Animal Crossing Wii ideas 7: The last one ever?

There's a very good chance that this, the seventh edition of Animal Crossing Wii ideas, could be the last. E3 begins on Monday, and with it shall come the nearly 100% sure-to-happen unveiling of Animal Crossing Wii. And so, for what will almost surely be the last time ever, I present you with yet another collection of my Animal Crossing Wii ideas.

A new shop in town: The Craftsman's Corner

Cut down a tree in Animal Crossing, and it disappears. Makes for easy clean-up, I suppose, but what if the fallen wood could be used for something? For example, what if it could be used to make furniture?

I've heard a few people suggest over the months that players should be able to make their own furniture and such out of raw materials. I thought this to be a good idea, but it seemed a little too complex for Animal Crossing. Adding a whole new building mode for making chairs and such would just be too much work, and it would feel really out of place. So, I thought, what if there was someone who could take your raw materials and make them into something? The little light in my head lit up, and I decided that a new shop would be the perfect fit.

The Craftsman's Corner would be a log cabin-like structure, owned, managed and staffed by one man (I was thinking a beaver, personally). Basically, you run on down to The Craftsman's Corner and plop your raw material on the counter (Mostly wood, but maybe scrap metal and plastic junk found in the dump and scattered about, too). The shopkeeper shows you a list of available furniture (Which varies from town to town), each of which is accompanied by a material requirement. For example, a simple wooden chair would require 5 pieces of wood, a couch would take 15 and a bookshelf would need 10. Different types of furniture require different materials, and some may even require a little bit of several materials.

Now, this wouldn't come free, of course. You'd have to pay Buck (A beaver named Buck. I'm so bad with name making) a couple hundred bells to cover labour and such, and your furniture would be ready the next day. Each piece of furniture would be exclusive to The Craftsman's Corner, or at least be very rare otherwise. Also, anything made at The Craftsman's Corner would be impossible to order via Tom Nook's catalog. It just doesn't work that way.

I feel this helps add a neat little feature to Animal Crossing without at all making the game more complex. Animal Crossing is a simple game with a decent bit of depth, but a new feature couldn't hurt. Just so long as it doesn't make the game overly complex, I'm all for it.

Make the other villagers do some of the dirty work

Ever notice that everyone else in town seems to have not a care in the world? Running around all day catching fish, buying shirts and yakking endlessly. What if some of them actually had a day job?

Each Animal Crossing game starts off with the player in debt to Tom Nook, and they begin paying off their mortgage by working for the fuzzy little con artist. Something's a little odd, though. Ever notice that you're the only person who seems to work there other than Nook? Don't you think that maybe that conniving raccoon could use an extra pair of hands? I know a great way to solve both this problem and the one from the last paragraph: Have a villager work there!

I can just imagine other people in town actually having daily routines to attend to. Sure, there would still be the aimlessly wondering fools, but a few neighbours would surely get a job somewhere. It's all so easy to picture! Tangy lending a hand at the Able Sisters, Drift helping sort mail at town hall, and perhaps even Walker washing dishes at The Roost. Giving jobs to some of the villagers would really make them feel more like real "people". Instead of a neighbourhood full of slacking animals, it would become a living, breathing society, full of far more interesting villagers than ever before. Also, having Punchy doing stock at Nook's Cranny is sure to provide a laugh or two. A shovel in the furniture section? Oh, that Punchy!

A better look into the shopkeepers' lives

In the first two Animal Crossing games, you could get a bit of personal information out of Nook, Phyllis and Sable by talking to them consistently and/or at the right times. That's as far as things go, though. I'd like if we'd get to see more into the lives of these retail industry characters. I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to suggest that we can visit them in their houses when off duty, but seeing them casually walking around town would certainly be a nice addition.

Once free from their jobs, these workers would act just like normal villagers, except with maybe a unique personality and a few more things to say. Otherwise, though, Pelly would fit in perfectly with Alfonso. Asking you to run errands, chatting like everyone else, and even engaging in hobbies such as fossil hunting and bug catching would be commonplace for these formerly work-only souls.

Now, say we could go into their houses... What would their abodes be like? In a word, "normal". After all, people are people. Of course, since they're at work a lot of the time, I'm guessing we'd see the occasional cockroach running around in their house. Nobody's perfect, especially not when they're working for 12 hours a day!

I'd really love to get a better view of the workers' personal lives. Maybe we'd even see some of their relatives! I've always wondered if there was any truth to the rumours of Nook having a wife...

A more customizable house

(Before I start writing this, I should say I've had this idea for a while, and I'm pretty sure I posted it online somewhere before. However, it doesn't seem to have appeared on One Duck's Opinion, so here you go. If I have posted it here, though... Oh well.)

Every time that you pay off your mortgage, that money-loving, monopolizing rodent offers to add on to your puny house. The additions are always pretty much chosen by Nook, with the only input you get basically being whether you want the basement or second floor first. But what if you had complete control over how your house was expanded upon? Every time you paid off your mortgage, Nook would ask you how to expand your house. Add another floor? A basement? A second room on the main floor? It's up to you!

