Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing

The Animal Crossing series logo.
Genres Community simulation
Developers Nintendo
Publishers Nintendo
Platforms Nintendo 64, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U
Platform of origin Nintendo 64
Year of inception 2001
First release Animal Crossing
April 14, 2001
Latest release Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival
November 13, 2015
Spin-offs Happy Home Designer
Amiibo Festival

Animal Crossing (どうぶつの森 Dōbutsu no Mori, lit. "Animal Forest"), is a community simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo, in which the human player lives in a village inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, carrying out various activities including fishing, bug catching, etc. The series is notable for its open-ended gameplay and extensive use of the game systems' internal clock and calendar to simulate real passage of time. Four Animal Crossing games have been released worldwide, one each for the GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, and the Nintendo 3DS. The series has been both critically and commercially successful and has sold 23.711 million units worldwide.[1][2][3][4] Two new spin-off games, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, were released for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U respectively in 2015. During Nintendo's April 2016 financial meeting, they announced that Animal Crossing, along with Fire Emblem will become Nintendo's second and third mobile games respectively. [5]

Gameplay

In all of the Animal Crossing games, the player assumes the role of a human character, who moves into a rural village populated with anthropomorphic animals and lives there indefinitely. Gameplay is open-ended: players have no defined objectives, but are instead encouraged to spend their time in the village performing any number of activities, which include collecting items, planting plants or other items, and socializing with the village's residents. All Animal Crossing games are played in real time, utilizing the system's internal clock and calendar. Thus, passage of time in the game world reflects that in reality, as well as the current season and time of day. Some in-game events, such as holidays or the growth of a tree, occur at certain times or require some duration of time to have passed.[6]

One notable feature of the Animal Crossing series is the high level of customization available, some of which affects the outcome of the game.[7] The player character is both named and gendered by the real life player at the start of the game, and their appearance can be modified by buying or designing custom clothes and accessories or changing the hairstyle (introduced in Wild World). The player's house can also be furnished, decorated, and later expanded: the player can purchase and collect furniture from Tom Nook, the village merchant, and place it anywhere in the house, as well as change both the wallpaper and floor designs. While its terrain, building locations, and initial residents are randomly generated when the game is first begun (unless you are playing the latest installment, Animal Crossing New Leaf, in which you decide between four towns that are given to you(but the residents are still random)), the village's name and anthem, as well as some of the residents' catchphrases, are also determined by the player.[7]

Collecting items is a major facet of Animal Crossing: the player can explore the village and gather objects, including fruit from trees, seashells, and discarded items. Nearly all objects can be sold to Tom Nook for Bells, the in-game currency; objects that Tom Nook will not pay the player for will be taken by him free of charge. Players collect objects as often as possible to obtain more Bells, which can then be used to buy desired items. A number of specialized tools are available for other activities such as fishing and insect collecting. Special items, such as fossils and paintings, may be donated to the village museum. The player can choose to socialize with the other animal residents by engaging in conversation, sending and receiving letters, bartering, or playing hide-and-seek. Residents may move in or out of the village depending on the player's actions.

All installments of Animal Crossing allow some form of communication between players, both offline and online. A single village can house up to four human players, though only one can be exploring the village at any given time.[6] The players can interact via written messages through the village post office or bulletin board. The GameCube iteration allowed players to travel to other villages by trading memory cards written with the game data,[7] but all subsequent installments allow players to travel and interact online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, although City Folk also allows the DS Suitcase to travel to others' towns.[8][9]

Games

Animal Crossing (2001)

Animal Crossing (どうぶつの森, lit. Animal Forest) originally released only in Japan for the Nintendo 64 in 2001. It was eventually enhanced, and released on the GameCube the same year. This version was localized and released in North America on September 15, 2002, in Australia on October 17, 2003, and finally in Europe on September 24, 2004. An extended version titled "Dōbutsu no Mori e+" was released on June 27, 2003 in Japan only. The game also launched in 2006 in China for iQue Player.

Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005)

Animal Crossing: Wild World (おいでよ どうぶつの森, lit. Come to Animal Forest), released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on November 23, 2005, North America on December 5, 2005, Australia on December 8, 2005, and Europe on March 31, 2006, was the first game in the series to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. An anime tie-in movie was released alongside this game, though it was never released outside of Japan.

Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008)

Animal Crossing: City Folk (known in Japan as: 街へ行こうよ どうぶつの森, lit. Let's Go to the City: Animal Forest; known in Europe and Oceania as Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City), released for the Wii in 2008 (2010 in South Korea), was the first Wii game to utilize the Wii Speak, an accessory for online play.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012)

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (とびだせ どうぶつの森, lit. Jump Out Animal Forest), released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on November 8, 2012 and in other regions in 2013, is the first game where the player can take on the role of town mayor.

Spin-off games

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is a Community Simulator game for Nintendo 3DS and the first spin-off of the Animal Crossing series. It received mixed reviews from critics.[10] Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival is a party game for Wii U that heavily utilizes Amiibo. It was negatively received by critics.

