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'Nintendo Selects' a slightly different set of games for Europe
Nintendo's new Mario Kart Wii pack is coming to Europe on May 20, at a "reduced trade price" around £129/€150. The budget "Nintendo Selects" line will launch in Europe the same day, featuring a slightly different lineup from the American version: Wii Sports, Animal Crossing: City Folk (under the overlong European title Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City), Mario Strikers Charged, and WarioWare Smooth Moves. Mario Super Sluggers isn't part of the series because it was never released in Europe!
Nintendo phasing out Wii Speak peripheral from retailers
We're finding it hard to accept the fact that future generations of Wii gamers won't be able to experience the raw thrill of one roomful of people chatting it up with another roomful of people during an Animal Crossing: City Folk session. Sadly, that's the hard, hard truth one must extract from Nintendo's recently announced decision to phase out the Wii Speak peripheral, which is now only available "at limited retail locations." Nintendo refused to hammer the final nail into the poor, puck-shaped microphone's coffin, however, telling GameSpot that "additional shipments can be made if consumer demand increases." In that case, we suppose our grandchildren can still have conversations with strangers' living rooms -- but they'll have to organize some kind of movement in order to do so.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Nintendo gives you a pile of trash
If you've been doing your due diligence with Animal Crossing: City Folk, know that Nintendo has a full month of activities ahead for October. The first item on the agenda is giving you a nice pile of trash. No, seriously, if you connect your Wii to the internet, you can get a letter from Nintendo with a free pile of leaves attached. It should go wonderfully with that trashcan you have sitting in your house's corner. Head past the break for the rest of this week's content on the Nintendo Channel.%Gallery-27704%
New DLC makes Animal Crossing avatars look even more punchable
To celebrate the release of Punch-Out!!, Nintendo is offering a gift to European Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City players on Little Mac's behalf. Is it enough to bring prodigal Crossers back into the Wii game? Well, only those who love headgear. We kind of think the protective boxing equipment looks slightly supervillain-esque, which is a bonus. From now until June 5, Let's Go to the City players who have WiiConnect24 on can get a gift of green boxing headgear just for turning the game on and checking their mail. The headgear will be stuffed into a letter. The item has yet to appear on the North American DLC hub, but we're confident American gamers will be able to protect their avatars' squishy heads soon. [Via N-Europe]
Analyst: Poor Wii Music, Animal Crossing sales stamina to blame for downturn
Wii sales have been the lowest they've ever been in Japan. Is the Japanese public losing interest? Screen Digest analyst Ed Barton told GameBizBlog that the Wii sales downturn is mostly due to the lack of staying power exhibited by Animal Crossing: City Folk and Wii Music. Barton says that the continued success of Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii only back up his claim. "These are older games that obviously have shown tremendous stamina, but Nintendo always needs to bring out new ways to drive console sales forward, and we just didn't see that with Wii Music and City Folk." Even though both titles sold decently enough (Animal Crossing was one of the region's top 10 selling games in 2008 and Wii Music debuted with 92,000 units sold in its first week), they lacked the necessary sales stamina of Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii. He says that there isn't much hope on the horizon either, despite the imminent release of Monster Hunter 3 on Wii. He warns that trying to transfer the user base from handheld to home console is risky and that the gamble may not pay off for Nintendo. Barton is of the mind that "it won't have the same level of success that it had on the PSP."
Nintendo opens NA Animal Crossing: City Folk DLC hub
North American Animal Crossing fans finally have a place to check for upcoming DLC updates to City Folk. Nintendo has opened an Animal Crossing: City Folk DLC hub site outlining downloadable content and game updates specifically for the NTSC region. A similar site is already available to Japanese gamers. Currently, the hub lists a special "shamrock hat" (available until March 24) delivered to town via a letter with the attached item with special Spring content coming soon. Let's hope that the update also means that North American City Folk will get as much cool content as their Japanese counterparts. [via GoNintendo]
Missouri Police say adults shouldn't play Animal Crossing
Son, turn the game box off and come over here. Now, since you turned 18 your mom and I have been meaning to talk with you about your little habit. No, not the smoking or the drinking. Really, we're fine with all of that. No, what we're concerned about is the time you spend exchanging friend codes with all those people in Animal Crossing: City Folk. We've been talking to Detective Andy Anderson of the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force, who says that he "cannot come up with any legitimate reason that an adult would be playing that particular game." Now, heaven knows what you've been putting in all of those letters and gift boxes, but Anderson told ABC affiliate KMIZ that you, and others like you, are likely playing Animal Crossing and similar games "for the wrong reasons." Sure it's addicting, but it's also evil, so please, son, do us all a favor and put the controller down and go play something more your age. But before you go, tell your mom to put down that galdarned Peggle and bring me a turkey pot pie. I'm glad we had this little chat. [Via Game Politics]
Animal Crossing City Folk for thrifty folk
It's not too often that a major first-party Nintendo release gets a price drop. That makes today's Amazon deal of the day, Animal Crossing: City Folk, somewhat of a novelty. If you thought $50 was too high for what seemed like a minimal content upgrade over Wild World, how does $30 sound? We're guessing it's going to sound pretty good to a lot of people -- enough people that Amazon will run out of stock before the end of the day. As usual, the person who benefits most from this deal is Tom Nook. Sometime within the 5-8 day Free Super Saver Shipping period, Tom Nook is going to find himself with a veritable army of new indentured residents. %Gallery-27704%
February's Wii software usage: Smash Bros. still on top, Animal Crossing sees boost
MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo recently posted a breakdown of the amount of playtime users logged during the month of February for various Wii titles using statistics that are readily available on the Nintendo Channel. Most of the results are unsurprising -- the top three spots are currently occupied by Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Guitar Hero III and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, respectively. Those three titles have remained in said spots since September of last year.However, a number of games saw massive usage boosts over the past month -- most notably, the average user's monthly playtime with Animal Crossing: City Folk increased nearly seven hours, bringing the game to a fifth-place finish for February. Similarly, Call of Duty: World at War's average playtime increased over five hours, bringing it up to 13th place. Sadly, Ninjabread Man didn't place at all -- but that won't stop us from holding out hope for a strong March showing.
