Animal Crossing: Wild World

Animal Crossing: Wild World
Game cover
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release	23 November 2005 (JP) 5 December 2005 (NA) 8 December 2005 (AUS) 31 March2006 (EU)
Genre(s)	Role-playing game, Communication Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Animal Crossing: Wild World (おいでよどうぶつの森, oideyo dōbutsu no mori) is a life-simulation game developed by Nintendo for its own portable system, the Nintendo DS. It is the follow-up to the 2002 Nintendo GameCube title Animal Crossing. Wild World shares many similarities to its predecessor, but also contains many improvements, both big and small. The most prominent difference is the DS title's ability to utilize the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for online play. It is the third DS title to do so, following Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land.

Characteristics

Although Animal Crossing: Wild World is a follow up to 2002's Animal Crossing, it is not a sequel in the strictest sense. Wild World is very reminicent of the original and contains the same basic premise and shops with some changes, such as the expanded museum that now contains an observatory and a coffee shop and the expanded Able Sisters' shop that now sells hats and other accessories. The most notable addition is the ability for players to visit other players' towns by exchanging "friend codes" and connecting with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Many players still enjoy the game even if they do not play it online. LAN, DS to DS, play is also available.

New Characters

Brewster - Male pigeon who works in the coffee shop, "The Roost". Becomes friendlier towards the player as more coffee is purchased. He also gives you his picture, as furniture, if you buy a lot of his coffee.

Celeste - Female owl with pink bow who works in the observatory. She is Blathers' sister, and allows the player to look through the telescope and design constellations.

Dr. Shrunk - Male axolotl who shows up in town occasionally. Will teach emotions for use in multiplayer chat.

Harriet - Female pink poodle who works in a salon called Shampoodle. Will style the player's hair once a day for 3,000 bells.Is only available once Tom Nook upgrades his shop to Nookington's. If the player goes to her salon enough, she will eventually offer to style your hair into do's that would normally only be available to the opposite gender.

Lyle - Male weasel who sells insurance on Saturdays. Accident Insurance, for 3000 bells, will return 100 bells to the player for each play session the player is stung or trips. Damage Insurance, for 6000 bells, will cover fake paintings from Crazy Redd. Lyle also allows the player to choose the day of week when Crazy Redd visits town.

Pascal - Male otter who turns up on the beach occasionally. Gives out pirate-themed furniture.

Returning Characters

Blanca - A faceless cat who will visit the player's town if he or she has connected to the Nintendo WFC, wearing a face someone else has drawn her. She will ask the player to draw her a new face, and be off to another town.

Blathers - Curator of the museum, Blathers accepts donations and can also identify fossils and forged paintings. As an owl, he tends to sleep during the day.

Booker - Another guard dog who works at the Checkpoint, Booker handles more remedial tasks like changing the town flag and holding lost items. Though he is lazy and and apathetic, Booker keeps a watch over the gate and will tell the player if anyone has recently entered the town.

Copper - A guard dog who works at the Checkpoint, Copper will let the player exit through the gate or open it for friends to visit.

Crazy Redd - A sly fox who shows up in front of the Town Hall occasionally. He sells furniture for more than Nook does, but many are very rare and cannot be found at Nooks at all. He is also the sole source of paintings. Be careful when shopping here however, because he's been known to sell fakes. Redd requires a password for entry into his tent, which he will send the player in the mail everytime he visits if he or she pays the initial 3000 Bell membership fee or the player can talk to other villagers who can tell you the password.

Gracie - A giraffe who drives into town occasionlly. She is the only source of certain rare clothing.

Gulliver - No longer washing up on the beach as in the first game, Gulliver the seagull now flies his UFO, "The Porpoise", on the top screen. If the player shoots him down with his/her slingshot(bought from Tom Nook) and finds his missing ship parts, he will thank the player with an exclusive item. "The Porpoise" is taken from the Nintendo Gamecube game Pikmin, in which the main character had a spaceship called the "Dolphin". While this is a rare occurance, it will always happen on a fourth or fifth minute. For example: xx:x4 or xx:x5.

Kapp'n - A kappa who drives the player to town in his cab at the beginning of the game.

Katrina - A fortune-telling cat who sets up her tent outside Town Hall occasionlly. She will give the player a fortune for 100 Bells, or cleanse his or her aura for 10,000 Bells.

Mabel Able - Works at the Able Sisters' tailor. She assists the player in making purchases or designing clothing, caps, or accessories.

Mr. Resetti - A mole who will pop out of the ground and scream a lengthy lecture at the player if he or she does not save before quitting.

Pelly - The cheery pelican who works at the Town Hall during the day, handling both Civic Centre and Post Office duties.

Pete - A pelican who works for the Post Office, delivering mail at 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. He can be shot out of the sky using a slingshot.

Phyllis - Pelly's sister, the grumpy purple pelican who works at the Town Hall during the night, handling both Civic Centre and Post Office duties. If you store 500,000,000 bells in your bank account she will give you her picture.