The combinations are mind-boggling. A towering home of several tiny floors, a sprawling bungalow, or even a tiny little shed that hides a massive underground complex that plunges several floors into the Earth. You got the money, Nook's got the construction crew.

One new expansion option this could add would be to have several rooms on the upper floor. Of course, you can't put another room up there without another beneath it for support, but other than that, your options are pretty much unlimited. Of course, you would only have so many opportunities to upgrade, so choose your additions wisely!

And so ends what is almost certainly the last ever Animal Crossing Wii ideas post. Oh well, I'll think of some other series, I'm sure. If for some terrible, terrible reason Animal Crossing Wii isn't shown next week, though, I shall do my best to resurrect this series until it's inevitable unveiling. Lets just hope it doesn't come to that, though.

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The Duck Has Spoken.

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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The Duck Has Spoken.

Animal Crossing Wii ideas 5: Still no end in sight

I feel it's about time I re-visit one of the staples of this blog, my Animal Crossing Wii ideas series! Every month I do these, always hoping that by the next update I could stop guessing and finally see the real thing. Yet, once again, a month goes by without a whisper, so here we are. Time for round five of Animal Crossing Wii ideas!

The return of tents and igloos

In the first Animal Crossing, randomly throughout Summer and Winter, you'd see tents and igloos, respectively. Inside was a villager eager to play a game against you. A game that usually ended up with you paying a whole whackload for a piece of crap. And that was it. Sure, you could go back again and pay another 3000 bells for yet another Kiddy Carpet, but really, isn't there something you'd rather be doing?

However, there was too much potential in these little refuges to leave them behind, so I think they should come back in Animal Crossing Wii. What could be done to make these better? I was thinking maybe a traveler would be the one to set up camp, and they'd talk about their journey, where they've been, where they're going... Maybe they've even been to one of your friends' towns! Then they'd give you a gift to remember them by, and the next day, they'd be gone. Really adds a bit more of a point to the tents and igloos, doesn't it?

Expanding on multiplayer

As we are all well aware of, Nintendo has long stressed that Animal Crossing Wii will feature interaction on a level not yet seen in any other game in the series. With friends sending you letters via WiiConnect24 and perhaps even visiting while you're not playing, there's going to be so much more to do with all your pals online. Here are a few minor ideas I have.

First, there would be a huge amount of friends allowed in any town at any time. I was thinking maybe twelve maximum, but I'd settle for anything above Wild World's four. This would make for some insane online treasure hunting (More details in Volume 2), and perhaps even organized hide-and-seek. With twelve people, who knows?

Second, several people could play at once on the same Wii. Anybody with an existing resident could simply hop in, and those who are simply dropping by for a visit could use one of two guest characters (One male, one female). You could even go online while someone else is playing with you, working in a way similar to Mario Kart Wii's two VS world multiplayer. Of course, one limitation would be if one person went to another town, everyone would have to go with them. Rendering two (Or more) separate towns at once would surely cause the Wii to burst into flames.

Random toys and objects lying around

Back in Animal Crossing for the Gamecube, you could randomly find balls lying around town. You could just kick them around for fun, and sometimes a villager may ask for one to play with. You deliver it, they're happy, mission complete. However, like the tents and igloos, this was sadly absent from Animal Crossing: Wild World. But I want to see it return!

To add to the original selection of just balls, there could also be sticks and such lying around. These could be sold for a couple bells at Tom Nook's shop, or maybe they'd just randomly fall from trees, tripping anyone not careful enough to watch for them. Perhaps you'd even see some other kind of outdoor toy, like a Frisbee or a pogo-stick. You never really know! And of course, you may see garbage tossed on the ground by some inconsiderate villager from time to time. Why, the nerve of some people!

Villagers being able to visit a friend's town

In Animal Crossing Wii, perhaps a villager may seem to disappear from time to time. Where'd they go? Ask one of your friends if they're in their town! I think it'd be really cool if villagers could freely visit your friends' towns whenever they want. After all, who says only humans can leave town? What makes us so special? You know, besides thumbs.

If a villager really likes it in your friend's town, they could even decide to move there. But don't worry, you can still visit them! They'd retain all their memories of you, the other villagers and the town itself. And who knows, they may move back. Or they could even move to yet another town from there, ending up in who-knows-where! Villagers need to go out on their own, too, don't you think?

Give a gift to any villager, any time

Talking to any villager for more than a few minutes usually spurs them to give you something like a carpet or a crappy chair. But what if we wish to give them something? Usually the only time we can is when they ask, but I think it'd be nice if we could give something to one of our village buddies whenever we want. Generosity's always nice!

Oh, and don't think giving them something they just gave you will work. They don't appreciate re-gifting, especially without even one degree of separation.

This concludes our broadcast week. We'll be back for more this Monday evening.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

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Tomorrow's Nintendo press conference: Predictions, hopes and doubts

I've been waiting to use this image again for a loooong time.



