There was a game there for you on a bad day. It was there for you on a good day. It was a great way to procrastinate. It was one of the BEST games you could play when you were a kid. This game is Club Penguin.
It was an MMO that had a ton of games and activities that you could play when you got home from school. The appeal lay in the idea that you could share your igloo (home) with other members which created large maps, you were allowed free clothing items whether you were a paid member or not, and there were Club Penguin parties just about every month.
Nostalgia is powerful in all things, but especially with games.
Enter: Club Penguin Island
When it comes to revamping old game content, in this case Club Penguin, a lot of factors must be considered — the most important is fan reciprocation. What I mean by this, is how well will the fandom receive the new version of the content that you are pushing?
The general consensus for Club Penguin Island seems to be that fan reciprocation is low. Very low. In fact, Google Play gives it a 2.3 rating. That spells bad news for the game’s continuity.
It All Went Downhill On March 30, 2017
Club Penguin Island was released for mobile devices on March 30, 2017.
During the first set of downloads, the servers crashed. And that would have been fine (for the first day), but then it became worse.
Apologies for the downtime that Club Penguin was having. We temporarily crashed their servers as a warning on what’s to come Nov 29.
— LULZ (@lulzzcp) August 25, 2011
We just crashed club penguin servers nation-wide and probably ruined 100+ kids days. #OperationGothicAvalanche
— Jared (@jared_leri) August 27, 2013
It seems to be impossible to play the game for five minutes before a membership ad pops up. Many of the features that were available on the original Club Penguin game are either no longer available, or are only available to paying members.
Today is the beginning of the end of the world. Global warming melted the Club Penguin island. Goodbye childhood. pic.twitter.com/Zj2pP6YRRB
— The Person (@Peteseewastaken) March 29, 2017
But the worst thing is that the masses are calling for Disney to bring back the original Club Penguin.
@clubpenguin honestly ur new game is garbage just bring back the old club penguin @FaZeApex u agree right
— William (@Royal_Twistt_TK) April 7, 2017
@clubpenguin @thelifeofapig Here’s a suggestion, bring back Club Penguin!
You must be tempted by the poor reviews and low number of active players (vs CP).— Isaac Faruque (@Isaacraft123) April 4, 2017
@clubpenguin @thelifeofapig Here’s a suggestion, bring back Club Penguin!
You must be tempted by the poor reviews and low number of active players (vs CP).— Isaac Faruque (@Isaacraft123) April 4, 2017
It’s Not All Bad News
There are a few people who are asking players to give the developers some slack as the game has only been around for a short while. Some even have high hopes that the PC version (if they choose to create one) will be just as amazing and creative as the original.
What are your thoughts? Are these defenders of Club Penguin Island correct? Or will they fall prey to their whims of better days to come?
