#just like. ebay screenshots flying in my face

[holmesoldfellow]

Sherlock Holmes Little Thinker Doll by the Unemployed Philosophers Guild

[bluepoodle7]

#TheLegendOfZeldaWindWaker#WindWaker #ToonLink #VideosIRemember#Nostalgia #VidsILike#MyThoughts

Just some vids I liked and using this screenshot of windwaker/toon link holding that glowing rock communicator as a place holder image.

I remember seeing this glowing rock communicator and wondering if it shows up again in the game but my guess is that it was dropped later in the game.

Image and video not mine but link is there.

27:02

The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition (Wind Waker Demo) (youtube.com)

All unlockable secrets guide: Mad Mode, Swimmer Mode, Big Eyes, etc. - Blue Stinger (Dreamcast) - YouTube

Illbleed- Side A (Michael Reynolds') - YouTube

Blue Stinger- Side B (Shinya Nishigaki) - YouTube

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile- Side A - YouTube

Klonoa on vinyl - YouTube

18 juin 2024 - YouTube

EGG ON PUPPY COIN BANK #toys #trending #youtubeshorts - YouTube

Dog House Money Saving Box Money Bank For Kids Beautiful(Purple Lucky Dog) | eBay

Tatsuro Yamashita - 08. Your Eyes - YouTube

Keyboard Glep (youtube.com)

Roundabout by Yes (to be continued meme music) - YouTube

Yes - Roundabout (Original 1971) - YouTube

This song gives me Animal Crossing vibes like walking around your town just chilling out maybe with a sunset in the background.

Date of Birth- greenish - YouTube

This song gives me N64DD vibes like from Mario artist talent studio.

Date of Birth- alien in the dream - YouTube

Chimera's Gettin' a Pizza (youtube.com)

Nightmare Ned - The Puberty Song! (Fan Art) - YouTube

Nightmare Ned Game - Uvula Song - YouTube

My favorite house music track so far.

Feels like walking down a street by yourself just wandering in a town.

Riviera Love Affair/Reuse 35 - YouTube

Way To Paradise - YouTube

Pretty Ballerina - YouTube

Smoothly Love/Reuse 929 - YouTube

This gives me Sonic stage vibes like on the Sega Genesis.

The Big Babbler/Original Archive Version - YouTube

A helpful guide to working with your Realtor! (Analog Horror short based on House Hunted) (youtube.com)

This sounds like a old black and white cartoon that has song lyrics in it.

Ritzy Glitzy Mitzi - YouTube

Sweet Home - YouTube

From Now On/Heavy Bass Booster Version - YouTube

Please Stay With Me - YouTube

Farewell My Love - YouTube

Sounds like Cuphead tutorial music to me.

Butterfly - YouTube

Found this video but don't know if the voice is AI or not.

Take the risk. - YouTube

DHDJykfyo:#{)90eDJlv883SVHO98hosonJ99u{=¢∆mxkksklalSBO•√¢÷¢×¶%I8JSjjsksoozox - YouTube

Can you remember data without a face? PC Shift (youtube.com)

I like it that in Illbleed there are three patterns the game will randomize in with the shock events moved around in different places.

Seems to me the A, B, and C patterns are mixed up so player wouldn't know which traps are on easily.

Illbleed Speedrun Tutorial Stage 4: Killer Department Store - YouTube

Illbleed - Let it Bleed (youtube.com)

ILLBLEED - MrCantinfla - YouTube

I like this person's character model like it's corrupted.

Yet another dream was cast (René plays Illbleed part 5) - YouTube

Illbleed Hidden Minigame TOP SCORE - YouTube

Worst customer service - YouTube

🎮 Super Nintendo controller you've never seen before - YouTube

My favorite Nightmare Ned track and I didn't know it had lyrics.

Nightmare Ned -- Balloon World (deleted song) - YouTube

I hope someone finds this song.

