Animal Crossing
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Animal Crossing, known in Japan as Dōbutsu no Mori (どうぶつの森, lit. "Animal Forest"), is a video game series developed by Nintendo, in which the player lives his/her own virtual life in real time. The individual games have been widely praised for their uniqueness and innovative nature,[1][2][3] which has led to the series becoming one of Nintendo's leading franchises. As of March 2007, over 7,000,000 units of games from the Animal Crossing series have been sold.[4]
Series
Games
| Game | Format | First Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dōbutsu no Mori (どうぶつの森 lit. Animal Forest) | Nintendo 64 | 14 April 2001 (JP) [1] | First game in the series. Nintendo 64 version was released only in Japan. |
| Dōbutsu no Mori+ (どうぶつの森+ lit. Animal Forest+) | Nintendo GameCube | 14 December 2001 (JP) | GameCube version of Animal Forest, which used the system's internal clock to keep track of the date and time. |
| Animal Crossing | Nintendo GameCube | 15 September 2002 (NA) | English language version of Animal Forest+, with numerous additions to the previous version. |
| Dōbutsu no Mori e+ (どうぶつの森+ lit. Animal Forest e-Plus) | Nintendo GameCube | 27 June 2003 (JP) | An expanded port of Animal Crossing, for release in Japan. |
| Animal Crossing: Wild World (Known as Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori in Japan, おいでよ どうぶつ) | Nintendo DS | 23 November 2005 (JP) | The second game in the series, with the ability to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. |
| Animal Crossing Wii | Wii | Unreleased | Not yet released. |
Movies
| Title | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dōbutsu no Mori | December 16 2006 (JP) | Anime film based on the Animal Crossing series, released only in Japan. |
Seasons
As the Animal Crossing series games play in real-time, the seasons within the games change accordingly. A number of noticeable changes occur during each of the four seasons.
Spring
During spring, there are many insects living in their natural habitats. This season includes several holidays: in Animal Crossing, there is the Cherry Blossom Festival, during which tree leaves turn pink; in Animal Crossing: Wild World, there is the Flower Festival, a week during which the player can compete with villagers for the best garden.
Summer
Summer is when players can find the most insects buzzing about. In Animal Crossing, one can find a tent set up by a villager on weekends; if the player talks to the villager residing in the tent, the player may play a game with him/her. Sometimes villagers will give the player a summer-related item such as a Campfire. In Animal Crossing: Wild World, there is the Bug-Off, a bug-catching contest. It is also the only time of year where sharks are available for capture and on the 1st Saturday of August there will be a fireworks show.
Autumn
During autumn, the leaves start to change colors and the grass starts to become dormant for the year. There are several holidays in this season: in Animal Crossing, there is Thanksgiving (called the Harvest Festival) and Halloween; in Animal Crossing: Wild World, there is the Acorn Festival, during which the player is awarded pieces of the "Mush series" for collecting certain amounts of acorns. Unlike fruit from fruit trees, acorns only come from the plain trees that resemble fruit trees, not the cedar or fruit trees themselves.
Winter
During winter, snow falls and blankets rooftops, trees, and the ground itself. Small snowballs form randomly on the ground, and when these are pushed by players they can make snowmen; should the player create a "perfect" snowman, he/she will receive a piece of "Snowman furniture" in the mail. This is also when Jingle the reindeer comes around to give the children their Christmas presents in the original Animal Crossing (Christmas is known as "Toy Day" in Animal Crossing). Wild World does not have any sort of celebration on Christmas Day, with no references to Christmas, removed because of religious references/possible localization difficulties. When it nears Christmas in the original Animal Crossing, some trees will be decorated with flashing lights (resembling Christmas lights) on their branches. On "Animal Crossing: Wild World" the lights only flash on New Years Eve and New Years Day. Several of the villagers also build igloos at this time of year, allowing players to play games with the inhabitants. Sometimes the villager will give the player the infamous "DUMMY" item. Other times, villagers may give the player a winter-related item such as a Snow Bunny. In Animal Crossing: Wild World, the town celebrates "Bright Nights," a week during which villagers' houses will be decorated in lights; the player is allowed to vote which neighbor's house is the best-decorated.
