The History of Animal Crossing

we played our foursome it's an escape for others it's a way to get creative but for anyone who's played it it's generally just a fun time all around Animal Crossing is a cutesy community simulation game in which you the player take on the role of the only human living in a village entirely populated by animals a concept that might seem like a hard sell on paper but with a handful of titles already released in a brand new game headed to Nintendo switch in 2019 Animal Crossing has proven wildly successful with each release compounding its popularity however Animal Crossing started out as something entirely different so today I want to take you back as we explore the history of Animal Crossing [Music] if you're from North America Australia or Europe you probably believe that the first animal crossing game was released in the Gamecube in 2002 2003 or 2004 respectively and you'd be half right the Gamecube release of Animal Crossing in those regions is technically the first Animal Crossing game but it's also technically a port allow me to explain to button amore the Japanese name for Animal Crossing was originally slated to release on the Nintendo 64 disk drive or 64dd for short a Japanese exclusive add-on to the n64 among other things this device was really built to expand storage and add-on online functions to Nintendo 64 games and also allowed Sauron data to be rewritten to the disk and featured a real-time clock system that would have allowed for the n64 to keep track of time and dynamically adjust game worlds or trigger certain events based on a real-world clock cycle this real-time clock was one of the key reasons as to why Animal Crossing was being developed for the 64dd but unfortunately due to delays and complications with the release of the disk drive the project was instead released on a special cartridge that featured a clock within the cart itself a smart move since the nintendo 64dd was going to be a commercial failure both releasing and being discontinued in less than one full year this did have some very large implications for Animal Crossing because the team was no longer able to utilize the extra storage space or features of the 64dd several ideas and concepts were scrapped originally Animal Crossing was supposed to be an interactive multiplayer RPG focusing on cooperation between players the players would have to work together to complete dungeons and defeat monsters as well as other common goals all of that was scrapped and instead the team focused on a more open-ended style of gameplay but kept the core ideas of being in a world that operated on a real-time environment and featured both smaller and larger tasks but a player could complete to both make the game addictive and satisfying for a multitude of play styles although it might not have been with the developers originally planned to but soon no more would release in Japan exclusively on the Nintendo 64 on April 14th 2001 [Music] 2001 was near the end of a Nintendo 64's lifecycle nintendos next console the Gamecube was releasing later that year and they knew that porting animal crossing over to the new hardware would help it reach a much larger audience and so on December 14 2001 Nintendo released the button new mori plus onto the Nintendo GameCube this version of the game added extra content such as the museum the able stores new animal characters that can move in and a true in-game clock another less popular feature was Game Boy Advance connectivity if a player were to connect their GBA to the Gamecube via a special link cable they can access a special tropical island here players could obtain rare and exclusive items they otherwise wouldn't have access to you could also take a portable version of this island with you on the go by sending data over to your Gameboy Advance the GBA animal island as it was called wasn't a full Animal Crossing experience by any means if anything it was more like a Tamagotchi style micro game than anything else overall de Botton amore + was a modest yet welcomed upgrade to the original Nintendo 64 release which unfortunately never lived up to its true potential after the disk drive was canceled fast forward now to the year 2002 finally the Western audience would get a chance to play two-button amore + as the game was fully translated for English players however just translating the game from Japanese to English wasn't enough Nintendo of America took it upon themselves to add in a bunch of extra content such as holidays and items that would be more familiar to those in the West making the game much more relatable to those outside of Japan not only that but Nintendo also added in EU reader functionality making Animal Crossing the first EU reader compatible game for the Gamecube the e-reader was an add-on for the Game Boy Advance allowed players to scan in special cards that contain dot codes and use these dot codes to obtain things such as hard to get items letters special design patterns and even music think of the e-reader as a precursor to the modern day usage of amiibo figures or amiibo cards the concept is virtually the same but 10 who's been doing it since 2002 ironically enough after seeing all the amazing work and extra content that had gone into the North American version of Animal Crossing Nintendo of Japan decided to read transit the game into Japanese and we released it with all of its extra content and ereader functionality in 2003 Nintendo released a button no mori ee + which is essentially the same version that North America got in 2002 just retranslated for the japanese audience europe on the other hand would have to wait until 2004 before they could experience animal crossing and sadly by that time the e-reader was no longer supported by Nintendo due to its lack of popularity so Nintendo actually removed the e-reader functionality from the PAL version of the game leaving players without the ability to easily acquire those ereader only items now before we move on technically speaking there is one more version of the original Animal Crossing and that is the button amore IQ IQ is the subsidiary of Nintendo that releases video games in China due to strict laws video game systems are banned in China but Nintendo was able to get around this with the IQ player which is basically a giant control that connects to the TV without the need to go through a proper