Epic Universe Expansion Speculation

[jarmor]

Am I the only one who has no idea what Animal Crossing is? But I do know is I am over rides that require me to "work" or do anything other than sit there and enjoy it. . .

 

[Mad Dog]

Never heard of it either....except for people on IU begging for it fairly often.

 

[queenmetroid]

Never heard of it either....except for people on IU begging for it fairly often.

It's one of the yawn-inducing cozy simulation franchises for filthy casuals that Nintendo keeps making instead of actual good games.

The basic plot is you live in a town of cute animals and you start deep in debt to a raccoon named Tom Nook and you work your way out of debt by performing various mundane tasks and eventually spending to indulge in unbridled materialism and consumerism as you chase pointless digital collectibles to enhance your town. You cannot reset the game to undo mistakes, because if you do, a mole verbally abuses you for several minutes each time. So it's basically a giant capitalism glorification simulator. And it's also been watered down from its original roots where the animals used to be outright mean to you by insulting your weight and appearance. If this explanation makes no sense, that is somewhat by design for comedic exaggeration purposes. But just barely.

I won't deny that it would make an absolutely awesome theme park land but I wouldn't be happy to see it as the franchise does nothing for me anymore. It's too close to real life as I've aged.

 

[jarmor]

So. . . it's like one of those Kids museums in Asia where the kids take on various jobs and roles in society to earn and spend??? Nintendo's version of the Sims huh. Nah, if I wanna play adult i can do that in real life. . .

Now im scared as to why so many are clamoring for it here lol.

 

[Legacy]

So. . . it's like one of those Kids museums in Asia where the kids take on various jobs and roles in society to earn and spend??? Nintendo's version of the Sims huh. Nah, if I wanna play adult i can do that in real life. . .

Now im scared as to why so many are clamoring for it here lol.

Because the game reached peak popularity and became fairly mainstream when its most recent game came out right at the start of COVID, so it’s got a lot of recency bias associated with it. But that’s due to a confluence of events.

Prior to then, it was a very niche game.

 

[mccgavin]

Prior to then, it was a very niche game.

While it certainly wasn't as well known to the non-gaming general public prior to the pandemic, I wouldn't go as far to say it was ever it was ever very niche. Animal Crossing had naturally been growing a rather large fanbase, and the the prior entry that had released in 2012 was among the best selling games in that console generation, surpassing many Mario games and every Zelda game on the 3DS. While COVID definitely caused a surge in popularity, the series still would've maintained a strong positive trajectory even without it, just to a lesser extent.

 

[Alicia]

Timely tweet

 

[Mad Dog]

Timely tweet

Don't know him either.

 

[Magic-Man]

Because the game reached peak popularity and became fairly mainstream when its most recent game came out right at the start of COVID, so it’s got a lot of recency bias associated with it. But that’s due to a confluence of events.

Prior to then, it was a very niche game.

Nah, New Leaf and Wild World were very popular on their respective systems. We can't say Animal Crossing is niche and Zelda isn't when it sold more than Zelda did across several systems.

 

[Gartooth]

Animal Crossing is the Switch's 2nd best selling game at over 45 million copies. (Mario Kart is the top seller) I think its a hard creative choice to make interesting but there's no doubting it's popularity to the general audience.

It's just, how do you translate a game experience where it's all about your character moving to a small country town, fostering a community with other animals, and doing daily tasks and chores to decorate your home, garden, going fishing, making museum donations, and so on into an experience that's interesting outside of the game?

With a series like Mario or Zelda it's all about doing fantastical things that provide escapism that you can't do in everyday life. With Animal Crossing the concept of the game is turning "everyday life" into a fun and socially engaging gaming experience you can share with friends. So if you take the game and just reverse it back into "Animal Crossing but real life" for a park, isn't it just back to everyday tasks again? To me that's kind of where the IP is a hard nut to crack, even as a big fan of the games since the first entry on Gamecube.

 

[SkiBum]

Don't know him either.

He is an actor who has done some serious jail time. First movie I saw him in was Con Air. He is a bad, bad man. Like you, I don't know anything about Animal Crossing. Of course, everyone was talking about Zelda and all I could think of was the old Legend of Zelda game from the 80's.

I would still think that Dark Universe could get the first expansion as that land will be wildly popular. Plus, SNW will have three rides where Dark Universe will only have two. Not that this actually matters.

 

[Legacy]

Here’s the thing with Animal Crossing. As of June 2024, it’s the 6th best selling Nintendo franchise, selling a total of 70 million units across all entries. But, if you take out New Horizons, that number cuts in half and the franchise drops out of the top 15 (behind Luigi’s Mansion and Wario).

 

[Jake S]

Here’s the thing with Animal Crossing. As of June 2024, it’s the 6th best selling Nintendo franchise, selling a total of 70 million units across all entries. But, if you take out New Horizons, that number cuts in half and the franchise drops out of the top 15 (behind Luigi’s Mansion and Wario).

