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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Proves Nintendo Is Just as Evil as EA

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William Worrall
Last Updated
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons released today for the Nintendo Switch.
  • The game features a deserted island that players can explore and cultivate into a thriving community.
  • But the game features bizarre limitations that appear designed to force families to purchase additional Switch consoles.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is finally here, and it’s exactly what we need right now. We might all be trapped inside, but we can at least explore a tropical island in the game. There’s just one drawback to this good, wholesome fun – and it could turn your family’s self-isolation into a living hell.

If you happen to have multiple family members who want to play New Horizons, then be ready for a fight. There’s only one island per console,  and whoever boots the game first is basically in charge.

All because Nintendo is waging an ongoing campaign to educate you to “enjoy” its games according to its strict standards. Why? So Nintendo can force you to buy even more products.

Animal Crossing New Horizons - Screenshot
Animal Crossing: New Horizons might be sold as a communal experience, but it’s less than stellar for those people who come to the island second or later. | Source: Nintendo 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is a Recipe for Your Next Family Feud

New Horizons delivers a poor imitation of “couch co-op.” Player one gets to rule your Switch’s island as “resident representative.” Everyone else will find their gameplay severely restricted.

While you can still terraform the land and decorate as you please, you can’t make important decisions like building structures, moving in residents, or relocating buildings unless you’re the first player to boot the game.

This is classic Nintendo. It’s the missing save backup scandal all over again. It’s all “fun” on Nintendo’s terms. Because even though you’ve bought the game, it’s up to them how you can enjoy it.

This is exactly why people jailbreak their Switches. If you have a modded console, you don’t have to worry about any of this. You can copy your saves onto your computer and give multiple saves to everyone on the system.

Nintendo Is Just as Evil as EA – They’re Just Sneakier

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a prime example of why Nintendo is one of the worst gaming companies in an industry plagued with bad actors.

They might not be as overtly “evil” as companies like Activision or EA, but they’re a thousand times more insidious. They love to do all the scummy crud that other companies do – they just don’t want to admit it.

They claim their mobile games are microtransaction-free. But can you actually see anything different about the gashapon rubbish they pull in Mario Kart World Tour?

There’s just no good reason for Animal Crossing’s couch co-op mode to have to be this way. It wouldn’t have ruined the game to let individual players live on their own islands. Hell, they could have just let each player be a resident representative.

Of course, if they did that, Nintendo couldn’t force you to make a choice between purchasing another Switch and watching your family’s coronavirus quarantine descend into civil war.


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.