Story By: wii_nader                 Edited By: Wii60FTW

The next Animal Crossing game is coming to Wii with new surprises sure to satisfy both the core Animal Crossing player and the casual player picking up the game for the first time. All the great gameplay from the Gamecube version is back, but with many new Wii-specific features!

The feature possibly most anticipated by core Nintendo gamers is the new WiiSpeak peripheral. By using this accessory, Wii players can chat with each other by speaking aloud.

However, the WiiSpeak is no headset. In fact, it is quite unlike the voice chat peripherals previously seen on PCs and competing game consoles. Rather than donning a piece of space-age gear, the WiiSpeak peripheral sits above your Wii Sensor Bar. When activated, it picks up the voices of all speakers within the room. Which means that chatting with your friends can simultaneously be a community experience over the internet and in the same room!

Up to 4 Wii consoles will be able to participate in Animal Crossing: City Folk's chat using the WiiSpeak accessory.

A virtual character's home is his castle.

Animal Crossing City Folk will include an Online mode where 2 to 4 players can play online together. If you have ever played a Nintendo game online (especially Super Smash Bros. Brawl), lag is a constant issue. However, in City Folk Nintendo expects to have such issues solved. You and an online buddy can go to each other's houses and party, chat or even play games together without worry of lag.

 I wonder what's in there?

As with previous Animal Crossing games, the passage of time happens in real time, so days become nights roughly at the same time they would in real life. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the addition of seasons.
 

Um... who turned out the lights?

You can frollick in the grass in the summer or trudge through the snow in the winter. Days pass in the game as they pass in real life, and seasons change as they do outside your window. You can even celebrate holidays inside the game. You can go trick-or-treating on Halloween, and look for Easter eggs on Easter — or "Bunny Day" as it is called in the game.

Hope you have an umbrella for when it rains!

True to its name, City Folk allows you to take a bus to visit the game's new urban city area. The city is full of interesting shops and things to do. In this area, you can visit the theater to watch a movie, get a new hairstyle, or go shopping at Gracie's Boutique.

But don't stay away for too long or your neighbors will begin to miss you! And you don't want to upset those in your community, do you?

You can take a bus into the city for even more fun

Possibly one of the most interesting features of the city is the ability to obtain masks for your character. Masks are a feature that were present in previous Animal Crossing titles. What has changed is the addition of one very peronalized mask. And what can be more personalized than your Mii?

When you visit the city, you will have the option of giving your character a mask that looks like your Mii. This, in effect, allows you to play the game as your Mii. Even if technically, the look is merely a facade. 

Welcome to The City! Superheros in blue spandex need not apply.

Animal Crossing has always been a social game. The DS version demonstrated this with the ability to travel to friend's towns. You could even present gifts to your friends and neighbors. 

Such features are back in City Folk. The animals will wander from town to town carrying juicy gossip about the towns of you and your friends. You can even directly visit other towns to chat or present gifts. If you're not feeling up to making the trip, you can send mail instead.

But what about socializing with your own family? City Folk has you covered there, as well. Up to four separate profiles can be created on a single Wii. These profiles can then exchange mail that can arrive at the in-game post office or on the Wii's message board. So even if you are on a different schedule than your kin, you can still keep in touch with them. 

All of this adds up to a promising new entry into the series that will no doubt please long-time Animal Crossing fans. Animal Crossing: City Folk is expected to arrive Holiday 2008.

Additional Screenshots