An Acquired Taste

Taste. It’s what makes the world go round. We all have our own favorite flavors. Some people enjoy blue while others may prefer orange (me). An interesting quote from the Cranky Gamers made me think that Animal Crossing may perhaps share some negative aspects of gameplay that one might find in your average MMOG.

“Animal Crossing is a philosophy. It’s preaching that life is nothing but a bunch of work for pointless trinkets, just so you can survive and interact with other people, all of whom are frauds anyway who don’t give a damn about what you say. And it doesn’t end until you decide to stop playing.”

However, I’d prefer the quote read like this…

“World of Warcraft is a philosophy. It’s preaching that life is nothing but a bunch of work for pointless trinkets, just so you can survive and interact with other people, all of whom are frauds anyway who don’t give a damn about what you say. And it doesn’t end until you decide to stop playing.”

The difference here is that Animal Crossing is self contained, can easily be played in short 15 minute bursts and does not require you to talk to anyone, NPC or otherwise. You’re also not required to collect, fish, dig, plant, shake, write, walk, donate, net, design, payoff, or play in Animal Crossing.

You can read the rest of this guys rant over at Hardcore Gaming 101… I honestly think he misses the point of the Animal Crossing “philosophy” but again, it’s an acquired taste.

Speaking of which; I have PSP Me & My Katamari and PSP Densha De Go! Pocket on the way from Japan. Perhaps he finds those games pointless too?

5 comments January 4th, 2006