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Animal Crossing: Wild World

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Animal Crossing: Wild World
Game cover
Developer(s)Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
ReleaseJapan November 23 2005
United States December 5 2005
Australia December 8 2005
European Union March 31 2006
Genre(s)Simulation game, Communication Adventure
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer, online multiplayer

Animal Crossing: Wild World, known in Japan as Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori (おいでよ どうぶつの森, lit. "Come to Animal Forest"), is a life-simulation video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan on November 23 2005, and was later released in North America on December 5 2005, in Australia on December 8 2005, and in Europe on March 31 2006.

Animal Crossing: Wild World is the follow-up to the video game Animal Crossing, released for the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube. It shares many similarities to its predecessor, but also features many changes. The most prominent change is the ability for the player to play with anyone in their country who has a copy of the game, using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Gameplay

Animal Crossing: Wild World features a very minimal plot. The objective of the game is to pay off your debt to Tom Nook, who allows the player to move into one of his houses. If you pay off your mortgage, your house will expand until you have an upstairs, left, right, centre and back room. This is slightly different to the Gamecube version where you would not get the left, back, or right rooms, but get a basement instead. While doing this, the player can do a variety of optional tasks, including interacting with other villagers and filling the catalog of the things you have, like furniture, fish, clothes and stationary. Animal Crossing: Wild World is entirely non-linear and does not require the player to pay off their mortgage.

Animal Crossing: Wild World makes use of several of the Nintendo DS' features, including the touch screen, dual screens, and internal clock. The touch screen is used for menu navigation and interacting with the surrounding area, including movement, using tools, talking to other villagers, entering buildings, picking up items, etc. The dual screens are used to display the overworld on the touch screen and the sky on the top screen, which varies depending on the circumstances. The internal clock is used to great extent; like the two previous games in the series, Animal Crossing: Wild World uses the internal clock so that the game can be played in real-time (or according to what time it is on the player's DS). The environment changes based on the time of day and the season; for instance, as it gets later in the evening, the sky goes from orange to pitch black, and the weather changes depending on what season it is on the calendar. The game also has events which take place on certain days, including "Yay Day", La-Di-Day, Fishing, Bug, and Flower tourneys, Acorn Festival and the Flea Market. Unlike its earlier Gamecube incarnation, it does not include many real-world holidays (Valentine's Day, April Fools' Day, Halloween, etc).

New elements

Although Animal Crossing: Wild World is a follow up to 2002's Animal Crossing for Nintendo GameCube, it is not a sequel in the strictest sense. Wild World is very reminiscent of the original and contains the same basic premise and shops with some changes, such as an expanded museum that now contains an observatory and a café and the expanded Able Sisters' tailor shop that now sells hats and other accessories. Flowers can now dry up and require watering whenever they turn brown, either via a watering can or automatically when it rains. Players can now invite villagers over to their house. The angle at which players view the town has also changed, as well as the removal of "acres", removing transitions between areas, and making the towns smaller in a sense. As a result, the world now moves in three-dimensional space. Now, only eight animals can live in one village at a time. The script in 'Wild World' is also much bigger than the original's script. As a result there is less repeated dialogue from villagers, giving the game a more organic feel. Also each villager has his or her own theme, and enjoys certain types of furniture. Moody boys, such as Butch or Chow, have the town tune in a lower form than peppy girls, such as Victoria or Bunnie, who have it high pitched. Also, the ability to wear clothes and to be different has expanded.

The most notable addition to Wild World is the ability for players to visit other players' towns by exchanging "friend codes" and connecting with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Play control for the game has also been modified from the GameCube version to take advantage of the Nintendo DS' touch screen. Changes range from easier menu navigation and text entry to the ability to "wave" at on screen characters simply by tapping them. Now the player can fill holes with their feet by pressing B, when empty-handed.

Main objectives

There are several objectives in the game that the player can choose whether or not to complete. Below are the most common goals.