It's not uncommon for Nintendo fans to go months without information on games from their favourite developer. So when we hear the words "press conference", we usually go all sorts of insane. My first reaction to this sort of thing is to start thinking up what might happen at the event, and this press conference is no different. At the same time, my imagination goes wild with extremely unlikely hopes for announcements. I also consider some downright almost-certainly-not-going-to-happen announcements and reveals. So what will most likely happen? What do I dearly wish will happen? And what is most likely not going to occur at all? My predictions, hopes and doubts follow.

Predictions

These are the things I'm almost sure will happen. I doubt all of them will show up at this conference, but I have a good feeling at least one of them will.

Assets for Animal Crossing Wii will be shown

This game has been in a bizarre state of confirmation for quite some time. Nintendo is making it, and they're well aware that we know this. On several occasions, they pretty much outright confirmed it's existance. But still, there's no screenshots, video, official announcements or anything. Come tomorrow, though, I think this will change.

I'm willing to bet that we'll see at least some concept art or screenshots. Perhaps a trailer, and maybe some separate in-game footage. But I'm nearly certain we'll see at least something. And when it happens, I'll be sure to squeal with fanboyish delight.

Some news on Disaster: Day of Crisis

Of all the currently-announced Nintendo projects, Disaster: Day of Crisis is probably the one I'm most looking forward to. Even though we've seen little more than a five-second trailer and a few screenshots, I'm just so incredibly hyped for this title. And don't ask why, but I have this incredibly strong feeling that we'll be seeing some more on this game. Whether it's a new trailer, some screenshots or a name change, I'm almost positive this game will make some sort of an appearance.

The third fourth-generation Pokémon will be revealed

It's been almost a year since Pokémon Diamond and Pearl debuted in North America. I think it's about time we see the third game of the generation announced, don't you? After all, every conventional Pokémon generation (Not counting Firered and Leafgreen, which are remakes) has had three games: Two games released at the same time, with a third released later on. The third game always has some sort of special aspect to it, such as a tweaked storyline or additional areas.

It's been so long since Diamond and Pearl came out, and I've been thinking we'll see the third game soon for quite some time. To me, tomorrow seems like the perfect time and place.

Wii Channel news

This is an incredibly vague prediction, so it really can mean pretty much anything. Whether the news is a new channel, an upcoming update to an existing channel or the long-awaited release date Everybody's Nintendo Channel. I'm really hoping it's the latter, because we've really been waiting for ages and ages to get some info.

Hopes

These are all things I hope very much will happen, but seem improbable for one reason or another. Whether or not any of the following happens is beyond me, but I'd sure be happy if some of it did!

An F-Zero, Star Fox or Pikmin sequel to be announced

Come on, how awesome would this be? A new F-Zero on the Wii, with online play and Excite Truck-style steering! Or a new Star Fox game exactly like the one I yakked about back in June! And what about that new Pikmin everyone keeps begging for, with Shigeru Miyamoto-approved motion controls!

However, this remains merely a hope because of how relatively low-profile this press conference is going to be. It's not like E3 or the Tokyo Game Show, so we really shouldn't expect anything too huge. But still...

A solution to the Wii's puny 512 MB memory

Nobody can deny this: The Wii's default memory capacity sucks. SD Cards stream too slowly to be viable solutions, and the Wii-fridgerator idea is way too clunky and time-consuming. We need a hard drive, and we need it yesterday. With all these Virtual Console downloads, gamesaves and the impending WiiWare launch, space on our Wii's memory is going to become even more scarce. I really hope Nintendo's working out a solution to this.

But, no matter how hard I hope, it just doesn't seem like something Nintendo would do. Hard drives are expensive, and they just don't fit with the sort of approach Nintendo is taking. So as much as I'd like for it to happen, I doubt we'll see this tomorrow, if at all.

Doubts

These are announcements that I neither expect or really anticipate all that much. If they don't happen, meh, okay. If they do, ok, cool. I really don't care much either way. Not that it matters, since these are almost surely not going to happen.

New Wii colours

While it would be kind of cool to see a red or black Wii, I really don't see it happening. First of all, the Wii is already selling like mad. Sales don't need a kick in the butt just yet. Second, Nintendo's already having trouble keeping up with demand. New colours would just divide their resources even more. I don't think we'll be seeing new Wii colours for quite some time yet.

A new DS remodel

Whatever they do to make the next DS remodel different, it probably won't be happening for a while. To start, DS Lite's are still selling fairly well in almost every one of the world's markets. Also, what exactly could they change about the DS Lite to warrant another model? It's already incredibly small, it has a great battery life, and the screens are crystal clear. Any possible improvements are incredibly minor. I think we'll be seeing an entirely new generation of handhelds first, and that's far too big for a relatively minor event such as this.

So then, my predictions have been made, my hopes are stated, and my doubts are placed. Time to sit back and watch how things go down.

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The Duck Has Spoken.

Behold! More Animal Crossing Wii ideas

It's that time again...



So, another month has passed, and still no word on Animal Crossing Wii. Time for more ideas!

