Animal Crossing 3.0's in-game consoles offer promise but disappoint

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 reintroduces playable, emulated Nintendo consoles with six retro titles, but the article criticizes the game selection and notes those titles require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons' 3.0 update is presented as a major milestone with several notable additions. The update adds the Resort Hotel, Slumber Islands for multiplayer, new collaboration items, and new villagers. It also brings back in-game, playable emulated Nintendo consoles, a feature absent from recent Animal Crossing releases. The consoles are tied to specific retro games in the update, and the article highlights disappointment with some of the choices and with an access restriction. What is known: - The update includes several emulated Nintendo systems listed in the article: Famicom, Famicom Disk System, NES, Game Boy, Super Famicom, and SNES, with each system linked to a single retro title. - The full lineup reported by the article is: Famicom: Clu Clu Land; Famicom Disk System: Ice Hockey; NES: Ice Climber; Game Boy: Dr. Mario; Super Famicom: Panel de Pon (Tetris Attack in the West); SNES: F-Zero. - The article describes F-Zero, Panel de Pon, and Dr. Mario as enjoyable choices and characterizes Ice Climber and some other inclusions as less compelling. - The article reports that playing these emulated games inside Animal Crossing requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, and that this requirement was mentioned during the 3.0 announcement. - The article frames the paywall and the limited six-game selection as making the consoles feel like a missed opportunity rather than a triumphant return. Summary: The in-game consoles bring playable classic titles back to Animal Crossing but, according to the article, the small selection and the need for a Nintendo Switch Online subscription reduced their impact. Undetermined at this time.