Yeah, I really have no reason to believe a subsequent Animal Crossing game will sell anything like New Horizons did. The thing that’s tough to measure, and isn’t reflected in game sales, is how much cultural consciousness a franchise has. Animal Crossing has outsold many different Pokemon games, but far more non gamers know who Pikachu is than Tom Nook.

 

[mccgavin]

Here’s the thing with Animal Crossing. As of June 2024, it’s the 6th best selling Nintendo franchise, selling a total of 70 million units across all entries. But, if you take out New Horizons, that number cuts in half and the franchise drops out of the top 15 (behind Luigi’s Mansion and Wario).

That's still an impressive number considering Animal Crossing has had a lot less releases compared to other major Nintendo franchises (5 mainline entries, 2 spin-offs, and a mobile game).

Animal Crossing has outsold many different Pokemon games, but far more non gamers know who Pikachu is than Tom Nook.

I'm not sure if that's an apt comparison considering Pokémon is the largest multi-media franchise in the world.

 

[IzzyB]

I feel like if they were to tackle Animal Crossing it would make for a great interactive play area. Add new Power Up Bands themed to the AC characters, and you can run around collecting bugs, fish, fossils, and fruit to display your collections in the app.

I agree, I see this as a play land with interactivity within the land. You could even do physical stuff like digging up fossils or running a cart, etc. Kids love that type of stuff at science centers. But I think ride isn't the way to go and this being something within a mix Nintendo land would be best.

 

[Jake S]

I'm not sure if that's an apt comparison considering Pokémon is the largest multi-media franchise in the world.

My point is more that video game sales don’t have a direct causal relationship with public awareness, not that Animal Crossing needs to be Pokémon to be considered for a theme park presence (because agreed, that would be absurd)

 

[mccgavin]

My point is more that video game sales don’t have a direct causal relationship with public awareness, not that Animal Crossing needs to be Pokémon to be considered for a theme park presence (because agreed, that would be absurd)

That's fair. This may be anecdotal, but I've seen a significant number people with Animal Crossing appeal and merchandise in the years since New Horizon's release who aren't necessarily a part of the core gaming community. I get the impression that it's been successful as a lifestyle brand in the same style as Hello Kitty/Sanrio (but obviously not on that level).

Some franchises such as Zelda are bigger among the gaming industry, but I feel that in general, Animal Crossing is more well known by families and the general public, which is the core audience major theme parks are marketed towards. While the pandemic certainly caused the game to skyrocket in popularity, I feel like the game's appeal on its own merits is often understated.

 

[Gartooth]

Animal Crossing had good sales by Nintendo standards even before New Horizons. Two of the prior entries (Wild World and New Leaf) each sold over 10 million copies. Not a cultural phenomenon like the latest one was, but they were still popular.

I'm trying to think of the closest comparison to a property in the parks and the one I think of funny enough is probably the Simpsons? I wasn't ever an avid watcher of the show besides the odd episode here or there so maybe I don't have a good read on this, but Simpsons is an animated sitcom about American suburban life. There's not really a fantastical angle to it they could leverage for a ride, so that part comes off as pretty pedestrian at the parks. But the appeal is the characters and world, and in that way I feel like Springfield is the more interesting addition than the Simpsons ride was.

Of course I don't think Animal Crossing is anywhere near the cultural recognition of the Simpsons. I just mean that it kinda fits the same "everyday life" kinda franchise I can think of where it makes sense for a land but less so for a ride.

 

[Thorin Groth]

He is an actor who has done some serious jail time. First movie I saw him in was Con Air. He is a bad, bad man. Like you, I don't know anything about Animal Crossing. Of course, everyone was talking about Zelda and all I could think of was the old Legend of Zelda game from the 80's.

I would still think that Dark Universe could get the first expansion as that land will be wildly popular. Plus, SNW will have three rides where Dark Universe will only have two. Not that this actually matters.

I just need more ride offerings from the park. 11 is great for opening since they're all going to be brand-new (minus the imports from SNW) but my friends always point out how it's low, especially when Studios has 13 and Islands has 17 (if my count isn't mistaken.) I would prefer the rumored Creature boat ride to a Luigi shooter since we only have one water offering now.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I just need more ride offerings from the park. 11 is great for opening since they're all going to be brand-new (minus the imports from SNW) but my friends always point out how it's low, especially when Studios has 13 and Islands has 17 (if my count isn't mistaken.) I would prefer the rumored Creature boat ride to a Luigi shooter since we only have one water offering now.

I'd be fine with the ride count if it weren't for the low capacity offerings of Donkey Kong & Dragon's Racer Rally.

Excluding the HTTYD Play Area from Epic and Launch Bay/Vacation Fun from DHS, both are comparable in attraction count (Epic 11, DHS 12).