Wii Warm Up: Here come the City Folk

by Alisha Karabinus { Sep 7th 2008 at 10:25AM }

So here we go -- the next iteration of Animal Crossing is on its way, and we showed you the latest (the box) already. The art definitely emphasizes the larger scope of the title, while still using the familiar logo and character design. By now, though, you probably know whether or not you like Animal Crossing, considering you've had two chances to give it a shot. For a game like this, does the box even really matter? Do you thinkt hey should have changed it, or was keeping the characters -- with their familiar looks -- prominent important? Should the franchise's icons, like KK Slider, been more prominent? Do the fruit trees, and the idea of harvesting all that produce, give you nightmares?

Gallery: Animal Crossing: City Folk

KK says: buy Animal Crossing: City Folk to visit the city, reach out to friends, and make Iwata cry!

Tags: animal-crossing, boxart, city-folk

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dylan @ Sep 7th 2008 10:38AM

Ha ha, I can't wait. I'm such a sucker for this game!

No, just like you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, you shouldn't judge a video game by its box art (I know, that sounded retarded). But yea, I think possibly Nintendo could have added a partner to K.K. Maybe the two of the could have entertained us every Saturday night? As for the fruit, I think it is a very easy way to make bells, I have nothing against the fruit trees.

Note: You made a typo. "Do you thinkt hey should have changed it..."

Just pointing that out!

zchry @ Sep 7th 2008 11:13AM

I've NEVER liked Animal Crossing. It's so ludicrously pointless, and not nearly fun enough to make up for that.

I haven't played it for a long period of time, though, but I'm still not a fan.

SoshiKitai @ Sep 7th 2008 11:57AM

I'm guessing you didn't like The Sims?

Wah-hah-ha! @ Sep 7th 2008 11:41AM

I COULD get into Animal Crossing, but I always tend to think of the game like an MMO (even back when there was no online at all), a game that you had to play on a very regular basis if you wanted to keep up

And i just don't have that sort of time. Its always looked like a neat game, but i've never given it a shot

SoshiKitai @ Sep 7th 2008 12:03PM

The problem is with that idea for most people, is that they think THEY SHOULD ALWAYS BE THERE, RUSHING TO GET EVERYTHING.
And that turns people off from Animal Crossing.

The only thing I found myself rushing about for, was when a special guest visited... and I have to do something for them before I forgot.

You don't have to always be there... if you calm down and just visit the town at least 5 minutes per day, everything should be fine. Hell, it took me nearly 3 years to fully upgrade my house. And that wasn't everyday-playing. Only for the first year did I play everyday. The other 2 years, I would visit every other week.

It's all about doing it how you want to. It wasn't a game that you "NEED TO UNLOCK THINGS"... it was just "do it how you like... at your own pace". :P
Just remember to move your furniture around once a month to check for roaches.

SoshiKitai @ Sep 7th 2008 11:57AM

I loved Animal Crossing on the GC... the DS wasn't as relaxed. Wasn't as "chill".

So no, I don't "thinkt hey" (:P) should change it. At least, from the GC version. The DS felt too... weird. And I've played it for a long time. A LONG time.
... The more I played it, the more I felt weird... eventually I dropped it and never went back to it.
AC should feel calm, relaxin', simple and fun. Not chore-crazy like the DS version.
Not always competing and all sorts of crazy stuff~...
I don't think Animal Crossing should ever feel "new".
It should feel recognizable, enjoyable, and comfortable.

*sigh* Let's hope this does it well, and let's hope the City doesn't take too much away from the Town.

zchry @ Sep 7th 2008 2:44PM

I've only ever played the DS version, and on another person's name halfway through. I knew how the controls worked (they're quite simple), but the actual gameplay was pretty boring to me. I guess I just wasn't feeling it.

WalkingCarpet @ Sep 7th 2008 11:58AM

I didn't actually play the first one. Does that make me a bad person? Either way, I think it looks like it could be kinda fun

quixar @ Sep 7th 2008 12:38PM

I love Animal Crossing, but I hate these pointless "Wii Warm Up" questions that plague the RSS feed.

SoshiKitai @ Sep 7th 2008 1:08PM

They do it daily. And it's a nice compliment to news everyday.
And weekends are always slow, so that's all you'll see 'til tomorrow.

If you want more news--
Find some news that's not too iffy, or too restricted, to actually be made into a full-lengthed article - and send it to Nintendowiifanboy. I'm pretty darn sure they'd appreciate it.
Or even just send them a link, or a suggestion.
...or make Brawl stages. :P

Wah-hah-ha! @ Sep 7th 2008 1:48PM

It's all about opening dialogues, which helps distinguish Wii/DS fanboy from alternate Nintendo-focused sources

zchry @ Sep 7th 2008 2:42PM

Go find some good deals on Wii games in stores or online. Everyone will appreciate that. :)

Sorm @ Sep 7th 2008 1:19PM

Dammit, everybody beat me to the "thinkt" joke. XD

igorponweed @ Sep 7th 2008 2:25PM

I like the box-art. O_o I liked the first game, but I never got addicted.

zchry @ Sep 7th 2008 2:39PM

I've never actually played The Sims for more than about thirty minutes. I did, however, love Roller Coaster Tycoon back in the old days (as in, Loopy Landscapes).

