Random: Stephen Fry Is Somewhat Perplexed By Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Did he not watch the music awards and see the Switch presented???? Need to get out more....here...

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/01/random_we_didnt_expect_to_see_someone_playing_pokemon_on_stage_at_the_grammys_2020

These are sad times indeed if you need to explain who is Stephen Fry

Still surprised by the reach this game is getting. Age demographics aside, I honestly never would have pegged him as a Switch owner. Maybe Hugh Laurie, though?

It is, indeed, a metaphor for life - the main difference is that AC:NH is, in general, more idyllic, easy-going and fun. Aspects which - perhaps unsurprisingly - seem to be widely viewed as a major part of its appeal.

@Desrever I think it's because it isn't really a game in a traditional sense. The kind of things that your typical gamer is always going on about aren't really a thing here. This is much more of a Sims style experience but with a bigger focus on developing a community location.

The game is a journey of self rewarding tasks. So yeah...it's like life.

@Desrever In my view, AC is the first game on Switch that I feel has truly reached out to and successfully engaged the same (until now) elusive demographics that had previously responded favorably to the Wii and DS - which is to say, the casual market. But, what's so beautiful about this game is that it's for people of any age and experience (something which Nintendo arguably does better than anyone - but especially with this one).

For instance, I'm presently in an ongoing a long distance relationship. The girl with whom I've committed myself to has barely played any games since the NES but - for reasons that I don't really feel talking about, as they're depressing -I had come upon a barely used second Switch. So, I decided to gift it to her.

So, for the last couple months, we had (only until recently only) played multiplayer NES and SNES games together but - after some extended persistence - I convinced her to try Animal Crossing.

Again, aside from playing some games in the late 80s / early 90s, she's not at all a gamer... and yet she absolutely loves Animal Crossing. She's utterly addicted and I love it. We visit eachother's island and write and gift eachother constantly and - while that might seem lame - it's actually honestly very cool and actually quite sweet. As more of a (quote unquote) "hardcore Gamer" - that I enjoy it as much as her tells me that Nintendo really struck gold with this one!

Let's be honest here, famous people or anyone else for that matter, tend to come across as complete morons on Twitter, or Twatter as I prefer to call it, at the end of the day the famous people's everyday lives tend to be just as dull as everyone else's.

Stephen fry is massively into his gadgets so I am in no way surprised. Maybe I should tweet him and offer my help 😂 love him!

I'm more curious about what Charles Martinet's experience with New Horizons is, that would make for a more interesting article. Heck, a video interview of Charles Martinet's island would be phenomenal!

@Grocery-bag Not everyone was brought up in the English-speaking countries, you know. I bet you don't know who Wojciech Mann is, even though he's a national treasure of many Polish people.

I like Sandi Toksvig but still miss Stephen on QI. The banter between Alan Davies and him was gold.

Never heard of this guy.

@DAHstroy
Since you were interested enough to post you could do a google.

@k8sMum Or not.

Love the show QI, he’s a great dude. Even better knowing he plays AC!

@andywitmyer That's very endearing, and certainly couldn't have been achieved through the voice chats in Smash Bros or Splatoon. Best of luck to you both!

I was in a long distance relationship for 3 excruciatingly long years before I finally packed up and hopped states so we could move in together. We're coming up on our 10 year anniversary this October and still just as lovey dovey as ever. So, hang in there. I'm living proof that sometimes it actually works out pretty great.

I know who he is but still "celebrity" ponderisms are boring and lack real content for a news item, random or not.

@Zidentia basically if Ant or Dec curl out a turd that looks like Tom Nook it's getting a 1,000 words+ article.

It’s not like he’s a typical ‘celebrity’ to be fair, he’s a well respected broadcaster and very smart guy so to see his take on ACNH is interesting to me anyway.

No idea who this guy is. Just another old rich white guy? You expect me to know who they all are? They are like the Zubats of the real world. You can't go two steps without hearing about one, you never want to hear about them, but if you subject yourself to the torment, they can prove useful, even likable.