Custom Music

K.K Slider's music is great and all, but what if we could play our own custom music in Animal Crossing Wii? All we'd have to do is load our favourite tunes onto an SD card, pop it in the Wii, and bam! Instant personalized music. All the player would have to do is go to a musical item in their house and choose the "Custom Music" option from a menu. Then they could cycle through their MP3s in the same fashion to choosing a K.K Slider song.

Oh, what I wouldn't give for a little Weird Al Yankovic or Yakety Sax in my Animal Crossing... And perhaps a bit of Portal goodness in the form of Still Alive? Sounds good to me!

Clubs

If there's one annoying thing I remember about the original Animal Crossing, it's that villagers would occasionally blather on about some amazing new soccer/ballet/swimming/etc. club they just formed, and they'd ask you to join. Of course, it doesn't really matter what you say, because the club doesn't even exist.

But what if it did? These clubs could be created by villagers or players, with themes ranging from treasure hunting to gardening. Every week on a specific day (Say, Saturday, for example), you and your fellow club members would meet, discuss what you're going to do, and head off. The treasure hunting club would revolve around looking for Gyroids, fossils, seashells and whatnot, bringing them back and adding them to a central club collection with everyone else's finds. The gardening club would entail the leader handing out flower seeds and saplings to the members to go around and plant wherever they please, beautifying the village. You could even have flower-watering competitions, with club members fighting to water more flowers than anyone else.

Do you think this is an awesome idea? Join the club, we have imaginary T-shirts.

Tree Houses

Look at all those trees scattered across your village. Other than fruit, furniture and the occasional beehive, those trees really don't do all that much. But what if you could put a tree house in one of them? Like your home away from home, your more elevated house could be placed in any tree anywhere in your village. Players could take some nice old furniture and put it up in their new real estate, giving them a new place to call their own.

To make things fair, the tree on which the tree house is built would be immune to axes. It just wouldn't be fair if some jerk thought it fun to chop down your second home, would it?

Each player would get to have one tree house in their town, and only the player who owns the house would be able to place or remove objects within it. So really, it's like you have an additional room to cram all your stuff. But I don't think it's really intended to be used as storage...

Pattern restrictions

Don't you hate it when someone comes along over Wi-Fi and tears up your meticulously-placed sidewalk? Well, worry no more, because in my vision of Animal Crossing Wii, only the player who placed the pattern can remove it. Also, to avoid the obligatory pornographic patterns you're sure to come across, visitors would be forbidden to place patterns in a foreign town.

A point-and-click control scheme

If you've played Animal Crossing: Wild World, you probably know about the touch screen controls available to be used. Animal Crossing Wii would also take advantage of its home console's unique controls, adding a point-and-click navigation option. In addition to moving around with the analog stick, players would have the choice of simply pointing where they want to go and pressing A.

If a player is playing with the Nunchuk and Wii remote configuration, they could use a combination of the two control schemes, switching between pointer and analog control on the fly. If the player only has a Wii remote on hand, it goes without saying that the point-and-click control scheme would be the only available option. And could some Gamecube and Classic controlling work it's way in? Hey, I wouldn't be opposed. The more options, the merrier!

So, yet again, another month as passed with no word on Animal Crossing Wii, so I have written up some more ideas. I sure hope I don't have to go another month without information! Perhaps Thursday's press conference will shed some light on this elusive title...

Alright! Feel free to talk about the article (Or post your own ideas) in the comment section or this forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Some more ideas for Animal Crossing Wii

All Animal Crossing Wii-related posts and brainstorms can be found right here.



So, a month has passed since my last Animal Crossing Wii ideas post, and still no word on the game from Nintendo. How much longer will we have to wait for even the smallest sliver of information? Well, in the absence of details, we have speculation and brainstorming. So here goes with some more suggestions for Animal Crossing Wii.

Advanced clothing design

In all Animal Crossing games so far, making a shirt or dress out of a pattern always results in the same pattern being used for the front, back and sleeves. For example, if you make a pattern that looks like a suit with a tie, your character will appear to be wearing a tie on their back and arms. Not exactly what you had in mind, huh?

So here's what I propose: Allow players to assign patterns to the individual parts of the shirt/dress. Players could have a pattern for the front, another for the back, and one more for the sleeves.

One problem is this would be unable to work with the usual ability to turn a pattern into a shirt/dress on the go. While in previous games you could just drag a pattern over your character to make them wear it as a shirt/dress, the advanced clothing creation would require each pattern to be assigned to a part of the shirt/dress one by one. This would require a new screen on the menu, and I see it looking something like this:

My concept for an advanced clothing design interface

As you can see in my "crudely-drawn-in-MS-Paint" concept, advanced clothing design really isn't so difficult, but it still requires several different patterns to take full advantage of. If players want to change their clothes real quick, but still want the advanced clothing design results, they can save pre-made shirts/dresses to a secondary function of the above page. This way, they can just open the design page, click on their pre-made shirts/dresses, and put it on. All the personality in far less time!

