2022
Blom, Joleen
Attachment, Possession or Personalization?: Why the Character Trade in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Exploded Journal Article
In: Replaying Japan, vol. 4, pp. 23-34, 2022, ISSN: 2433-8060.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Character trade, Characters, Nintendo, Video games
@article{Blom2022c,
title = {Attachment, Possession or Personalization?: Why the Character Trade in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Exploded},
author = {Joleen Blom},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202208106341},
doi = {10.34382/00017634},
issn = {2433-8060},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-07-31},
urldate = {2022-07-31},
journal = {Replaying Japan},
volume = {4},
pages = {23-34},
abstract = {A month after the release of the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo 2020), virtual player markets arose where players could exchange characters and other goods, but this simultaneously led to players scamming each other during those trades. A year later Nintendo announced the Amiibo Sanrio Collaboration Pack, a set of character cards to be used in New Horizons, which a minute after its release was completely sold out so that consumers could only obtain the cards at private online vendors, another market economy, for a much higher price. This article is occupied with the question of why players are so willing to go through such great lengths to obtain virtual characters they desire, even risking being deceived? What do these characters mean to them? The article argues that the affective relationships between players and virtual characters cannot be understood independently from the marketing practices of a video game. It shows how the Animal Crossing ludo mix strategy’s uneven distribution of characters in- and outside of New Horizons is the underlying reason for fraudulent player practices to occur. It explains how Animal Crossing uses a blend of monetization approaches resembling the current game monetization trend of free-to-play games with random in-game purchases that use characters as fuel. Finally, it will argue that Nintendo needs to foster a community infrastructure that facilitates a safe exchange of the villagers and other items but due to its neglect to do so, it is actually the player market economies instead that are fostering such responsible gameplay.},
keywords = {Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Character trade, Characters, Nintendo, Video games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
A month after the release of the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo 2020), virtual player markets arose where players could exchange characters and other goods, but this simultaneously led to players scamming each other during those trades. A year later Nintendo announced the Amiibo Sanrio Collaboration Pack, a set of character cards to be used in New Horizons, which a minute after its release was completely sold out so that consumers could only obtain the cards at private online vendors, another market economy, for a much higher price. This article is occupied with the question of why players are so willing to go through such great lengths to obtain virtual characters they desire, even risking being deceived? What do these characters mean to them? The article argues that the affective relationships between players and virtual characters cannot be understood independently from the marketing practices of a video game. It shows how the Animal Crossing ludo mix strategy’s uneven distribution of characters in- and outside of New Horizons is the underlying reason for fraudulent player practices to occur. It explains how Animal Crossing uses a blend of monetization approaches resembling the current game monetization trend of free-to-play games with random in-game purchases that use characters as fuel. Finally, it will argue that Nintendo needs to foster a community infrastructure that facilitates a safe exchange of the villagers and other items but due to its neglect to do so, it is actually the player market economies instead that are fostering such responsible gameplay.
2021
Suominen, Jaakko; Sivula, Anna
In: Swalwell, Melanie (Ed.): Game History and the Local, pp. 79-100, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, ISBN: 9783030664213.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Domestic gaming, Game history, Gaming memories, Nintendo, Oral history
@incollection{Suominen2021,
title = {A Place for a Nintendo? Discourse on Locale and Players’ Topobiographical Identity in the Late 1980s and the Early 1990s},
author = {Jaakko Suominen and Anna Sivula},
editor = {Melanie Swalwell},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-66422-0_5},
isbn = {9783030664213},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-05-25},
booktitle = {Game History and the Local},
pages = {79-100},
publisher = {Palgrave Macmillan},
abstract = {By using digital oral historical sources, Suominen and Sivula study the domestication of Nintendo console gaming in Finland in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. They analyse how the gaming memories are recollected and attached to particular places. According to Suominen and Sivula, the gaming identity is built around homes, but on the other hand, the domestic gaming is extended in public and mobile environments.
},
keywords = {Domestic gaming, Game history, Gaming memories, Nintendo, Oral history},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
By using digital oral historical sources, Suominen and Sivula study the domestication of Nintendo console gaming in Finland in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. They analyse how the gaming memories are recollected and attached to particular places. According to Suominen and Sivula, the gaming identity is built around homes, but on the other hand, the domestic gaming is extended in public and mobile environments.
2019
Nansen, Bjørn; Nicoll, Benjamin; Apperley, Thomas H.
Postdigitality in Children’s Crossmedia Play: A Case Study of Nintendo’s Amiibo Figurines Book Section
In: Mascheroni, Giovanna; Holloway, Donell (Ed.): The Internet of Toys: Practices, Affordances and the Political Economy of Children’s Smart Play, pp. 89-108, Springer Nature, 2019, ISBN: 978-3030108977.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Amiibo, Data, Nintendo, Play, Postdigital
@incollection{Nansen2019,
title = {Postdigitality in Children’s Crossmedia Play: A Case Study of Nintendo’s Amiibo Figurines},
author = {Bjørn Nansen and Benjamin Nicoll and Thomas H. Apperley},
editor = {Giovanna Mascheroni and Donell Holloway},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-10898-4_5},
isbn = {978-3030108977},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-02-21},
urldate = {2019-02-21},
booktitle = {The Internet of Toys: Practices, Affordances and the Political Economy of Children’s Smart Play},
pages = {89-108},
publisher = {Springer Nature},
abstract = {In this chapter, we use Nintendo Amiibo to interrogate the evolving intersection of crossmedia products and children’s cultures of play. Amiibo figurines are based on characters from various Nintendo franchises, such as Super Mario Bros., and use NFC tags to connect wirelessly to Nintendo’s Switch, 3DS and Wii U platforms. In their production, promotion and everyday use, the figurines solicit playful practices that cut across physical objects and digital spaces. Drawing on interface analysis, promotional discourses and videos of play on YouTube, this analysis highlights how Amiibos are framed as a means to envelop children in Nintendo’s crossmedia ecosystem by reinforcing a physical connection between child, toy, software, platform and intellectual property. Informed by the concept of postdigital play, we account for this reciprocal dynamic between children’s everyday play and the branded world of IoT products, and we point to emerging questions around children’s data literacies.},
keywords = {Amiibo, Data, Nintendo, Play, Postdigital},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
In this chapter, we use Nintendo Amiibo to interrogate the evolving intersection of crossmedia products and children’s cultures of play. Amiibo figurines are based on characters from various Nintendo franchises, such as Super Mario Bros., and use NFC tags to connect wirelessly to Nintendo’s Switch, 3DS and Wii U platforms. In their production, promotion and everyday use, the figurines solicit playful practices that cut across physical objects and digital spaces. Drawing on interface analysis, promotional discourses and videos of play on YouTube, this analysis highlights how Amiibos are framed as a means to envelop children in Nintendo’s crossmedia ecosystem by reinforcing a physical connection between child, toy, software, platform and intellectual property. Informed by the concept of postdigital play, we account for this reciprocal dynamic between children’s everyday play and the branded world of IoT products, and we point to emerging questions around children’s data literacies.