Unidentified Song - (“Jenny”) - YouTube

[BIG DREAMS] - As For Dreams x BIG SHOT Mashup (youtube.com)

Ongezellig (Part 1 + 2) - YouTube

The Best Web Animation You Never Seen - YouTube

Above The Clouds: A Lost Song From a Pirated DVD - YouTube

Templeton Thompson - This One’s Gonna Fly (2011) - YouTube

This song is pretty good and so is the Letter to Juliet movie to bad it is obscure.

You Got Me - Colbie Caillat - Lyrics (youtube.com)

IXxuSmw2HFNWXLUyJFO7xKIT3E7diFUSa86wgFiMI413xtfZga5hClZ/AgdzP33dhpj+0qc1d5sK2jyH5EqK6g== - YouTube

Spoiled Soda :3 (youtube.com)

All SPECIAL HORROR EVENT scares [ILLBLEED] - YouTube

My favorite song from Dynamite Headdy.

Dynamite Headdy OST: Sega Genesis - 21 - I Sing - YouTube

When I heard the bad news about the Magiswords man and it slapped me back to the third joke in this video from the incomplete Oney Plays Illbleed let's play where they are on the woodpuppets level and saying that the dad isn't free from what he did.

Oney Plays Animated: Pillopio Roleplay... 1 + 2 + 3 - YouTube

Maybe have Prohyas be Pinocchio say that to the creator that he isn't free from what he did.

If I knew how to animate I would.

Oney Plays Animated: Pillopio Roleplay... 3 - YouTube

Someone found the Dog of Bay Ps2 game ost with English lyrics.

I wish this weird game was on steam or ported to other consoles.

Dog of Bay Sing-along OST - YouTube

知性のゆめにっき - YouTube

Continental House Shaped Stress Ball - YouTube

Title Theme - Kirby's Pinball Land (youtube.com)

Marth's Huge Grab (and why it's completely fine) - YouTube

Finale (Unused Mix) - Undertale - YouTube

Finale - Undertale - YouTube

Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans (OST Version) - Undertale - YouTube

I watched this person's let's play and it was pretty good.

I like the review and explains the game.

Illbleed: Road to the True Ending (Sega Dreamcast) - YouTube

Welcome to Michael Reynolds Virtual Horror Land - Illbleed - YouTube

A certified Illbleed classic - YouTube

A Vlog in My Pants - Illbleed - YouTube

Illbleed (02/2001) - YouTube

Eyestrain Warning // Illbleed // Couture (youtube.com)

Fatboy Slim - Put It Back Together - YouTube

[Vinesauce] Vinny - DOODLE DIP - YouTube

[Vinesauce] Vinny - This is my Doodle Dip Time Capsule - YouTube

Vinesauce Vinny: Space Kids [The ATDQ Cut] - YouTube

This felt a early 2000's song that would be at the end of a Shrek movie before the Minions were a thing in the credits to me and this is my first video hearing this song.

[Vinesauce] Vinny (Pre-Stream) || Deep Doodle, Vinesauce Fan Games, Weirds - YouTube

SpaceKids Soundtrack (MS-DOS AdLib) (youtube.com)

This sounds like Johnny Bravo singing to me.

I Feel Love (Fantastic Plastic Machine Remix) - YouTube

Some really good FPM remixes.

FPM Remix Works Best Mega Mix mixed by okadada - YouTube

FPM Best Mega Mix mixed by okadada - YouTube

I wish Mischief Makers was ported to the switch or the new Nintendo console with Dynamite Headdy.

Mischief Makers - Trouble Maker - YouTube

The Jerma he looks like Freddy Fazbear noise in this video gave me Illbleed sfx vibes.

Now I want both noises side by side.

Jerma- You look like Freddy Fazbear - YouTube

Illbleed fright/shock SFX - YouTube

Found this T-Rex ninja turtles like cartoon.

