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Animal Crossing devs talk building a second home for the world
Crafting fun out of the everyday is the charm of the Animal Crossing series - its towns entice players to eagerly return on a daily basis, despite already having to juggle reality's laundry list of obligations. Chatting with neighbors, paying off mortgages, tending the garden - these are the mundane activities that form the endearing heart of Animal Crossing, charmingly reflecting our real-life concerns. The concept of players making themselves at home aligns with series creator Katsuya Eguchi's vision for the original Nintendo 64 game - his team was less concerned with making a game and more focused on making a second place to live. We spoke with Eguchi and Animal Crossing: New Leaf Director Aya Kyogoku at GDC, through a translator, about their vision for the franchise and how they hope to offer a secondary home for its player base.
Tom Nook goes to the mayor in Animal Crossing 3DS
This Animal Crossing 3DS developer roundtable is appropriately mellow for a game about hanging out in a quiet village. Producer Katsuya Eguchi speaks to pastel-clad members of the development team, presented with cute forest borders on the screen and set to some sweet music. How placid! The developers answer questions from fans, revealing a bit of news in the process. Right away, director Aya Kyogoku reveals that you'll become the mayor of your village, ousting the despotic Tortimer. "As mayor, you can develop your village," Kyogoku said. "Well, you also don't have to." You'll have a secretary to help you conduct mayoral business. Also new to the series: pants! You can customize your (now taller) character's shirt and pants, doubling the selection of clothing items you'll have to spend years playing to complete. Female characters can wear pants, and male characters can wear skirts. Along with reevaluating the main character designs, the village's animal inhabitants have also been redesigned. The smaller species (like squirrels) are now noticeably shorter than the taller ones. Other new features include StreetPass house designs, which you can share with anyone you happen to be near. They appear in others' games as model homes, watched over by a real estate agent ... Tom Nook. Stay tuned until the end for a live performance of a new song by the "real" K.K. Slider, composer Kazumi Totaka.
