Enjoying Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, the new IOS and Android version of Animal Crossing? Then you might be interested to know that Nintendo has released more details on their upcoming service entitled Pocket Camp Club. The monthly paid subscription service is intended to not only make more money for Nintendo, but also add new features and improvements to the overall gaming experience, just like Nintendo Switch Online.

The first plan announced, the Happy Helper Plan, allows you to choose an animal character to fulfill requests and achieve event goals, for US$2.99 a month. The Cookie & Depot Plan gives you access to the entire fortune cookie collection to browse and buy, even if out of stock, and store excess clothes and furniture, for US$7.99 a month. Both plans reduce the time for crafting things, as well as a journal about the animal characters and exclusive news to Pocket Camp Club members.

The official YouTube videos can be seen here:

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Source

 

[HarveyHouston]

Discouraging articles about Pocket Camp:

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has slowly gone from disappointing to actively bad - Polygon

Have we been betrayed by the brand with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp? - The Boar

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Is Mindless, Frustrating, And Kind Of Fun - Kotaku

This one is really good: Pocket Camp goes against everything Animal Crossing stood for - Medium

 

[FAST6191]

Only one of those articles is recent and discusses these changes though. Or are you trying to demonstrate it starting bad and getting worse?

 

[HarveyHouston]

Only one of those articles is recent and discusses these changes though. Or are you trying to demonstrate it starting bad and getting worse?

Yes. The one on Medium still applies, though.

 

[Deleted-236924]

I suggest that anyone who plays Pocket Camp leave feedback on this to Nintendo. Tell them why you don't like it, and what should be done. If we don't tell now, Nintendo will go ahead with what they're already planning to do with the plans. That's why it's important to leave feedback NOW.

Money speaks louder than words though.

 

[Dax_Fame]

I think you should care. What happens on mobile platforms can affect other platforms, too. If Nintendo finds that subscription services do well in Pocket Camp, they may do something similar for New Horizons. We need to voice our concerns to them before that happens. Just so you all know, I already left feedback on this, so please don't think I'm trying to get everyone to do something that I'm not doing.

Switch already got it's pay wall, it's called Switch Online. Remember those free online Splatoon matches?

Asking for anything more than that, as far as subscriptions for one specific title would be suicide.

If that happens I'd honestly begin to wonder if EA bought Nintendo out and they're just up on the chopping block.

 

[MikaDubbz]

I think you should care. What happens on mobile platforms can affect other platforms, too. If Nintendo finds that subscription services do well in Pocket Camp, they may do something similar for New Horizons. We need to voice our concerns to them before that happens. Just so you all know, I already left feedback on this, so please don't think I'm trying to get everyone to do something that I'm not doing.

Nintendo has made it clear that they aren't very supportive of how much their mobile affiliates are monetizing their games with microtransactions and the like, but they ultimately don't seem to have much say in how much they do get monetized. Based on what we've continued to see from Nintendo in their console games, I really don't think this is anything to worry about. Microtransactions and the like are nothing new and have been shown to be highly profitable for quite some time, and yet still, in terms of console titles, they continue to show little interest in going to extremes. So no, I don't think this is something I should care much about in regard to their console titles.

From a story that was reported earlier this year in regard to their mobile titles:
"In some cases, players can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars trying to win special items," a report from The Wall Street Journal reads. "Fearing such behaviour will damage Nintendo's brand image, the company has asked its partners to adjust the games so that users won't spend too much, according to people familiar with Nintendo's strategy."

Unfortunately that seems to be the extent that they can influence the mobile devs though. So said devs can and will neglect Nintendo's advice and monetize the titles like crazy. Sucks, but thankfully those same mobile devs are not making Nintendo's console titles.

 

[HarveyHouston]

Nintendo has made it clear that they aren't very supportive of how much their mobile affiliates are monetizing their games with microtransactions and the like, but they ultimately don't seem to have much say in how much they do get monetized. Based on what we've continued to see from Nintendo in their console games, I really don't think this is anything to worry about. Microtransactions and the like are nothing new and have been shown to be highly profitable for quite some time, and yet still, in terms of console titles, they continue to show little interest in going to extremes. So no, I don't think this is something I should care much about in regard to their console titles.