The adventures of T-Rex 1.1 - YouTube

Kirinji - Goodday Goodbye (FPM Mix For Nightfly) - YouTube

A look back at Crazy Games and Shinya Nishigaki - YouTube

Been looking for this FPM song.

Kenji Jammer - Daddy's Delight (FPM Talker Vocal Mix) - YouTube

This one is a great FPM mix.

松田聖子 / あなたに逢いたくて (FPM MIX for Lovers) - YouTube

【That Handsome Devil】Charlie's Inferno【English Lyrics】 - YouTube

Friday Night Funkin' - V.S. Mike The Hardcore + Awesome [Mike & Melissa] - FNF MODS [HARD] - YouTube

Friday Night Funkin' - Khonjin House (One-Shot) - FNF MODS [HARD] - YouTube

Blue Khonjin House/Supermental Remix [Friday Night Funkin] (youtube.com)

John doe fnf fan song: sliced - YouTube

Charlie's Inferno (That Handsome Devil Remix) (youtube.com)

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 2 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the late April report, although some may be older than that. I will do my best to keep posting these at least once every 10 days if not sooner. 

Have any topics you would like to see me cover in more detail? Drop me a line here on Tumblr, or email me through my website. I’m also on Twitter and YouTube if you prefer social.  

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

If you sell on Etsy, this is your reminder that the Offsite Ads program kicks in on May 4, and people who make under $10K a year on Etsy can opt out if they want to avoid the additional fees. I have a summary here. 

Issues with mail delivery during the pandemic continue. Canada Post has suspended on time delivery guarantees and warns of December level volume.  USPS is not shipping to 113 countries, including many APO addresses. 

I am still interested in posting articles and lists of resources for small businesses and artists during the pandemic, so please pass on any good resources you know about. HubSpot did a page for Australia, and one for the United States.  See my previous edition for a longer list. 

ETSY NEWS 

Mask sales have created a huge boom for Etsy, but also some busts. “Suddenly millions of people were logging on to Etsy, searching for masks nine times every second, the company calculated.The site was not ready for the rush….There are now 50,000 sellers on Etsy who have each sold at least one mask; 10,000 have sold at least 100. Etsy staff spent time calling the most popular sellers to weed out scams, but also to ensure well-meaning sellers were not over-promising.” There have been many threads from sellers whose shops were de-indexed due to both bots and to Etsy wanting to limit their sales until they catch up on open orders, creating a lot of complaints at a time when their customer service response is hugely delayed. 

Some sellers report receiving listing credits for masks, although several who received money did not sell masks, and many others who did sell masks got nothing. 

Another Seller Handbook post on what people are looking for while they are under lockdown (TL;DR: home decor, activities, bath & beauty) , as well as suggestions for how you can pivot your shop. They include the top search terms for each area; some examples: washable paper towel, garden, birthday gift,  printable wall art, puzzle, board game, puzzle adult. “As shoppers transform their living spaces for multifunctional uses like working, exercising, and homeschooling, they’re looking for cozy comfort as well as fresh, on-season style updates that offer mood-boosting appeal….113% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “home office...127% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “indoor garden...“Face mask” was the top searched term for the last five weeks (as of April 23, 2020)” Finally, “In recent Etsy buyer research, one third of shoppers who anticipated purchasing on Etsy in the next three months reported planning to buy gifts.” [Although the article doesn’t mention this, I strongly recommend emphasizing somewhere in your shop that you can send the order directly to the gift recipient, if you sell giftable items but sales are down right now. I am getting a lot more requests for gift notes than usual, and more people are paying for tracking so they know when the gift arrives.]

A study says that 30% of Etsy sellers do not save for emergencies, and 74% want Etsy to help them when emergencies arise. 

Two new features for users of Etsy’s USPS labels: free pick up requests, and easy customer return labels. 

Etsy launched an exclusive collection with Joseph Altuzarra. 

