Yet another dose of Animal Crossing Wii ideas

So, yeah, not quite the article I've been meaning to get done, but I suppose it'll do for now. When should you expect the uber-delayed article? I'll try and shoot for Wednesday.



So then, yet another month has passed, and we still got nothing along the lines of Animal Crossing Wii news. So then, in absence of news, we have speculation! On with the show and such.

Rotting fruit

Either the peaches in my village are made of edible steel, or there seems to be something rotten in the town of Scarboro. Or rather, not rotten at all. No matter how long a fruit sits in the hot sun, it will not rot, degrade or in any way be changed. Yet turnips die after a week. What?

I think that the next Animal Crossing should add in rotting fruit. Not only would this add to realism, but it would also make catching those pesky flies a lot easier, as well as affordable. I think it should take about a week for a fruit to become rancid, and three more days for it to go away altogether. Yes, it's a minor update, but I'm really beginning to get scared of all these fruits just sitting there FOREVER.

New town "types"

No matter how many towns you visit in Animal Crossing, they're all basically the same: A small town with North, West and East bordered by cliffs, and South meeting the sea. What about a little variety? I've thought of two new town types, and here's what they'd be.

First, there'd be a town situated on a hill. A slope would lead down from the North, East or West side, easing down into the sea on the opposite end. The town entrance would always be at the top of the hill, with fences or cliffs cutting off the other two walls. The border at the bottom of the hill would meet with the sea like always, with a river flowing down from the top of the hill into the bay. To make the town on par with the others, there would also be a plateau at some point on the hill, featuring a lake for certain holidays and fish.

The other idea I have is a valley town. There'd be two gently sloping hills on either the North and South sides or the East and West sides, both meeting at a river in the middle of town. One end of the river would lead to the sea, while the other would end in a lake. The end of the river not ending at the sea would be bordered by a cliff, with a waterfall feeding the lake. One of the remaining sides would end at the town gate, while the other could meet with a fence or cliff. The river wouldn't necessarily flow through the town in a straight line, and there would of course be two or more bridges crossing the stream.

All of these town layouts would be equal in every way, each one sharing the same bug and fish catching opportunities. This would make sure that everyone, online or not, could still fill their collections. It would also make traveling much more interesting, never knowing what kind of town you'll end up in. Oh, and the original town layout would be present as well. Of course, there's many more layouts to be brainstormed, but I'm sure you get the point.

Online HRA contests

In the Animal Crossing series, one of the things every player strives for is a high-scoring Happy Rooms Academy (HRA) ranking. In order to get higher scores, players can arrange furniture in special ways, collect sets of furniture, even arrange things according to feng shui. Getting the best score with the HRA is one of Animal Crossing's holy grails. Of course, once you achieve this, there's really no more to do then look at it or try to somehow improve upon perfection. That's why I propose online house competitions!

It would be quite simple, really. Each week, players could submit their houses to an online panel. They could be sorted into categories such as high tech, country living, outdoors, etc. The rooms would then be judged by the best judges there are: Players from around the world! Each player could choose a random house, look it over, give it a rating out of 10, and then move on to the next candidate. Not only would players now have to please the HRA, but they'd also have to appeal to the masses!

There would be a few limitations, of course. First, players could only upload one copy of their house once per judging period. No replacing your entry with a new one later in the week. Once it's submitted, there's no going back. Second, if a player places in the top 15, they would be unable to compete for the next two weeks. It's only fair to give someone else a chance! Finally, players would be forbidden from voting on their own creations. Even a different profile would be disallowed this ability. It's all in the name of fairness!

The top 15 rooms would each win a trophy, and then the next judging period would begin. As if Animal Crossing weren't already addictive enough!

Further character customization

I'm sure a lot of African Americans were somewhat disappointed in their characters appearing white so far in the Animal Crossing series. However, this would change in Animal Crossing Wii! Players would be given complete control over their character's appearance, from their skin colour right down to their freckles. Or, all this could be bypassed with Mii integration!

Now, I've said before that Miis mesh well with almost any art style. Note the "almost". I don't think that Miis would look right in an Animal Crossing. Sure, it's cartoony meets cartoony, but they're just so different. It's one thing to stand a Mii up next to Mario, but it's quite another to make one stand next to an intelligent, 5 foot-tall squirrel. So, I suggest adapting the Mii attributes to the Animal Crossing art style. Allow me to explain myself.

Imagine the Mii code like a checklist. Each Mii has a check next to one face shape, one hairstyle, one set of eyes, etc. Now, imagine if these check marks were placed on another code set, featuring the same face shapes, hairstyles and eyes, but in Animal Crossing art. Your Mii would still look like you, but it would be in a different art style. One thing, though, is that height and weight would have no effect. Everybody's a fit-looking kid in Animal Crossing Wii! Ah, the glory days...

More interesting holidays

In Animal Crossing on the Gamecube, there were so many interesting holidays. The mushroom growing season, the Harvest Moon Festival, Founder's Day, and so on. But in Animal Crossing: Wild World, the magic seemed to disappear. Almost all of the Gamecube game's holidays were scrapped, replaced with alternatives such as Yay Day and La-Di-Day. These holidays are kind of fun, but they're nothing compared to the awesome stuff packed in the original game. I propose we bring back all the good stuff!

In addition, I think a few holidays should be altered. The generic Fire Works Day, for example, should be changed to mirror the country of the player. If an American plays Animal Crossing Wii, Fire Works Day would become Independence Day, while a Canadian would experience Canada Day three days earlier on July 1st. Other countries would all have their own equivalent, of course, with China celebrating Chinese New Year and such. This would be really interesting to anyone with a lot of foreign friends, as you'd be able to experience all the different holidays included in the game. Of course, the North American release would only include Independence Day, Canada Day and... Whatever the Mexican equivalent is, if any. Sure, this would be a bit of a problem for importers, but it would help free up some space on the disc for other things.

So then, another month, another list of Animal Crossing Wii ideas. I just hope that E3 will put an end to all the speculation... Maybe I'll break the rules a little and post the next one a few days early, as one last hurrah before the real thing is (Hopefully) unveiled.

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