GAME SHOW HOST: Last week we
talked about whether or not
Animal Crossing is evil.
I tended to think it was so.
Some of you disagreed.
You know, that's
how these things go.
But you should absolutely
check out the episode
if you haven't watched
it first, but let's see
what you all had to say.
Lena Lerrey brings up a
really interesting point
about Animal Crossing,
arguing that it
was designed with Japanese
family lifestyles in mind.
And by that she means
that parents in Japan,
they work ridiculously
long hours.
Actually, here in the States
people work really, really long
hours themselves.
So Animal Crossing is a game
that families can play together
but asynchronously, which means
that they don't have to be
playing at the exact same time.
So it's a way that they can
spend quality time together
in a virtual world but
without the requirements
of having to be in the same
space at the same time.
And yeah, I think that
that's a really great reason.
It brings us back
to the final point
that I brought up in the
episode is that Animal Crossing
isn't the kind of
like, villainous evil
that we might be thinking
about with something like a,
I don't know, a Candy Crush
Saga or something like that.
It's more of a like, familial
evil that isn't really quite so
evil but maybe just annoying
and a bit too loving
and sort of encouraging
you to settle down and have
some kids already.
Am I right?
Anyway.
It's important also
to remember that when
you play Animal Crossing
on a 3DS, for example,
you don't have that kind of
potential for asynchronous play
with multiple people
since the 3DS actually
is more of a solitary
device compared to counsel.
So anyway, it's a great point
and thanks for chiming in.
Darkcarnage, you may or may
not have joined the dark side.
I don't know.
I guess we'll have to see.
Anyway, this person
perhaps unsurprisingly,
is defending Tom Nook.
Darkcarnage wasn't the only one.
But the argument goes
that Tom Nook is actually
a pretty good guy when you think
about it, because he gives you
a house when your
broke, which is true.
But at the same time,
that's the logic
that fueled the housing
crash in the 2008 recession.
People were being offered
these amazing loans
and figured, hey, well, banks
want me to pay them back.
And they know how to make a
good investment or else they
wouldn't be there
in the first place.
And they have my best
interest at heart,
so I guess I can buy a house
I can't really afford at all.
Obviously, I'm being
reductive there.
But it's the same concept for
credit card companies too.
They basically give
you money, right?
So they give you a low
introductory APR or whatever
or you don't have to pay
them back for six months
so they can eventually
bury you in debt.
Look, I don't mean that Tom Nook
is JP Morgan or a loan shark
or anything, but
in the real world,
if someone just shows
up and gives you a house
and says, like, just pay
me back on your own terms,
those usually aren't people
that you want to associate
with in the real world.
There's a great quote from
the philosopher, Slavoj Zizek.
He says that debt
is an instrument
to control and
regulate the debtor
and as such, strives for its
own expanded reproduction, which
is a complicated
way of saying, I
wouldn't trust that
Tom Nook fella.
Nathanial can't imagine
chores ever being fun,
and I totally hear you, bud.
Having to clean your
room in real life
and in Animal Crossing
doesn't actually
sound like a grand
old time if you
had to explain it to somebody.
But I direct you to an old
Naomi Clark and Eric Zimmerman,
GDC Talk, about what
they call, quote,
the fantasy of labor and games.
I'll link to it in
the description.
But basically, TLGR
version is that there
are neurological and
psychological reasons
for why we enjoy, what
they call, labor mechanics.
So that means doing
really simple stuff
that you do with
Animal Crossing that
comprises the vast majority of
the game, cleaning your house,
going fishing, rooting
around in your garden,
and stuff like that.
The reason that they did
was that a lot of cultures
idealize the concept
of work, which
is why you see kids playing
things like secretary
or janitor or hotelier or, I
guess, a bell hop or whatever.
You know, stuff like.
Our brains love
the idea of work,
but in practice jobs
are a lot less enjoyable
than the fantasy-- than the
fantasy makes it out to be.
And if you play Animal Crossing
for long periods of time,
it does eventually
just feels like work.
Anyway, you should
check out Mike's episode
over at Idea Channel about
when play becomes work,
because he deals with a lot
of these same exact issues.
With regard to the question
about whether Animal Crossing
is evil, SuperFreeEducation
went straight for the head shot.
Arguing that Animal Crossing
can't be evil because evil
doesn't even exist.
To you I say, well
played my friend.
Well played.
But you know, it's interesting.
It seems like the
same sort of thing
if you got convicted
of something.
You'd say, your
honor, your honor,
I'm not guilty because
guilt, it just doesn't exist.
It doesn't hold up
in court, and I guess
it doesn't hold up here either.
But I appreciate the effort.