I'm not a huge Stephen Fry fan, but he kinda had a point. It's not exactly a game you can win.

@Heavyarms55 I think he was in V for Vendetta and an episode of Doctor Who. He also debated with a couple of "liberals" at least once.

Personally I always enjoy seeing who out of Hollywood and/or Pop Culture Icons are video gamers. I always find it funny when I met adults who say that they don’t play video games now that they are older, and just as soon go back to their: candy crush, angry birds, pvz, or Facebook FarmVille on their phone. Lastly, don’t follow this Brit, but do follow and would love to met our fellow poster child for Witcher.

There's not really a point - it appeals to the part of the human mind that enjoys gardening. When you garden, you take a plot of land that isn't being used, clear it, and plant something. You habitually check it, water it, care for it, and watch it grow. And eventually, you start to see little rewards here and there.

You could argue that Animal Crossing is a real time collectathon, but I think that ignores that the core of the gameplay is building habits that over time complete long term goals and slowly transform a flat field into a garden full of stuff you built and plants you grew.

And carving out a half hour to build a relaxing habit isn't the worst thing a person can do for their well-being.

First time playing it... Would it be more fun if I just progress on my own pace or would you recommend me to watch and follow some guides and tricks from the web?

@Francema
Just know that many if not most of the videos online are the result of time travelling. There's no way they have accomplished what they have without it.I

I was reading that people are getting discouraged at what they see as a lack of progress in their game when it's just others doing the timey-wimey time travelling thing.

LOL pitched his tent ill-advisedly.

He should do a podcast or something where he jokingly reflects on his daily Animal Crossing adventures

Now my mind created an Animal Crossing/Blackadder crossover, specifically using that 2nd series episode where Blackadder sails to unknown lands with Tom Baker as a (literally) legless captain.

I can see Tom Baker now, as Tom Nook: “You have a woman’s tent, my Lord! I bet it has never been used to house a starving, unwashed army just back from the Hundred Years War!”

Stephen Fry’s Melchett will probably be fulfilling the young Nooks’ role.

Gamers come in all strips and flavor and different parts of the World as seen by sales of the Switch from West to East and Africa, Middle East. There's no stopping it besides CV19 but aside from that the Very nature of Portable is why it sales and the games supports people on the move nowdays. It goes one can't go without the other for the Switch and Switch Games.

@Francema I highly recommend just playing it a little, learning more on your own each day. That's how I played the Wii game when I was first starting out, and it was far more delightful and less stressful to just enjoy the game at my own pace. Then I wasn't worried about "I didn't get this!" or "I didn't experience it the RIGHT way." Because there truly is not a right way to play Animal Crossing. You can choose to collect everything or catch every bug but really the whole idea is just to play and figure things out organically.

@MaciejKuczynski considering this website is in English, I think my light-hearted comment isn’t that far out of reach

it is a dopamine generator.

There is no point, which is why I find the game miserably boring.

They put up this article, yet Marvel Ultimate Alliance had a huge DLC drop and tons of awesome alternate costumes released with not a peep...
Not everything has to be AC related, you know?!?!

@Desrever I really appreciate the optimism and I'm really happy that it worked for you. Thank you for that!

@Francema I personally think the game is way more fun when you just roll with it as opposed to trying to min-max. There's something inherently rewarding about making progress in a game that, if played fairly, doesn't encourage anyone to rush. When you play it without guides, I think that the small victories are much more enjoyable in the long run.

I think it's best not to question Animal Crossing.

Its okay mister Fry, I don't understand it either. I bought a Animal crossing once, the one on the DS. it wasn't my thing. But to each their own...

@Francema Defenately at your own pace. I usually put in an hour in the morning and an hour at night sometime. Its nice to make progress at your own pace rather than cheating the game clock. It just feels so much more rewarding. Im not playing it tho until those damn eggs have gone.

@Grocery-bag He's not a big Hollywood star and not that popular outside Anglo-sphere... I love everything he's in though

Quick! Name the character he would be the perfect VA for!