Rover - A blue cat who runs Tag Mode.

Sable Able - Works at the Able Sisters' tailor. Her job seems to consist entirely of sewing. Though she is shy at first, she will warm up to the player if he or she spends enough time at the shop speaking with her.

Saharah - A camel who delivers rare carpets, and now wallpapers. If the player(s) help her with her deliveries, she will reward the player with one.

Snowman - Appears when the player builds him in the winter. If he is built well, he will send the player rare furniture in the mail.

Sow Joan - An old sow who has been selling turnips for over 60 years. She will sell the player white turnips to play the "stalk market" (a play on "stock market"), or red ones to plant and grow.

Timmy & Tommy - Young tanuki who manage the top floor of Nookington's, Nook's largest shop.

Tom Nook - A tanuki, and the owner of the only shop in town (discluding the once-a-week visit of Crazy Redd) Sells the player a house when the player starts the game, and offers to expand it whenever the player pays off his or her mortgage a maximum of 6 times.

Tortimer - A old male tortise who is the mayor of the town. Shows up outside of Town Hall on holidays and during special events. Any other times, he will be inside town hall, reading something in the back of the building.

Totakeke - More commonly known as K.K. Slider. He is a dog who plays guitar at The Roost on Saturday nights from 7:30PM to 12:00 midnight. However, if you talk to him before 8:00PM, he will say that you have to wait until 8:00PM after his sound check.

Wendell - A purple walrus, described as a "starving artist". He now gives out patterns instead of wallpaper, and which one the player gets is dependent on what the player feeds him.

These characters also show up at The Roost for a coffee from time to time.

Characters who do not return from the first Animal Crossing are Porter, Wisp, Jack, Jingle, Chip, Don Resetti, Farley, and Franklin.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Animal Crossing: Wild World's Wi-Fi capabilities will allow players to visit other players' villages no matter where they are in the world (assuming access to a compatible wireless access point is available), and they are using a version of the game with a compatible language set. (For example, the Australia and United States versions can connect locally and via Wi-Fi, but they cannot connect to a version from Japan via either method.)

Connection to random players is not possible, as connection is made by entering the friend codes of the player's friends.

Importing

Just like its predecessor, Animal Crossing, AC:WW has generated a lot of discussion from European gamers who debate over whether to import the game from the United States, due to the DS's region-free abilities, unlike a DVD player, which works by region.

The original game was imported in such high volume by European gamers that Nintendo eventually manufactured a PAL version of the game, as NTSC versions were imported and played with either a "chipped GameCube" or with third-party software which allowed other regions of games to be played in other places.

Sales information

On December 1, 2005, Media Create stated that Animal Crossing: Wild World sold 325,466 copies in Japan in its first week of availability, beating the previous mark set by Jump Superstars and becoming the best selling title for Nintendo DS. [1]

The game also ran out of stock quickly in the United States, with new shipments expected by mid-January of 2006.

Reviews

• In Electronic Gaming Monthly's Opinionated Guide, Animal Crossing: Wild World got a rating of Good, the second best rating.
• The notoriously tough reviewers at Japanese gaming magazine Weekly Famitsu gave Animal Crossing: Wild World a score of 37/40.
• GameInformer magazine gave Animal Crossing: Wild World an 8.75.
• GamePro magazine gave Animal Crossing: Wild World an 3.5 out of 5.
• Nintendo Power magazine writer Steven G gave Animal Crossing: Wild World a 9.5, while Andy M gave it an 8.5; he said that it was an improvement over the first game, which felt like a chore because the player could not easily show anyone his or her accomplishments, as the player can easily do in Wild World.
• GameSpot gave the game an 8.4, a higher score than they gave its predecessor. It has also been nominated for best DS game of 2005
• IGN gave the game an 8.8, saying that it was not a new enough experience
• 1UP gave the game a 9.0, which is an "Outstanding" rating
• Currently, GameRankings has the game's rating at 86.8%.

Screenshots

• Inventory Screen
  Inventory Screen
• Multiple Players
  Multiple Players
• Text Chat
  Text Chat
• Pitfall
  Pitfall
• Writing Message in a Bottle
  Writing Message in a Bottle
• Donating Fish to Blathers
  Donating Fish to Blathers

External links

• Template:Nintendo.com (uses Macromedia Flash for some content)
• Official Animal Crossing: Wild World Website (several country/language versions; most use Macromedia Flash for some content and menuing)

• Animal Crossing Ahead - Animal Crossing: Wild World Information.
• Find people who want to play on AcWW on WiFi right now!
• Link up with other Wild World players instantly
• Interview with Jim Merrick, Nintendo of Europe at Puissance-Nintendo
• 1up's article about AC:WW
• The Bell Tree - an unofficial Animal Crossing forum
• Unofficial Animal Crossing Fan Site