IGN: Animal Crossing/WiiSpeak Preview

T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
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Right from the start of the meeting, I was already connected to someone's village back in Nintendo's Treehouse facility in Redmond, Washington. As I walked around the village I could converse with the folks just by speaking towards the television -- the conference room had the WiiSpeak mounted on top of the television where the sensor bar is. [...]

At the start of the experience I felt I needed to shout since I was speaking towards a television about six to eight feet from my seat. But I realized that it was unnecessary, the other side could hear me at my normal speaking voice so I brought my conversation down to natural levels. [...]

With a non-focused microphone picking up pretty much everything in the room, did I hear feedback or the other person's game? The answer is yes, sometimes. It seems that the WiiSpeak does do a bit of software noise cancelling, but it's not perfect. When someone spoke I could hear the faint sound of their Animal Crossing background noise playing through as well. And when I cranked up the volume of the microphone output in the Animal Crossing menu, the feedback made the sound so echoed and distorted that I had to back it down immediately. And there is a bit of lag between conversations -- nothing terribly long, but there was a significant pause between when I said something to the guys back in Redmond and when they would reply. And this was during questions when they didn't have to pause and check the PR script to answer the question. Kidding. [...]

The questionable option within the menu: you had the ability to turn on and off a suspicious "Use Headphones" switch. On the one hand, it could just be an option to adjust the sound equalizer so you're not blowing out your eardrums. On the other hand, I was thinking that this could be an optional ability to separate and send the voice through optional headphones, but you don't plug headphones into the Wii. If you want personal sound you have to plug into a sound system or directly into the television, so maybe this option sends voice through one audio channel and the in-game sound through the other? It was a feature I couldn't test, but keep your ears peeled. [...]
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-http://wii.ign.com/articles/922/922191p1.html

Yay.
Grin01.gif
 
I still think this is a horrible idea. The headsets on Xbox 360, which let you hear voice chat separately, are great. But a room microphone will pick up everything around you, including your mom yelling "Timmy, come out of that basement and have your chocolate milk!"

pewye said:
that has to be the creepiest smilie ever
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peeweeyu8.jpg
 
Death_Born said:
I still think this is a horrible idea. The headsets on Xbox 360, which let you hear voice chat separately, are great. But a room microphone will pick up everything around you, including your mom yelling "Timmy, come out of that basement and have your chocolate milk!"
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To be fair, it is an awesome incentive so Timmy doesn't yell out any racist or homophobic remarks.
 
I loved AC on GC (hundreds of hours spent playing it), but I won't get this. It's like the third time they port this game with almost no modification, for fuck's sake. I hope someday Nintendo stop being so conservative when dealing with this game, it does have a great potential.
 
Fio said:
I loved AC on GC (hundreds of hours spent playing it), but I won't get this. It's like the third time they port this game with almost no modification, for fuck's sake. I hope someday Nintendo stop being so conservative when dealing with this game, it does have a great potential.
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Curious, what kind of modification are you looking for?
 
I'll buy this but It wont get much play time for the simple fact Is I don't have the time to sit on the TV for hours on end and all the events during the day will elude me.

Put this back on the DS instead, portable AC > Console AC.
 
Fio said:
I loved AC on GC (hundreds of hours spent playing it), but I won't get this. It's like the third time they port this game with almost no modification, for fuck's sake. I hope someday Nintendo stop being so conservative when dealing with this game, it does have a great potential.
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I was going to come up with some sarcastic way of inferring you haven't actually played the game yet, but at this point I'm suffering and would rather be watching my Buffy DVDs right now so I'll ask you this instead: have you played Animal Crossing: City Folk yet? A good 20 or more hours would be preferred, but I'll accept E3 demonstrations.
 
I already pre-ordered Animal Crossing, but I'm just not sold on WiiSpeak. Hardly any of my friends even have Wiis.
 
Death_Born said:
I still think this is a horrible idea. The headsets on Xbox 360, which let you hear voice chat separately, are great. But a room microphone will pick up everything around you, including your mom yelling "Timmy, come out of that basement and have your chocolate milk!"
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Oh come on. If they're loud enough, it'll pick up on a headset anyway (or at least mine. I don't feel like having that thing so close to my mouth so I up the sensitivity) and when you answer mommy they'll hear what you say anyway, unless you temporarily turn off the mic (and in Animal Crossing, you'll have lots of time to quickly jump into the options and do that).

ciaossu said:
I already pre-ordered Animal Crossing, but I'm just not sold on WiiSpeak. Hardly any of my friends even have Wiis.
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Then how is Animal Crossing still compelling enough by itself for you to not stop playing this after like a month?

