Special Episode: A Media Historian Plays Animal Crossing Fun Games with Serious People

As we were wrapping up this season, I reached out to some of my earliest guests to record some extra bits for their episodes – and one of those people was Laine Nooney, from the episode: Is Untitled Goose Game Queer? While I meant to talk with Laine about some topics that came up during the Untitled Goose Game Episode, we tumbled into a really interesting conversation about Animal Crossing – the game that defines the quarantine experience for so many people. While everyone was confined to their apartments and homes, in Animal Crossing, we could visit each others’ islands. I visited Laine via Zoom to talk about how Animal Crossing fits into game history and this specific moment. (filmed and recorded April 2020)

 

Listen to the full episode:

 





















































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Laine Nooney

   Laine Nooney  is an Assistant Professor of Media Industries at New York University, specializing in historical, cultural, and economic analysis of the video game and computer industries. Her research has been featured in popular venues such as The Atlantic,Flash Forward Podcast,The Internet History Podcast, andNPR, as well as academic journals such asGame Studies,The American Journal of Play, and Journal of Visual Culture .