Animal Crossing: New Horizons Usage Guidelines For Businesses And Organisations Detailed

Clearly, they didn't pay off their loan. Now businesses have to face Tom Nook's wrath. Sucks for them!

Did anyone ever visit Joe Biden's island while it lasted? Anything interesting there past the AC versions of his political posters?

That does seem all fair enough. The whole politics point is a grey area though, at this point almost everything in the world is politicised so I assume these are more loose guidelines rather than anything enforceable. To stop people just posting QR Codes to their Onlyfans through Animal Crossing designs and such.

That is disturbing if they are using such an innocent game to post QR codes that take you to a site such as Onlyfans.com. Sometimes there needs to be some 'class'....even to that business.

These seem like fair guidelines all around. It seems like the KFC island is still in the clear!

Is it just me, or does this sound like Nintendo planning to roll out Animal Crossing in China soon?

@nessisonett I don't think it's a gray area at all. This is for official political organizations to follow. This would mean political campaigns couldn't create an island and designs and use it to promote the campaign and organizations like The Lincoln Project, Black Lives Matter (the official organization is a political one as it's goal is to enact policies in government) and other organizations like them can't use the game to promote their agendas. Individuals can still make political designs all they want there just can't be an official hub or provider for these types of designs or islands.

Personally, I think everyone, including organizations, companies, foundations etc. should be able to express themselves anyway they want anywhere they want so long as it isn't a call for violent actions.

No politics please. Keep the real world where it belongs. Video games are an important escape and relaxation tool for many people across all groups.

@Heavyarms55 I’m sure the worlds of literature, cinema, TV and art would disagree. Some of the very best of each different type of media are deeply connected to a certain political idea or message. There would be no ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, no Picasso’s ‘Guernica’, no ‘Battleship Potemkin’ or ‘Citizen Kane’. I mean, ‘The Great Dictator’ is one of the greats of satire because it was such an outspoken and brave movie to put out at that time, given the political turmoil in 1940. Separating all forms of art from their context, be that video games or paintings, is doing them a massive disservice. Even Animal Crossing can be analysed from a political point of view, despite not being inherently outspoken in the way it presents itself.

man, AC has become a business itself with other businesses. it cant be overstated how big this game has really become

@Juga Uh, wrong thread..?

@nessisonett I see your point, but when I read Catcher in the Rye, I didn't get a very political vibe from it. I just found it to be an enjoyable story.

Sometimes, people insert politics where it doesn't belong. Other times, it's engrained, so I get what you are saying.

For Nintendo... This is surprising tame. I was expecting an outright no to everything. Glad to see that most islands are still in the clear.

@TG16_IS_BAE The whole book deals with loss of innocence as its main theme. When you look at the fact it’s published a few years after WW2, when Hiroshima was increasingly seen as a curse rather than a blessing, Holden Caulfield viewing the rest of society as ‘phonies’ living in excess and and adhering to societal norms and pressures becomes a lot clearer. Radical dissidence was also being treated with disdain and fear from the general public due to the rising threat of Stalin, which was partly why the book was banned in the first place. I think the fact the book is the most banned in the US probably adds to its cult status and why so many people have delved into the meaning behind the novel but it’s definitely a fascinating one to study.

@nessisonett There's a difference between having themes and having political advertisements. And frankly I don't care who disagrees. We have it shoved down our throats constantly literally everywhere else constantly.

@TG16_IS_BAE : Wrong site!

@Heavyarms55 Then prepare to live without 99.99999999% of media. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

@nessisonett Interesting, I read it in school as part of the curriculum in America 20 years ago...when was it banned?

@Silly_G Heh : )

It did annoy me how ordinary people were having their dream addresses deleted for advertising or promoting their websites on them yet Joe Biden and corporations didn't have this problem. One rule for the elite and the powerful and another for the rest of us.

@TG16_IS_BAE According to the Wikipedia page, between 1961 and 1982 it was the most censored book in schools and libraries. Apparently a high school in Washington banned the book for being part of a ‘Communist plot’ but it was later unbanned! Of course, the guy who shot John Lennon was obsessed with the book as well, which didn’t help its case. I think a lot of the book’s values seem normal these days but in its original historical context, there was uproar over, and I quote, “undermining family values and moral codes”.

Discussions about these sorts of themes and outright messages only furthers our own understanding so I just don’t understand why anyone would want to separate any form of media from its entire context or water everything down to be bland and inoffensive. Being challenged is a fundamental part of finding our own voice. Like, I’ve read Lolita and kinda felt a bit ill but I appreciate the story Nabokov was trying to tell as it’s provocative and most crucially, he understood that protagonists don’t have to be ‘good’. I think video games in general suffer from a lack of nuanced or adult narratives and part of the problem is that they’re still stuck in the phase of trying to please everyone. I’d love to see the video game industry have a ‘New Hollywood’ equivalent where ground-breaking new stories are being told about a far wider group of people and tackle themes never seen before in the industry. I recently finished Metro Exodus and it’s the closest I’ve seen in a long time to actually capturing an adult story with realistic characters, motivations and absolutely zero ludonarrative dissonance. Hell, plenty of people who say to keep politics out of video games adore the Witcher 3, that game where you play as a social outcast who often saves persecuted races such as elves from the clutches of leering white farmers with West Country accents. I give up 😂😂

@NatiaAdamo it's just you. Communism is a political stance and the Chinese government loves to refer to the 'Party'. Keeping politicians from abusing intellectual property for political gain makes it a more welcoming experience.

