons Mmm Yeah, but hopefully, you know, I I want storage to really be worked out in this game because I feel like you're supposed to collect everything and have everything. So just give us the room to store it all so day 60. The question was design your dream hairstyle and you know, the I put the note here usually ask to be drawn. But what about what are you thinking for your dream hairstyle here Pete. So I just want to be able to do my own hair, which is I have an undercut and it's usually dyed blue or purple. You have the ability to do that in. Oh my God, I'm blanking on the name of it the mobile version. Um, yeah pocket Camp pocket. Yeah, you had the ability to do that and pocket Camp. So as long as I can like look like I did there I should be good to go. Yeah. Yeah for me. I just said please don't make me look like Guy Fieri when I take the personality quiz because apparently that's my personality and I don't want it to be can take it down to flavor town. And yeah, that's all that's you gonna name your Island flavor Town. Yeah, that's what I got to do. What about you Sergio? You know, I would want the like at that Dragon Ball is spiky hair like the anime character and one perfect. Yeah. I will if they add that I would probably go with that for a little while. Yeah, that's pretty good. They gotta go Super Saiyan 3 though where it's like the thongs making that goes all the way down to your but that's the way That's the one yeah. Alright and then the last question for day 59 look Saint or sinner. What are you thinking Pete sing? And honestly, I am tired of this narrative that people try to put out there on the internet that he's some kind of like a slumlord or like a CD landlord. All right. This guy is an absolute Saint he gives you a total stranger a place to live no money down. He's like a man spit back when you can it's cool and then as soon as He pay it off. He's like hey, like you want an extension like he is the chillest landlord ever. It's true. It's true. A lot of people just like I don't know. I feel like they just have something against him and I don't know why. But yeah, I said saying as well and it's because he's all about the money but he's about using it for the people. You know, I feel like he just invests it back into your place whenever you pay him off, you know. Yeah, dude. He's just he's helping out the community. Yeah. And what about you Sergio? Yeah, I agree. Both of you said it. Absolutely perfect. I actually I think st. Nick is actually the ride from Saint Nick. So there you go. You're totally right cool. So usually we close out the show with Hagen's Islander corner. For those of you who don't know. We asked our patrons on patreon a question every single week and then read some of their answers here. This week's question was are you planning on having more than one playable character on your Island? And Sergio will just go back and forth reading them pretty quickly. Do you want to start? Sure the first answer is by layout electron and he says no, Oh, it's just gonna be me and my town visitors are okay, but it's going to be my treasured Haven and I feel like a part of that is because you know, it gives you more room to put Public Works, I guess in your life, but now it's just going to be whatever you want to decorate Outdoors. Yeah, it's pretty cool. And then very DB said I want at least two other characters definitely having a which character somewhere on my Island. I can't wait to get creative and possibly have a narrative for my Island. And yeah, it's pretty fun when people build like a story around there. Characters that they make that's cute. I like that idea. Yeah, that's very very nice. So there were Alfred says I will eventually have multiple playable characters. I always I always use them for additional storage. Yeah. There we go. We don't know if that's going to be an issue. But I mean, even if they add storage just to one player you can always add more characters in more storage, you know, we still need it. Yeah, and then limbs Les said my husband offered to help me gather materials, so he will have a characteristic. ER on my Island, I'm really excited to play couch co-op with him. And yeah, I guess something we didn't mention was just like this is the first game where you can play at the same time as somebody so it's probably worth at least like trying it out, you know. Right. Yeah, please if I get ropes are into just Gathering materials for me, I would do that in a heartbeat. Nice. So Noah junk says I bought my wife a switch so she would have her own town, but we will both have characters in each other's towns. My friend would also join my wives because he doesn't have a switch that way he can join my streams when he comes over. Nice that that's cool. You know. Yeah, you can have like multiple players in multiple towns. That's pretty cool. Yeah, and then quantrell's have all said yes, my wife will share the island with me and I plan to have non-playable characters based on our four dogs. They'll all live in tents in one of the upper corners of the beach. Hopefully there will be a dog they there will be dog costume to dress them up in similar to animal costumes seen in New Leaf and pocket cam all nice. Yeah, that's pretty fun. I visited quantrell's New Leaf town and he really goes all out with like putting different buildings and Facilities around and making it feel like a full town for sure. That's cool. Nice. Yeah. So yeah, I guess before we close out with our announcements Pete. We're can everybody find you. Well, first of all, thank you guys for having me on it was a great time and I'm always happy to be able to talk Animal Crossing if you guys want to out there when I come talk Animal Crossing with me, you can follow at loud underscore Pete on Twitter Instagram. You can go find me on my podcast the pots cast over on Lou pots.com. Anywhere that you get your podcasts for the most part and if we're not somewhere where you would like us to be let us know and we'll get there and we do all kinds of other Nintendo content around Lou pots.com. So go file at lupaza you want to keep up with the news and you know reviews and all that kind of stuff and you can also go check out my comic book podcast the comics Pals anywhere podcasts are available were there and it's a great time. So I hope you'll come check out some of my stuff. Awesome. That sounds great. And yeah, thanks for joining us on the show. It's fun to have you. Yeah, definitely. Thank you. Yeah, anytime guys if you ever need another third chair I let me know. Yeah, awesome and thank you all so much for tuning in to this episode of hakken and Animal Crossing podcast don't want the episode to end. Well, you can keep the conversation going by Nintendo switching over to our Discord just follow the link in the description and you can talk with other people who love Animal Crossing as much as you do including Sergio and me want to support the show in a bigger way and get your voice heard during the show visit patreon.com. Chewie plays Nintendo you can support our show with just one dollar have an episode dedicated to you get special access to a secret room on Discord join in on the hickey and Islander corner and even read a monthly newsletter covering all things taken and chewy plays. We really appreciate the support and put your money toward great things on the show tuned in on YouTube. The comments are a great place to let us know your answers to the hake and Islander Corner. Are you planning on having more than one playable character on your Island? If you dig what you hear, please take a They slide over to that review section on your platform of choice. Let people know what they're missing out on taken is a wild production brought to you by chewy Sergio and all of our patrons. We thank you for listening and we hope you have a great week. Goodbye, Everybody Take It Easy.
Today, Sergio and I are joined by Pete Imbesi from LootPots! He currently works as the Multimedia Editor at LootPots. He hosts their podcast The PotsCast and also cofounder of The Comics Pals. We speak with him about his history with the Animal Crossing series and his thoughts on Animal Crossing New Horizons. Find Pete Imbesi: https://www.peteimbesi.com/  Time Stamps: 0:05 - Introduction and Pete's Background 7:45 - Pete's History with Animal Crossing 22:21 - Pete's Thoughts on New Horizons 53:38 - 100 Day Countdown Questions 1:03:57 - Haken's Islander Corner 1:07:42 - Outro Announcements  Support my channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/chuyplaysnintendo  Join the Haken Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/wJTCMRK  Find Haken: An Animal Crossing Podcast on Podcast Platforms here: https://anchor.fm/haken-an-animal-crossing-podcast  Get More Nintendo and Video Game Content Here: http://chuyplays.com/  Follow me on... Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChuyPlaysNTDO Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChuyPlaysNintendo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuyplaysnintendo Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/chuyplaysnintendo Tumblr: http://chuyplaysnintendo.tumblr.com/  ---   Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/haken-an-animal-crossing-podcast/support 