Would Animal Crossing be a good game for arcades?

[nintendofan85]

What do you think it would be like if Animal Crossing appeared in arcades? I began wondering this all the way back in 2009 and I only now had it come to me again to post here LOL (Although this is a general AC discussion board, so...).

 

[mooseco]

It's a really interesting idea when you start thinking about it.
If your town and villager are integral to the game then how would this incorporate those? Would each arcade be treated as a town? Would you carry your town around with you and plug it into the game?

Now that Im thinking about it imagine an apartment Animal Crossing, each arcade cabinet being an apartment building. You would bring your villager to different arcades, whether physically or digitally, and customize their room and appearance at the cabinet. Wherever you play more you move to higher floors of the apartment building- and when you go somewhere new your villager stays there forever- though on a lower floor than the frequent players.

Trading would be the central gameplay mechanic, with different players having different seeds (similar to Nook's Cranny store seeds) requiring trading to get all items. Animal villagers would be on each machine, and would move when a character moved from one cabinet to another (similar to gamecube memory cards). They would have a small pool of items that they could trade with player villagers, but wouldn't detract from the main gameplay of trading with other players.

*edit: This was a fun thought experiment.

 

[CasualWheezer]

In my opinion, a complete Animal Crossing experience wouldn't really work in arcades. It's kind of one of those games that you have to play every day and also requires patience as the game progresses slowly which I'm not sure could be in an arcade game. It's also one of those games that needs a lot of personal investment so I don't think so arcade could replicate that experience.

 

[mooseco]

In my opinion, a complete Animal Crossing experience wouldn't really work in arcades. It's kind of one of those games that you have to play every day and also requires patience as the game progresses slowly which I'm not sure could be in an arcade game. It's also one of those games that needs a lot of personal investment so I don't think so arcade could replicate that experience.

I tried to take that into account when I was thinking of my idea. I feel like it would have to be the perfect mobile game, that plays itself when you aren't playing it. I don't think an arcade game could encompass all of what Animal Crossing is.

 

[maaango]

I don't think it would be a good idea as an arcade game.. maybe mobile or pc

 

[daringred_]

i don't think animal crossing as a whole would work as an arcade game because it's a slice of life game that works in real-time, and your player character (+ what you do with your town) is an integral part of the game. that being said, i think arcade games based in the world of animal crossing would work. say, an arcade game where you have three lives to catch as many fish as possible in a row. or one where you run back and forth catching fruit in a basket as it falls from the top of the screen. then the number of fish/fruit you catch correlates to the number of arcade tokens/tickets you win, if it's in an arcade that offers that kind of thing. you could also have similar games where the goal is bug catching or deep sea diving instead. it's nothing groundbreaking, sure, but.

 

[Croconaw]

I personally don’t think Animal Crossing is the type of game that would work in arcades. This is a game where people invest time in and play every day, and there wouldn’t be a place for it at an arcade. I don’t think even Pocket Camp would work for this.

 

[Blueskyy]

Maybe they can do an Animal Crossing racing game. Tom Nook can throw bell bags as an offensive move against opposing racers. Daisy Mae could throw her turnips.

Haaa I'm kinda kidding, mostly because I have no idea how to make Animal Crossing work as an arcade game. The idea is a cool one, though.

 

[Coach]

I've heard of some arcade games saving progress in a way (like the disney tsum tsum keychains that save level progress for playing again, and I'm pretty sure there is another disney rhythm arcade game which you can save stats, songs ect on. If animal crossing had an arcade game like that (where it saved your inventory and house via a keychain or something), it could be interesting. Nothing too big or popular though probably.

 

[Paperboy012305]

Now if the genre for the arcade game was different instead of a lifestyle simulator, then yes it would work. But other than that no.

Have you ever heard of an arcade life simulator game? No? I didn't think so because it can't work!

 

[Wiimfiuser]

I've heard of some arcade games saving progress in a way (like the disney tsum tsum keychains that save level progress for playing again, and I'm pretty sure there is another disney rhythm arcade game which you can save stats, songs ect on. If animal crossing had an arcade game like that (where it saved your inventory and house via a keychain or something), it could be interesting. Nothing too big or popular though probably.

Arcade games that save? Mario Kart Arcade GP, anyone? LOL


Also, AC arcade would be pretty cool but I do think it would have to be a pretty big cabinet. The controls would be a bit bad but still. Also I think the game you probably need something better than a Mario Card to save. Like... A Nook Inc. Logo shaped key or amiibo thing?

 

[nintendofan85]

I don't think it would be a good idea as an arcade game.. maybe mobile or pc

There already is a mobile spin-off game... Pocket Camp.