Then again, if it lasts you a month you'd still get your money's worth.
 
I have this wierd image of WiiSpeak's noise cancellation listening for banned words and bleeping them in realtime now.
 
Proven said:
Curious, what kind of modification are you looking for?
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A very robust AI system. I want this game to have an powerful AI system so the NPCs would feel almost as alive creatures. Unless you played hundreds of hours you wouldn't see a NPC repeating a phrase or reaction, very different personalities, more sidequest (simple sidequests like go there do this), more freedom, these kind of things.

I don't care about the online aspect, for me AC has always been about interacting with the NPCs and having fun with it. Unfortunately this version won't deliver that kind of experience I described above. If I hadn't played the GC version I would love this version, but I'm the kind of gamer who needs fresh concepts in sequels.
 
Nikashi said:
I have this wierd image of WiiSpeak's noise cancellation listening for banned words and bleeping them in realtime now.
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Word is microsoft has actually just patented something along those lines. That could very well end up the future of the next Xbox Live.
 
Fio said:
A very robust AI system. I want this game to have an powerful AI system so the NPCs would feel almost as alive creatures. Unless you played hundreds of hours you wouldn't see a NPC repeating a phrase or reaction, very different personalities, more sidequest (simple sidequests like go there do this), more freedom, these kind of things.

I don't care about the online aspect, for me AC has always been about interacting with the NPCs and having fun with it. Unfortunately this version won't deliver that kind of experience I described above. If I hadn't played the GC version I would love this version, but I'm the kind of gamer who needs fresh concepts in sequels.
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Ah. I agree with the more freedom thing but for me the NPCs are too...simple? I don't want to call them dumb, but they're small town folk, and I'm a city person, so I generally prefer the "it's a small world" type things going around in town caused from other humans going around trying to make a living.
 
Fio said:
A very robust AI system. I want this game to have an powerful AI system so the NPCs would feel almost as alive creatures. Unless you played hundreds of hours you wouldn't see a NPC repeating a phrase or reaction, very different personalities, more sidequest (simple sidequests like go there do this), more freedom, these kind of things.

I don't care about the online aspect, for me AC has always been about interacting with the NPCs and having fun with it. Unfortunately this version won't deliver that kind of experience I described above. If I hadn't played the GC version I would love this version, but I'm the kind of gamer who needs fresh concepts in sequels.
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I'm definately getting the game, but THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^!

Animal Crossing is all about interacting with the animals, but it gets repetitive after a while. Granted, I feel Wild World added a lot to make the NPCs feel less like robots. Like improved Animalese sounds, emotions, and three way conversations (which are funny at times). for example. I hope there are even more improvements in City Folk that we're not seeing through the short video clips.
 
Fio said:
A very robust AI system. I want this game to have an powerful AI system so the NPCs would feel almost as alive creatures. Unless you played hundreds of hours you wouldn't see a NPC repeating a phrase or reaction, very different personalities, more sidequest (simple sidequests like go there do this), more freedom, these kind of things.

I don't care about the online aspect, for me AC has always been about interacting with the NPCs and having fun with it. Unfortunately this version won't deliver that kind of experience I described above. If I hadn't played the GC version I would love this version, but I'm the kind of gamer who needs fresh concepts in sequels.
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The Wii is all about getting new gamers, thats what its targeted too unfortunately. Although I wonder why they didn't just wait to re-release the GCN Animal Crossing in their Riiplay titles that are coming soon.
 
I can't believe we still don't have the City Folk/Wii Speak bundle SKU yet. Everywhere just lists them separately.

Did nintendo drop it...am I gonna really have to drop $85 for this version of Animal Crossing?
 
Fio said:
A very robust AI system. I want this game to have an powerful AI system so the NPCs would feel almost as alive creatures. Unless you played hundreds of hours you wouldn't see a NPC repeating a phrase or reaction, very different personalities, more sidequest (simple sidequests like go there do this), more freedom, these kind of things.

I don't care about the online aspect, for me AC has always been about interacting with the NPCs and having fun with it. Unfortunately this version won't deliver that kind of experience I described above. If I hadn't played the GC version I would love this version, but I'm the kind of gamer who needs fresh concepts in sequels.
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Not to be a dick here, but that's not really something you can tell from a few videos.

And I agree.
 
Yes Boss! said:
I can't believe we still don't have the City Folk/Wii Speak bundle SKU yet. Everywhere just lists them separately.

Did nintendo drop it...am I gonna really have to drop $85 for this version of Animal Crossing?
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Wait, I thought Toys r us or Nintendo World was planning to sell a $60 bundle?

Although the Nintendo World deal won't help many of you.
 
