Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City

[Tellyn]

Okay sorry, he doesn't. It was this bit that I was thinking of, I must have misread it.

 

Iwata:When you were planning to take a trip to your friend's town, you needed to arrange the time beforehand and make sure that you were both using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection at the same time.

 

 

Nogami:And one player might want to play at a certain time that didn't really suit other players. For that reason, this time around we wanted to use WiiConnect24 to allow players to enjoy the communicative element of the game more, without having to make this effort.

 

 

Iwata:Could you tell us what precisely WiiConnect24 adds to the game?

 

 

 

Nogami:The first thing we thought of is something we sort of stole from the Mii Channel...

 

 

Iwata:What do you mean "stole"? It was you who developed the Mii Channel! (laughs)

 

 

Nogami:Well, you have a point there! (laughs) So we used an idea from the Mii Channel, and decided that we would have the data about players' towns automatically exchanged with their friends. This exchange of information started with the DS version, when you needed to have two separate consoles, each with a Game Card, connected. But this time around, by connecting to WiiConnect24, without one player having to visit the other player, the town data could be exchanged before either player knew it. So then all of a sudden you'd get an animal that's new in the neighbourhood, who's just moved from your friend's town, introducing himself: "Hi! I've just moved from so and so town."

 

 

When he mentioned the hassle about having to organise a time, and the exchanging of town data I just assumed...

[Rummy]

It'd be alot more awesome if me and my mates online could actually live the same town somehow. Imagine that! But alas no. Anyway, can anyone give me a good reason to buy this? Is it *really* anything more than the last two iterations reincarnated for a new platform, or does it bring enough new things to the table? Bear in mind, I didn't even buy MKWii cos I felt it didn't do anything new enough, has this done more than that??

[Hero-of-Time]

So you cant visit the towns of others when they aren't there? Well thats a major downer then.

[Hellfire]

So you cant visit the towns of others when they aren't there? Well thats a major downer then.

You can only see their rooms, at least when they're in HRA.

 

What's the point of going to another town with no player there? Asides from destroying his flowers, stealing fossils and fruit and chopping down his trees?

[killthenet]

Exactly, I don't give a shit about going to someone elses town when no one's there. With Animal Crossing it's always been about your town and your villagers and on that front Let's Go To The City has definately improved over it's predecessors. Relationships and interactions with the animals has become much more complex since Wild World, which will make for more variation in your communication with the animals.

 

After all Animal Crossing is a communication game and not just communication between you and other humans, but you are your villagers too. Where does visiting an empty town and burning down all the trees come in to communication?

 

I'd rather they hadn't put online into Animal Crossing at all, but these days everything has to be online otherwise it's classed as archaic bullshit that doesn't belong in the 21st century.

[Marcamillian]

I can see the advantages of living in the same town/being able to visit someones town when they're not there. You could com in, turn on your console and someone coulda done something nice for you like pulled your weeds, or you could just check to see waht your friends have been up to...but on balence i think you would always be annoyed that someone had messed with your town. Your town should stilll be your space and having your effort destroyed by someone else (or red turnip stolen) would be all too likely. I'm just buzzed that you can send letters to your friends at any time.

 

(p.s. Rummy is weakening... i've been chatting to him and he has flashes of interest...lets make him one of us!)

[killthenet]

Just tell him to check out that neogaf thread that was linked a page or two back. It really got me psyched up for some Animal Crossing Wii, just make sure to avoid the pictures that the haxxors have uploaded to it. Gronk.

[flameboy]

Just picked up the new Edge. Their review freely admits that there is very little new they still gave it 7, a higher score than Resistance 2, Mirror's Edge, Call of Duty World at War and the same score as Fallout 3....

 

Good Nintendo issue all round actually, interview with Shigsy and Luigi's Mansion is this months Time Extend.

 

I still have misgivings about this version of AC but am starting to get a lot more psyched about it.

[ThePigMarcher]

Gave in , and stuck in my pre-order (no Wiispeak though).

 

Was reading through ONM and noticed that the customisation features have been improved a little bit with the addition of 'pro' outfits , which gives the ability to design seperate fronts , backs and sleeves to the outfits. Wasn't aware of this change , only a minor thing admittedly.

 

I wonder how long it'll be before all of my villagers are wearing Seahawks shirts :p

[flameboy]

Gave in , and stuck in my pre-order (no Wiispeak though).

 

Was reading through ONM and noticed that the customisation features have been improved a little bit with the addition of 'pro' outfits , which gives the ability to design seperate fronts , backs and sleeves to the outfits. Wasn't aware of this change , only a minor thing admittedly.

 

I wonder how long it'll be before all of my villagers are wearing Seahawks shirts :p

 

same here....how long before I get my villiagers in a pompey top!

