Reggie Fils-Aimé wants to sell his Animal Crossing island on blockchain

Oh Reggie, you were such an icon for Nintendo. Everyone should remember Reggie Fils-Aimé, the previous Nintendo of America president and COO. He did, after all, spawn a bunch of memes, which are always welcome on the internet. Recently, some disappointing news came along with the Nintendo icon’s name. Reggie Fils-Aimé believes in blockchain and would sell his Animal Crossing island through it if he could.

Reggie Fils-Aimé… why?

This Nintendo icon shared his thoughts on blockchain in a recent interview at SXSW 2022. When asked about the role of play-to-earn, blockchain, and crypto in the future of gaming, Fils-Aimé responds he’s a “believer in blockchain. I think blockchain as a technology is really compelling technology. I’m also a believer in the concept of play-to-won within video games.”

He follows this up with an example regarding his Animal Crossing island.

And I say this as a player where I may have invested 50 hours in a game, a hundred hours in a game—there’s some games I’ve invested 300 hours in a game. And when I’m ready to move on to something else, wouldn’t it be great to monetize what I’ve built? I bet I’d have some takers here today if I wanted to monetize my Animal Crossing island, from the latest Nintendo Switch version. I’d like to be able to monetize that.

Given the bad rep blockchain often gets from players, Fils-Aimé adds onto his statement from a player perspective.

I say that in the context of “it needs to make sense for the player.” It can’t just be an approach by the developer that “it’s interesting” or it’s a way for them as a development entity to make more money. In the end, it’s gotta be good for the player. But I see an opportunity. 

I’ll give Reggie this: he’s a lot more well-spoken than most people I see talking about blockchain. He offers some actual insight to how he views the process rather than saying “it looks interesting.” The problem with these statements, though, lies in the concept of blockchain itself. There’s no reason it needs to be included in games. Not everything revolves around monetary value. Some people play games just to enjoy them, you know.

Not everything is about money

Aside from the questionability of how good NFTs and blockchain are for the environment and the countless scams companies are involved in, blockchain simply doesn’t belong in the video game market. Reggie Fils-Aimé may believe opportunity lies there, but given his role as a businessman, I’m not surprised to hear he thinks that. 

Via, Kotaku.