Nintendo Wii

I did not plan on buying Animal Crossing: City Folk so soon after release (actually bought it the day it came out!!!), but I got sucked into after my brother said he would buy it and then backed out because he wanted to buy Star Wars: Clone Wars.  He bought it at Toys R Us and then they had a special that you got $20 off another Wii game and I applied that to me buying Animal Crossing and took the $10 gift card we got for making a purchase over $75 as mine.

I have been playing Animal Crossing: City Folk quite a bit since I bought it on Sunday.  I enjoyed the Gamecube version (I have the DS version, but I never really got into it mostly because I let my brother have it) a lot.  This version is mostly the same, but that is what I expected.  It does have some new stuff that makes it even better.

One of the new features is that it works with the new Wii Speak accessory.  I did not buy this, though, because I doubt I will be doing any multiplayer, as I do not know anyone who plans on buying this except maybe my brother will get his own copy eventually.  It does sound cool that you can visit your friends towns via WiFi connection and then actually talk to each other while you are together.  I definitely plan to later buy the Wii Speak if and when I have someone to visit.

One of the more minor new features is the use of the Wii remote.  This includes shaking the Wii remote to use the net and fishing rod.  Also, you can take a screenshot using the 1 button and then save it to an SD card.  That is definitely a really cool feature.

A major new feature is the ability to go to the City.  In the city there is a movie theater, a salon (you can make your character look like one of your Miis here), a shoe shiner, a guy that gives away free balloons and stuff, a Happy Room Academy showroom, an auction house (no auction yet), an ATM, Katrina the fortune teller, Redd’s (need some sort of invitation to go in though), and GracieGrace where you can buy clothes and a whole set of the current themed furniture on display.

Overall Animal Crossing: City Folk is an awesome game, especially if you already enjoy the Gamecube and/or DS Animal Crossing games.  I personally love the fishing the most.  It is also just a fun relaxing game to play with you being able to do what you want and not following a rigid storyline.

In the Nintendo newsletter e-mail I got yesterday it mentioned a contest they are running as part of the upcoming release of Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii.  The contest is called Animal Crossing Welcome Waggin’ Costume Contest .  To enter the contest you must dress up an animal to represent one of the Animal Crossing animal characters and submit a photo of the animal in costume.  The contest started yesterday and submissions are allowed until 11:59pm Pacific time on November 16, 2008.  There will be 50 winners, who will be invited to join the Welcome Waggin’ Committee (described as “a loyalty program that will provide the winners with a variety of special benefits and Nintendo and/or Animal Crossing merchandise”).  Winners will also receive a Nintendo Wii, 2 copies of Animal Crossing: City Folk, and 2 Wii Speak microphones.  This sounds like it could be fun.  I wonder if I could get my brother’s dog to cooperate, but then again I am not sure I am brave enough to try considering I have already been attacked by him involving a situation playing Wii Sports.

I have been criticized several times for saying that I think Cooking Mama: Cook Off is one of the best Wii games I have played, but that does not change me from continuing to talk about it as one of my favorites. I will admit the game is not for everyone, but it can be a fun game, especially if you are into games that utilize the unique capabilities of the Wii remote.

The whole point of the game is to follow the instructions to make different recipes from around the world including popcorn, hot dogs, pierogies, and chow mein. The Wii remote is used to do different parts of making the recipes from cutting up veggies to cracking eggs to cooking stuff on the stove. It is mostly pretty easy to play, although I will admit the times that you are adding and adjusting stuff on the stove it does sometimes get complicated. Overall, though, I love it and have found that it is an easy game for the kids I have played it with.

The one thing that I will admit that is annoying about this game is that it can make you hungry. Personally, though I just like it because I can cook playing the game and not have to clean up the mess afterwards.