One more thing I want to point out about the above concept is the button labeled "Switch to Basic Editor". The basic editor is actually the default page whenever opening this part of the menu. The basic editor consists of a list of patterns and the player's character, with the player dragging their patterns onto the character for the old-style clothing design. They may end up wearing ties on their sleeves, but that's a sacrifice that must be made to make things quick and easy.

Online item auctions and trading

Looking for a rare item, but none of your friends have it? This calls for an online auction! Working just like eBay or any other real-life auction site, players can bid on rare items posted by other players in hopes of adding them to their collection. When the auction closes, the winner will receive his/her prize via in-game mail upon the next mail delivery. And of course, you can also set up auctions of your own, selling whatever you feel like parting with.

Not into bidding? Have no fear, trading is here! You can post an item online, and request the rare item you desire in return. You can also check out what items other people have put up for trade, and take them up on their offers if you please. Think of it like Pokémon Diamond and Pearl's Global Trade System, but instead of Pokémon, you're trading for items!

In both trading and bidding, you can search for posted items by name, category, theme/set and size. Here's an example:

Name: Snowman Couch
Category: Seating
Theme/Set: Snowman
Size: 1 x 2

You can fill in as many or as few of the fields as you want, and you can even hit a random button to check out a random item someone posted. The main page of the trading and auction section would show recently posted items, soon-to-close auctions, and the top five hottest auctions. You never know what you'll find, so look often!

More diverse plant life

Run around any Animal Crossing town, and you'll see nothing but tree after tree after tree... I think it's time we add bushes to the mix. Trees are great, but I don't think I've ever walked through a forest without seeing some sort of shrubbery scattered around. The addition of bushes could go hand in hand with berries joining the game, working hand-in-hand with the already-existing fruit. They'd probably sell for less and be far more common (Probably four or five berries a day per bush, opposed to a tree's three fruit), but high volumes of berries would also make it easier to spread the plant around the town, meaning more bushes. More bushes means more berries, and more berries means more money! Quantity beats out quality here.

And how about some more hazardous plant life? Some poison ivy would be an interesting addition. Just imagine running into a villager scratching itself furiously, yelling about how much they hate that poison ivy. The player could remove the poison ivy by digging it up, or maybe do something a bit more diabolical with it. Just imagine you go to dig up some poison ivy, and see some seeds drop from it. You thoughts quickly turn to your least favourite villager, and an evil idea comes to mind. You run to his/her house, surround it with poison ivy, and enjoy the floor show.


"What's that, Monique? You want me to plant some flowers in your front lawn? Can do... Heh heh heh."

This shouldn't be too hard of a feature to add. I'm sure Nintendo can easily whip something up from "scratch".

A bigger town square

The cobble stone-paved area in front of town hall plays host to the occasional visitor, such as Crazy Redd and Gracie. But these are small events. What if there's a festival in town? Surely a big celebration couldn't fit on such a puny little area. Just take a look at the gargantuan festival in the movie!

The festival in the Animal Crossing movie is far too large to fit in the
current town square

The town square certainly needs a bit more space. Festivals would be a blast in Animal Crossing, but it can't happen if it can't fit.

Of course, festivals wouldn't be the only thing happening at town square. The near-monthly Flea Market Day from Wild World could evolve into a full-blown, weekend-long event. Vendors from all over would set up shop and sell rare and foreign items usually impossible to find in your town. There could also be stalls dedicated to games, with even more items up as prizes. The motion controls would turn this into a series of mini-games, with several classic carnival-style games available to be played. The difference, though, is that it will actually be possible to win these games. No carny tricks! Well, at least at any stall not run by Crazy Redd... Crafty little fox.

Alright, so ends yet another list of ideas for Animal Crossing Wii. As always, feel free to discuss this in the comments section or in this forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Gaming pet peeves

I love games a whole lot, but there are just some things about them that really annoy me. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this. Here are a few things that really tend to peeve me off with games.

Showing off moves/abilities unavailable to the player

I really hate it when trailers, cutscenes or promotional art pieces show off the main character doing things the player cannot do. For example, there are scenes in many of the Legend of Zelda games in which Link takes a running jump, but the player cannot spur such interactions.

And what about that promotional art? I was just playing a bit of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. I've learned that angering the local savages is never a good idea, as it always leads to Zack instantly being captured, and thusly ending the level. After I had enough of the game for the night, I flipped through the manual and saw art of Zack running from a savage while holding a treasure chest; Two things impossible to do in the game!

The trailers and commercials are often the worst, though. Ever see the latest commercial for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune? Nathan Drake (The main character) is sneaking up on a group of enemies when his walkie-talky goes off, alerting the foes. He looks at the device, glances up at the opposition and says "Think it's for you!". He tosses the walkie-talky at an enemy, whips out his gun and shoots them while they're reeling. As far as I know, there's no possible way to do this. I've never played the game, admittedly, but after some brief research I saw absolutely no mention of any such unique tactics. Maybe this happens in a cutscene, which is somewhat more forgivable than false advertising, but still a real annoyance for me. And this doesn't apply to just Uncharted, I'm just using it as an example.

