To say that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has exploded in popularity would be a huge understatement. The game has become enormously popular, and players are finding new and exciting things to do and create in it every day. Already players have created helpful things like a New Horizons weather tracker to help other players know when to bring an umbrella, or find a double rainbow.
One of the most ambitious ventures taken in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the creation of a late night talk show. Gary Whitta, one of the writers of Star Wars: Rogue One, as well as a journalist and game designer, recently created Animal Talking. The hour-long episodes appear on Whitta's Twitch channel and, subsequently, his YouTube channel. Each episode takes place inside a New Horizons house decorated as a talk show set, complete with "live" (played during filming) music.
Whitta's Animal Talking began back in August, and has already had several big names for its first season. With the likes of Felicia Day, Elijah Wood, and T-Pain as guests, there have been a diverse range of people and professions on the virtual couch. Now Animal Talking is going into its second season with an episode featuring Kevin Smith, That Violin Chick, Marc Bernardin, and Sting. The episode will premiere at 9AM on June 24, and will feature Sting performing an unheard version of one of his songs (the song is not specified).
Sting's upcoming appearance on the show has actually been known for some time. The announcement of his performance was made prior to the reveal of the new episode's guests. In fact, it was announced both Sting and Shaggy would perform on Animal Talking this season. Presumably Shaggy will be part of a later episode, though no word on which or who else will share that episode.
The idea of using New Horizons as a virtual hosting ground for a show is a great one, and Whitta's connections have made for an impressive guest list. Animal Talking has been very well received, and shows no signs of slowing down. With traditional talk shows, along with other performance and show options, still stymied from COVID-19, it is a perfect workaround. While Animal Talking bills itself as the only talk show in Animal Crossing, this may not stay the case for long.
Another fun aspect of the show is providing insight into who uses New Horizons and how. One of the guests on Animal Talking was Danny Trejo, the famous action star. While most would not associate Trejo with a game like New Horizons, he apparently spends as much time with it as anyone. In fact, Trejo has become a regular guest on Animal Talking. Who knows what else will come to light on Whitta's virtual couch?
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on the Nintendo Switch.
Source: IGN