House improvements

A main goal in Wild World is to get bells, and decorating the player’s house and expanding its size by paying off each mortgage to Tom Nook, the local shopkeeper. Since, unlike in the original, all players have to share a single house, each player can help pay off the mortgage. After the initial mortgage for the house is paid off, the player can choose to increase the size of the main room, add a second floor, and add three extra rooms onto the first floor. In addition to expanding house size, a player may be motivated to decorate their home in a preferable manner to obtain a high "Happy Room Academy" (or HRA) rating. The HRA gives players a numerical rating based on their interior decorating skills. The rating is based on numerous factors; adding points for complete furniture themes and sets, and detracting points for furniture in unreachable locations and lack of neatness. The reward for having a high HRA score is to receive miniature model homes as placeable items in the player's house. Interestingly, the HRA reward items increase the player's HRA score. The three items are One Story Model, Two Story Model and Mansion Model.

Items to decorate the house with can be obtained in several ways. Tom Nook sells items at his store, changing his stock daily, and other businesspeople who visit the player's village will also sell their wares, such as Saharah – a carpet and wallpaper saleswoman - and Redd – a specialist in black marketing rare furniture and paintings, genuine and fake. Items can be obtained for free at the lost and found, overseen by Booker, and at the recycling bin at the Town Hall. Shaking trees also sometimes results in furniture and money falling out, and balloons carrying items can be shot down with a slingshot. Finally, running errands for the townsfolk, correctly guessing the answers to their quizzes, sending them things in exchange for others or sometimes just simply talking to them can result in them giving the player an item as a reward. These rewards can include furniture of low or medium quality, Bells (the currency of the game) or wallpaper or carpet.

Fossils, fish, bugs and paintings

Another goal that the player can choose to pursue is that of collecting the fossils, fish, bugs and paintings in the game. One of each species of bug and fish can be displayed at the museum, run by the curator Blathers - who incidentally suffers from entomophobia. Fossils will also be exhibited here, but must be identified first by Blathers. Fossils are found by digging where cracks appear in the ground with a shovel. Fish are caught with the use of a fishing rod, pulling the rod up when the fish takes the bait, while bugs are caught with a net. The availability of most specimens of fish and bug depends on the time of year, but can also depend on the time of day or night and the weather conditions. Paintings are very rare to find. After Blathers has identified a fossil, the player can: give it to the museum; place it in their house as a decorative item or sell it to Tom Nook at his store. Filling the museum results in receiving the museum model.

Other features

Nook's shop

File:Nookingtons.JPG
Nookingtons, the final upgrade of the store.

The main store in your village is run by local merchant Tom Nook. When you begin the game, the store is very tiny and sells only low quality items. At this stage of the game, the shop is called "Nook's Cranny". "Nook 'n' Go" is next after you spend 25,000 Bells in the store. Here you can get similar items but more are available at a time. "NookWay" will appear after you spend 65,000 bells. Here you can get more items than you can get in "Nook & Go". "Nookington's Department Store" is by far the best store and the last store anyone can get. You have to spend 240,000 bells and have another player (from another town) visit "Nookway" and buy something from it. "Nookington's" features two stories, the down stairs has a general store with all the tools, flowers, paper, medicine, and other things. There is a hair salon where you can change your hair for 3,000 bells. If you get 16 haircuts, the other styles can be used (i.e. if you are a boy, you can get girl hairdos, called "pixie cuts"). Upstairs is a furniture store with furniture, wallpaper and carpets, and paint for your roof, which is run by Timmy and Tommy.

Able Sisters

This store sells clothes, designs, accessories and umbrellas for you. It does not upgrade.You also can design your own clothes patterns to use on umbrellas, tiles, shirts, hats and paintings (for your house only). Sometimes other people in your town will wear your patterns if on display. It is run by sisters "Mable" (the clerk) and "Sable" (the one at the back with a sewing machine). At first Sable ignores you but if you talk to her daily, she will begin to be more friendly. You start to become Sable's friend. As you talk, she tells you many stories of her early life. However, after a while, she repeats the same little phrases each day.

The Roost

The Roost is a café in the museum where you can spend 200 bells for a cup of coffee or listen to K.K. Slider (Totakeke) on Saturday nights after 7:00 PM. Brewster is the pigeon that owns The Roost. He is vehemently against letting your coffee cool before you drink it, and he will not let you leave without drinking it hot. Although initially taciturn, Brewster will reveal more about himself if you buy coffee there often. Many characters also make cameos at the café depending on the time of day and the day of the week.