[nekunando]

I haven't bought an issue of ONM in a long time (possibly more than a year..) but I saw the new one on their website and and since it's the Christmas issue, I might just give in and buy it

 

One reason I want to get it is the Animal Crossing review! I quite liked the look of Animal Forest when I first saw pictures back in the N64 days but I have never really played one yet. I've never been sure about it.. I tried Animal Crossing: Wild World for a brief 5 minutes (I never gave it enough time) but I've always got the impression I won't like it ..the problem is, I really want to like it and the more I see of Let's Go To The City, the greater the desire grows! I think it might be a different story if I have my own game, my own town, my own house instead of mucking about with someone else's for a minute or two

 

Considering I haven't played before, there's no problem with the whole 'seen it, done it' thing.. and I'm definitely coming round to the idea of picking this one up! The urge to play has crept up on me in the last couple of days..

[Coolness Bears]

Just tell him to check out that neogaf thread that was linked a page or two back. It really got me psyched up for some Animal Crossing Wii, just make sure to avoid the pictures that the haxxors have uploaded to it. Gronk.

 

Checked out that thread too. It makes me so pumped for the game! : peace:

 

I didn't want this that much but when I see screens of it and everything It reminds me of how much I actually love the game.

 

I don't actually care that is pretty much the same game. I'm very much willing to do everything over again. Especially since the Villagers have become a lot more interesting!

 

It looks really good to me now and there is enough new stuff to keep me interested. Plus my Wild World has gone to pot. :p

[Hero-of-Time]

You can only see their rooms, at least when they're in HRA.

 

What's the point of going to another town with no player there? Asides from destroying his flowers, stealing fossils and fruit and chopping down his trees?

 

I would never be that nasty

 

The reasons for me wanting to visit my mates villages is pretty much what Marcamillian said. I would like to leave them gifts and clean up the place while they are out etc. Its not a feature that will stop me from buying the game so no harm done, just a slight bit disappointed by it thats all.

 

I haven't bought an issue of ONM in a long time (possibly more than a year..) but I saw the new one on their website and and since it's the Christmas issue, I might just give in and buy it

 

They gave the game 90% and heres the review.

 

Let's get this out of the way first so there is no confusion. If you owned the GameCube version of Animal Crossing then this Wii sequel is more of an update than a proper, brand new game. Your enjoyment of it will depend on whether you don't mind going through many of the same tasks again, and how much you'll make use of the game's Wi-Fi features. As a result, the majority of this review is mainly for the benefit of those who didn't have Animal Crossing on the GameCube, since for them Let's Go To The City will feel like a much newer experience.

 

In case you're not familiar with the Animal Crossing series and have played neither the GameCube game nor its DS sequel, allow us to fill you in. Animal Crossing is a "life simulation" game in which you take control of a character who's recently moved to a new town. After finding a house and meeting the neighbours, you pretty much have a free reign to do what ever you want in the village: go fishing, design clothes, buy and sell goods... there's a wide variety of options available to you.

 

At the start of the game, after choosing a house, your given employment at Nook's Cranny, a shop run by the local raccoon shopkeeper Tom Nook. As in previous versions of the game, you're given a few tasks to do in exchange for some money that goes towards your mortgage (which must be paid off before you can make your house bigger). However, these tasks are virtually identical to those in the other versions of the game: plant some flowers outside the shop, deliver a carpet, write an ad on the town's noticeboard and so on. At this point you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was simply the GameCube game with pointer controls tacked on.

 

Thankfully, as the game progresses it becomes clear that it actually has a lot more going for it. Although it always feels like little more than an enhanced version of its older brothers, these enhancements do improve the experience. Whether its subtle improvements (like being able to swap between tools by simply pressing left and right on the D-Pad instead of having to go into a menu and equip them) or more obvious ones (such as the online features and the enw city area), everything that's been added to the game will make you think "ah, nice one".

 

Naturally, the main addition to Let's Go To The City is the new city area, which can be accessed by going to the bus stop at your town's front gate. It's not really a city as such, just a small plaza area with nine different services available to you. That said, it's a cheery little place which makes a pleasant change from the typical Animal Crossing surroundings. It's also a great way to meet other characters in the game, because anyone who doesn't live in your town can be found walking around the city or inside its shops at ransom moments.

 

While it's a bit limited, the city does include some interesting shops that become more useful as you play the game more and start racking up the big bucks. Shops like Gracie Grace and the auction house aren't very useful at the start of the game, but once you've got a lot of bells in your account you'll be able to start buying expensive furniture and bidding on rare items. It's a nice way of adding to the game's longevity while also giving you another goal to aim for (one day we'll buy that Sweets Table in Gracie Grace, even if it is 120,000 bells).

 

The city also allows you to get a haircut whenever you feel like it (or exchange your Animal Crossing face for a Mii one), get your shoes shined, learn new emotions (handy for online chats), get your fortune told and visit the Happy Room Academy to see how to improve your house's décor.

