Animal Crossing, known as in Japan, is a life simulation video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan for the Nintendo 64 on April 14, 2001. Due to limited sales because of the drastically decreasing N64 market, the game was not released for the N64 outside Japan. It was ported to the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on December 14, 2001; North America on September 15, 2002; Australia on October 17, 2003; and Europe on September 24, 2004. The Japanese GameCube version lacks e-Reader support, a feature found in the North American and Australian versions. A version of Animal Crossing was released in Japan with e-Reader support on June 27, 2003.

A Nintendo DS follow-up, Animal Crossing: Wild World, was released in December 2005. A second follow-up for the Wii, Animal Crossing: City Folk, was released on November 16, 2008.

History

Dōbutsu no Mori Plus, the Nintendo GameCube version of Dōbutsu no Mori, was released on December 14, 2001, eight months after the original game. This version contains extra features that had to be left out in the Nintendo 64 version, and also uses the GameCube's built-in clock to keep track of the date and time. The Nintendo 64 version uses a clock inside the game cartridge. With the use of the GameCube's clock, the passing of time affects the game, even between play sessions. This led to the game's slogan, "the real life game, that's playing, even when you're not." Dōbutsu no Mori Plus (for the GameCube) cost 7,140 yen and sold 92,568 copies during its first week of sale in Japan.The Games, The Animal Forest

When Nintendo decided to port Dōbutsu no Mori to the Nintendo GameCube, the American version, Animal Crossing, had much more text than the Japanese version, Dōbutsu no Mori Plus, in part because of the immense translation that Nintendo undertook when translating Dōbutsu no Mori from Japanese to English. Not only did thousands of lines of text have to be translated, but the translators had to create new holidays and items. Nintendo Japan was so impressed with the results of the translation done by Nintendo of America's Treehouse division that they translated NOA's version back into Japanese and released it as Dōbutsu no Mori e-Plus. Dōbutsu no Mori e-Plus was released in Japan on June 27, 2003, and sold 91,658 copies during its first week of sale.

Gameplay

Animal Crossing is a social simulator that has been dubbed a "communication game" by Nintendo.Fact: date=April 2009 It is open-ended, and the player's character can live a separate life with little preset plot or mandatory tasks. Players assume the role of a new resident to the town. The gender and looks of the character depend on answers given to a cat named Rover on the train that the character takes to the town. There are also tasks that players can complete and goals they can achieve. The game is played in real-time-observing days, weeks, months and years using the GameCube's internal clock. Many real-life events and holidays span the year, including Independence Day, Halloween, the Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving), and Toy Day (Christmas). Other, regular activities such as fishing tournaments and early-morning fitness classes also occur. When players stop playing, they can talk to their Gyroid, a creature next to their house, to save. If the player turns off the game or resets the GameCube without saving first, a mole called Resetti appears in front of the player's house the next time they play to scold them for resetting. Resetti's brother, Don, occasionally appears in his place, apologizing for Resetti's rudeness.