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Moz just came out with an excellent guide to keyword research that you all should at least bookmark to come back to later, even if you don’t do keyword research now. The introduction contains a good definition of long tail with a graph; “Only about 20% of the keywords people search for will be popular "head" terms. The majority of keyword phrases will be less-frequent, long-tail keywords.” There’s even a downloadable 2-page cheat sheet on the basics at the end. 

There may have been a Google search update around April 16, but I am mostly posting this article for the graphs showing search volatility in the past 1-2 months; those changes in the second half of March into early April seem to be mostly user-driven due to the pandemic, rather than algorithm changes. 

Backlinks are not all created equal, and time is sometimes one of the factors in weighting them. [text and video] 

This analysis of near 12 million Google search results turned up some interesting correlations with ranking. Not surprisingly, sites in first place have many more backlinks on average than the other sites on the same page. It was a bit surprising to learn that page loading speed didn’t correlate with ranking at all (that may change once everyone goes to mobile first indexing in the fall), nor did using the keyword in your title tag. “Pages in Google’s top 10 results contain 65% to 85% of the keywords that they’re ranking for in their title tag. However, we found very little (if any) correlation between keyword-optimized title tags and higher rankings on the first page.”

Google may delay its move to complete mobile-first indexing by September, depending on how sites are managing due to the recent disruptions.

Some businesses are moving the money they spent on advertising over to SEO, because there is a longer-term payoff vs. a short term impact from someone seeing an ad on a given day. Good SEO can get you ranking on many search engines for years, if you are lucky. 

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Not surprisingly, the top times for social media traffic have changed during the pandemic; here’s an updated list. 

Thinking of starting a YouTube channel? Here’s a beginner’s manual including screenshots on how to set it up, as well as tips on YouTube SEO & other marketing tactics. 

Don’t know what to put in your email newsletters? HubSpot picked 17 examples they think are awesome. 

Facebook rapidly revamped & expanded its video chat option to compete with Zoom & Houseparty, called Messenger Rooms. Note that “Room calls are not end-to-end encrypted, but Facebook says it does not view or listen to calls.” The are also working on the ability to charge people to watch live streams. 

Twitter had a good first quarter but the stock still fell because it does not look like they are recovering from the pandemic effects very quickly. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

As mentioned in my last edition, Google Shopping is now offering free listings on its US platform, and rolled out a bit early for some even though the start date was given as April 27. Your Etsy listings will not be shown in the free ads if you opt out of Etsy’s Offsite Ads program, and you are not allowed to add marketplace listings to GS yourself, but this may be something you are interested in for your website, if you sell to the US. Some tips on setting up Merchant accounts correctly for this here and here, and optimizing your listings here. If your standalone is on Shopify, they have instructions here. 

As ad prices are dropping for some items on some platforms, it has become easier for small businesses to start campaigns, especially experienced online sellers who can now take advantage of the ecommerce boom. [I agree with this for the right types of items or service, but I don’t think it is going to work for everything.]

New to online advertising, and don’t know where to start? HubSpot has a good introductory overview here, with details on the main options available. 

Google is offering ad credits to small & medium sized businesses as pandemic relief, starting in late May. Note that you need to have been running ads last year with Google to be eligible. . 

Google Ad users will soon need to submit proof of identity & location, starting with US users. The move is to help prevent scammers and increase transparency. Early response to the announcement is mixed. 

Facebook is no longer forcing advertisers to use its Campaign Budget Optimization, meaning businesses will continue to be able to set different budgets across all of their campaigns. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

If you have an ecommerce site built with Wordpress, here’s how to track your email newsletter clicks through Google Analytics. 

And for your ecommerce site, the best alerts to set up in GA. 

Bing Webmaster Tools has a great feature that tracks traffic to connected accounts other than your website or blog - but Twitter has been removed from this list. 

There are far more Instagram analytics apps than I thought. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

Many ecommerce platforms/website providers are being pressured to reduce the fake COVID-19 disinfectants on their sites, including eBay, Facebook, Shopify & Alibaba.