Somewhat related to the above, it also really peeves me off when game commercials consist almost entirely (Or 100%) of cutscenes and pre-rendered clips. That really bugs me to no end. At least label the scenes as either actual game footage or not, like in the latest Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games DS commercial.

Invisible walls

I remember when I first got the Wing Cap in Super Mario 64. I was flying around, having a grand old time... And then I hit an invisible wall, and plummeted to the ground. Ever since then, I have hated these see-through barriers relentlessly. I prefer it when the developers take a more unique approach to fencing off the player. In Half-Life 2, straying too far from land results in you being attacked by ravenous fish. Swimming too far from shore in Jak 3 triggers an attack from a bizarre squid-like monster. In Battlefield 1942, leaving the mission area causes your player (Or vehicle) to lose health rapidly after a ten-second warning. More games need to instigate such measures, instead of resorting to the annoying and overdone invisible walls.

Rubber band technology

Ever get a huge lead in Mario Kart 64? Well, it didn't last for long, did it? Instead of letting you enjoy your massively advantageous position, the game juices up the speed of all the racers behind you, causing them to catch up in no time at all. I remember pulling off a huge shortcut at the beginning of Rainbow Road that cuts about a minute off my overall time, only to have my opponents catch up by the end of the lap.

It doesn't bug me much when the lead racer gets crappy items, leaving all the good stuff to those in lower positions. That's just fair, really. But dang it, speeding them up far beyond their usual threshold just isn't right.

Peripheral-dependent games being sold without said peripheral

You wouldn't believe how many times I've seen used copies of Odama sitting on the shelf at my local Rogers Video, only to notice that they don't even have the necessary microphone bundled in with them. Same deal with Mario Party 6 and 7. I know this is hardly the fault of the developer. It's the re-sellers' fault. But dammit, it still really boils my spuds.

Lack of checkpoints

I really, really, REALLY hate it when I get reeeeally far in a level of a game, only to die and restart back at the beginning of the stage. That just annoys me to no end. Working so hard, getting so close, only to fail at the last moment and end up back at square one. You know what would solve this? Checkpoints, people! Like in the old Sonic games from the Genesis/MegaDrive, little markers during the stage acting as restart points. That way if you die, you don't have to restart the whole level.

Another problem is when there's too few checkpoints too far apart. Recently I was playing Half-Life 2: Episode One, at a point where I had to make a timed jump, sprint past a hazard, gun down some enemies and reach a point beyond them, all without dying. Now, I think that's a bit much. In my opinion, there should have been a checkpoint after the hazard. It wouldn't have been quite as bad if I had a chance to heal in between (Thus lowering my chances of losing the gunfight), but that sadly wasn't a possibility.

Then again, there shouldn't be too many checkpoints, either... It's probably a hard balance to strike.

So then, I hope you enjoyed reading about some of the gaming-related pet peeves I have. Now it's your turn: What are some of your gaming pet peeves? Feel free to voice off in the comments section or in this forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Even more ways to improve on Animal Crossing

I seriously have Animal Crossing on my mind. The movie, the banner, the game... It's driving me nuts! In the best way, mind you. But still...

Also, you can read the first Animal Crossing Wii ideas article here.



Animal Crossing Wii is bound to be one monster of a game when it comes out. If Super Smash Bros. Brawl is any indication, Nintendo can sure cram a whole lot onto those Wii DVDs. And now for even more data to be crammed!

More elaborate birthday celebrations

In Animal Crossing, the game always knows when it's your birthday. When you first start up the game on your birthday, you are greeted at your door with a random neighbour. They wish you the best, and give you a special item: Cake. From then on, nobody really says anything about it being your birthday. No more gifts, no parties, nothing. How about some action? How about all your best friends from the neighbourhood show up in the morning, each one bearing gifts and a single cake between them. Then there could be a party, mini-games and more. What used to be a minor event could become a day-long party in Animal Crossing Wii!

Frozen ponds and rivers lead to hidden areas

Imagine that it's the middle of Winter, and the temperature is sub-zero. All the small bodies of water would freeze over, allowing your character to traverse the once impassable ponds and rivers. In addition to making it easier to get around town, walking across certain frozen areas could lead to secret parts of the village. A tiny island hidden in the middle of the lake, or maybe a secret path up to the top of the town's border-marking cliffs. The possibilities are pretty staggering!

To further add to this idea, players and villagers would gain the ability to skate around on the town's major pond, and there could even be a skating competition with prizes. There's so much potential in this!

Of course, ocean bordering the town would be impervious to freezing. Perhaps small sections of the shallower parts would freeze, but the majority of the ocean would still be liquid. Can't have you running off to Alaska now, can we?

More to do while visiting friends online

In Animal Crossing: Wild World, online interaction was limited to talking and a few little games made up by the players. You could compete to catch the most fish or bugs in the least amount of time or race across town, but it was all pretty shallow and it got boring quickly. How about we kick it up a notch? Bam!

