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Animal Crossing: Wild World

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Animal Crossing: Wild World
North American box art
Developer(s)Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Hisashi Nogami
Producer(s)Katsuya Eguchi
Designer(s)Ryuji Kobayashi
Programmer(s)Masaru Nii
Artist(s)Koji Takahashi
Writer(s)Takayuki Ikkaku
Arisa Hosaka
Toshihiro Kawabata
Composer(s)Kazumi Totaka
Asuka Hayazaki
SeriesAnimal Crossing
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: November 23, 2005
  • NA: December 5, 2005
  • AU: December 8, 2005
  • EU: March 31, 2006
Genre(s)Life simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Animal Crossing: Wild World[a] is a 2005 social simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was released in Japan in November 2005, in North America and Australia in December 2005, and in Europe in March 2006. It is the second installment in the Animal Crossing series, and the sequel to Animal Crossing on the GameCube.

Wild World focuses on living in a remote village populated with anthropomorphic animals, where the player character is encouraged to perform a number of tasks, such as collecting and planting. Like all Animal Crossing titles, the game is synced to the console's clock and calendar, allowing the game to be played in real-time, which affects the occurrence of in-game events based on the current time of day or season. Wild World utilized Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which allowed players to travel and visit the villages of other players via online play, until the service was shut down in May 2014.[1]

The game received positive reviews upon release, garnering aggregate scores of 86/100 on Metacritic and GameRankings.[2][3] Wild World is the ninth best-selling game on the Nintendo DS with 11.75 million copies sold worldwide as of March 31, 2016.[4] It was additionally re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console in October 2016.[5]

Gameplay

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Main article: Gameplay of Animal Crossing
The player goes fishing during the daytime.

Like all the games in the Animal Crossing series, Wild World is an open-ended game in which the player assumes the role of a human who has moved into a village populated with anthropomorphic animals. During their time spent in the village, the player is able to perform a number of various activities, such as collecting items, fish and insects, or socializing with the village's residents.[6] The game is synchronized with the Nintendo DS clock and calendar, allowing the game to be played in real-time. For example, both daytime and night will occur in the village depending on the current hour, and snow will fall during the cold months. Different events occur at particular times of the year, such as holidays and the variation of collectible fauna depending on the month or season.

Wild World features a high level of customization. The player character's appearance can be modified to the player's preference: it can be dressed from a large selection of available clothes and accessories, or players can design new clothing patterns from scratch with help from the village tailor, Able Sisters. The environment itself can be modified: trees can be grown or chopped down in any part of the village, and the players share a house that can be furnished with collected furniture and items. Wild World adds the ability to draw constellations that are visible in the night sky.

Wild World utilizes the dual screens of the Nintendo DS in various ways. The game allows players to interact via the system's touch screen and stylus, which is used to manage the players inventory, write messages, draw designs for clothes, or control the character.[7] Unlike the previous iteration which had used a top-down perspective, Wild World allows both the ground and sky to be visible at the same time on each of the screens, allowing the players to view events occurring in the sky without needing to switch perspectives. This is done by using a "rolling log" effect, in which the terrain seems to bend and roll beneath the player's feet when travelling about the village.[8]

Online connectivity

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Wild World was the first game in the Animal Crossing series to feature online play and was the second game on the DS to utilize the now defunct Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, with which players could visit other villages. Because players were required to exchange and register Friend Codes prior to visiting, connection to random villages was not possible. Up to four DS systems can explore the same village simultaneously.[9] Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection can be used to exchange items and custom-designed patterns between players, as well as receiving exclusive gifts from Nintendo while connected.

