E3 2008: Animal Crossing welcomes visitors Nov. 16

Nintendo sets arrival date for City Folk; WiiSpeak attachment to be sold separately for $29.99.

While the biggest surprise of Nintendo's E3 Media & Business Summit press conference was the announcement of a new Grand Theft Auto game for the DS, the biggest emphasis was placed on long-awaited offerings like Wii Music, a Wii Sports follow-up, and the system debut of the Animal Crossing series.

Like its predecessors, Animal Crossing: City Folk will let gamers live in a virtual small town populated by woodland creatures. The game will keep track of time, encouraging gamers to vary their playing schedules between day and night in order to see everything the town has to offer.

City Folk introduces a number of new features to the series, including an urban area with an auction house populated by other players' possessions and a Happy Room Academy with a leaderboard of sorts. Other additions include the ability to visit friends' towns and support for Nintendo's new WiiSpeak microphone.

Sold separately for a suggested price of $29.99, the WiiSpeak peripheral is not handheld or tethered to a headset, but instead acts more like a speaker phone. The stationary microphone picks up the sounds of whoever is in the room and allows voice chat for gamers who are already Wii Friends.

Animal Crossing: City Folk is set for release November 16. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's first impressions.

48 Comments

  • 1357900

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 2:53 pm PT

    Don't be greedy N! Include the mic w/ the game. Better yet, try utilizing all the hardware you currently have(the Wiimote has a mic built-in.). I'm not impressed w/ this "sold seperately". I'll hack up my own mic, if need be.

  • sporty108

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 2:17 pm PT

    This games gonna be great but to buy the game and wii speak its gonna be really expensive.

  • rei2099400

    Posted Aug 3, 2008 7:58 pm PT

    this game sounds great, but i don't want to leave my DS town... since they said you could download stuff, i hope you could upload as well...

  • CrashParry

    Posted Jul 26, 2008 5:54 am PT

    Is that release date for USA or UK?

  • kilo1235

    Posted Jul 21, 2008 6:03 am PT

    I think 40$ is a little to much but if it comes with animal crossing its fine

  • TehFuneral

    Posted Jul 19, 2008 1:33 pm PT

    Sounds uh, great i guess?

  • Macgyver40

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 1:35 pm PT

    another animal crossing game omg

  • Hungry_bunny Site moderator

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 3:16 pm PT

    Such an obvious seller for Wii.

  • padouke

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 1:12 pm PT

    wow, this could be the answer to all of our pleadings for online chat, or they could rush production and make it really crappy. lets hope you dont have to bee 6 inches away for wiispeak to pick up sound. anyway, i love animal crossing. i could care less about the speaker. nov 16, yeah boy

  • trdrstv

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 8:16 am PT

    "@Chico_Azteca
    ...it was so hard to make a wireless headset to a console that uses mostly wireless things?"

    Not only are the Wii controllers wireless, they're BlueTooth... it would have been dirt simple to push down a driver with a system update if they wanted to.

  • Foppe_

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 6:08 am PT

    Let's hope Europe doesn't have to wait as long for this game as they had to wait for the Gamecube version...

  • jcloverboy

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 5:48 am PT

    5 days before my girl's birthday she's gonna be estatic.

  • grambyte

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 4:01 am PT

    No doubt my girl will obligate me to get this game.

  • Chico_Azteca

    Posted Jul 16, 2008 12:05 am PT

    ...it was so hard to make a wireless headset to a console that uses mostly wireless things?

  • Brother_Boney

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 11:40 pm PT

    It's sad, sad, sad...

    Animal Crossing still has made little improvements since its N64 / GC -predecessors. Stuck in last gen... Wii tech could do so much more and I do not mean the controls. At least they added the city but the functionality is not much more than what you already could do in AC Wild World on the DS. Well... I knew this would happen. Somehow I just thought it would've been nice to finally actually being able to buy a moon module that could fly to the moon to meet space animals, diving glasses that you could actually dive with, a mountain bike that you could actually ride and the option to get minigames for your video game console like on GC you had the NES-games. Even the graphics' havent improved much.

  • XXXRaiderXXX

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 10:37 pm PT

    I said it on another article, I would assume it comes with the game. Nintendo usually packs new add-on devices with the first game to use them. (Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen + wireless transfer, Mario Kart Wii + WiiWheel, WiiSports 2 + MotionPlus)

    If it doesn't come with the game, you can expect many tutorials on how to hack up your own USB microphone for $5 as soon as the game is released, or sooner.

  • POkemonfreak101

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 10:06 pm PT

    I could have sworn Reggie said the game was packaged with it. I was hoping it would

  • SonicTheMonkey

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 10:03 pm PT

    Okay, I'm a little confused here, but judging from the other articles I think the mic comes with the game OR you can get it separately for $30...I think...