Post automatically merged: Mar 23, 2021

i don't think animal crossing as a whole would work as an arcade game because it's a slice of life game that works in real-time, and your player character (+ what you do with your town) is an integral part of the game. that being said, i think arcade games based in the world of animal crossing would work. say, an arcade game where you have three lives to catch as many fish as possible in a row. or one where you run back and forth catching fruit in a basket as it falls from the top of the screen. then the number of fish/fruit you catch correlates to the number of arcade tokens/tickets you win, if it's in an arcade that offers that kind of thing. you could also have similar games where the goal is bug catching or deep sea diving instead. it's nothing groundbreaking, sure, but.

In all honesty, that sounds far more fun than amiibo Festival was.

 

[DJStarstryker]

The original arcade version of The Idolm@ster is probably a good example for this. It had no buttons and was touch screen, included a chair because you'd be expected to sit there for a little while, and it had cards that your game was saved onto.

However, the reason The Idolm@ster worked is because there was nothing else like it at the time. You couldn't go home and play it. There's a reason why they've never made any other versions of im@s for arcade (other than a pachislot game, which is different) since releasing home and mobile versions. It's much more convenient to play those. I think any Animal Crossing arcade machine would have the same problem.

Most likely if they did such a thing it would probably be some mini-game related thing where you just play for a few minutes against another player (like daringred mentioned) and that's it, with no saving or anything. Possibly they could include amiibo functionality to do various things too which would be neat.

 

[BluebearL]

I have never thought of animal crossing as an arcade game! This is an interesting idea however unless it was an animal crossing based game rather than the game itself (such as a minigame) I don't really see this working. Arcade games generally need to have a multiplayer function, a sense of competition, and/or achievement and need to last only a few minutes. Animal Crossing does not encompass any of these things. I would love to see a mini-game type game in an arcade though!

 

[~Kilza~]

I don't think Animal Crossing can work as an arcade game, since the core of the game is to be a life simulation, which just doesn't translate well to an arcade game . Even if you were to translate some of the gameplay into mini-games (as mentioned by some other users), it just wouldn't feel the same as an actual AC game.

 

[Beanz]

it's an interesting idea but i dont think animal crossing for arcades would work. i've always thought animal crossing as a personal game and you're supposed customize/do whatever you want because it's your island/town. i don't think having ac as a arcade game would be a good idea because multiple people could edit the island and that probably wont work too well, plus i dont think a game about talking to villagers, decorating and buying things would appeal to many people in an arcade. if they made a game encompassing different ideas of a traditional ac game then maybe it could work. maybe an idea like the minigames on tortimer's island would be better in an arcade setting.

 

[FantasticHaxorus]

I almost could see a spinoff working with a Pokémon Tretta esque-system-you get a little card that keeps your save data on and use it whenever you go to play the machine. I think it’d have to be pretty different from the mainline games to work (but also the two ac spinoffs that exist are. not great imo)

 

[Halloqueen]

Taking Animal Crossing as it is just wouldn't work. My mind immediately goes to griefing, if you had character houses or whatever, people would just sell all the furniture and stuff and give the animals swear words or slurs as catchphrases. Sounds like a nightmare and not very fun. That is, if it even utilized a save feature of any kind. If it didn't feature a save, that sounds really boring. It's all around seemingly a nonstarter.

It would have to be something in the universe of Animal Crossing, utilizing the characters and whatnot, but it would have to be entirely different from the mainline series gameplay. Things like what daringred_ suggested could work, or other things like Desert Island Escape or Puzzle League. There's potential there, it just requires a good enough concept.

 

[The Foogle]

Absolutely NOT! If you look at arcade games, they have to be a one-and-done or maybe be riveting enough to have replay value (Street Fighter, Pac-Man, etc.) and Animal Crossing is anything BUT that, it's more of a progressive experience and wouldn't fit the genre at all.

 

[Lavamaize]

I have never thought of animal crossing as an arcade game! This is an interesting idea however unless it was an animal crossing based game rather than the game itself (such as a minigame) I don't really see this working. Arcade games generally need to have a multiplayer function, a sense of competition, and/or achievement and need to last only a few minutes. Animal Crossing does not encompass any of these things. I would love to see a mini-game type game in an arcade though!

I agree with Bluebear. I don't think Animal Crossing as the whole game it's self would work becuase arcades usually involve short competive games which animal crossing is not. I do think Animal Crossing themed games would work and would be quite a sucess in arcades, and maybe they could even bring out Puzzle League from New Leaf!