I also love the Virtual Villagers series. I don't know what it is about Animal Crossing, I just don't enjoy it that much. But, like I said, I haven't played it for a long amount of time, so I haven't given it a big chance.

I don't know why I haven't. I guess it just looks too childlike for me. I don't tend to discriminate against games for that kind of thing, but I did in this case for some reason.

SoshiKitai @ Sep 7th 2008 5:24PM

So in other words.. you enjoy something like Roller Coaster Tycoon and Virtual Villagers - both of which have goals set to them, and can have an actual ending. And both were also a bit harder to manage than something as basic as AC or The Sims (The Sims was hard to manage, but part of the fun was watching the people's lives waste away from their blunders).

There's no real goal in AC other than to "make it your own". Make the house the way you like it, make the clothes the way you like it, make friends with the people you like, fish all you want, relax all you want, and just plain ol' "chill".
It's meant to be "boring" as to not shove a person into doing goals and setting high scores, since all the other games do that. It's just to mess around with and etc.

In other words: It's like playing House.
You're not accomplishing anything as you continue to play it, you can't really "WIN" in House (or LOSE for that matter), but it has accomplished something: Doing something as opposed to nothing.

And what you get from that is up to you:
-Killed 30min-2hrs
-Made an awesome home you'd love to move into
-Made a chill place for you and your friends to mess around in
-Get to know "everyone"
-Make-believe ridiculous moments
-Create an avatar of yourself into an imaginary world
-etc

There's no goals. Nothin'. You can't beat the game.
Just play.

...it's like a mock-life. Afterall... in real life, when people retire, not everyone wants to "unlock new endings" or "gain a high score in something". Most people, just wanna' chill.

Phil @ Sep 7th 2008 9:51PM

If you like that whole progressive build up thing, Harvest Moon may be more up your alley...

Either way, I tried to change the ideal from cartoonish, to simplistic. It tosses out the need for super complex graphics in exchange for focusing on the content packed into the game...

But as another person said earlier, I could NOT get into Wild World. It was definitely TOO much like the last one, with a bigger focus on doing chores. Maybe it's just me but it felt like WW was trying to be more like Harvest Moon with its level of chores and the like...

I think a change in the box art is good. Maybe... a little bigger emphasis on the city might be good, but otherwise, it's okay.

Roto13 @ Sep 7th 2008 4:47PM

I'll pick it up if they fix the pacing. It takes a million years to do ANYTHING in Animal Crossing. Ack.

Wah-hah-ha! @ Sep 7th 2008 6:11PM

In before Soshi replies to this comment

;)

Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! @ Sep 7th 2008 6:11PM

I enjoyed the Gamecube version and spent an entire summer just working and playing the game. That continued on after the summer until silly things like graduating from college started to interfere. That pretty much wrapped up that version in 2004.

I started the DS version once it came out and played for some time, but without the NES games and the trade-off for "politically correct holidays" it just wasn't the same game so I didn't stick with it for nearly as long.

I don't know if I'll get into the Wii version or not. The AC fan in me says 'of course!' but I'll have to see how much different being on the Wii will make it. Although, if I can get my family into it then I'm sure I will too.

Anyway, as far as the box goes, it's alright. They clearly forgot about the main character, Chow. Poncho was a nice second choice though, so I'll forgive them.

Thegamingguy @ Sep 7th 2008 6:23PM

there are no hidden games in this version so what is the point exactly?

Wah-hah-ha! @ Sep 7th 2008 7:03PM

They didn't drop the ball on that so much as the dropped the ball on your inability to do kinda what HOME is doing, allowing you access to your VC in your house

You could buy a device called a Virtual Console in the game, then play all your VC and WiiWare apps straight across if you wished. It would help more seamless integration

And being able to jump back and forth from high-stress sessions of Magician Lord to low-stress sessions of Animal Crossing would be a boon indeed

darklink @ Sep 8th 2008 8:24AM

You don't win... you just do a little better each time.

darklink @ Sep 8th 2008 8:26AM

You don't win... you just do a little better each time.

Adrian @ Sep 8th 2008 9:55AM

Who cares what's on the cover of the box? Really! I believe that it'll be the coolest AC title so far. That is, IF November ever comes! This will be the longest 2 months of my entire life! Oh well, at least I've got Spore® to hold me over until then...