There is a new app that lets buyers shop with multiple businesses who run their sites through Shopify, called Shop. Among other things, it will feature businesses local to the user: “A recent survey of global consumers by Ernst & Young found that 34% of respondents are willing to pay more for local products amid the pandemic.”

Shopify’s stock is flying high right now, and it has become the second-most valuable company in Canada, in part due to the surge of sign ups after the start of the pandemic. 

Since page loading speed is important to buyer conversions as well as SEO, if you have a Shopify site, you will want to read about which themes are the fastest & slowest to load. A few are ridiculously slow, & you will want to consider your goals if you are thinking of using them. 

Jeff Bezos has moved back to managing Amazon operations due to the pandemic. “Bezos was also personally involved in Amazon’s decision to suspend third-party vendors from shipping non-essential items to Amazon’s warehouses, helping ease the load on workers so that they could more efficiently ship goods like baby products, groceries, pet supplies and personal care products.  He also signed off on Amazon’s move to halt tactics it normally uses “to encourage customers to put more items in their shopping carts”.

Meanwhile, Amazon VP states that Amazon has done a lot for sellers during the pandemic, including suspending “repayment of all Amazon Lending loans for sellers in the United States and the United Kingdom until April 30.” I guess that is why their profit fell to only $2.5 billion in the first quarter of 2020 despite their gross sales being up 29% due to the pandemic buying. 

Amazon’s pilot program for verifying new sellers by video calls is continuing; contrary to previous reports, they say they are not using facial-recognition technology, but they are checking photo ID against the video call. 

eBay has extended its suspension of most seller performance standard rules until June 19 for sellers in the UK. They are also extending their free listing offers, and after banning mask sales are now apparently envying Etsy’s sales and are encouraging sellers to make fabric masks.They are also planning a way to confirm sales that involve local pickups [podcast & transcript]. 

eBay had lower 1st quarter results than they & others had predicted, so the stock went down. Here is the call transcript for those interested. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

The pandemic sales trends have switched from hoarding essentials to food & home comfort items. “As spring eased toward summer, cooking at home also began to include gardening. "We see continued growth in gardening," said Ventry. ... Growing herbs, he said, played well with the home cooking trend, too. "We saw similar trends from 2008 to 2010, during the recession."

Ecommerce sales are way up, perhaps 50% up in the US right now, and some of these people will continue their increased online shopping, so it is a good time to launch many types of new campaigns. (warnings - some “not safe for work” language) 

HubSpot has been producing a weekly pandemic report on its customers core business stats, such as website traffic & sales rates. They speculate that we might be seeing a bit of an overall recovery as of last week. 

MISCELLANEOUS

There are still more good work-from-home articles coming out that can also be relevant for those of us who have been doing this for a while now. Using a schedule to be more productive is a common topic. As is managing to be productive with kids around. 

[bitter-as-wormwood-13]

A ruthless review of the Asoue game for the Gameboy advance

I can swear now, Replayed games with actually GOOD mechanics, lezz do this

DISCLAIMERS: I am, by no means, "good" at video games, so take this review with a pinch of salt.

ALSO, this is a review for the GAMEBOY ADVANCE version of the game, I am aware that the other versions of the game have major differences and this review doesn't apply to those versions.

So, there is, in total, 3 good things about the game

1. Sunny's talk sprite (which is adorable)

2. A few decently funny original jokes

3. Unlockable concept art

Everything else is just... bad.

So, I'm gonna rant about the style of the gameplay first. It's basically a bunch of fetch quests(? I think that's the word I need. You go around just... looking for... THINGS) which really doesn't feel like Asoue but, then again, this is based off the movie. The movie where there WAS A HAPPY ENDING (face palm)

So, let's get into the characters individual skills.

Violet has a long range apple thrower and is the only one who can climb ladders

Klaus has a short range basically squirt gun and is mostly the useful one in reptile room

Sunny can crawl through small spaces, roll at enemies, move objects, and gets a floating device in wide window.