Special items

Some items are only obtainable by special means, such as getting a specific number of Happy Room Academy points or trading items with characters. These include models of the player's house and Tom Nook's various stores, Nintendo-themed items (items based on classic Nintendo games), such as a Mario coin, the Triforce and an Arwing. There are golden tools to be found in the game. These items are the Golden Shovel, Golden Axe, Golden Net, Golden Rod, Golden Slingshot and Golden Watering Can. Special conditions need to be fulfilled in order to acquire the golden tools.

Pictures and Paintings

Every villager has a small, framed picture of themselves that players can obtain as a gift from a villager after attaining a specific level of friendship with him or her. They are furniture items, therefore the player can use them to decorate their house. Each picture has a caption in the form of a quote from the villager, depending on their species, personality and, sometimes, their color. They help you remember people that have moved and that you might not see ever again (*sob*), and add a healthy bonus to your HRA score.

Crazy Redd sometimes sells paintings when he visits your town. These paintings are similar to the ones you can drop in your house yourself (using your custom-made patterns), but depict famous artworks (such as works by Leonardo Da Vinci and Georges Seurat though they are only referred to by simple names, not their actual titles). These paintings are sometimes counterfeit. If the player has insurance from Lyle, he or she will receive 10 Bells as compensation if they hand it over to him on Saturday, when he's hanging around outside their door. Counterfeits will be rejected by Blathers, and Nook will pay you only 10 Bells for it, whether you have had it examined by Blathers or not.

Boondox

Boondox is a poor town nearby the player's town (however, it cannot be visited) that the player can donate to. It is said to be so poor that the residents are forced to eat grilled dirt (scrambled dirt, if they're lucky) without ketchup for every meal. Players can obtain different colored feathers by donating certain amounts of bells to the Boondox Flavor Fund. The feathers will be sent to the player's mailbox after they have donated enough. Many villagers believe that Boondox is a scam set up by Tortimer, the mayor, in order to get money for himself.

Mail

Residents are encouraged to buy paper from Tom Nook and to write letters to the villagers. This is an important part of friendship with villagers which often results in them giving you their picture. There are 64 different paper designs, some of which can only be obtained by being written to by other villagers, such as Tom Nook paper, sent when an ordered item has arrived, and Tortimer paper, sent if your character wins a contest. There are also some types of stationary that can't be used such as the academy paper. Villagers will reply to your letters, which can be mailed at the Town Hall, and if you attach a present such as fruit, furniture or shells, you will usually receive furniture, carpet or wallpaper back. Sometimes, you may receive letters from 'Mom' who will write to tell you news from home. Occasionally 'Mom' may send you gifts, including non-native fruit. Villagers who are moving out will send you a final letter to say goodbye. You can also store letters at the post office.

Flowers and Trees

Every Animal Crossing town has a native fruit, which grows on several trees dotted about your town. Each tree carries three pieces of fruit at once, and once the tree has been shaken, it takes three days for new fruit to grow. You will start with only pear, apple, orange, peach OR cherry trees, but the others are available in other ways. Tom Nook buys native fruits for 100 Bells each, and non-native fruits for 500 Bells each. Fruit can also be sent as gifts with letters, or planted to grow more fruit trees. From time to time coconuts may wash up on the beaches and these can also be buried to grow further trees, though they must be planted by the sea for them to grow. Fruit trees have a much higher chance of growing successfully if they are planted in place of other trees which can be chopped down with the axe tool. Using the wi-fi connection you can get fruit from other towns to plant in your own town. You may also receive non-native fruit in the mail from 'Mom', or sometimes from other villagers. To receive a non-native fruit from a villager simply write them a single line letter and attach a native fruit to it, there is a chance they will send you one of the non-native fruits or a non-expensive item. Non-fruit trees and cedar trees also grow in Animal Crossing, and can be bought from Tom Nook and planted.