From a story that was reported earlier this year in regard to their mobile titles:
"In some cases, players can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars trying to win special items," a report from The Wall Street Journal reads. "Fearing such behaviour will damage Nintendo's brand image, the company has asked its partners to adjust the games so that users won't spend too much, according to people familiar with Nintendo's strategy."

Unfortunately that seems to be the extent that they can influence the mobile devs though. So said devs can and will neglect Nintendo's advice and monetize the titles like crazy. Sucks, but thankfully those same mobile devs are not making Nintendo's console titles.

So, this is more DeNa's doing? Then explain Nintendo Switch Online. It seems to be a monetization strategy similar to Pocket Camp Club, or am I missing something?

 

[MikaDubbz]

So, this is more DeNa's doing? Then explain Nintendo Switch Online. It seems to be a monetization strategy similar to Pocket Camp Club, or am I missing something?

Switch Online is pretty easy to explain. Like I said, Nintendo doesn't want to go to extremes with monetization. I'm not saying any monetization is off the table. If they followed the mobile models, they'd make us pay a subscription fee for every individual game we play online. Instead we have one small yearly fee of $20 for all online games (with the bonus of classic NES and SNES games, and maybe even more classic systems in the future). That's a far cry away from the scummy shit we see in mobile games like microtransactions, loot crates, etc. Like I said, I'm not worried about that stuff getting heavily implemented into Nintendo's console games, and their small yearly online fee does not upset me. Once their console games start to look as predatory as mobile titles, then I'll be concerned, but as things stand now, I just don't see that happening.

 

[HarveyHouston]

Like I said, Nintendo doesn't want to go to extremes with monetization. I'm not saying any monetization is off the table. If they followed the mobile models, they'd make us pay a subscription fee for every individual game we play online. Instead we have one small yearly fee of $20 for all online games. That's a far cry away from the scummy shit we see in mobile games like microtransactions, loot crates, etc. Like I said, I'm not worried about that stuff getting heavily implemented into Nintendo's console games, and their small yearly online fee does not upset me. Once their console games start to look as predatory as mobile titles, then I'll be concerned, but as things stand now, I just don't see that happening.

I see your point. Still, I have some concern that Nintendo is interested in microtransactions, since before the Switch came out Online Play was free, and is still the case for the Wii U and 3DS, but you have to pay for it on the Switch. It seems wrong to me. I mean, I know why they're doing it, from a financial standpoint, but it doesn't seem very consumer-friendly.

 

[MikaDubbz]

I see your point. Still, I have some concern that Nintendo is interested in microtransactions, since before the Switch came out Online Play was free, and is still the case for the Wii U and 3DS, but you have to pay for it on the Switch. It seems wrong to me. I mean, I know why they're doing it, from a financial standpoint, but it doesn't seem very consumer-friendly.

Eh, I can write off a single online subscription fee for all their console gaming, when the all three of them do that now, plus you do get all those NES and SNES games with it, and possibly more in the future (Wouldn't be surprised to see N64 and GBA get added down the line as well). And such a model is not at all directly tied to microtransactions. Sony is really good about not getting deep into that stuff either despite the fact that they too have a yearly online subscription fee. Plus, this is Nintendo, they do seem to have some legit morals about this kind of stuff as they know how it would negatively effect brand recognition, and I don't see that changing anytime soon, they seem genuinely upset that their mobile partners are getting as into this kind of stuff as they are. I'll happily eat crow if Nintendo suddenly adds a slot machine into Smash Bros. tomorrow, but I just can't fathom that being something they do. At worst they do Amiibo, but you still get something genuinely nice in a physical sense along with that, and then they have legit DLC and expansion packs. If they ever move beyond that stuff, they really aren't showing much of any sign of it with their console titles.

