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16 days after the election in November, Nintendo updated the game's Usage Guidelines for Businesses and Organizations, significantly narrowing how they could use the game for advertising. This included a rule requesting that offensive content be refrained from being created in-game, along with a statement asking to "refrain from bringing politics into the Game." However, this rule does not clarify what "politics" specifically Nintendo wanted to keep out of the game, and it appears to be in effect for any content created after the update, as it seems that none of the Hong Kong protest content or the Biden campaign's promotional content were taken down.
Game Rant article about Hong Kong protesters' use of the game:
https://web.archive.org/web/20201210204024/https://gamerant.com/animal-crossing-new-horizons-hong-kong-protests/
Articles about the game's ban in China:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200410104013/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nintendo-china-animalcrossing/nintendo-game-pulled-from-chinese-platforms-after-hong-kong-protest-idUSKCN21S11F
https://web.archive.org/web/20200416110238/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52269671
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/04/china_bans_sales_of_animal_crossing_new_horizons_in_suspected_censorship_scuffle
Articles about the Biden campaign's use of the game:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210125204030/https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/1/21409727/biden-harris-animal-crossing-campaign-new-horizons-yard-signs-election
https://web.archive.org/web/20201206183737/https://thehill.com/policy/technology/514585-biden-campaign-releases-animal-crossing-yard-signs
Usage Guidelines update and articles:
https://web.archive.org/web/20201120084649/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/animalcrossing_announcement/en/index.html/
https://web.archive.org/web/20201119171601/https://gamerant.com/animal-crossing-new-horizons-politics-nintendo/
https://web.archive.org/web/20201119085654/https://gamerant.com/animal-crossing-content-creator-rules-change/
https://web.archive.org/web/20201210204024/https://gamerant.com/animal-crossing-new-horizons-hong-kong-protests/
Articles about the game's ban in China:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200410104013/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nintendo-china-animalcrossing/nintendo-game-pulled-from-chinese-platforms-after-hong-kong-protest-idUSKCN21S11F
https://web.archive.org/web/20200416110238/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52269671
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/04/china_bans_sales_of_animal_crossing_new_horizons_in_suspected_censorship_scuffle
Articles about the Biden campaign's use of the game:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210125204030/https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/1/21409727/biden-harris-animal-crossing-campaign-new-horizons-yard-signs-election
https://web.archive.org/web/20201206183737/https://thehill.com/policy/technology/514585-biden-campaign-releases-animal-crossing-yard-signs
Usage Guidelines update and articles:
https://web.archive.org/web/20201120084649/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/animalcrossing_announcement/en/index.html/
https://web.archive.org/web/20201119171601/https://gamerant.com/animal-crossing-new-horizons-politics-nintendo/
https://web.archive.org/web/20201119085654/https://gamerant.com/animal-crossing-content-creator-rules-change/
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Within the game's code are 22 unused reactions; while several of them are animations designed for interactions with Wisp, Gulliver, K.K. Slider, and campers, many others are standard emotions, leaving it unknown why these ones were removed. While additional reactions would be added in various updates, none of the 22 unused ones were among them.
Additionally, one unused reaction is the Shrunk Funk Shuffle; this was previously obtainable in Animal Crossing: New Leaf after obtaining all other reactions from Dr. Shrunk. Its presence in the game's code thus implies that at one point in development, players were intended to learn reactions from him like in previous titles. In the final game, players instead obtain them through a variety of methods (i.e. being taught them by villagers and Jack, purchasing Nook Miles rewards, attending aerobics classes for 50 days, and completing the Happy Home Paradise DLC), while Dr. Shrunk only appears as an occasional visitor in the Roost from Version 2.0 onward.
Additionally, one unused reaction is the Shrunk Funk Shuffle; this was previously obtainable in Animal Crossing: New Leaf after obtaining all other reactions from Dr. Shrunk. Its presence in the game's code thus implies that at one point in development, players were intended to learn reactions from him like in previous titles. In the final game, players instead obtain them through a variety of methods (i.e. being taught them by villagers and Jack, purchasing Nook Miles rewards, attending aerobics classes for 50 days, and completing the Happy Home Paradise DLC), while Dr. Shrunk only appears as an occasional visitor in the Roost from Version 2.0 onward.
YouTube video showing the unused reactions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_68tCl6emdg
The Cutting Room Floor articles:
https://tcrf.net/Animal_Crossing:_New_Horizons#Unused_Reactions
https://tcrf.net/Animal_Crossing:_New_Horizons/Revisional_Differences
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_68tCl6emdg
The Cutting Room Floor articles:
https://tcrf.net/Animal_Crossing:_New_Horizons#Unused_Reactions
https://tcrf.net/Animal_Crossing:_New_Horizons/Revisional_Differences
subdirectory_arrow_right PETA (Company)
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To coincide with the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, PETA released a "Vegan Guide to Animal Crossing".
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Coincidentally, 16 villagers would be added in the Version 2.0 update, but none of them use the house seen in the removed screenshot.
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The reason for the game's sudden shift from a town to a deserted island was as a result of Animal Crossing's director Aya Kyogoku wanting to bring something completely new to the series. Kyogoku believed that players were "moving to a new location that already existed," and "wanted to giving them a new experience and thought a deserted island would be perfect."
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