Animal Crossing is, like Tetris, a game that is constantly evolving in quiet ways while seeming - superficially and to outsiders - to be a game that never changes at all. Holding a piece, the instant drop, even the number of pieces visibly queued up ahead: these are all elements that have fundamentally changed the way Tetris plays. Equally, in Animal Crossing a new type of store, a new focus for your collecting, a subtle tweaking to the economy can transform the overall experience of living in a village and trying to get Spike to come back home.
The shop-price of a Wii console has dropped below £100 for the very first time.
Rumours are whizzing round the internet that a 3DS version of Animal Crossing will be on show at E3 next week.
The Wii version of Animal Crossing topped the Japanese charts in its first week on sale, convincing 305,180 locals to part with their cash, while Chrono Trigger's revival as a DS title accounted for a further 271,868 sales in second place.
Nintendo has cleared up confusion over second-hand sales of the new Wii Speak peripheral.
Animal Crossing is a world without death, but that doesn't mean it's a world without loss, something that's never more keenly felt in this virtual life sim than when your in-game neighbours up and leave. As the name suggests, Animal Crossing houses a transient population, something we're not used to in games that ask us to invest in relationships, so when Tiffany, the cute cat you've been flirting with and running errands for, leaves the village on the next bus out with only a scribbled note by way of goodbye, you're actually sad.
The feeling in past Animal Crossings was heightened because while most of the residents were free to head off to new lives on a whim, you could only go to your friends' towns, and only on the DS. A town of one sort or other was where you had to stay until you grew tired of it and stopped visiting, leaving the weeds to sprout and your relationships with the other villagers to wane. Until that point you were the local constant - the hick who never left its borders - and there was some comfort in the knowledge that the places the other animals went would never be known by you.
Until now, anyway, because Let's Go To The City, the third western Animal Crossing game and first for Nintendo's Wii, punches a hole through the series' previous boundaries. Now you're free to toddle along to the bus stop at any point and catch a ride to the big smoke. Sure, all you can do when you get there is a bit of shopping and character-customisation before your inevitable ride home, but with the exception of multiplayer on the DS it's the first time players have been allowed outside the confines of a village, and it's a rare new feature in a game that otherwise exactly apes its forebears.
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Nintendo has told Eurogamer that Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City will cost around GBP 59 if you want to buy it bundled with Wii Speak.
Which could sound rather rude.
Nintendo has said the Wii Speak Channel will be available in Europe from 5th December - the same day Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City.
Wii Speak, the microphone peripheral bundled with Animal Crossing, is to get its very own Wii Channel.
Nintendo has said Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City will be out before Christmas, sometime in December.
Satoru Iwata has apologised to gamers who expected the next Super Mario or Legend of Zelda to be unveiled at Nintendo's E3 press conference last week.
Animal Crossing producer Katsuya Eguchi has revealed a few more details of what we can expect from the first Wii instalment in the series.
He was speaking at an invite-only developer roundtable hosted by Nintendo at E3. A brief demo of the game showed how you'll be driven into town by the Kapp'n once again, but this time on board a bus. Expect more nonsensical chit-chat during your journey.
Eguchi then took us on a brief tour of the town square, the location of the hair salon, auction house, theatre and fashion store Gracie Grace. He confirmed the return of the 24-hour clock and calendar events, such as Halloween. Seasonal characters are also back, including Jingle the reindeer. New characters will include a bunny who hides eggs around town for you to find at particular times of the year. Plus a carnival will come to town, and will "introduce a new character to the Animal Crossing family".
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Animal Crossing producer Katsuya Eguchi has revealed a few more details of what we can expect from the first Wii instalment in the series.
He was speaking at a developer roundtable hosted by Nintendo at E3. A brief demo of the game showed how you'll be driven into town by the Kapp'n once again, but this time on board a bus. Expect more nonsensical chit-chat during your journey.
Eguchi then took us on a brief tour of the town square, the location of the hair salon, auction house, theatre and fashion store Gracie Grace. He confirmed the return of the 24-hour clock and calendar events, such as Halloween. Seasonal characters are also back, including Jingle the reindeer. New characters will include a bunny who hides eggs around town for you to find at particular times of the year. Plus a carnival will come to town, and will "introduce a new character to the Animal Crossing family".
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Another mortgage to worry about.
Nintendo has just unveiled Animal Crossing: City Folk for Wii and said it will be released before the end of the year.
Creator Katsuya Eguchi lifted the lid on what looked like business as usual for the series, with lots of collecting at the core of the game. But the big improvement is to be made is in interaction and communication.
The biggest is WiiSpeak, a microphone that sits on top of the sensor bar and lets you - or anyone in the room - talk to other people over the internet.
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It's looking increasingly likely that Nintendo will be unveiling Animal Crossing for Wii at E3 next week.