All American politicians hold extremist views compared to the global norm.

So happy they want to keep politics out of the game. Was unnerved by how the game was hijacked by certain politicians with extremist views.

@nessisonett your argument falls flat when it comes to how a tool developed by someone else is used. Unlike social media, AC is designed as a life sim and not a communication platform. AC shouldn't be a place for extremists to rally support. Your Witcher example falls flat to me, because I see banning political perversions of AC as a way to rally people into that mob like mentality, not as transformative work that will effect discourse.

This must also be related to random dream visits coming to the game today.

I don’t see why this didn’t happen sooner. A bunch of businesses were using Animal crossing to market their products and I was also curious about how Biden and co. using the game to promote their campaigns was allowed.

@nessisonett Nah bro, All art has political influence, but that doesn't make all art political. If you're "analyzing" a game like Animal Crossing for political merit, you're reading too much into it.

Also, I would like to point out the difference between how politics can be used in a game. A game like Bioshock is undeniably political, but it's a cool setting that can be appreciated outside of it's political merit. It's not a game that says "Hey! Agree with this or else your a bad person".

Not all games are political, not all art is political, thinking so is frankly naïve.

There's a huge difference between politics in art, and intrusive politics in art.

I just find it funny how they call it "the Game" like some sacred thing or whatever.

Pokemon Go is just a game but AC is the Game.

If you paid for a product and therefore own it, shouldn't you be allowed to do whatever you want with it? I know nothing about the legal side of things, so some enlightenment would be greatly appreciated.

@TheBigK One of the things that often fly over players’ heads is that when you buy a video game, physical or digital, you’re only buying a LICENSE to play the game that could theoretically be revoked at any time rather than buying (and thus owning) the game itself. Heck, it’s why you see the usual ownership rights bit at the end of the game’s credits.

That said, there ARE some things like rentals, buying and selling used games, and the like that muddle the waters a little so the confusion is justified to a certain degree.

@nessisonett Essentially, I agree with you, especially about being challenged. Lots and lots of thought goes unquestioned, especially in political matters. What’s worse, questioning certain topics that are considered part of the norm makes you look like an upstart, a similar quality that cults also bear. An example of this would be when people give you the eye roll when you talk about racism against whites, or sexual assault against men, as if those two demographics are impervious to harm. Or if you point out to people that during certain times in history, Africans were enslaving other Africans that were from tribes other than their own, people claim you are racist or not sensitive.

I think difficult conversations can be the most rewarding, but the pull towards the status quo is powerful, and keeps many people from fully realizing themselves. Most people are content with less, and the idea of challenging themselves, even with a difficult conversation, is too much for them.

A friend of mine voted for Trump. She’s 57. When she told her parents, they disowned her, and do not speak to her to this day. That sort of behavior is silly, but it stands as an example of what I mean about how powerful the status quo is!

Thanks for the morning deep thoughts!

@Toy_Link Yeah- I went there- it was cool decorated, they had a "Campaign Office" house, but imao the main event was the posters/hats/shirts

This is both sad that it's even necessary for these rules to be stated, but also seems kind of Orwellian at the same time. Yes, it was gross that companies were using it as a marketing tool, etc. etc.

On the other hand the use restrictions are acting as though the game is a live service, when it's a local game. You can't build a "build it yourself" game and then tell people how they may or may not build in it....We want you to use the game in this specific way, and only reference it in certain types of places ,etc ,etc. That's weird. And doubtfully legally enforceable.

But the marketing aspects, etc. I'm sure this includes the KFC island, and several other large corproations that actually ran marketing campaigns through the game to drive sales and social engagement....in that regard, the world is in sad shape if we need to have "rules" for legitimate companies to not abuse such things "because they can"

@NEStalgia at least there were some really great branded islands like the Cracker Barrel island.

I suppose it's no different than Fortnite promoting games, movies, and TV shows.

@Heavyarms55 Totally agree with that. Animal Crossing was not concieved by its creator as a form of political expression. It´s just scapism. Many people these days wants to put politics into everything, and label everyone who doesn´t do that with stupid names. It´s so annoying. Let games be what they are meant to be: entertainment

@TioRogerio I don't mind themes in stories. Some of my favorite works of fiction are very political. But the political ideas are worked in as themes, part of the story. They don't ever use real names or direct real world issues. I really don't like seeing ads for real world political figures or groups in games that are supposed to be fictional.

Yeah, this is not just a game, this is The Game!