First of all, a non-playable character (NPC) such as a villager could organize a treasure hunt. The players would all get their clues from the villager, and head off to find their prize. Each player would get slightly different clues, to prevent people from just following their competitors around and stealing the prize. All players would take different paths, but everybody's hunt will end with the same treasure. Whoever gets there first wins and gets to keep the booty!

This is just one idea to help flesh-out the online aspect of the game. I'm sure Nintendo will think up many more games and activities far more interesting than mine!

A more customizable house

In both of the Animal Crossing games released so far, you can upgrade your house in only on significant way, and that's to make it bigger. Your pal/tyrannical overlord Tom Nook upgrades your house in return for you paying him exorbitant amounts of mortgage debt. This is all fine and dandy, but I wish there were more ways to improve on your home. After all, this is one of the game's most important parts!

So in what other ways could the house be upgraded? I'm thinking a fenced-in garden (To keep out any flower-trampling neighbours), a balcony, a fireplace, and maybe even a rooftop patio!

Also, it would be nice if we could change more of the house's colours than just the roof. Players could choose what colour the bricks are, and maybe even choose entirely different walls altogether! Aluminum siding, a log cabin... The possibilities are mind-boggling!

What do you think could be done to improve Animal Crossing for the next installment? Feel free to post your ideas in the comment section or in this article's forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Games that need to be remade

I like new games as much as the next guy. But still, there's some games that have gone by and become lost in the annals of time. These are games I'd love to see remade. Not only for me, but for the new generation of gamers we are beginning to see. People born in the mid- to late-nineties have most likely missed out on the fruits of gaming's heyday. What better way to acquaint them with the past of gaming than a remake? So, without further ado, here are some games I think are well worth a remake.

Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions

Released in 2000, these two games are the most recent of the titles in this article. Introducing these games seems somewhat pointless, since we know both of them so well (At least I hope we do!). But, just in case, here's the basic rundown.

Like Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow before them, Pokémon Gold and Silver were all about what fans of the series have come to love: Catching 'em all! With 100 new Pokémon (Bringing the grand total to 251), there was more to do than ever before.

Along with new Pokémon, Gold and Silver added a few other features that would later become recurring trends in the Pokémon series. First, they added the PokéGear. Worn like a watch, this handy little computer served as a phone and a radio, among other things. This would later return in Ruby and Sapphire as the Pokénav, and again in Diamond and Pearl as the Pokétch. This multi-tool, although somewhat of a novelty in the second generation, served as the base for so much more.

Another added feature was an internal clock, which would keep track of real-world time. Whenever it became late in real life, the lights would come on, and the environment would darken. Depending on what time of day it was, certain Pokémon would become more or less common, some of which will appear exclusively at a certain time of the day. Also, depending on the time of day, a properly cared-for Eevee could evolve into either an Espeon or an Umbreon.

Pokémon Gold and Silver added much to the Pokémon universe. But what could be added to them to entice veterans of the series to buy it again? Well, I'm thinking that we'd see a fully redone version of Kanto (The location of Red, Blue and Yellow) instead of the shrunken, stripped-down version we got in addition to Johto in the second game.

Also, the game would be fully compatible with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, allowing for trading and battling between the two. This would make it far easier for Diamond and Pearl players when it came to finishing their Pokédex.

Of course, the game would also need to be entirely compatible with the Diamond and Pearl Global Trade System (GTS). If that's not possible, then it would at least need a similar service of it's own. I just can't imagine Pokémon without the GTS anymore!

There's a huge demand for a Pokémon Gold and Silver remake, and the potential is almost as great. I only hope the Nintendo and Game Freak have realized this as well.

The Legend of Zelda

Originally released way back in 1986, the closest it's ever gotten to a remake is BS Zelda no Densetsu on the Super Famicom's Satellaview game service. Sure, it's been re-released on the Virtual Console, but I'm still dying for an enhanced remake.

The Legend of Zelda was an amazing adventure title for the NES/Famicom, introducing many new features then unheard of in video games. It pioneered the overworlds and dungeons we see all the time nowadays, and it practically created the free-roaming aspect of games that we don't even seem to notice anymore. Without The Legend of Zelda, the world of gaming would be very different indeed.

So what could be done to this already amazing game to make it worth buying over the Virtual Console port? First of all, it would have entirely revamped graphics, taking full advantage of whatever console it's developed for. If made for the Wii, it could have waggle-controls for sword movement, and a DS version could be controlled like Phantom Hourglass.

Additional sidequests and such would also be added, with the possibility of entirely new maps exclusive to the remake. And perhaps, in similar fashion of the Link to the Past remake, this version could share a game card/disc with a brand-new Four Swords game! Whether this remake happens on the Wii or the DS, there'll be plenty of space left over for an entire secondary game.

The Legend of Zelda could become a powerhouse title for the Wii or the DS, and I hope Nintendo has noticed this. A remake is far overdue, and I've been dreaming of such a thing ever since the Link to the Past GBA port. It can be done, and if I have any say in it (Which I don't), it will be done.

Final Fantasy VII

Of course, it would just be wrong to write an article like this and leave out the amazing triumph of RPG design that is Final Fantasy VII. This game deserves every ounce of praise it gets, and I only wish I owned a copy of my own so I could play it all over again. All three glorious CDs of it...