Gaming Features
"Animal Crossing" maintains a list of all fish and insects caught by the player, one of the goals of the game being to catch every fish and insect, as well as to completely fill the museum. Some types of fish and insects are only available during certain parts of the year or at specific times. Both fish and insects can be donated to the museum, kept in the house as a decoration, or sold to shopkeeper Tom Nook for varying amounts, with some fetching prices as high as 15,000 Bells, such as the Stringfish, and others, such as the Cockroach, selling for only 5 Bells.
Insects
Capturing insects requires a net, which can be purchased at Tom Nook's store. Most insects can be found during the summer, and very few are available during winter. Most insects are found by walking around and listening to the loudness of an insect's chirping, or looking at trees or flowers, but some take more dedication. Pill Bugs must be found by using shovels or axes on rocks, and it is quite difficult to capture a Bee before it has the chance to sting the player and leave his/her left eye swollen shut. Ants and Cockroaches may be lured by spoiled turnips or Halloween candy that are on the ground . The Mole Cricket can only be found by listening for its distinctive sound and attempting to dig it up. The player's reward for capturing every type of insect is the golden net, which is larger than the standard net, and a butterfly model for the player's roof.
Fish
Catching fish requires a fishing pole, which is also available for purchase at Tom Nook's store. Ponds, lakes, rivers, and the ocean are available for fishing. Certain fish live only in certain bodies of water, and some fish can only be found while it is raining, as well as at certain times of the year and day. Fish are caught by placing the bait in front of the silhouette of the fish, then pressing the A button at the exact time the bait is pulled under the water. (This mechanic changed for the DS version, 'Wild World', in which you have to wait for the fish to start to 'struggle'.) The player's reward for capturing every type of fish is the golden fishing rod, which causes fish to stay on the line longer, thus making it easier to catch fish, and a fish-shaped weather vane for the player's house.
Fossils
When a player digs up a fossil in the ground, it is unidentified. In Animal Crossing, the player must send it in the Farway Museum to identify the fossil; in Animal Crossing: Wild World, the player instead asks the curator, Blathers, to identify it. Once identified, fossils can be sold to Tom Nook, donated to the museum, or displayed in the player's house.
Gyroids
Gyroids in Animal Crossing resemble "clay figures" and are found in the ground, usually after it has rained in the game. In the Japanese version of the game, "gyroids" are called haniwa, after a kind of archaeological artifact native to Japan. Gyroids make various sounds at intervals determined by the music the player has chosen to play in his or her house.
Pitfalls
While going about their daily lives, players may encounter an item known as the Pitfall. Pitfalls can be obtained by talking to villagers or by digging them up. To use a Pitfall, one must dig a hole and bury the Pitfall in the hole. When a villager, another player, or even the person who planted it steps on the buried Pitfall, they fall into a pit, hence the name, and must either press buttons or move the analog stick, or simply wait (which takes a longer period of time) in order to climb out. Non-villager NPCs are not affected by pitfalls however, that is changed in Animal Crossing: Wild World. Since many newcomers to the Animal Crossing world are unfamiliar with Pitfalls, many of them have confused the Pitfall with the glitch-inducing "DUMMY" item, or the Activision game Pitfall!. To avoid this confusion, the name of the item was changed from "Pitfall" to "Pitfall seed" in Animal Crossing: Wild World. On July 31 2007 the Pitfall item was announced on the Smash Brothers DOJO as a usable item in Super Smash Brothers Brawl.[5]
Pattern design
Players can also design patterns at the village tailor shop, the Able Sisters, which is run by two sister hedgehogs, Mabel and Sable Able, at a cost of 350 Bells. These patterns can be used for wallpaper, flooring, umbrellas, and shirts; in Animal Crossing, the player can use the pattern on the door of his/her house. Players can also use the Game Boy Advance, hooked up to the Nintendo GameCube with a GCN-GBA link cable, to design for free. After a player designs patterns, he/she can put up to eight of them on display at the tailor shop: four as shirts, and four as umbrellas; in Animal Crossing: Wild World, all eight patterns are displayed as shirts. This allows other villagers to wear those patterns. If players put up signs of those patterns around town, they could become more popular. Mabel Able will tell the player the most popular shirt and umbrella patterns if asked. In addition, Sable Able becomes more friendly to the player when she is talked to enough and the player has created a number of designs. Sable Able is the elder of the Able sisters by 10 years and seems to be somewhat attracted to you.