 

[FAST6191]

Eh, I can write off a single online subscription fee for all their console gaming, when the all three of them do that now, plus you do get all those NES and SNES games with it

*old woman mode*
"If the other two jumped off a cliff..."
/old woman mode

If all it takes to appease people is a handful of token games they already made and released half a dozen times before over the last 15 years (2004 being the GBA famicom mini stuff).

Running an online service should have come with the console, or been a price shouldered by the game in question, or the fees on the shop, or by letting users run the servers (never mind they still are as a lot of this is p2p servers). It is also far from a token sum even if we don't consider any of those -- $20 * however many millions of gullible fat walleted types... is enough to run that several times over for the rest of its likely life.

 

[MikaDubbz]

*old woman mode*
"If the other two jumped off a cliff..."
/old woman mode

If all it takes to appease people is a handful of token games they already made and released half a dozen times before over the last 15 years (2004 being the GBA famicom mini stuff).

Running an online service should have come with the console, or been a price shouldered by the game in question, or the fees on the shop, or by letting users run the servers (never mind they still are as a lot of this is p2p servers). It is also far from a token sum even if we don't consider any of those -- $20 * however many millions of gullible fat walleted types... is enough to run that several times over for the rest of its likely life.

My point isn't that it's a great deal or anything like that. Just that paying for Switch online is a far cry away from microtransactions and loot crates. If those are the same things to you, then OK, but I simply don't recognize it that way at all. Microtransactions and loot crates annoy the shit out of me and I wont partake in them, one small yearly fee to play all Switch games online is something I don't have a problem with. Simple as that.

 

[FAST6191]

My point isn't that it's a great deal or anything like that. Just that paying for Switch online is a far cry away from microtransactions and loot crates. If those are the same things to you, then OK, but I simply don't recognize it that way at all. Microtransactions and loot crates annoy the shit out of me and I wont partake in them, one small yearly fee to play all Switch games online is something I don't have a problem with. Simple as that.

While there is some difference I don't see why such a service should be paid -- I did the back of the envelope calculations a while back and it is a rounding error for most companies, never mind a project like this, not to mention on the game front then requirements have remained stagnant and server costs have only gone down.

To that end the only reason to charge from where I sit is "because we can" and thus attracts my ire.

 

[Bladexdsl]

my my my how nintendo have lost their way. this game now joins the long list of shit micro$ garbage mobile games add it to the top of the heap. and rename it to animal crossing the paywall

 

[HarveyHouston]

my my my how nintendo have lost their way. this game now joins the long list of shit micro$ garbage mobile games add it to the top of the heap. and rename it to animal crossing the paywall

Animal Crossing: Money Talks. Wait, they're AC/DC'ing us?

 

[MikaDubbz]

While there is some difference I don't see why such a service should be paid -- I did the back of the envelope calculations a while back and it is a rounding error for most companies, never mind a project like this, not to mention on the game front then requirements have remained stagnant and server costs have only gone down.

To that end the only reason to charge from where I sit is "because we can" and thus attracts my ire.

That's really not the point I've been getting at, at all. Whether or not we should have to pay for online service is besides the point. What has been my point is that it's really not a predatory thing, at least not in the way that microtransactions and loot crates and the many other things you see mobile titles do. While people can plop down hundreds or even thousands of dollars on microtransactions and loot boxes in a matter of no time, paying 20 dollars a year to play any Switch game online is really not in the same league of that kind of thing. If that's the worst we can expect from Nintendo being predatory with monetization in their console games, then I really don't have a problem with that. If however they add in slot machines and require us to pay just for a different coat of paint on an item in game, that will be when I start to recognize that Nintendo's console games are truly going down the same path that mobile gaming monetization has gone down. But again, given their company values and morals, I really don't see that happening any time soon.

 

[BvanBart]

The prices are way to high!! Mario Kart, Animal Crising. Combined that’s 10 euro per month.
Ofcourse you still don’t have to buy them...

 

[Bladexdsl]

nintendo are pathetic now. they release maybe TWO good games a year for the switch and fuck all else and micro$ GARBAGE mobile TRASH like this the rest of the time!