Sanrio Joins The Islands

     Looks like someone’s on their way! Six new Sanrio islanders will be able to move to Animal Crossing: New Horizons islands after March 26th for the first time in the United States.

     Nintendo and Sanrio have recently announced that they will be releasing a collaboration pack with six Sanrio-inspired amiibo cards, which allow you to invite Hello Kitty, My Melody, Keroppi, Cinnamoroll, PomPomPurin, and Little Twin Stars themed islanders. While most players are excited about the release, some fans believe issues could arise.

     “It just seems like merchandising.  It makes sense for them to do it, I just didn’t expect it,” sophomore Clay MacDonald said. “It also kind of shrinks their demographic… I don’t know any guys that would care about it or will use any of the stuff.”

     Although that issue could be debated, there has been another major frustration among long-term Animal Crossing players. Amiibo cards from Sanrio and Nintendo’s previous collaboration didn’t give players themed characters or furniture.

     “I just wish amiibo cards would be more available,” Instagram user finstanooki said. “It was irritating because so many of the special character amiibos only gave you posters.”

     Finstanooki’s account is Animal Crossing themed, with 12.5k followers. While they are irritated by the lack of content from the old amiibo cards, it doesn’t bother them that they would have to buy new ones. However, not all players of the game are willing to cough up the extra cash.

     “At some point it’s too much. I already buy the amiibos for other things. Why do you need more money? It’s a crossover they’re already getting the extra people who wanna try out the game because of the collaboration,” MacDonald said. “It’s Nintendo, they’re a big corporation and they know that people will buy it.”

     Despite the frustrations with the Sanrio amiibo cards, fans still think the collaboration is exciting and look forward to the possibility of more in the future. Finstanooki and MacDonald each give an idea of crossovers they’d like to see.

     “Collaborations are usually great, at the same time I don’t know of any collabs I would care about,” MacDonald said, “I do wanna see more dinosaurs… any Capcom collaboration would be awesome, actually.”

     Although the slow-moving and pressure-free game may not appeal to all, some aspects of Animal Crossing can appeal to all players. While MacDonald still enjoys the game he realizes that he isn’t the target demographic.

     “I get bored really easily. I stopped playing a little while ago because there just isn’t enough to keep me enthralled. I play games that give me adrenaline rushes and are based off of skill, animal crossing just isn’t that, so I just can’t give it the time of day anymore,” MacDonald said. “I think the best solution is to make some kind of mini-game maker. People already make mazes stuff like that. That’ll bring back the people who are super creative, who already spent 1000 hours on their island and don’t wanna change it any more. That’s how you get people to stay.”

     Though some players have critiques for the game many still love and enjoy it. Such is the case for junior Moira Benish-Kingsbury, who enjoys meeting new characters and renovating her island.

     “I started playing it from mid-June to early July, so like, 8 or 9 months,” Benish-Kingsbury said. “I haven’t been playing nearly as much as I did in the summer, but it’s still wonderful and makes me happy.”