Animal Crossing In-Game Talk Show Created by Rogue One Writer

While the Animal Crossing franchise has always inspired a lot of creativity from players, Animal Crossing: New Horizons seems to have inspired its audience in a much more significant way than even Nintendo could have thought possible. The latest such example is an in-game talk show, created by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story writer Gary Whitta! Whitta created the “set” for the show in the basement of his Animal Crossing home, and debuted the show on Twitch. The show promises celebrity guests, topical humor, live music, and more. It’s definitely new territory for Animal Crossing, but the set looks great, and it seems like the kind of thing that could truly take-off in the pandemic era.

Whitta’s show takes a lot of inspiration from The Tonight Show, Between Two Ferns, and similar talk shows. While the animation is voiced over, Whitta makes great use of the game’s emotes, in order to truly channel the late night feel. It’s clear that Whitta is having a lot of fun with the idea, but he still seems to be approaching the concept seriously. Given the fact that Whitta has worked on multiple video games in the past, it certainly makes sense!

With so many celebrities currently playing New Horizons, it seems like Whitta won’t have too much difficulty finding guests. The first episode of Animal Talking featured guest Naomi Kyle. The next episode of the show airs tonight at 7 p.m. PT on Twitch. Tonight’s guests include Mary Kish, comedian Mike Drucker, and musical guest Raquel Lily.

For Animal Crossing fans that have been with the series since the GameCube days, it truly is amazing to see how far the franchise has come with its latest installment. The game has clearly gone from being a niche series for Nintendo, to a true pop culture sensation. It’s impossible to say where the series will go from here, but it’s clear that players have only scratched the surface of what’s possible in the game.

Do you plan on watching Animal Talking? What do you think of the show’s concept? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!