 

As well as the city, the game's other big selling point is the wide range of online features available. Up to three other people can visit your village at the same time, and you can make use of the Wii Speak microphone (which is available as part of a bundle with the game) in order to have voice chat with them. Security isn't really a problem because, as you'd expect, you need to trade Friend Codes with someone before they can visit you town or talk to you.

 

There are other little bits and pieces that make use of the Wii's Wi-Fi connection, such as the ability to take a photo at any point by pressing the 1 button then saving it to an SD card so you can send it to a mate using the Wii Photo Channel. There's also the promise of free downloadable content, which in theory should keep the game constantly fresh (much like Mario Kart Wii's competitions do), but of course at the time of writing we couldn't test this since Nintendo had yet to make any content available for download.

 

Then there's the auction house, located in the city, where you can place rare items up for auction and have other people compete to make bids for it in a sort of Animal Crossing version if eBay.

 

In another nice touch, seasonal holidays have returned to the game, having been absent from the DS title. This means on Halloween you can find Jack and give him some candy to get some special furniture, on Christmas Eve you can get presents from Jingle the reindeer and on Valentine's Day you may get a letter from a female resident with a gift in. Which would be romantic if they weren't all from rabbits and hippos and stuff, and the thought of having any sort of romantic relationship with them didn't seem wrong in every possible way. Before any cynics start thinking "big deal, Halloween and Christmas Eve were in the GameCube game too", there are also some new holidays that are appearing for the first time in an Animal Crossing game such as Easter (or Bunny Day, as it's known in the game) and a carnival which comes to the town.

 

Whether or not Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City is worth buying depends entirely on your previous experience of the series. It seems that the game isn't really aimed at those who owned the GameCube version of Animal Crossing. Indeed, if you owned the GameCube and DS titles then you may not feel that a city area and a few new online features are enough to justify buying a third version of the game, since much of it is the same. That said, we fall into this category and the Wii version has taken over our lives all over again.

 

If you owned the DS game but never had the GameCube one then it's a different story. Nintendo clearly wants DS owners to see the Wii version as an upgrade, as many of the TV and magazine ads Nintendo is releasing to promote the game make a big deal of the ability to copy over your character and possessions from the DS game so you continue playing the Wii game from where you left off.

 

As a result, if you're a DS owner treating the Wii version as an upgrade then we have no problems recommending Let's Go To The City to you. You'll certainly find enough here to keep you happy, such as the return of numerous Cube features (which will of course feel new to you) and the enhanced graphics which blow the DS visuals out of the water.

 

Naturally, however, the people who will get the most out of the game will be those who have never played an Animal Crossing game before. If you fall into this category and the game is guaranteed to be an entirely new experience then it's one of the most essential Wii games out, and one of the most involving games you'll ever play.

 

Verdict:

 

+ Packed full of Nintendo Charm

+ You'll be playing for months

+ Visit friends and voice chat

+ Downloads will keep it fresh

- Not new enough for veterans

 

90% Not so much a sequel as the Cube version with new features, but still essential for anyone happy to start again.

[Ten10]

I'm personally out this time. I got bored quite quickly. I brought into the hype everyone was making about the DS version even though I knew what I was buying into, and soon enough the game sat in my DS collection collecting dust. To tell the truth I'd say this is a version of animal crossing that just happens not to be portable with a city thrown in as a trade off.

 

Its still just the same old same old animal forest which eventually went crossing. Chop chop, dig dig, catch fish get money etc. I though by now they would implement some sort of a vehicle system. It would be great to race friends around town on a bike or something and would make trekking less of a chore.

[david.dakota]

Yeah, i think i'm sitting this one out... In the hope that Animal Crossing HD offers something a little more, er, new.

[Marcamillian]

I could just be behind the times here, but, playing WW the other week Nooky boy was all depressed. When I asked he said that cause the mable sisters wouldn't join in on his new venture... in the big city... Coincidence, widley known fact already or precurser... I don't know.

[Rummy]

Well, I must say, reading that review for ONM, it's not helped sell the game to me! Only thing that'll convince me is if enough people I know get/have it, it being cheap, and...if they'd actually bothered to make a game, rather than an enhanced remake/port. Consider that Nintendo pimped the Wii as being incredibly easy to code for given its similarity to the gamecube, it doesn't really seem like they've put any serious effort at all into this game, and that's why I don't feel inclined to get it. They could have done so much, and yet they've not?? This shoulda been a serious title for them, they coulda done so much, gotten both new and old gamers on board! Again, it seems, Nintendo are just leaving the old schoolers behind in the dust.

[Choze]

Just doesnt seem like they bothered.

[dazzybee]

Just doesnt seem like they bothered.

 

Insightful.....

 

I mean, if you're going to be negative at least go crazy like this guy.....

