Animal Crossing: New York's Museum is directed to Twitch by real aquarium staff

Sears Island has a fascinating museum. The owl named Blves greets players at the front door, and the museum branches into three immersive sections: old, bugs and fish. The aquarium, on the right, houses liters of water in its main tanks, each doubling to mimic the island's diverse ecosystem. In a man-made pond, koi dodge lilypads and sea grass while turtle turtle lounges on the log. The deep sea creatures – such as the oarfish and the coelacanth – tread lightly in the black tank, reminiscent of the bottom of the ocean.

The Sears Museum is not real. It is my own invention Crossing the Animals: New Horizons island – and is one of the few places of genre currently open in the world. Museums and aquatic facilities alike are permanently closed as the coronavirus epidemic keeps visitors locked in their homes.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, in Monterey, California, is one of those water affected. Closed for tourists (but open, nonetheless, for staff is essential for the care of creatures) starting March 12. As at the English Rural Life Museum in the U.K., the Monterey Bay Aquarium is offering its activities online – including Crossing the Animals: New Horizons.

Aquarium staff have been broadcasting the game on social media for several days now, and on Monday, they will provide a special exhibit: Hosted by archaeologist Emily Graslie of Chicago & # 39; s Art Museum to assist with a special Animal Crossing & # 39; s-museum tour the game.

"One of Animal Crossing & # 39; s main game mechanics is to count the animals and fossils on your island to be the keeper of your island flower, Blies – making this game, as we play it, the Natural History Museum Simulator," aquarium communications expert Emily Simpson and content creator Patrick Webster told Polygon in an email. "With these centers closed due to COVID-19, the game can be an escape to do that, of course, by the Aquarium and other museums every day. We show you the wonderful life you share with your world, and tell you some fun things about it! , it's like we're back in our showroom, excited to discover new things and share it with the world. "

Photo: Nintendo EPD / Nintendo via Polygon

All the animals, bugs, and fossils found there Crossing the Animals: New Horizons it is based on real-world types, it said. In particular, Simpson and Webster claim that one of the bones – T. Rex – based on an image of the Garden Museum: the famous fossil SUE, which was distributed in South Dakota in 1990.

Fossil expert Graslie said he was very happy to see Dimetrodon, a pet more closely related to humans than dinosaurs, inside Crossing the Animals: New Horizons. "The fact that you can get Dimetrodon in this game is very good, and that the engineers used this as an opportunity to teach players about the evolutionary history of Dimetrodon at its best," Graslie told Polygon in an email. “Now my social network is full of players sharing their Dimetrodon pictures. It's a good reminder that they learned something (and were happy to do it.) ”

Of course, that's not all it can be that it is accurate. The one absurd part is that they are all located on the same island. "It's very easy to hunt for fossils and collect game information," Simpson and Webster said.

The Animal Crossing Museum tour will begin at 2 p.m. PDT / 5 p.m. EDT Twitch

"You will learn about everything from ancient dinosaurs and fish, marine mammals and the extinction of cephalopods, and the museum presents itself based on its evolution," said Simpson and Webster. "It also classifies game fish and insects based on their nature, both in the theater and on the island. Feathers are a wonderful source of information and, mocking myths about the difference between true dinosaurs and reptiles, and spreading happiness through his endless enthusiasm for our environment."

But the staff at the Monterey Aquarium are more than willing to teach the players about it barreleye fish, a species discovered by a researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Monterey Submarine Canyon. This strange, deep-sea fish has a head and "its eyes go straight to the clear dome to see the food that goes up," says Simpson and Webster. It is one of those creatures that seems too ridiculous to be real, and yet here – in both reality and Crossing the Animals: New Horizons.

Graslie said the Animal Crossing museum is special because "it is one of the few things we love about our world, and it extends to the celebration of the diversity of the game."

"There is a natural curiosity we all have at some point in our lives about the critics we share with our world, and Animal Crossing promotes that sense of exploration and discovery with a small barrier to entry when in the game," Graslie said. "Everyone has access to (and donations!) Of new discoveries on their island. They get to participate in laying the foundations for cataloging and cataloging. thank the hundreds of thousands of museum staff and scientists who are doing this work every day of our world. ”