Wii Warm Up: Crossing into 2009
Animal Crossing: City Folk was seen as a bit of a disappointment by some longtime Animal Crossing players, due to the fact that it is extremely similar to previous iterations, with a perceived lack of much new content. But the real worth of any Animal Crossing game is revealed by its longevity, and we thought we would query you guys about that as we begin 2009.Are you still actively participating in your town's life? If so, how long have you had the game? Do you foresee City Folk becoming a long-lived pastime for you, or will you put it down as soon as something else catches your eye?%Gallery-27704%[Image via Technofranki]
Fanswag: Animal Crossing goes to ...
Well, our latest giveaway has come to a close and we've been waiting long enough to select a winner. The lucky recipient of Animal Crossing: City Folk is none other than: Beerbandit, who loves to fish Congrats to our winner and better luck next time to all of you. Keep your eyes on Wii Fanboy. We'll be starting up another giveaway soon.%Gallery-27704%
Reminder: Animal Crossing still up for grabs
Like free stuff? Well, why not try and win a game for free, on us? This week's we're giving away a copy of Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii. Want to get in on the action? Check out the original contest post right here.Best of luck to you all and, remember: this contest ends Sunday night and you can enter once each day.%Gallery-27704%
Animal Crossing: Let's Get a New Disc from Nintendo
When Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City was released, Australians discovered, to their horror annoyance, that the DS Suitcase feature was unusable in their region. Since the Australian release of Wild World on the DS used the exact same code as the North American version, the Wii game identified it as coming from the wrong region.Australians who would like to be able to transfer their DS characters and catalogs into Let's Go to the City are advised to contact Nintendo to exchange your disc for a new replacement, which will allow the DS Suitcase feature to work with Australian copies of Wild World. Unfortunately, of course, if you want to use your DS character, that means starting over in Let's Go to the City.%Gallery-27704%[Via VOOKS]
Lock up your children: Mr. Resetti may 'disturb' them
FACT: Animal Crossing games would be a lot less awesome without Mr. Resetti. The maddened mole teaches his lessons through tough love, subjecting players to lengthy, unavoidable rants every time they "forget" to save their game. Now, we're willing to admit that our parents contributed in some small way* to our upbringing, but would we be the same, upstanding citizens we are now without the firm intervention of Resetti? No. That's why we were disappointed to hear that the mole now carries his own warning, in case he makes kids burst into floods of tears or something. Madness, we know, but it's all there in black and white, in your Animal Crossing: City Folk manual: "Mr. Resetti's purpose is to teach players the importance of saving. However, parents should be aware that his personality and tone of voice, while intentionally humourous, are authoritative and may be disturbing to young children." Wow, protective, much? * Kidding, obviously, if you're reading, Dad. %Gallery-27704%
Animal Crossing DS-to-Wii transfers region-locked, busted in Australia
Nintendo of Australia took a shortcut with their release of Animal Crossing: Wild World on the DS: it's a direct copy of the US version -- "ESRB rating and all," as Vooks says. That shortcut has come back to haunt them with the release of Let's Go to the City. Vooks' Daniel Vuckovic attempted to use the DS Suitcase to transfer his Wild World catalog and character to the new game. Instead of a catalog loaded with playroom furniture and Mario accessories, he was presented with this error message, as well as a similar one on the DS. This is significant for two reasons that we can think of: first, it's definitive proof that the DS Suitcase is region-locked. If your copy of Wild World is imported, the gates to your Wii town are firmly closed. Second, it means that Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City is basically missing a feature in Australia. Nintendo is just having terrible luck with this DS Suitcase thing!%Gallery-27704%
Press-only Animal Crossing features N-word [update]