Nintendo 64 system all the hardware is already in the controller so it's not technically classified as a video game console instead it's more like one of those cheap plug-and-play things that were popular about a decade ago the difference is that the IQ has the ability to download and play a small catalogue of Nintendo 64 games with one of those of course being the original Nintendo 64 version of Animal Crossing translated for the Chinese market due to the bans and such this version of the game was released in 2006 it's crazy to think the first version Animal Crossing went through so many ports changes and minor enhancements that the final release of the game didn't take place until 5 years after its original release Animal Crossing made its impact all around the world and people were hooked Nintendo was getting ready to release his successor to the popular Game Boy Advance series of portable systems the Nintendo DS and that's where things got wild for Animal Crossing [Music] [Applause] the next installment Animal Crossing wouldn't pop up until 2005 only one year after the initial release of the Nintendo DS although Animal Crossing wild world is technically the fifth animal crossing game most people consider it to be the second game in a series while the world was an entirely new game developed completely with its own engine for the DS it featured new controls by utilizing the DSS touch screens and added even more items including bugs and fish as well as new characters that has since become staples of the series like Brewster and Celeste villagers also became more interactive oftentimes inviting the players to their homes entering contests and even watering plants around the town to keep them looking fresh it's at this point that Animal Crossing was developing into the full-blown simulation game that we all know and love another noteworthy addition is that of Nintendo's Wi-Fi services which allowed for players to visit each other's towns leading to a truly unique experience for Animal Crossing fans and really helped establish a sense of community among its player base this was no doubt a huge factor in the game's longevity and continued success for the most part while the world released the same across all regions with only minor changes to translation and localization it seems like Nintendo was finally able to get a handle on Animal Crossing and make sure they included everything they wanted to in the start for one singular release after gaining massive popularity on the Nintendo DS Animal Crossing was about to make the jump back to the home console at this point Nintendo had already released the Wii because of its massive appeal to a more casual gaming audience the Wii was a huge success in the perfect candidate for the next installment of the Animal Crossing series so in 2008 Animal Crossing city folk was released worldwide European players will recognize it as Animal Crossing let's go to the city which is basically what the title would be if it was just directly translated from Japanese to English keeping with tradition as the third new installment of the Animal Crossing series city folk added some new features including the ability to use an accessory called we speak the we speak was essentially a USB microphone that would allow for players to talk to one another when visiting each other's towns over Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection additionally new holidays were added such as Halloween in a harvest festival and of course the biggest addition was the inclusion of the city in the city players could shop for new items changed her appearance and hairstyle talk to different NPCs and more city folk might not have been the most amazing sequel to an animal crossing game but it wasn't worthwhile installment nonetheless just like wild world only minor changes to localization and translation were made between the different versions of city folk the only thing that's really worth mentioning is that Korean players did receive some special DLC items these items could be traded to players of other regions when visiting each other online so no content was ever completely locked out of any version of the game [Music] with three different versions of Animal Crossing releasing on both handhelds and consoles respectively Nintendo was starting to establish a trend in 2011 when entender released his successor to the DS the Nintendo 3 yes players around the world knew that a new installment of Animal Crossing would follow suit just one year later in 2012 Nintendo would release Animal Crossing new leaf the 4th new installment in the Animal Crossing series with new leaf Nintendo made a lot of changes of course not only did they add new holidays characters tools collectibles and items but they also flipped the script on the player this time you take on the role of mayor and are in charge of basically everything in the town from ordinances to public work projects which allow you to customize the look and aesthetic of your town to make it truly unique and this level of customization really helps put Animal Crossing new leaf a step above the rest in terms of gameplay and it's probably one of the reasons it's still played to this day keeping the game feeling fresh and new was one of Nintendo's goals with new leaf and they did so with the release of several different free DLC packages most of the DLC you just included adding more items but one of the biggest updates to the game came in the form of the Welcome amiibo patch this ended over 50 new villagers the ability to scan amiibo figures and cards similar to how ereader cars worked in the very first Animal Crossing and a new campground area complete with mobile home while some DLC items in certain holidays were restricted based on your region most of the content in Animal Crossing new leaf can be seen by every player new leaf is jam-packed with content from start to finish and raise the bar for the animal crossing the series and it's still played to this day for good reason too it's arguably the best in the series thus far with its rise in popularity Animal Crossing was ready to expand beyond just the mainstream games and Nintendo knew that in 2015 Nintendo released Animal Crossing happy home designer this spinoff title exists in the Animal Crossing universe but is less of a simulation game in more of a designing game instead of living out your