The thing I found interesting mentioned at the end of the article (IGN), was the fact that you could use your DS like you could the GameCube memory cards to travel between towns. Never read that before. Good if you don't have Wi-Fi in your home, I suppose, but who's gonna remember they have their player data on the DS before turning it off?:lol
 
D-Pad said:
The thing I found interesting mentioned at the end of the article (IGN), was the fact that you could use your DS like you could the GameCube memory cards to travel between towns. Never read that before. Good if you don't have Wi-Fi in your home, I suppose, but who's gonna remember they have their player data on the DS before turning it off?:lol
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Anyone who fears Resetti, that's who.
 
WiiSpeak sounds neat. I like the idea of being able to communicate with people online without having to wear something. Glad to hear that it actually works pretty well. I probably won't get one since I don't really care about online play, but maybe their next system will come with it built right into the sensor bar so I can use it in the few online games I do fiddle with. Maybe the next Smash Bros. will actually have a playable online mode.
 
Andrex said:
I was going to come up with some sarcastic way of inferring you haven't actually played the game yet, but at this point I'm suffering and would rather be watching my Buffy DVDs right now so I'll ask you this instead: have you played Animal Crossing: City Folk yet? A good 20 or more hours would be preferred, but I'll accept E3 demonstrations.
Click to expand...
Andrex said:
Not to be a dick here, but that's not really something you can tell from a few videos.

And I agree.
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Every single preview ever calls City Folk (paraphrasing here) "the same old Animal Crossing experience with a few tweaks." We're a few weeks away from launch, Leipzig has passed, and Nintendo's October conference has passed; somehow, I get the feeling Nintendo isn't going to bust out with the fabled game-renovating features that'll redeem City Folk. Sure, there's a few new characters and fish, but we've played the game years ago on GameCube and DS. The animations, the essential town design, Nook's stores, gameplay, etc. are all the same.

Shit, let's look at other video game series and their transitions to sequels.

• Midnight Club 3 was released in spring 2005 with three cities and 65 cars; Midnight Club LA has a fully realized Los Angeles (larger than the three cities combined), 40 cars with interior modeling, amped up customization, etc.

• Resistance Fall of Man was released in fall 2006 as a PS3 launch title; Resistance 2 has an all new, in-depth co-op mode, an all new single player campaign, revamped multiplayer, and vastly improved graphics.

• Skate was released in fall 2007 and turned the skateboarding genre on its head; Skate 2, coming this spring, has an all new city, a 60fps framerate, and many other fundamental gameplay changes.

• Call of Duty 2, a WWII themed game, was released in fall 2005 as an Xbox 360 launch title. Call of Duty 4, released in fall 2007 on multiple platforms, introduced a modern theme to the series and one of the best multiplayer experiences on consoles.

• Animal Crossing: Wild World was released in fall 2005 as a Nintendo DS title. Animal Crossing: City Folk, releasing fall 2008, has a hub for Wild World's visitors, a couple new NPCs, and some more bugs to catch.​


Point the odd man out.

I was hyped for City Folk until I realized I'd be paying $50 for an experience I've already experienced years ago. A good experience, mind you, but I hoped after years of development time, Nintendo's cash, and going from a cheap dev platform to another cheap dev platform that it'd yield a sequel offering more than just minor additions.
 
Duck said:
Every single preview ever calls City Folk (paraphrasing here) "the same old Animal Crossing experience with a few tweaks." We're a few weeks away from launch, Leipzig has passed, and Nintendo's October conference has passed; somehow, I get the feeling Nintendo isn't going to bust out with the fabled game-renovating features that'll redeem City Folk. Sure, there's a few new characters and fish, but we've played the game years ago on GameCube and DS. The animations, the essential town design, Nook's stores, gameplay, etc. are all the same.

Shit, let's look at other video game series and their transitions to sequels.

• Midnight Club 3 was released in spring 2005 with three cities and 65 cars; Midnight Club LA has a fully realized Los Angeles (larger than the three cities combined), 40 cars with interior modeling, amped up customization, etc.

• Resistance Fall of Man was released in fall 2006 as a PS3 launch title; Resistance 2 has an all new, in-depth co-op mode, an all new single player campaign, revamped multiplayer, and vastly improved graphics.

• Skate was released in fall 2007 and turned the skateboarding genre on its head; Skate 2, coming this spring, has an all new city, a 60fps framerate, and many other fundamental gameplay changes.

• Call of Duty 2, a WWII themed game, was released in fall 2005 as an Xbox 360 launch title. Call of Duty 4, released in fall 2007 on multiple platforms, introduced a modern theme to the series and one of the best multiplayer experiences on consoles.

