Animal Crossing Wii U announcement coming soon? An interesting interview remark!

[Justin]

In short, Engadget just published an interview with a top guy at Nintendo today for Splatoon's release. At the end of the interview, they asked him about Animal Crossing Wii U. Here's the exchange below:

So my very last question then is: When are we going to see Animal Crossing on Wii U?

Well, that's difficult for me to answer at the moment! Yup. That's pretty much all we can say.

What I will say is that you may have seen an announcement recently about an Animal Crossing product coming out on the 3DS... I can tack that on to the end of my response.

The interesting part is of course the first line where it looks like there might have been a small slip made. Usually, you'd hear "nothing to announce at this tine" or something along those lines. This feels a little more revealing.

Click here for the Engadget interview
Click here for the full article I wrote on this at ACNewLeaf.com

 

[Stevey Queen]

Aww yeah. Time to save for a Wii U.

 

[JJarmon]

I hope so. We've been waiting for the next installment for awhile now, not a spin-off.

 

[MotaroRIP]

My wife had a dream about playing it on the Wii-U LOL, we need a new one. Badly!

 

[Javocado]

Bob better be playable

 

[Zulehan]

I heard the problem many people had with Animal Crossing: City Folk is that it felt like an underwhelming port of Animal Crossing: Wild World. If the franchise is indeed coming to the Wii U, I hope that it is a 'fully realized' game that takes full advantage of the new hardware, and shares the spark of creativity and uniqueness that people have been attributing to games like Splatoon.

That said, though, since Animal Crossing: New Leaf the only game from the franchise I have played, I cannot say for sure what I would like compared to previous titles in general. I only have vague ideas like maybe a larger area for development, and more complex AI for villagers (e.g., I have heard fans say many times that interactions are more varied and interested in previous titles).

 

[MotaroRIP]

My wife won't play New Leaf because she hates the small screen. She still plays city folk religiously. I would like it solely because we had so much fun when we had a town together. I can't really bring myself to play CF now though because I get bored with it due to New Leaf being so loaded with awesomeness.

 

[tsukune_713]

i really love the console versions myself actually XD its easier for me to concentrate and play than handhelds to me so i realyl want a wii u ac

 

[Freya]

I don't personally own a Wii U, I gotta say I would be kind of disappointed to not have another 3DS game. I love playing AC on my DS

 

[spCrossing]

Boo yah.

They better not screw this one up.

 

[Mycaruba]

If it looks anything like the track in MK8, and they add some new features (360 degrees camera hint hint), then I would happily pick it up.

Im pretty sure that if they weren't in fact working on a Wii U title, they would just say something along the lines of "No information now, but hopefully we can continue the series in the future some time" or something like that.
"That's pretty much all we can say" seems extremely ambiguous, and Im wondering if the dev said that on purpose to produce some level of expectation for the game at E3...

 

[HHoney]

I've played them all.. console and portable... and I gotta say, I play the portables a LOT more than the console.

But having the option for the WiiU? I'd play it! I want it!

Most of all I want a better AI! Each Smug should have their own thing they "geek" out about!

 

[Jake]

they're defs working on AC WiiU, it's just a matter of when they're going to announce it.

Tbh, I expected E3 this year, and was almost certain it would happen, but then they announced Happy Home Designer, and I just don't see it happening. I don't think they'd announce a spin off title, and then announce a main series title before it's even released (or at least a few months before it's release). It's the same reason I don't think we're getting a main series Pokemon game announcement any time soon, since they announced Super Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. It'd be such a stupid move, and would hurt sales.

I would expect the game to be announced in a Nintendo Direct either late 2015/early 2016, then make an appearance at E3 2016, for a late 2016 release.

 

[Jennycrossing]

they're defs working on AC WiiU, it's just a matter of when they're going to announce it.

Tbh, I expected E3 this year, and was almost certain it would happen, but then they announced Happy Home Designer, and I just don't see it happening. I don't think they'd announce a spin off title, and then announce a main series title before it's even released (or at least a few months before it's release). It's the same reason I don't think we're getting a main series Pokemon game announcement any time soon, since they announced Super Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. It'd be such a stupid move, and would hurt sales.

I would expect the game to be announced in a Nintendo Direct either late 2015/early 2016, then make an appearance at E3 2016, for a late 2016 release.

I still could see, however unlikely, it being announced at E3. Because the amiibo cards would work in the Wii U game too likely, it would be sort of like Smash 4 and Smash 3ds being announced/released so close to eachother. I feel Like the holiday season this year is just too soon for a release with everything else, but I feel like a summer 2016 release could be the best we could hope for! But, honestly who is to say

 

[Captain Crazy Chicken]

Yes! I'm gonna predict a July 2nd 2016 release.

 

[LostNoob]

Nintendo did say that they are focusing on 2015 games at E3 this year, so I would be quite surprised if Animal Crossing is announced in the E3 direct, but I would also be very surprised if Nintendo doesn't announce the game this year.

I don't think we'll have to wait so long this time though, probably less than a year between announcement and release, my guess is a release early next year in Japan and late summer/autumn in the west.

 

[Lmaze]

Of course I would love a new AC game.. My only draw back is that it wouldn't be portable like it is on the 3DS.

 

[pika62221]

I heard the problem many people had with Animal Crossing: City Folk is that it felt like an underwhelming port of Animal Crossing: Wild World. If the franchise is indeed coming to the Wii U, I hope that it is a 'fully realized' game that takes full advantage of the new hardware, and shares the spark of creativity and uniqueness that people have been attributing to games like Splatoon.

That said, though, since Animal Crossing: New Leaf the only game from the franchise I have played, I cannot say for sure what I would like compared to previous titles in general. I only have vague ideas like maybe a larger area for development, and more complex AI for villagers (e.g., I have heard fans say many times that interactions are more varied and interested in previous titles).

Most who call it a poor port of Wild World either never played Wild Word, or the original, because it's clearly a mix of the original with Wild World- even IGN said that!

- - - Post Merge - - -

Nintendo did say that they are focusing on 2015 games at E3 this year, so I would be quite surprised if Animal Crossing is announced in the E3 direct, but I would also be very surprised if Nintendo doesn't announce the game this year.

I don't think we'll have to wait so long this time though, probably less than a year between announcement and release, my guess is a release early next year in Japan and late summer/autumn in the west.

It's called Happy Home Designer, set to release in 2015.

 

[Espurr96]

As much as I enjoy my Wii U, the only big game I have for it is Smash. I have a bunch of VC games to keep me busy but I want something newer, bigger, and stronger too. And a new game, in the Animal Crossing crew.

But for real, a huge animal crossing. Something like Animal Crossing: State Wide. Huge huge but not overwhelmingly huge, or at least double ACNL town size but with a lot more to do.

 

[Boccages]

Of course I would love a new AC game.. My only draw back is that it wouldn't be portable like it is on the 3DS.

That's a weird critic though. Should console Zelda games be considered worst than their portable version ? I don't really think so.