Anyways, for those unfamiliar with Final Fantasy VII (FOR SHAME!!!), here's the basics. As with all the other numbered Final Fantasy games before it, Final Fantasy VII was an incredibly in-depth and fleshed out RPG. Being the first ever on the Playstation, and possibly more importantly, first ever Final Fantasy in 3D, VII had some big expectations to live up to. And did it fill those shoes?

In a word: DEFINITELY.

With it's new Materia system, Final Fantasy VII made it easier than ever before to customize your characters any way you wanted. Want Cloud to cast Thunder? Sure thing. Feel like having Cid unleash Bahamut? Go right ahead. Final Fantasy VII gave you an incredible amount of control over how your characters were structured, and it's been overcome very few times to this day.

To top it all off, it had an amazing story that was incredibly epic in both scale and length. What starts off as "fighting the power" eventually escalates into an adventure to save the very planet they live on. Final Fantasy VII's story is still ingrained in my mind to this very day.

So then, if this game's so epic and amazing, what could they possibly do to improve upon it? Of course, we're gonna be seeing some beefed-up graphics. Just imagine if Final Fantasy VII was remade for the PS3 (Which is looking to be the most likely candidate as of now). All that raw power put into making the characters from one of history's greatest RPGs look the way we've always dreamed, and bringing them to life like never before... I don't know about you, but that would sure get me thinking about buying a PS3!

As for actual content, I'm not sure what could be added... The original title itself was already so expansive! And I'm sure a change too radical would anger the fans... For this particular section, I'm going to have to leave the genius up to Square-Enix. They do know what's best for the game, after all. Well, if it even exists or ever will exist, that is.

And it has to exist! Come on, Dirge of Cerberus, Advent Children and Before Crisis can't possibly exist without a Final Fantasy VII remake! ...right?

The Duck Has Spoken.

Ideas for Animal Crossing Wii

Nothin' to say here, folks. Straight on to the article, then!

Among the various Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Pokémon games, Nintendo still manages to invent a new franchise every now and then. One of their greatest new creations as of the last few years would have to be Animal Crossing for the Gamecube. Succeeded by Animal Crossing: Wild World on the Nintendo DS, the next step for the franchise is the Wii. With more storage space, graphical power, online capabilities and control possibilities than ever before, Animal Crossing Wii is sure to be the biggest game yet in the franchise. Here are a few of my ideas on how Nintendo may expand on this already amazing series.

New ways to interact with items and villagers

(Summarized from a previous article called Bits and pieces: Random game ideas)

Imagine shaking hands with new villagers or the mayor by actually making a hand-shaking motion with the Wii remote! Extremely minor, yes, but it's these little things that really help the game feel more realistic.

And how about item interaction? With the Wii remote, you could actually simulate cranking the handle on a Jack-in-the-box and then mimic pressing the lid shut when he pops out! The great thing is, what motion you have to perform would be up to you to discover! You could have a fancy sword for ages and never know that swiping the Wii remote upwards allows your character to unsheathe the sword! The items that seem uninteresting may actually hide some amazing secrets.

Caves and tunnels in the hillsides

Remember those cliffs whose only purpose it seemed was to get in your way? Well, what if these cliffs hid secrets, such as caves and tunnels? Every town would come with at least one cave or tunnel, where players could find rare items and maybe even stumble across a fossil or two. There could also be a new holiday centered around the cave, such as a Halloween-type event revolving around a monster rumoured to roam the subterranean corridors. The possibilities for caves is nearly endless, and it'd be amazing if something like this were paired with Nintendo's awesome creativity.

Once boring cliffs could now be dotted with caves and tunnels

Weather in-game reflecting real-life conditions

Now, this is an idea EVERYBODY has been pondering ever since the Forecast Channel was announced: What if the weather in the real world were mirrored inside the game? For example, if the Forecast Channel says there's rain, Animal Crossing would pick up on this and turn on the water! This would also be pretty cool when visiting other friends' villages across the Wi-Fi Connection, as your character could be in a Winter wonderland one minute, and in a sunny Summer scene the next!

Temperature could also be worked into things. Say it was snowing like heck on Sunday, then the temperature suddenly shot above freezing on Monday. You'd still see snow, but it would diminish over time. Droplets would roll off roofs and puddles would form. Or what if it were hot and dry for several days? Trees and plants would turn brown, and water levels in the local rivers and ponds would drop slightly. Rampant raining? The riverbanks would fill to bursting, and plants would grow at astonishing rates. No flooding, though, that's just too much.

Of course, if you don't have internet, and thusly no access to the Forecast Channel, the weather would be pre-determined. But who doesn't have internet?

And, of course, the obligatory additions

As is the case with any new Animal Crossing game, there would of course be new villagers, furniture, music, fish, insects, fossils, clothes, etc.

Those are my thoughts on what could be added to Animal Crossing Wii. What do you think is a must-have when it comes to the next game in the series?

The Duck Has Spoken.