If the player's character is a boy, then he wears a stereotypical Viking-styled hat. If the player's character is a girl, then she wears a cone-styled hat. In Wild World, there are much more different shapes of hats available, although the player's designs are still restricted to Viking-style (otherwise known as bull like), or Cone-style depending on gender. In Animal Crossing: Wild World, the player's character can take off the hat and, for the first time in the Animal Crossing series, go around town "hatless".
Happy Room Academy
Once a player finishes Tom Nook's chores, the Happy Room Academy ("HRA") will begin judging the interior design of the player's house every other day (in Animal Crossing: Wild World, the player's house is judged every Sunday). Providing the player has changed their interior since the previous inspection, the HRA will send the player a letter informing him/her of his/her point rating. The HRA judges the upstairs and first floor of a players house, according to a point system. Upon earning certain point marks, the player will receive prizes.
Shopping
While in Animal Crossing, the main way to obtain new items is via purchasing them from Tom Nook's shop. When players begin their adventure, the store is an understocked, tiny building, resembling a log cabin and called Nook's Cranny. As players progress through the game, Tom Nook expands his store, each time making it larger and increasing the daily inventory.
Eventually, a department store is opened by the raccoon, called Nookington's, which is staffed by Nook and young twin raccoons named Tommy and Timmy. Though most believe them to be Nook's relatives (sons, nephews, etc.), they are actually not related to him at all. However in Animal Crossing: Wild World, cranky villagers sometimes ask the player if they have heard of Tommy and Timmy Nookling; if the player says yes, the villager says, "If I had children like that... oh never mind." This implies that they could be related to him; also, Nook states in a side story in Animal Crossing: Wild World that they are of no relation (also quoting, "Why, haven't you ever heard them refer to me as 'Mr. Nook?'" and "I'm still a bachelor."). The latter may be why many fans consider them to be his nephews. However before Nookington's, Nook's Cranny can upgrade to Nook 'n Go, of which the player has to spend 25,000 bells, and then Nookway, of which 65,000 bells must be spent in Nook 'n Go, then to upgrade to Nookington's, the player must spend 150,000 bells and in the Wild World version, a friend on another Nintendo DS must purchase one item from Nookway.
At the end of every month in Animal Crossing, Nook runs a raffle, which players can enter by handing over five raffle tickets, won by buying furniture, wallpaper, flooring, clothes, and umbrellas over the course of the month. Items cannot be purchased or sold on Raffle Day. Tickets for a particular month must be used in that month, but of any year; e.g. a set of April tickets obtained in 2006 cannot be used in May 2006, but can be used in April 2007.
Feng Shui
Certain furniture items in the game have the properties of feng shui. If certain colored items are placed on certain sides of the player's house, the player will have an increased chance of finding rare items, Bells, or both. The use of feng shui will also result in a higher Happy Room Academy score.
Other items, such as trophies and items received on holidays, will provide good luck in money and items regardless of placement or color.
Cameos in Super Smash Bros.
Due to the popularity of the series, Animal Crossing characters and items have made many cameo appearances in the latter two entries of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Series.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Tom Nook, K.K. Slider (under his real name, Totakeke), and Mr. Resetti appear as trophies players can collect within the game. Because the game predated the release of the Gamecube iteration of the series (the first one to be released in North America), their first appearance is listed as 'Future Release'.
The series has even more significant cameos in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The series gets both an item (the Pitfall, described above) and a stage, called Smashville. The song "Go K. K. Rider!" has been remixed to play on this stage. Also, Mr. Resetti is set to appearing in the game as one of the assist trophies.
Smashville is basically a platform high above an Animal Crossing town containing many of the game's buildings and houses and features many characters from the game who spectate and communicate with each other and change around randomly, the time of day and scenery is determined by the Wii's internal clock in similar fashion to the Animal Crossing games. Special events also appear to occur during a specific time and date the stage is played; at 8:00 pm on Saturdays, K.K. Slider will appear and host a live guitar performance. The stage is influenced by Animal Crossing: Wild World.[6]
Just Recently this has been announced that the Charater Resitte will be a trophe.
References
- ^ "IGN: Doubutsu no Mori Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ "IGN: Animal Crossing Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ "Animal Crossing: Wild World for DS Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ "Animal Crossing in Shigeru Miyamoto's Keynote at GDC". The Bell Tree (03-10-07). Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/items/item06.html
- ^ http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/stages/stage06.html
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