Flowers which grow in Animal Crossing are varieties of tulip, rose, cosmos, and pansy. The flowers are usually red, white or yellow, though hybrids can be grown in pink, blue, orange, purple, black and gold by planting certain colors close together. Flowers will turn brown and will die if they are not watered when this happens. Flowers can also be destroyed by running over them, or pulling them up when they are brown. Dandelions also grow, in their yellow and white forms. Villagers will also plant 1-3 flowers every day during the Flower Fest, which is a week-long holiday that comes every second week in April.

There is also a rare flower named the Jacob's Ladder which is shown as a bluebell like plant which only appears if the player's town is perfect. They are considered to be flowers.

Weeds are represented by two long stalks of grass and can be pulled up when found, to improve the villagers' ratings for the town. There are also three and four leaf clovers which grow on grassy areas. These do not affect the town's rating. Beware of letting your town get too weedy, or you could find yourself up against a mega-weed: the Rafflesia.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Animal Crossing: Wild World's Wi-Fi capabilities allow players to visit other players' villages no matter where they are in the world, assuming that access to a compatible wireless access point is available and that they are using a version of the game with a compatible language. For example, the Oceania and North America versions can connect locally and via Wi-Fi, but they cannot connect to a version from Japan due to a difference in character encoding.[1] Up to four players can be in an Animal Crossing: Wild World town both via local wireless or through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Connection to random players is not possible, as connection is made by the mutual entry of "friend codes." Animal Crossing is the most popular Nintendo DS Wi-Fi game (based on usage numbers).[1]

U.S. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Gifts

File:Acww truletter.jpg
The letter from Katrina distributed during the Toys "R" Us giveaway

Nintendo gives away in-game items via the Wi-Fi Connection service. To get these items all you need to do is connect to Nintendo's Wi-Fi service on the day of the giveaway or before the next item is given away. Participating Toys "R" Us stores gave away six exclusive items from July 23, 2006 to August 1, 2006 using special Nintendo DS kiosk machines. These items were received from bottle mail. These special giveaway items include the 1-Up Mushroom and Firebar.

Problems

On January 26 2006, an accident occurred relating to the Wi-Fi features. A few weeks prior, Nintendo sent out a free Mario Coin item from Satoru Iwata (the president of Nintendo) to all who connected to Wi-Fi while it was available. On the same day, a failed attempt to send a second exclusive item sent a blank letter to all who connected to Nintendo Wi-Fi before 5:00 PM. This letter contained the "glitched red tulip" item. This item could be planted in cement as a tree or, if put into the player's house, would create an invisible, irremovable wall. The item could be disposed of by planting it in the ground or selling it. On February 13, 2006, Nintendo sent out a letter containing 1,000 bells and a humorous town bulletin board notice to apologize for the mistake.

Sales information

To date, Animal Crossing: Wild World has sold 7 million copies worldwide.[2]

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 the Nintendo DS [2] until the release of Touhoku Daigaku Mirai Kagaku Gijutsu Kyoudou Kenkyuu Center Kawashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training. The game also sold over 100,000 copies a week for 7 consecutive weeks, reaching 2,000,000 copies by March 5, 2006. As of May 8 2006, 3,000,000 copies have been shipped in Japan. [3][citation needed]

In its first month of release, Animal Crossing: Wild World reached No.3 on the United Kingdom All Formats sales chart and has achieved sustained sales success, remaining in the All Formats top 40 sales chart for 51 consecutive weeks before remaining in the Full Price top 40 chart.[citation needed]

These strong sales have helped to establish Animal Crossing as one of Nintendo's key franchises.[citation needed]

Reviews

Awards

References

  1. ^ AiboPet. ROMSAVE.TXT - notes about the GameSave for the AC:WW game. Accessed March 16, 2007.
  2. ^ "Live Report - GDC: Shigeru Miyamoto's keynote address". Eurogamer.com. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  3. ^ "IGN Editors' Choice Games". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  4. ^ "IGN.com presents The Best of 2005". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  5. ^ "Parent's Choice Videogame Award 2006". Parents-Choice.org. Retrieved 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
Official sites
Interviews and media
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