Wild World is compatible with its Wii successor, Animal Crossing: City Folk. Players are able to transfer their player from Wild World to City Folk via a wireless connection between the two consoles.[10]

As of May 20, 2014, online functionality offered through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is no longer accessible. The discontinued services include online play, matchmaking and leaderboards in which Animal Crossing: Wild World, as well as many other online DS and Wii games, are affected.[1]

Development

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The game was announced at E3 2004 under the tentative title Animal Crossing DS, where it was revealed to utilize the Nintendo DS touch screen and implement multiplayer capabilities.[11] When development on Animal Crossing: Wild World began, it was decided that nothing was going to be region-specific in order to make the game easier to localize.[12] Therefore, certain events that were originally observed in Animal Crossing, such as those based on Halloween, Christmas, and the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, are not observed in Wild World.[13][14] This rule was applied to the variety of fish and insects the player is able to collect.[12]

Technical issues

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On January 26, 2006, a blank letter was sent to a number of players connected to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection that contained a glitch item called "Red Tulips" that was able to corrupt saved game data. If placed on the floor inside the player's house, the item would create an invisible and indelible "wall" that rendered the spot in which it was positioned useless. Nintendo issued an official statement regarding the glitch, telling players that the bug was not caused by a hacker but was due to an internal error with the upload tool used to send exclusive gifts to players, and recommended that users who received the letter delete it whenever possible.[15][16]

In 2008, journalists who were sent copies of Animal Crossing: City Folk for review were also sent copies of Wild World that contained existing save data to demonstrate the game's ability to transfer a player's inventory from Wild World to City Folk. On December 3, it was reported that one of the animal characters in the modified copies of Wild World had its customizable catchphrase set to "Ñiggá".[17][18] The edited slur had not been caught by the game's profanity detection system, which prevents players from setting character dialogue to anything deemed distasteful. Nintendo issued an official apology and recalled the modified copies, stating that the incident was caused by a wireless function that automatically transfers catchphrases between games.[19]

Reception

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Animal Crossing: Wild World received positive reviews, gaining an aggregate score of 86 out of 100 on Metacritic.[3]

Some reviews felt that Wild World did not entirely expand upon what Animal Crossing had to offer, referring to the changes as incremental. While some reviews liked the implementation of using either the Nintendo DS buttons or the touch screen for game control, Nintendo World Report felt that using the touch screen for controlling the player character was "imprecise,"[27] and IGN felt that "Nintendo did not take the [game] down a path that takes advantage of this touch screen control."[9] The absence of familiar holidays, which were removed to ease the localization process,[12] was also criticized.[6][27]

The addition of online play was praised by many critics. Computer and Video Games felt that the online play "extends the experience into true social gaming,"[21] and IGN stated that "Nintendo gave us everything we were asking for when playing the GameCube version: a much more intuitive way of trading items and enjoying other players' creations. And, at the very least, the company succeeded."[9] However, multiplayer was also criticized for its tedious implementation and questionable restrictions, specifically the requirement of Friend Codes and the inability to send mail to other players unless he or she was visiting that person's village.[6][7][9] Other online oddities mentioned include the disappearance of all animal residents during the visit[7][9] and the fact that North American and European players are unable to connect with Japanese players. Wild World producer Katsuya Eguchi stated that these limitations were due to hardware and memory constraints.[14]

During the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Animal Crossing: Wild World for "Simulation Game of the Year".[31] In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine called the game "Brilliant!", placing it 23rd on a list of greatest Nintendo games.[32]

Sales

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On December 1, 2005, Media Create stated that Animal Crossing: Wild World sold 325,460 copies in Japan in its first week of availability, beating the previous mark set by Jump Super Stars and becoming the best-selling title for the Nintendo DS[33] until the release of Brain Age 2. It was the 29th best-selling game in Japan as of 2008,[34] selling 4.7 million copies by July that year.[35][36] It received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[37] indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[38]

As of March 31, 2016, Wild World has sold 11.75 million copies worldwide.[4]

Legacy

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Elements from Wild World are featured in the 2008 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, such as a stage based on a village from the game named "Smashville", which changes its scenery in accordance to the console's system clock,[39] and several remixes of music tracks.[40]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: おいでよ どうぶつの森, Hepburn: Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori, "Animal Forest: Come Here"