So, now for some more complaints because idk how to structure a review

There is an excess of enemies. They respawn every time you exit a room. Why. Oh, dear god, why

At one point in bad beginning there's a ladder that.. doesn't look like a ladder.

Seriously, I spent 30 minutes trying to find a different way up and failing, then dying because of an excess of enemies

You get a quest from justice Strauss, you do the quest, but you don't talk to justice strauss again, you just head to the right. Took me way too long to figure that out, might just be my inexperience

There's characters that show up as a mini boss fight but then just appear as normal enemies... with the same powers... why... just why

I literally spent DAYS trying to figure out what to do in reptile room because it was badly designed

The second powder face lady can hit through walls

Klaus' iguana color sucking mechanic is quite annoying

You need a fly to feed to the big snakes. You can only have 1 fly at a time. You need to empty all your water to have a fly. There is no other way to get past the snakes.

I don't think Stephano even really... arrives in the reptile room? Like, what. You get a phone call from him once but I think that's about it.

Aunt Josephine just has LEECHES LITERALLY EVERYWHERE IN HER HOUSE AND SHE ACKNOWLEDGES IT. SERIOUSLY, THIS RIGHT HERE IS ONE OF THE MAIN GODDAMN REASONS THAT THE ENEMIES JUST FAIL.

There are things you can unlock that are "scenes from the movie" aka a bad screenshot of the movie that's just... there. Doing nothing. No dialogue, I don't think there's any special music or anything... nothing. What was even the point of those

I'm having trouble with Pokémon pearl, as well, but the thing with that is that PEOPLE HAVE ACTUALLY PLAYED IT AND HAVE WALKTHROUGHS UP(although there is one pretty good walk through that exists for this game)

I payed actual money for this game. I get <10 bucks a week, normally. This cost me 5 bucks on eBay. I bought this for a fucking review. I hope you're happy, Tumblr

Tl;DR: play if you like to be infuriated by the incompetence of this abomination.

Send me asks or DM me if you want to know more/need help.

With this game or just in general

[truemedian]

Kotaku Reacts To Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Screenshot: NintendoTwo weeks have passed since Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out, and almost everyone on the Kotaku staff has poured themselves into trying to make our new desert islands feel like home. It’s been...a process—full of blood, sweat, and a lot of broken axes—and we have some thoughts about it.Hopefully by now you’ve read fellow staff writer Ian Walker’s excellent review of the game, but in addition, we wanted to share the opinions, reactions, personal tribulations, and success stories of others on the staff as we survive Tom Nook’s fascinating new time share scheme together.

“My shitty house”—Maddy MyersScreenshot: Nintendo Maddy MyersI do not play simulation games. I spend no time at all on character creators. I’ve never played an Animal Crossing game before. And yet, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become a game that I play almost every single day.I’m not sure if I’m even enjoying it. But I do know that it’s fulfilling a hyper-specific need for me right now. As an introverted person who already works from home, I don’t get a lot of social interaction in my daily life, outside of spending time with my equally introverted girlfriend. Before covid-19 happened, I would get a lot of low-impact socializing done in a typical week by chatting with the cashier at the grocery store, or making small talk with the other people at my gym. All of that is gone now.Instead, I make small talk with Timmy and Tommy. I discuss exercise with Flip, the jock monkey villager who lives in my Animal Crossing town. And, of course, I decorate my crappy Animal Crossing apartment and I invite my real-life friends over to (virtually) see it, and then I apologize to them, because it looks even worse than my actual real-life apartment. Animal Crossing allows me to perfectly recreate all the awkward but somehow fulfilling social interactions that I used to have when society still functioned.Will I keep logging in to Animal Crossing every day after the covid-19 pandemic has passed us over? Probably not. But until then, it’s given me a chance to see what it is that other people enjoy about this genre. It’s also made me realize that I need to seriously work on my interior decorating skills.