 

Everytime I see new scans it depresses me it really does, I'm waiting to see new things but no - it's the same tom nooks, it's the same cafe with KK, the bugs, the fruit on the trees, the fishing, the villagers - IT'S EXACTLY THE FUCKING SAME!!!!!!

 

I hope they're holding back the new stuff for surprises but fuck me are th dishing out the same shit every time!!! Why can't we have loads of different fruit trees, why can't we farm? Why can't we....... Oh why bother.......

..........

 

Still waits for something different in the game.....nope.....not this time......

 

 

 

 

I know, it's fucking painful isn't it? 6 pages of scans and the only thing with NEW next to it, is some glasses, a couple of TShirts and a fucking duck beak mask (which admitedly cool)......This game infuriates me every time I see new pics and read about it..... I really, really hope I'm wrong and the game has new features; but it really looks EXACTLY the same. The Animal Crossing series is lazier than what Capcom did with the Street Fighter 2

................

 

I'll defend Nintendo more than most; but Animal Crossing and Wii Music are the biggest dissapointments I've witnessed outside of supporting Spurs!! Seriously, I would say I think it's a joke but 1. People will say "But it's supposed to be a toy!!!!!!" Bollocks and 2. I'm getting both games so I'm a fucking moron!

.................

 

So this game has hide and seek. Ive seen the vide and its with computer players and they look AWFUL at the game! I blind person could find them!

 

So.....can someone ease my fears and confirm that you can play this with REAL friends!

 

The only way this game wont be a big rip off is if they add loads of extra 'games' you can play with friends and the city aspect is much more bustling than originally thought!

 

................

 

I know, it's fucking retarded isn't it. Nintendo have really, truly taken the piss with this game. It's borderline embarrassing, and if Wi Speak didn't come with it I wouldn't have bothered. Nintendo haven't changed ANYTHING about this game (please no one take this literally and start telling me about the city area and the fucking shoe shine)!! This is the laziest thing I have seen Nintendo do......EVER!! It's absolute joke and I wish some gaming site would really challenge and push the issue with Nintendo.

 

..............

 

Throughtu this thread I have moaned and moaned about this game, decretly hoping that all its enhancements were subtle pieces of genius! Now I see that actually it REALLY is just the same game.

 

Why did Reggie try and blag this as "the hardcore" game for xmas when 1. It's simply NOT a hardcore game and 2. The hardcore gamers who would be interested in it will have already played it.....TWICE

 

A game with so much potential for expansion, especially with online being pushed the generation....why would Nintendo do NOTHING to the game? Why would they be so lazy with on e of their biggest games, which is being released as their big hit in the biggest season for gaming! It's baffling and would love an explanation!!

 

I'm actually now considering NOT getting this and just getting WiiSpeak instead; I've played the Gamecube and DS version so much, and I actually don't know anyone getting the Wii version and that's where the real fun comes from..... Plus I have so many games to play through!!!

 

Nintendo, you've really let the the fans down with this!! You better make up for it in 2009!!

...............

 

The auction house is ONLY available to people on your friends list!

Tom Nook makes you do EXACTLY the same tasks as he did in Wild World and the Cube version.

You can't wear an accessories as your Mii.

There's NO extra multiplayer games or stuff.

 

Nintendo? You are fucking retarded. What the hell have the undoubtedly hundreds of people developing this game been working on?!?! Fuck me is it frustrating!

 

..............

[Rummy]

Insightful.....

 

I mean, if you're going to be negative at least go crazy like this guy.....

 

 

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Hats off good sir, though this now quotey quote misses all your quotes, I rather understand where you are coming from with all of this. It's a fucking joke, especially given the amount of bunce the bastards are raking in. They try and say all this shit about not deserting the core, but it's just another lie upon which they seem to have based their company for the last few years.

[Tellyn]

You're a bloody nutcase, Dazzy.

[Guest Maase]

LOOOOOOOOOOL

Dazzybee seems like maniac in denial, saying to himself "Don't worry, dazzy, i'm sure they will fix this game, yes... i'm sure (laugh)"

 

Seriously, though, i'm the only one who will probably enjoy this game a lot, simply because i never played Animal Crossing before, it will be completely new to me

[Hellfire]

That guy was crazy Dazzy!

[flameboy]

I cancelled my preorder....but decided to sign up for a free lovefilm trial and set Animal Crossing as the one and only I game I want to recieve at the moment, so with any luck it will show up around launch(ish) window and this means I can try it out and decide if its worth the investment.

[david.dakota]

I cancelled my preorder....but decided to sign up for a free lovefilm trial and set Animal Crossing as the one and only I game I want to recieve at the moment, so with any luck it will show up around launch(ish) window and this means I can try it out and decide if its worth the investment.

 

Better still, root out your Gamecube copy and prop up the front of your television for a 'rolling log' effect.