A pre-played version of 2005's Animal Crossing: Wild World for DS, sent out to media outlets to encourage connectivity with the recent Animal Crossing release for Wii, contains at least one shocking addition, reports MTV Multiplayer. Importing the saved data from the DS cartridge sent by Nintendo into Animal Crossing: City Folk introduces a host of changes into the game, including one, suddenly no longer E-rated character, Baabara, who now greets players with: "How are you, Ñ---á?" [edited; original creator added diacritics] To clarify, this generally offensive slang term (preceded by another potentially offensive phrase above it) is not included in the retail release of the game. Rather, whomever Nintendo employed to play the version of Wild World sent to press with all of the game's items unlocked, purposely "trained" the Baabara character to use the term. Further, introducing this kind of offensive content into a new copy of the game, from a stranger via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, is nearly impossible. To import content from another game cartridge over the internet requires two users to first exchange their unique 16-digit codes before they are able to share data. In other words, your kids are safe -- unless they or their "friends" are the creators of such content. What MTV Multiplayer and other outlets have discovered is an isolated matter. Still, since the media serves as a filter through which you receive your news about Nintendo products, Nintendo clearly needs to work harder to prevent the kind of incident highlighted here from happening again. Also, an apology would be nice ... Update: And here's that apology ... "We regret that an offensive phrase was included without our knowledge via a wireless function that allows user-generated catchphrases to spread virally from one game to the next," said Nintendo in a statement sent to us. The company is asking that the 14 affected copies it mailed out to the media be returned. The full statement is posted after the break. [Note: As this post contains sensitive material, this is just a friendly reminder to keep the comments clean -- or face the perma-banhammer. Thank you.]
Wii hardware Animal Crosses the 7 million mark in Japan
Enterbrain reports that the Wii system has, as of November 23, sold 7,000,000 units in Japan. To compare, the GameCube has sold 4 million in its home country (according to Wikipedia), and the DS has sold -- oh wait, that one doesn't make the Wii sales sound as good.Helping to drive the Wii sales last week was Animal Crossing: City Folk, of which an astonishing 303,204 copies flew off of Japanese store shelves in its debut week. If we were feeling snarky about Animal Crossing, we'd say that between that and Chrono Trigger, it was a good week for ports. But that's mean.%Gallery-27704%
Metareview -- Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii)
Paradoxically, it's the cause of the absolute saddest thing on the internet, but Animal Crossing has also been a source of joy for millions. Judging from the tepid reviews, Animal Crossing: City Folk's biggest problem appears to be not that it's more of the same joy-inducing escapism, but rather that it is the same joy-inducing escapism. 1UP (C): "Somehow, despite two previous time-sucking outings into the open world of Animal Crossing -- each fully preparing me for what to expect in a sequel -- City Folk still rouses some excitement at the prospect of collecting more rare furniture, fossils, and that one elusive bug or fish. But all of this quickly subsides upon your introduction to Tom Nook, everyone's favorite predatory lender. That's when the realization quickly sets in: This is all just the same old routine with extra goodies that do little to change things in any meaningful way." GameDaily (70/100): "Sadly, local co-op isn't an option, the graphics look last generation and we had little fun using the WiiSpeak microphone. If you're a fan of the series, you'll want to move into this City right away. Otherwise, pay a casual visit before you settle down." Games Master UK (80/100): "It's still a great game but fans of the DS version are going to feel short-changed by the lack of imagination in this Wii retread. For everyone who missed out last time, or if you're keen to start such an epic afresh on the TV, this may well be the family game that sends Wii Sports into permanent retirement."
Wii Warm Up: Your thoughts on Animal Crossing?
We know we've kind of been focused on Animal Crossing a bit in the last week or so, but with the game having been available to you all, we're wondering how you're finding it so far. Have you been going crazy in the game, buying up tons of stuff for your house and running errands for Tom Nook? Have you paid off your house yet? Have you and some friends gotten together and fished or enjoyed some other communal activity? How has your time with Animal Crossing: City Folk been?
Wii Warm Up: Wii Plan to Speak
The WiiSpeak microphone is ten bucks cheaper when purchased with Animal Crossing: City Folk. Obviously, it works with Animal Crossing, but it will also work with The Conduit, with the new version of the Opera browser, and on its own via the Wii Speak Channel. Of course, more compatible games will follow. We hope.It occurs to us that even people who like Animal Crossing, but don't necessarily care about catching up with their friends while fishing or shaking trees may have interest in the WiiSpeak mic for other stuff. Are you in that group? Did you pick up the Animal Crossing WiiSpeak bundle with no intention of using the two items together?%Gallery-27704%
