AC amiibo Skit:
Isabelle: Oh! Mayor Chuy! Everybody has been wondering where you’ve been, we were starting to get really worried about you…
Mayor Chuy: No Isabelle, you’ve been gone, they haven’t given you a new mainline game.
Isabelle: Wait, they haven’t given me a game? I’m out the job? Who am I supposed to help build the perfect town?
Mayor Chuy: I’m sorry Isabelle, they haven’t. In fact, it looks like it’s been about 256 weeks since you’ve gotten a new game.
Isabelle: Mayor Chuy, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Haken anymore…
That’s right Isabelle, we’re not in Haken anymore. And nobody is in Madera, or Roanoke, or Pawnee, or Emerald or the fifty different Hyrules …. Or any animal crossing town for that matter! And you know why? Well, because there hasn’t been a new mainline Animal Crossing game in 256 weeks. Which is almost 5 years!
So where is Animal Crossing? Nintendo hasn’t given us any news about a title coming to the Nintendo Switch yet. And even when they announced the Animal Crossing mobile direct where they revealed Pocket Camp, they killed our dreams before we could even have them. They told us we wouldn’t be getting any news for any Nintendo Switch titles.
In other words, Nintendo is keeping the next Animal Crossing game secret from us. But I’m going to get to the bottom of it! Every Friday, I’m gonna provide you all with a video that goes in depth on Animal Crossing to determine if it is finally time for Animal Crossing Switch to be revealed. Today, let’s just take a look back at the rumors.
Animal Crossing Population Growing Virtual Console
One of the earliest rumors came from Eurogamer. News Editor, Tom Phillips, claimed that 3 sources confirmed that GameCube Virtual Console was already tested and working. Three games were ready to go. Those games included Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. A version of Animal Crossing Population Growing was also being tested and prepared for release.
This rumor started on July 12th, 2016, months before we even knew what the Switch was. The NX days were full of rumors to this mysterious hybrid console that Nintendo was working on. Unfortunately, we have yet to see a Gamecube virtual console on the switch let alone a virtual console at all. While it is possible that it could be revealed and could release alongside Nintendo’s Online Program this September, there’s no way of telling if Nintendo will be bringing the original game back.
However, Nintendo has confirmed that Luigi’s Mansion has been remade and is coming to the Nintendo 3DS later this year. Perhaps the original Animal Crossing is still in the works but possibly coming to the 3DS rather than the Switch. I personally hope to see the original game on the Switch eShop soon.
Pocket Camp Connecting to Switch Version?
During Nintendo’s 2016 Fiscal Report, they announced that they were working on an Animal Crossing game for mobile devices. The report noted that the application would be designed to connect with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems. There has been no mention from Nintendo as of yet if they would follow up with that connectivity but many suspect that it would be connecting to the Switch version of Animal Crossing.
An update from Nintendo Life back in November 2017 states that Tatsumi Kimishima has refused to confirm if Animal Crossing will connect with dedicated software. So for now, we’ll keep receiving updates to Animal Crossing but we can’t expect the mobile game to be connected thus far.
I personally suspect that the game was originally intended to connect with New Leaf since the welcome amiibo update and pocket camp both play with the idea of campers and campsites. However, I do like the camper feature a lot and would love to see it again in the new game. Maybe we can drive ourselves to the new town in our cute little campers.
Nintendo Files Trademark for Animal Crossing
In January 2018, Nintendo filed an update to their Animal Crossing Trademarks.
The trademark application reportedly mentions a variety of purposes including software for a home video game machine, portable electronic game machine, and smartphone devices. It even goes as far as mentioning stuffed animals, game machine controllers, board games, playing cards, protective carrying cases, trading card games, and more.
The obvious aspect of the trademark that sticks out is the inclusion of home video game machine and portable electronic game machine. While we do have Animal Crossing games on both home and handheld consoles, it does seem a bit suspicious that the Switch fits this description perfectly. Also, I want to point out that they mentioned board games so clearly we are getting amiibo festival 2. Just kidding.
But really, this is a significant piece of evidence that Nintendo is at least thinking of a new game. Better yet, Super Smash Bros got an update to their trademark about 6 months before the reveal of Super Smash Bros Switch. E3 will mark 6 months since the trademark update for Animal Crossing, so there could be a real chance that the game is going to be announced then.
Nintendo Updates Animal Crossing Website
At the beginning of this month, a twitter user by the name of Pixelpar discovered some recent changes to the Animal Crossing website. The website featured a news and video section with filler content such as Lorem Ipsum, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Breath of the Wild trailers. After seeing that the website seemed to be getting specific changes made, many have come to the conclusion that Nintendo is preparing to make a big Animal Crossing announcement.
These changes definitely fall in line with the updated trademark. Perhaps Nintendo really is getting ready to revamp Animal Crossing this E3 with an updated website and game. As of right now, the Wii U and 3DS websites are also down so it could be a sign that the franchise is getting ready for the Switch. I really can’t wait to see what type of news updates and videos we’ll get on that site once the game is announced.
Fake Leaks Popping up on the Internet
Finally, this last one is to note that fake leaks are starting to pop up around the Internet. These mockups show a villager outside of the roost café and a look at the title screen. They named the game Animal Crossing: Globetrotter. That’s a pretty good name! However, people have analyzed the images to find that they are just reusing assets from the Animal Crossing track on Mario Kart 8.
While these can be annoying to many, it does show that the public is starting to show a lot of interest in a new game. These fake leaks spreading and becoming part of the news cycle will be revealing to Nintendo. It’ll show them that interest is alive and well and there are plenty of us waiting on an Animal Crossing game for the Switch.
For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what other news or rumors pop up about the game.
Thank you all for watching! Tune in every Friday, for a new episode of Is It Time for Animal Crossing Switch for a look at a different aspect of Animal Crossing and why I think it is time for it to get announced.
If you want more Animal Crossing content, be sure to check out Haken: An Animal Crossing Podcast. My podcast about all things Animal Crossing. New episodes come out every Tuesday!
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