• Animal Crossing: Wild World was released in fall 2005 as a Nintendo DS title. Animal Crossing: City Folk, releasing fall 2008, has a hub for Wild World's visitors, a couple new NPCs, and some more bugs to catch.​


Point the odd man out.

I was hyped for City Folk until I realized I'd be paying $50 for an experience I've already experienced years ago. A good experience, mind you, but I hoped after years of development time, Nintendo's cash, and going from a cheap dev platform to another cheap dev platform that it'd yield a sequel offering more than just minor additions.
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I can understand being disappointed, but as I said the Animal Crossing games never revolutionized things with each new game, why would the Wii iteration be different? And the things that are changed, enhanced; those things aren't apparent in 20-minute demo sessions.
 
Duck said:
We're a few weeks away from launch, Leipzig has passed, and Nintendo's October conference has passed; somehow, I get the feeling Nintendo isn't going to bust out with the fabled game-renovating features that'll redeem City Folk.
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Why are you expecting that? Nintendo has always been transparent about this game: a Wii version of the DS game.

It seems the big innovations this time around are the Wii Speak module, Mii integration (masks), a city world, 480p. I dunno, Animal Crossing is always kind of boring and if these minor additions aren't enough then vote with your wallet and spend elsewhere.

Personally I'm finding the price a little steep.
 
Andrex said:
That's not the real bundle, that's just one of Amazon's usual pairing bundles.
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Still, isn't the "real" bundle $70? $70+ CA sales tax puts it around the $75 mark, so its all the same to me. The giftcard is just cake.
 
Ironballs said:
Still, isn't the "real" bundle $70? $70+ CA sales tax puts it around the $75 mark, so its all the same to me. The giftcard is just cake.
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$60, last I heard. And I think it's supposed to all be in the same box.
 
I'm the biggest Animal Crossing fan you'll ever want to meet, but Nintendo's not even trying with this one. The current generation has pretty much invalidated every feature Nintendo could try to incorporate into this game, from online cohabitation, co-operative customization and item collection.

I'm sure it will be a charming game, but it was a pretty large game in 2002, and looks so small now.
 
ProfessorLobo said:
new fossils!
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Nah. Did Wild World have new dinosaur skeletons?

bearcatjosh said:
I thought there was going to be a bundle with AC: CF and the Wii Speak mic, but I can't find it on Gamestop, Best Buy, or Amazon.
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According to Cammie, there will be. It'll be an LE type deal, though. I don't plan on buying until I can get both for $60, which is the quoted bundle price.

Speevy said:
I'm sure it will be a charming game, but it was a pretty large game in 2002, and looks so small now.
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Real holidays are back. That was a good part of the fun in the GameCube version, and the feature was castrated from the DS version.

Holidays back from the GameCube version, but not as good.
DS features like the ability to shoot down presents.
Port of a game we've played twice (some of us, thrice) before.
Another meaningless online addition, like the DS version's online "addition."
Voice chat.

Isn't that enough?
 
I don't mind them not reinventing the wheel for the Wii version. AC is a very long-term type of game, and a sim of life in a small town. Shouldn't be crazy stuff happening all the time. I'm just happy with the few things that they have improved upon, and eager to start up a new town - although sad to leave my DS town behind. :s
 
I do like the idea of Wii Speak, I hate having to wear a headset to talk online and most of the time I just don't bother to use voice chat, even though I have wireless headsets for both my 360 and my PS3 because it's such a hassle.

I just hope that the quality can at least match the headsets (Though they're not that great anyway)

Koomaster said:
I don't mind them not reinventing the wheel for the Wii version. AC is a very long-term type of game, and a sim of life in a small town. Shouldn't be crazy stuff happening all the time. I'm just happy with the few things that they have improved upon, and eager to start up a new town - although sad to leave my DS town behind. :s
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You know that you can transfer all of your items and characters from Wild World to City Folk! (The only exception being bells I think)
 
Yes Boss! said:
Why are you expecting that? Nintendo has always been transparent about this game: a Wii version of the DS game.
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I sure hope you are exaggerating. The DS version sucked compared to the Gamecube one, I'd hate for them to go back to that complete lack of events that was Wild Word. The Gamecube version had so much to do throughout the year, it took a LONG time to get old.

As for WiiSpeak, I am damn excited about it - I've been wanting something like it for years, both on Wii and Xbox 360. See, the people I'd play games most often with is an entire family, and they aren't going to all wear headsets. But what's the point of playing games with friends if you can't talk to em? Finally we have a solution for virtually being with the entire room. Too bad it's too late for Bomberman and Mario Kart.
 
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