Stephen Fry playing Animal Crossing with ZERO knowledge of what he's getting into?

This is the kind of thing I live for!

Should I buy this game if I'm filled with dread because of the one island per Switch thing? We are a family of five, all of whom might want to play. We have no plans to buy a second Switch.

News flash! Celebrities play games! Wow

NewFlash celebrities live in their own little Bubble. Anything else to add.

@TimboSlice problem is how popular is that compared to AC series. Not very popular considering the amount of player and buyers for it. So DLC isn't the only reason a game sales and if one can't see past that then the loss is their own.

@Heavyarms55 He's a good man - A morally very sound and compassionate individual who got famous through comedy. Of course like everyone he's made some big mistakes, but he is VERY bright man who campaigns for many rights (but not in a SJW way at all - quite the opposite) and against a slew of injustices. He's a very interesting man, whatever your age, and the world is better for having him in it. He's definitely not just another 'old rich white guy' as you put it.

@k8sMum The first to post fever... Thanks. This makes sense. I just saw some reviews and recent some videos showcasing creativity. I am not discouraged but what you say makes a lot of sense.

@Chlocean Thank you!!! Yeah, you are right. Was a delight to find out while talking to Nook that I could pay the 5K and then go for the upgrade to a house.

@andywitmyer Thanks a lot mate! I can relate with your thoughts on this..

@Kidfunkadelic83 I agree with you!

"A bit of Fry and Laurie" is awesome.

@SwitchForce MUA3 had very good sales, and more importantly it’s not like this website has a LIMIT on how many stories they can write, THAT’S my point.
It was great info coming out of the marvel Twitter daily for a week will the DLC dropped, and the costumes were plentiful and well done!
For those that don’t already own the game, this is the kinda thing that could interest people in purchasing it!
It’s got tons of content and perhaps worth considering if you have nothing really to play during quarantine.

(MUA3 = Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 🤔)

@Francema watch out for that Nook. He want 500,000 bells off me now for building an extra room. Hes a money swindling swine. Add me up if you like. My code is in my bio 👍

@Heavyarms55

He's an old, fairly well off white guy, who also happens to be a homosexual. Is that enough to pique your intersectionality sensors?

I already said this: This game is literally about consumerism.

It really is a metaphor of the real world: grinding everyday (working) just so you can buy things you don't need (and accumulating debt).

When economy collapsed and everyone is quarantined, playing this metaphor of life is comforting and poignant for some people. "Ah, the good old days of mindless consumerism."

@edhe Not really. Doesn't at all explain why I should know who he is. Lots of LGBT people around, nothing much special about that. I assume he is some kind of celebrity.

@DrDaisy after all his years in Blackadder and on QI, the poor guy gets remembered for V for Vendetta and one episode of Doctor Who? Not to mention The Hobbit, THGTTG, Alice Through the Looking Glass..? Poor Stephen 😂😂😂

@MaciejKuczynski Yes, but this is an English website so of course it features famous English actors. There's no point reading articles on a website that don't relate to you and commenting to say that you've never heard of the person the article is about... I'm not from Poland so I wouldn't go on a Polish website and ask who all the people were, because of course I won't know them.

@gergelyv You should. I've a family of 4 and we have 2 of every console. We gameshare, so my account buys any and every game digitally, typically on a flash sale, and everyone gets access to it so two people can always play at once. Plus, this alleviates the ever growing pains of games that lack couch co-op since you'll always be playing "online".

Really, in 2020 it's a complete mindboggle why a family wouldn't have 2 systems of a single brand. You're basically saying in 2010, "I will always go to Blockbuster and never use Netflix"....

@emicas I just remembered that he was also Booth's court-appointed therapist in Bones.

@GoblinKing86 Thanks for the insight. It's a complete mindboggle how much the definition of mindboggle can differ for different people. To each their own I believe, but I definitely can't justify more than one Switch. And to solve my problem with Animal Crossing, we would need one Switch per family member to enable everybody to fully enjoy the game.

Who gives a damn what Brie Larson is doing?