Apps

Reception and legacy

Aggregate review scores
As of September 5, 2014.
Game Metacritic
Animal Crossing 87[12]
Animal Crossing: Wild World 86[13]
Animal Crossing: City Folk 73[14]
Animal Crossing: New Leaf 88[15]

The Animal Crossing games have garnered positive response.[7][8][9] The first three games are among the best-selling for their respective consoles. Animal Crossing has sold 2.321 million copies;[16][17] Wild World 11.74 million;[18] and City Folk 3.38 million.[19] Animal Crossing: New Leaf has so far sold 9.17 million units.[20] In total, the Animal Crossing franchise has sold 26.6 million units.

An anime film adaptation of Wild World, titled Dōbutsu no Mori, was released in Japan on December 16, 2006. The film was produced by OLM, Inc. and distributed by Toho. Dōbutsu no Mori earned ¥1.8 billion (approximately $19.2 million) in the box office.

The 2008 Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl features a wide number of elements from Wild World. Most prominent is a stage based on the animal village, called "Smashville," which changes its scenery in accordance with the Wii system clock[21] and features a number of songs remixed or extracted from the original game.[22] Mr. Resetti and a pitfall seed, which appear in all Animal Crossing games, are available as an Assist Trophy and an item respectively.[23][24] Brawl also features 24 collectible trophies based on Animal Crossing characters and items.[25]

Wii Music features two playable songs from Animal Crossing.

The minigame "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day" in Nintendo Land is based on the Animal Crossing game series. The objective of the game is for the Wii Remote players (1-4), to gather large amounts of candy scattered around the area and store them in their head without getting caught by the Groundskeepers, who are controlled using the 2 Wii U GamePad analog sticks.

A playable character called "Villager" represents the Animal Crossing series as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. His or her moves include the ability to catch other players in a net and firing Lloid the gyroid as a missile. Additionally, Isabelle from New Leaf appears as an Assist Trophy, and two new Animal Crossing stages appear in the games: "Town & City" from City Folk in the Wii U version, and "Tortimer Island" from New Leaf in the 3DS version. "Smashville" from Brawl returns in the Wii U version.

Villager and Isabelle are playable characters in Mario Kart 8 via downloadable content, along with a racetrack based on Animal Crossing.[26]

On June 5, 2015, Isabelle and Mr. Resetti were added as craftable costumes for the player's "Palico" in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. [27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2008/080425e.pdf#page=6
  2. ↑ Tang, Chris. "The Magic Box - US Platinum Chart Games.". the-magicbox.com.
  3. ↑ http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2009/090130e.pdf#page=6
  4. ↑ "IR Information : Sales Data - Top Selling Software Sales Units - Nintendo 3DS Software". Nintendo.
  5. ↑ Seedhouse, Alex. "Next Nintendo Apps Will Use Fire Emblem & Animal Crossing Franchises". Nintendo Insider. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 Schneider, Peer (May 30, 2002). "Animal Crossing Preview". IGN.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Schneider, Peer (September 5, 2002). "Animal Crossing Review". IGN.
  8. 1 2 Harris, Craig (December 5, 2005). "Animal Crossing: Wild World Review". IGN.
  9. 1 2 Harris, Craig (November 16, 2008). "Animal Crossing: City Folk Review". IGN.
  10. ↑ "Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer announced for 3DS". Gematsu.
  11. ↑ "Photos with Animal Crossing - Nintendo UK Summer Tour 2015 video". Nintendo Everything.
  12. ↑ "Animal Crossing (GCN) at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  13. ↑ "Animal Crossing: Wild World". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  14. ↑ "Animal Crossing: City Folk reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  15. ↑ "Animal Crossing: New Leaf". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  16. ↑ "US Platinum Videogame Chart". The Magic Box. 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  17. ↑ "Nintendo Gamecube Japanese Ranking". Japan Game Charts. 2007-05-06. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  18. ↑ "Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2014" (PDF). Nintendo. 2014-12-06. p. 6. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  19. ↑ "Financial Results Briefing for the Fiscal Year Ended March 2009: Supplementary Information" (PDF). Financial Results Briefing for the 69th Fiscal Term Ended March 2009. Nintendo. 2009-05-08. p. 6. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  20. ↑ "Financial Results Briefing for the Fiscal Year Ended March 2014: Supplementary Information". Financial Results Briefing for the 74th Fiscal Term Ended March 2014. Nintendo. 2014-05-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
  21. ↑ Sakurai, Masahiro (July 13, 2007). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Smashville". Nintendo.
  22. ↑ Sakurai, Masahiro (April 3, 2008). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Full Song List with Secret Songs". Nintendo.
  23. ↑ Sakurai, Masahiro (September 26, 2007). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Mr. Resetti". Nintendo.
  24. ↑ Sakurai, Masahiro (September 26, 2007). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Pitfall". Nintendo.
  25. ↑ Sakurai, Masahiro (April 8, 2008). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Trophy List". Nintendo.
  26. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (August 26, 2014). "Zelda, Animal Crossing Coming to Mario Kart 8". Kotaku. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  27. ↑ "Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate June DLC Brings Animal Crossing, Devil May Cry and Awesome Designs". Nintendo Life.
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