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.

Poll #34: "Have you ever had a Nintendo console break after less than five years?" results, banner

"Yes, more than once" 2 (8%)
"Yes, but only once" 5 (20%)
"Nope, I guess I'm just lucky" 16 (66%)
"I'm not sure" 1 (4%)

I'm glad to see that most people haven't had much trouble with their Nintendo consoles. I suppose I'm just one of the unlucky few... Well, at least it still works.

This week's banner is a salute to Nintendo's leading ladies. I don't think there are enough positive female role-models in today's society, but I'm glad to see that there are at least a few solid characters of the fairer sex. Peach can kick some ass in sports, Samus is deadly with a gun, and Zelda's magic is a force to be reckoned with. Even better, they're not overly sexed-up or under-dressed, which is something I'm very happy to see in today's world of skimpy clothing.



As for this week's banner, the subject is "Do you have any foreign consoles, games or peripherals?". Personally, I have a Japanese Wii remote, and that's it. But I know there are a lot of people out there with quite the collection of imports, and I thought this would be an interesting way for us to discuss our foreign collectibles. If you wish to say just what foreign consoles, games or peripherals you have, feel free to sound off in the comment section, or maybe make up an appropriate thread on the forums. I'm interested to hear what sorts of imported things some people have in their collections!

Tonight's article will be up shortly!

The Duck Has Spoken.

Whatever happened to...? Volume 2

Now this is a long-overdue revival. I haven't even touched this subject since August!

It's not uncommon for a game to get announced followed by a huge gap without any information. It happens all the time, in fact. But usually that radio silence is broken with a flood of new information. Not always, though. Some games go on for months and months with little to no information. Here are the two current offenders I'm most interested in hearing more about.



Shockwaves were sent across the gaming world when word got out that Dragon Quest IX was headed to the DS. Everyone was expecting a Wii or PS3 release! After people talked about this in disbelief for a while, they began to notice how little we know about the game. Announced in December 2006, all we've gotten so far is a bit of footage and some screens.

Some good news came in early February 2008 when Square-Enix announced that the game is "almost complete". Good news, right? Well, it was also said at the same time that they're not going to rush it out the door, so who knows how soon we'll actually get to play it? Also, hearing of progress is nice and all, but I like to see proof as well. I can't even remember the last time a new screenshot or trailer was released

I'm not doubting that this game is still coming. After all, it's a Dragon Quest game! I don't think Square-Enix would dare to cancel a new entry in one of Japan's favourite franchises.



Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers has been in a state of radio silence almost as long as it's insane title. The last update was almost a year ago, and even that was an incredibly short teaser trailer. There's even less information on this game than there is on Dragon Quest IX, even though this game was announced a full seven months earlier!

Again, I highly doubt this has been canceled for the exact same reasons. Excluding the NES port of Final Fantasy III, I don't think a Final Fantasy game has ever been axed during development, so we have little reason to worry. I just wonder if the final product will look anything like what we've seen so far... A few months can have a huge impact on what a game will actually end up looking like.

I'm not saying you should rush, Square-Enix, but could we at least see this hit before the end of time? That is, if you think you can finish it by then.

And what of those games from the last edition of "Whatever happened to...?"? Here's the quick low-down:

DS Air: Still no word on a North American release. I think it's a safe bet that we'll never see this game outside of Japan. A pity, because it really looked quite fun.

Disaster: Day of Crisis: I don't think we've seen even one screenshot of this game since the last "Whatever happened to...?". Nintendo has said it's still in development, though, so we can still hope...

Wii Music: Again, very little has happened with Wii Music since I last wrote about it. I think a few screenshots were released about four months ago, but I'm not sure. It's apparently still on track for this year, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

It really sucks to see so many games seemingly fall into the background with nary a word. I'm sure most of these titles will eventually get their time to shine, though, so not all is lost. Feel free to talk about this article in the comments section, or in this forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Mini-Article: World War II games: Enough already!

The first World War II game I played was Battlefield 1942 on the PC. Good game, great level design, amazing online play. Everything about it was brilliant. A little while back, I picked up Brothers in Arms DS. Again, it was a pretty good game. It kept me busy for a little while. Did pretty well considering how cheap I got it for.