References

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  1. ^ a b "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service for Nintendo DS and Wii has ended". Nintendo. May 20, 2014. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Animal Crossing: Wild World for DS". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Animal Crossing: Wild World for DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 30, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Top Selling Software Sales Units - Nintendo DS Software". Nintendo. March 31, 2016. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  5. ^ "Kirby Canvas Curse and Animal Crossing: Wild World Hit the Wii U VC This Week". Nintendo Life. October 13, 2016. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d Theobald, Phil (December 7, 2005). "Animal Crossing: Wild World review". GameSpy. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d Navarro, Alex (December 6, 2008). "Animal Crossing: Wild World review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  8. ^ "E3 2005: Animal Crossing DS Interview". IGN. May 19, 2005. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Harris, Craig (December 5, 2005). "Animal Crossing: Wild World review". IGN. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  10. ^ Harris, Craig (November 16, 2008). "Animal Crossing: City Folk review". IGN. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  11. ^ Harris, Craig (May 11, 2004). "E3 2004: Animal Crossing Goes DS". IGN. Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  12. ^ a b c "Interview: The Wild World of Katsuya Eguchi". Wired. April 7, 2006. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  13. ^ "Animal Crossing (GCN) Event Guide". Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  14. ^ a b "GDC 06: Chat with Eguchi". IGN. March 24, 2006. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  15. ^ Ransom-Wiley, James (January 27, 2006). "Beware Nintendo's Red Tulips". Joystiq. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  16. ^ "Wild World "tulip glitch" Nintendo's fault". N-sider. January 30, 2006. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  17. ^ Totilo, Stephen (December 3, 2008). "Nintendo Plays A Game For Me, Includes Slur". Multiplayer Blog. MTV. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  18. ^ Crecente, Brian (December 3, 2008). "Nintendo Sends Game to Journos With Racial Epithet Surprise". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  19. ^ "Nintendo Addresses Racial Slur Shipped with Animal Crossing Review Kits". GamePolitics.com. December 4, 2008. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  20. ^ Sanders, Kathleen (December 6, 2005). "Animal Crossing: Wild World review". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  21. ^ a b Wales, Matt (April 4, 2006). "Animal Crossing: Wild World review". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  22. ^ Hsu, Dan; Tsao, Jennifer; Sanders, Kathleen (January 2006). "Animal Crossing: Wild World". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 199. Ziff Davis. p. 132.
  23. ^ Kumar, Mathew (December 23, 2005). "Animal Crossing: Wild World Review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  24. ^ Vuckovic, Daniel (November 16, 2005). "New Famitsu Scores and AC: Wild World Preorder Madness". Vooks.net. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  25. ^ "Animal Crossing:Wild World review". GamePro. December 5, 2005. Archived from the original on September 7, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  26. ^ Grimm, Steven; Myers, Andy (January 2006). "Animal Crossing: Wild World". Nintendo Power. No. 199. Nintendo of America. p. 109.
  27. ^ a b c Bloodworth, Daniel (December 21, 2005). "Animal Crossing: Wild World review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  28. ^ "IGN Editors' Choice Games". IGN. Archived from the original on March 14, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2007.
  29. ^ "IGN.com presents The Best of 2005". IGN. Archived from the original on April 9, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2007.
  30. ^ "Spring 2006 Video Games: Animal Crossing: Wild World". Parents' Choice. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  31. ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Animal Crossing: Wild World". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  32. ^ East, Tom (February 24, 2009). "100 Best Nintendo Games: Part 4". Official Nintendo Magazine. Future plc. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  33. ^ Freund, Josh (December 1, 2005). "News - Japan: Weekly software sales for 11/21 - 11/27". GamesAreFun. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  34. ^ "JAPANESE 2008 MARKET REPORT". MCV. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
  35. ^ Weekly Famitsu, issue 1020
  36. ^ "Nintendo DS Japanese Ranking". Japan Game Charts. July 30, 2008. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
  37. ^ "ELSPA Sales Awards: Double Platinum". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009.
  38. ^ Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017.
  39. ^ "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Smashville". Nintendo. July 13, 2007. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  40. ^ "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Full Song List with Secret Songs". Nintendo. April 3, 2008. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
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