life among the animals or as mayor you simply take on the role as a new designer right in Oaks homes in charge of designing houses and exterior layouts for different villagers although not a new entry in the main series of games happy home designer takes one concept from Animal Crossing and expands upon to make a pretty satisfying design simulator if you're into that sort of thing during the middle of the 3ds lifespan though Nintendo was once again ready to release a new console the Wii U - Animal Crossing fans whispers of another entry into the main series of the game began to spread like wildfire new leaf was great but people were ready for another home console version of Animal Crossing sadly that day would never come instead Nintendo would release two spin-off titles that would both receive very negative feedback from the community the first came in 2013 and was simply called Animal Crossing Plaza this free digital a shop title focused entirely on the communication aspects of Animal Crossing players would gather in a town's plaza and be able to talk to various NPCs or post about any character they wanted to from a menu they can also share patterns or dream addresses from Animal Crossing new leaf basically it was a reskin of miiverse featuring Animal Crossing characters as such there wasn't much content and players got bored very quickly because of this the game if you can even call it that was discontinued and removed from the eShop in 2014 just slightly over a year after its initial release the next we you spin-off title would come in 2015 and that's the infamous Animal Crossing amiibo festival amiibo festival isn't like anything players have come to expect from the Animal Crossing series instead of a life simulator or a designer game Animal Crossing amiibo festival is a board game similar to Mario Party but way less fun it was easy to see that Nintendo was trying really to capitalize on the amiibo craze for this title although you can play the game without the need of any amiibo cards or figures it's very apparent this game's entire existence was purely to help drive sales of amiibo do we you never saw the release of a mainstream Animal Crossing title and when Emil festival was released players got a glimpse of what a high-resolution HD version of Animal Crossing could look like on something like the Wii U and seeing all that potential wasted on a less than spectacular board game was enough to upset a large portion of the Animal Crossing fanbase as a result the game didn't exactly perform very well despite the past failures with spin-off titles Nintendo didn't give up in 2017 they released Animal Crossing pocket camp not to any first part in Nintendo consoles but on smartphones this of course opened the floodgates suddenly an entirely new audience was introduced to the Animal Crossing series although pocket camp doesn't quite follow the same formula as the main series only letting you interact with small campsites and various campers it retains enough of what makes Animal Crossing Animal Crossing like decorating living spaces and performing small rewarding tasks that keep the player interested sure it's not a complete Animal Crossing experience but at least is something for mobile players to dip their toes in the game performed pretty well grossing over 50 million dollars to this day in receiving generally average reviews from both players and critics alike now the history of Animal Crossing doesn't just end with games I've saved this for last because I think it's probably one of the coolest facts about the series in 2006 Nintendo partner with OLM incorporated to produce a feature-length animated film called Animal Crossing the movie I won't go into plot details too much because well it's a movie based on Animal Crossing so it doesn't really matter all that you really need to know is that the movie is pretty faithful to the game itself it follows the life of an 11 year old girl named I as she moves into animal village eventually she ends up working for Tom Nook to pay off her debts making friends with the local animal villagers along the way and having all sorts of crazy adventures the film culminates with AI helping a UFO return to the sky in winning the Winter Festival which in her mind makes her finally feel at home an animal village like I said the plot is a little silly but it fits Animal Crossing very well I'm sure any fan of the series could find some enjoyment in this film it's well animated enough and has a decent soundtrack so if you get a chance maybe check it out but with that it brings us to the present I'm happy to say the future of Animal Crossing looks bright in the most recent intended arrived on September 13th 2018 Nintendo announced a number of things for Animal Crossing fans to be excited about the first is that Isabelle from Animal Crossing new leaf will be joining the playable roster in Super Smash Brothers ultimate for the Nintendo to switch and that a brand new full installment of the Animal Crossing series is currently in development and scheduled to release on Nintendo's newest console in 2019 finally Animal Crossing fans will get that full HD Animal Crossing experience that we've been waiting for since the release of the Wii U it's been a long journey for Animal Crossing what started out as an idea for an online cooperative multiplayer RPG turned into one of the world's most iconic simulation games if you haven't played Animal Crossing before I would highly encourage you to pick it up and give it a try its charm and casual gameplay could be very addictive and I'm positive you'll at least say you had a good time anyway that's going to do it for this video so if you guys enjoyed it a like rating would be greatly appreciated do you want to see more of my videos consider subscribing once again though guys my name is Matt thank you so much for watching and I'll catch you in the next one [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: AwesomeFaceProd

Views: 770,932

Rating: 4.9347186 out of 5

Keywords: Animal Crossing Switch, Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch, Animal Crossing 2019, animal crossing, doubutsu no mori, new leaf, happy home designer, game, nintendo, switch, new animal crossing, history, documentary, Animal Crossing Music

Id: TMPHQuC0Rek

Length: 18min 10sec (1090 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 17 2018