But by the time I picked up Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, I got an immense feeling of deja vu. I'd played almost the exact same level years before, but with less amazing graphics. I've seen Normandy before, I've fought the Germans several times, I've killed many a Swastika-wearing enemy. And I've barely even scratched the surface of war games with my experiences.

The same thing can only be entertaining so many times. I feel as if that each WW II game I play is just a remake of the last. The levels can't be very different, because they're based on fact. The weapons must be the same to match the time period. Unless the game branches out into the fantastical, the only real variables are the AI, graphics, sound and control schemes.

I'm glad to see that some game franchises are beginning to grow out of this phase. Call of Duty 4 saw a shift to modern day combat, and the upcoming Battlefield Heroes takes place in a fictional representation of today's warfare technology. But still, many games continue to follow the events of World War II. What will it take to stop this monotony? Can't we have a game based on World War I, with bayonets and stuff? I seriously think that'd be kinda cool.

Or maybe there could be a super-futuristic war game, pitting Earth against invading aliens. But unlike games such as Halo and Half-Life (Nothing against them, by the way), the player would be just another average human fighting to save and protect his planet. If the player has an ability, advantage or disadvantage, then every ally should, too. No giving the player super-awesome suits of high-tech armour or incredibly amounts of health. Each soldier would be equal, playable or not.

As for the aliens, they'd be all the same as well. No giant sword-wielding varieties, no tiny little grunts, just all the same species fighting to take over or destroy your planet. Every alien would have the same amount of health, basically the same armour (Minor differences depending on rank, of course), and the same weapons. Why can't developers take a risk and at least try something like this? I'd prefer it over any new World War II shooter. Call me crazy, but I like new games to be new.

Talk about this article in the comment section, or in this forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.

EXCLUSIVE: Cloud Strife to join the Brawl via DLC!

That's right, you heard it here first! I got exclusive word from Square-Enix that Cloud Strife will be making a long-awaited appearance in Nintendo's blockbuster hit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl! I am incredibly privileged to have been made privy to this top-secret information, and it is my honour to reveal this to you all.

As of now, no art or screenshots of Cloud in Super Smash Bros. Brawl exist, as this is still at the very early stages of production. The above image was sloppily made up by me in a hurry as I quivered with excitement. Not only is the one and only Cloud Strife confirmed to be appearing in Brawl, but Square-Enix chose me to announce it to the world! I still can't believe this. It's too good to be true!

Included in this e-mail from Square-Enix (They requested I keep the contact's name confidential) is a planned moveset for Cloud. It goes as follows:

Standard Attack: Slash
Running Standard Attack: Charge
Down Standard Attack: Drill Slash
Up Standard Attack: Thrust
Special Attack: Firaga
Side Special: Thundaga
Down Special: Blizzaga
Up Special: Aero
Smash Attack: Double Cut
Final Smash: Meteor

Those are all the details I was given. I still can't believe this is really happening! But don't get too excited yet, folks. This is still far from hitting the Shop Channel. My contact told me that the earliest possible release would be this time next year. The company already has it's fair share of projects in development as of now, and they seem to be considering Cloud Strife to be somewhat low priority. One quote from the e-mail (I've been told partial replication is okay) is as follows:

We're very excited to be bringing our legendary Cloud Strife to the world of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But not as excited as we are about Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, The World Ends With You and Final Fantasy VII: The Quest for More Money. As of now we have at least one man working on Cloud at every moment, unless we decide the programmer is more needed elsewhere, in which case development of Cloud Strife screeches to a halt.

We're not worried about getting striking while the iron's still hot. We prefer to bludgeon the iron once it's cooled, squeezing every last valuable asset out of it. That's a saying we have around here. It's the Square-Enix way.

So when we do finally finish developing Cloud Strife for use in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, we'll be sure to make him as affordable as possible to the casual consumer. We're thinking a base cost of 2000 Wii Points, with an extra charge to make him compatible with the other control schemes. Oh, did I forget to mention? The basic Cloud Strife download will only function when the player is using the sideways Wii remote controller configuration. Also, he will be incredibly weak before players download the "Level Up" package from the Wii Shop Channel, at a mere charge of 1500 Wii Points.

This may sound a little overpriced, but rest assured that this will be well worth the buyer's money. After all, this is a Square-Enix product. You just know it's gotta be good! So start saving your pennies now, consumer.

I can't wait!

Talk about this absolutely amazing development in the comment section, or in this forum thread.

The Duck Has Spoken.