  • SonicTheMonkey

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 10:00 pm PT

    Excited for the game, but I don't think I'll be willing to pay $30 for the mic unless it will actually make a big impact in the gameplay of this game (or possibly others). Regardless, AC is shaping up very well. Now I just need to convince some of my friends to get this as well.

  • ctg867

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 9:34 pm PT

    Animal Crossing sounds pretty cool, but other then that the Nintendo conference was extremely average and lacking anything major. But not including Wii Speak with Animal Crossing, like the wheel with Mario, the remote with Wii Play, the Zapper with Links Crossbow Training, and the balance board with Wii Fit is a HUGE mistake. And the fact that they haven't announced the ability to use USB or Blutooth headsets (since the Wii could essentially use both) is just plain pathetic.

    Way to go Nintendo. Just keep nickel and diming your customers. Just like Sony's arrogance at the beginning of this generation thinking it was the leader and that was the end of it, and Microsoft's arrogance thinking they could bring out a broken console and not fix it, your arrogance thinking you can do this to consumers is gonna come back and bite you in the ass. Simple as that.

  • carstairs

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 9:13 pm PT

    Pretty soon. I hope it's good!

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 9:01 pm PT

    I was not a fan of animal crossing mainly cause I didnt know what it was. This conference opened my eyes and has me actually excited. This looks really cool. Good job guys.

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 8:42 pm PT

    Eh..i'll pass this one..doesn't sound awesome at all

  • unclejohn0525

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 6:58 pm PT

    Most anticipated game of E3 for me. I love Animal Crossing, and this looks like an awesome addition. Oh, and although I do really like the WiiSpeak speaker, I think it is a little overpriced.

  • ItsEvolution

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 6:13 pm PT

    Green Lantern, not Green Hornet. I love being a PS3 owner.

  • cheesy_potatoe

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 6:04 pm PT

    29.99 for a speaker!!

  • POkemonfreak101

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 5:49 pm PT

    I personally like the speaker phone and I can't wait for this game!

  • star77241

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 5:43 pm PT

    I hope that Nyko makes their own mic that's wireless. I don't want a speakerphone.

  • Phantom5800

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 5:04 pm PT

    My most anticipated game of the holiday now I can't wait for this game.

  • PhazonBlazer

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:53 pm PT

    one of the only good games at E3
    Animal Crossing is one of my favorite franchises

  • nickythenewt21

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:46 pm PT

    Firstly, I sent this in.

    Secondly, I can't wait to get this game, although it's a bummer that I have to buy the WiiSpeak peripheral.

  • ZumaJones07

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:42 pm PT

    the mii's are cool, but I still hope you can choose the skin color of the actual character...

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:15 pm PT

    I love playing this game with friends.

  • k_smoove

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:02 pm PT

    I'm excited for this. Better not get delayed, I love AC in the winter, more fun then, for some reason.

  • AK_the_Twilight

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 4:00 pm PT

    Looks cool. I'm not a fan of voice chat, but it's good that this game has a release date.

  • Bucktooth_tuba

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:52 pm PT

    The problem with Wiispeak is that my little brothers and cousins often watch me play and might bug the other person playing with me online.

  • mr_t1012 posted Jul 15, 2008 3:48 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    mr_t1012

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:48 pm PT (hide)

    wii speak is gay give me a mic

  • mhder

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:43 pm PT

    Wii Speak would come bundled if it was really important to the game.. let's say like the Wii-Wheel. But in this case it's just something that adds to the game but not necessary.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:28 pm PT

    cool!

  • rey06

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:23 pm PT

    to mylsd, you must be blind if you think it looks EXACTLY like the previous animal crossing games

  • Cheddarchet

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:17 pm PT

    Woot! I really hope they don't push back the release date on this one...

  • mylsd

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:17 pm PT

    looks exactly the same as the last two, and there's no reason to give up my DS town for a new one, if it came with the Wii Speak I'd be tempted, or if I could transfer my DS town... but from the footage I've seen this looks disappointing

  • qubeley

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:16 pm PT

    I can already foresee that I'll be decorating my Animal Crossing pad for this Christmas

  • rey06

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:13 pm PT

    another life, another village, another whole new world for animal crossing! woot im loving it!

    ..even if this is the only hardcore game thats comming out this year,
    according to reggie..

  • dragonball3900

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:09 pm PT

    I was hoping WiiSpeak would come with Animal Crossing. Oh well, same thing anyway, should be fun.

  • jlee14

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 2:58 pm PT

    This looks really good! I have been waiting only for 2 years and they finally announce it, cant wait to play.

  • SuperMooseman

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 2:42 pm PT

    City Folk looks like the best Animal Corssing game so far, and voice chat should make it even better. Woo!

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