This morning during the live stream of Nintendo Direct, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime reminded us that Animal Crossing is indeed still coming to 3DS, and it will do so by turning a “new leaf.”
The newest iteration of Animal Crossing was first unveiled at E3 2011 and, at the time, was expected to be available in 2012. This past summer’s E3 came and went, and Nintendo never once brought up the game.
This morning Animal Crossing finally made an appearance with a brank spanking new name: Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Expected to be an early 2013, release, the 3DS exclusive will include some new features we already knew about and some we didn’t.
As the mayor for the first time in the franchise, players will enjoy more control over their town than every before. The location of new shops and their hours, placement of landmarks including strategically placed bridges, and full custom outfits from head to toe make their way into the game. Those outfits can be shared via QR codes with friends.
Where Animal Crossing: City Folk offered a downtown area to bus to, New Leaf takes you on a boat to a little tropical island. Here players can earn medals by playing various activities, as well as take a casual swim. A new area to visit isn’t exactly a novel concept for the franchise, but hopefully some of the activities there will breath some new life into it.
My guesstimate for the Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS release date is between March and June 2013. We probably won’t catch wind of an exact date until after New Year’s.
Watch the new Animal Crossing: New Leaf below.