Ian WalkerI only own two pairs of jeans in real life, but I’m rapidly running out of room for all the clothes I buy in Animal Crossing. Here are some of my outfits:Mike FaheyOn the day Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched, the 512-gigabyte micro SD card in my Switch died. Four days later, after my wife had started playing, her Switch suddenly stopped charging. While trying to get her Switch to work, my system, purchased mere weeks before the game’s launch, stopped outputting video. As I normally play in TV mode, that’s not great. I have a Switch Lite, but I ran it over with my wheelchair and cracked the screen.Nintendo’s warranty repair is down, so I have to wait until the world returns to normal to get any of these consoles repaired. With Nintendo supply down, it’s nearly impossible to buy a new Switch right now. So my wife went on eBay and purchased a refurbished Switch tablet for $250. That’s how much fun we’re having bonding over Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

I can’t play when she can’t play. It’s just too sad. I feel bad sharing items I get, clothing I wear, and bugs I collect with her. For the several days we got to play together, by which I mean in the same room, it was much easier to forget pressing real-world concerns for a little while.We stayed up late to harvest bells. We got up early to see what occurred on our islands as we slept. The chores we must perform on our islands are much more entertaining than the ones we must perform in real life. They are still chores, but they pass the time and make us happy.Bklurbbbb...Natalie DegraffinriedI’ve spent 105 hours playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons over the span of a couple weeks. I suppose I kind of like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Or my OCD is back with a vengeance. I keep going to celebrations for inclines and bridges even though I’m tired of them, so it’s probably the OCD.

I didn’t think I could take the fine art of min-maxing to higher heights, but here I am in an endless cycle of Nook tickets, tarantula grinding, and organizing my inventory by item valuation. It’s all to fund my Able Sisters shopping problem, ultimately. I look fly as hell, though.

Min-maxing in Animal Crossing is not for the faint of heart, nor is it always a great way to play. It might be even harder to do now that the seasons have changed. Will that stop me? No. I’ll keep getting upgrades and obsessively trying to pay them off in the same day. Do what gives you peace, I say.Just don’t be a fucking goober like my friend.

Riley MacLeodNew Horizons is my first Animal Crossing—our editor-in-chief Stephen talked the game up so much I got really curious about it. I only actually started playing this week, so everything feels very slow—when I get the itch to do something, I keep wanting to switch to Stardew Valley, but I’m really charmed by how happy the NPCs are when you do the simplest tasks and how often everyone claps for you. I also really like that your character runs around with their arms out. I put face paint on my guy and I can’t figure out how to get it off, so he just has face paint now I guess.

Ari NotisThe short version: This is the most annoying game I’ve ever played.And here’s how I really feel: At every turn, this stupid game presents a somehow brand-new hassle: how Blathers has to assess your fossils before you can donate them; how the Nook twins stop you to say thanks before you leave their shop, and how they say everything in not-quite-tandem (WTF is up with that); how you can only eat one fruit at a time; how your shovel is always breaking, your ax is always breaking, your net is always breaking; how two players can’t shop from the same person at the same time in co-op; how it’s impossible to dig a hole where you want; and how every damn day, that damn raccoon monster wastes my time to tell me there’s nothing new going on. I know there’s nothing new going on! This is Animal Crossing! Nothing new ever happens! This game is supposed to be an escape? Please. It’s at best a shoddy Xerox of life’s daily headaches.

