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WE BUILT THIS CITY
Thoughts on Animal Crossing

I spent hours upon hours with the GameCube Animal Crossing when it was released in 2002. Part of the reason I bought it was because it came with a memory card and was cheaper than most games. A game plus a memory card for less than the price of one game seemed like a great deal at the time.

Upon playing it for the first time I was greeted by the strange but compelling characters who inhabited my town, Broktoon. A game with no clear goals nor ending was a new concept for me and the bright and colourful world of Animal Crossing took me in like no other game before it. I’d spend my time planting flowers, digging up fossils, and writing letters to the townspeople. I’d even write mean letters to the cranky cat of the town, telling her I hated and wished death upon her. Imagine my surprise when she flaunted it in front me, saying how dare I write such mean things to her!

My real life at the time consisted of going to work, coming home and eating, and playing Animal Crossing to pass the time till the evening, where I would call my long-distance girlfriend (whom I’m now married to). When we’d talk on the phone, I’d quickly tell her about all the goofy things that happened in Broktoon that night. “Tom Nook painted my roof purple!”

The game stayed in my GameCube for about a year. Animal Crossing: Wild World was the game that made me want a Nintendo DS. I didn’t play it as much as the GameCube version, but I did get an even bigger kick out of it. The exclusion of NES games was the only bummer because the overall experience was much better. I had a boring, soul-draining job at the time and the few moments I had to myself, I would spend playing Wild World on the DS (this was during lunch, most of the time – other times I’d just play at my desk). Among my favourite of the new features were the constellations and the concept that the townsfolk would plan visits with you. I even took my DS out to dinner with me once just because Cesar the gorilla said he’s be visiting at 8 p.m. and that I’d better be there.

This week, Animal Crossing: City Folk was released for Wii. I played an early build of it back in August but my play time was limited to about 15 minutes, which is much too little time to spend getting to know the intricacies and new features of the game. While we’ve yet to receive our review copy of the game, I’m also a little glad due to the fact that there’s so much to play and write about already.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to playing it.

Posted in DS, Editorial, GameCube, Wii |