Luke PlunkettEveryone says this is the game the world needs right now, but the last thing I need is a second mortgage hanging over my head. At least this one’s on the beach.Heather AlexandraI’ve never played an Animal Crossing game before now. In some ways, I missed out on many Nintendo games as my focus shifted off the Nintendo 64 in favor of the PlayStation and especially the modding scenes of PC games like Half-Life. When I needed a fix for homes away from home, I played Harvest Moon. That led to Stardew Valley and long hours on a co-op farm with a former partner. I enjoy the quiet of village sims and farming games. I also struggle to find the time for them.I haven’t taken the biggest plunge into ACNH. I had to focus on Nioh 2, then Doom Eternal, then Resident Evil 3. So 20-minute sojourns to my island every day were a rare and delicious treat. I can’t compare New Horizons to the others in the series, but I can say that it is an incredibly cozy game during a time when coziness seems rare. Sometimes, a good day means little more than some new wallpaper for your room. In other cases, it’s figuring out where to put that memorial statue you found. Animal Crossing is simple, but that simplicity is why you play it. Planting a new tree, inviting a new animal friend to your island. Small things that don’t feel small at all.Now, if only that freako rabbit would get off my island already...

Where every month is hoagie fest. Screenshot: Nintendo Ethan GachEvery night I shake all the trees, pick all the weeds, and smack objects with my axes until all of them break. In the morning I sell the stuff, and the cycle repeats. Conversations with other villagers scroll past as I smash the A button so I can get back to work. I buy everything I can from Tom Nook like I’m filling out a Sears Catalog Pokédex. I pay off all the loans thanks to the million bells I earned from New Horizons’ week-one infinite item glitch and subsequently invested in the Turnip market. I donate the wood and iron needed to build new homes for new residents. I capture new bugs and fish for the betterment of science. And all the while I wait like Vladimir and Estragon for an epiphany that will help contextualize each individual mundane task and help them culminate into a larger story I can derive some deeper sense of meaning and purpose from.Instead I’m left with a list of things that more closely resembles a CVS receipt. I suspect that’s a problem with me and not the game.Nathan GraysonFor the past week, I’ve been meaning to play through Doom Eternal and finally, properly dive into Control. Instead, I have mostly played Animal Crossing.I don’t really like it? I respect the relaxed pace it’s trying to establish, but by forcing players to step to its beat with fussy mechanics and NPCs who needlessly repeat themselves all the time, it’s managed to annoy me just as often as it’s lulled me into a state of balmy island bliss. Also, I’m bad at interior design, so right now my house looks like World of Warcraft’s Molten Core raid if Ragnaros was a disorganized college freshman who had no idea what to do with his dorm.Oh, and all my neighbors suck. In previous Animals Crossing (correct plural) , that didn’t matter so much, because I enjoyed doing little chores for them and feeling like I was creating a sense of community even among characters with whom I didn’t see eye to eye. In New Horizons, though, it’s all about land development, which feels less personal. I don’t want KK Slider to show up because I optimized my town. I want him to play some tunes for my villagers and me because he’s a chill, cool dude.All that said, this game has given me one of the coolest in-game moments I’ve experienced since we all got trapped inside our houses. I wrote about this at length in another piece, but the other night, DJ and streamer Clarke “Grimecraft” Nordhauser threw an in-game rave, and I attended. Surrounded by the avatars of people I did not know and dancing along with awkwardly improvised moves, I felt the same mixture of fear and exhilaration I’ve felt at countless shows in real life. After I shook my nerves (read: drank a glass of wine), it turned into a relaxing, nice time where everybody mostly talked about how good the music was and how much they appreciated the whole thing. Sometimes, a vacation can be 90 percent unpleasant, but then years later, all you remember is a soothing day on the beach or a perfect sunset. Animal Crossing has some really nice sunsets.

“Me and my partner hanging out last night in AC”—Paul TamayoScreenshot: Nintendo Paul Tamayo I’ve already talked about how Animal Crossing: New Horizons couldn’t have come at a better time, but the ways it’s helping me keep in touch with friends by sending gifts in-game, getting help from my podcast listeners, and hopping on calls to visit each other’s islands has taken this game to another level for me. It’s also giving me the space to put care into my own island like it’s my own adorable bonsai tree. I get to care for it and improve upon it in a million different ways. My partner actually made the beautiful observation yesterday that even after island hopping through our friends’ islands, it really does feel good to return home to your own space. Read More Read the full article