Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing[lower-alpha 1] is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami.[1][2][3][4][5] In Animal Crossing, the player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals, carrying out various activities such as fishing, bug catching, and fossil hunting. The series is notable for its open-ended gameplay and extensive use of the video game console's internal clock and calendar to simulate real passage of time.
Animal Crossing | |
---|---|
![]() Animal Crossing series logo | |
Genre(s) | Social simulation |
Developer(s) |
|
Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
Creator(s) | |
Platform(s) | |
First release | Animal Forest April 14, 2001 (Japan) |
Latest release | Animal Crossing: New Horizons March 20, 2020 (worldwide) |
Spin-offs |
Since its initial release in 2001, five Animal Crossing games have been released worldwide, one each for the Nintendo 64/iQue Player (enhanced and reissued for the GameCube), Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch.[6] The series has been both critically and commercially successful and has sold over 40 million units worldwide. Three spin-off games have also been released: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer for Nintendo 3DS, Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival for Wii U, and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for mobile devices.
Common elements
Characters
While the series features various villagers for each title, certain prominent characters return in each series installment. Tom Nook is a tanuki character who functions as both a shop owner and real estate broker, giving the player a loan for their house and allowing them to pay it back with no interest.[7] Mr. Resetti is a mole character who appears from underground whenever players shut off the game without saving, berating them for circumventing one of the game's systems. Due to a new autosave function, he was "laid off" from his job in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, although he has gotten a new job as the Rescue Service operator. [8]
K.K. Slider is a canine traveling musician based on series composer Kazumi Totaka, and plays on certain nights in the town's club.[9] Afterwards, he gives the player a free copy of the song played, saying that his music "wants to be free". This was seen by some fans as tacit support for music piracy, although Nintendo denied that it was intended as social commentary.[10]
In the new Animal Crossing New Horizons, Isabelle makes an appearance as the town community manager and secretary to Tom Nook. She allows players to change the town's flag and tune as well as reset certain aspects of town life (nicknames and villager outfits). Next to her, the two nooklings, Timmy and Tommy, manage Nook's Cranny. This is the only convenience store on the island. Able Sisters also offers clothes for the player and is managed by two sisters Mabel and Sabel. Two new characters, Orville and Wilbur, manage Dodo Airlines which is the only airport on the deserted island. With the use of Nook Mile Tickets, the player can visit mystery islands and even meet new villagers. The deserted island getaway package offers many more encounters that are sure to give players hours and hours of enjoyment.
Gameplay
In the Animal Crossing games, the player assumes the role of a human character who moves into a rural village populated with anthropomorphic animals and lives there indefinitely. Gameplay is open-ended: players have no defined objectives, but are instead encouraged to spend their time in the village performing any number of activities, which include collecting items, planting plants or other items, and socializing with the village's residents. Animal Crossing games are played in real time, utilizing the video game console's internal clock and calendar. Thus, passage of time in the game world reflects that in reality, as well as the current season and time of day. Some in-game events, such as holidays or the growth of a tree, occur at certain times or require some duration of time to have passed.[11]
One notable feature of the Animal Crossing series is the high level of customization available, some of which affects the outcome of the game.[12] The player character is both named and gendered by the real life player at the start of the game, and their appearance can be modified by buying or designing custom clothes and accessories or changing the hairstyle (introduced in Wild World). The player's house can also be furnished, decorated, and later expanded: the player can purchase and collect furniture and place it anywhere in the house, as well as change both the wallpaper and floor designs. While its terrain, building locations, and initial residents are randomly generated when the game is first begun (except in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, in which the player decides between four given towns, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, in which the player similarly decides between four given islands), the village's name and anthem, as well as some of the residents' catchphrases, are also determined by the player.[12]
Collecting items is a major facet of Animal Crossing: the player can explore the village and gather objects, including fruit from trees, seashells, and discarded items. Nearly all objects can be sold for Bells, the in-game currency. Players collect objects to obtain more Bells, which can then be used to buy furniture and clothing, purchase home expansions, and play games. A number of specialized tools are available for other activities such as fishing and insect collecting. Special items, such as fossils and paintings, may be donated to the village museum. The player can choose to socialize with the other animal residents by engaging in conversation, sending and receiving letters, bartering, or playing hide-and-seek. Residents may move in or out of the village depending on the player's actions.
All installments of Animal Crossing allow some form of communication between players, both offline and online. A single village can house up to four human players, though only one can be exploring the village at any given time.[11] The players can interact via written messages through the village post office or bulletin board. The GameCube iteration allowed players to travel to other villages by trading memory cards written with the game data,[12] but all subsequent installments allow players to travel and interact online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, although City Folk also allows the DS Suitcase to travel to others' towns.[13][14]
Games
2001 | Animal Crossing |
---|---|
2002 | |
2003 | |
2004 | |
2005 | Wild World |
2006 | |
2007 | |
2008 | City Folk |
2009 | |
2010 | |
2011 | |
2012 | New Leaf |
2013 | Plaza |
2014 | |
2015 | Happy Home Designer |
Amiibo Festival | |
2016 | |
2017 | Pocket Camp |
2018 | |
2019 | |
2020 | New Horizons |
Animal Crossing (2001)
Animal Crossing[lower-alpha 2] was originally released in Japan for the Nintendo 64 on April 14, 2001. It was enhanced and released on the GameCube the same year.[15] This version was localized and released in North America on September 16, 2002, Australia on October 17, 2003, and Europe on September 24, 2004.[16] An extended version titled "Dōbutsu no Mori e+" was released on June 27, 2003 in Japan.[17] The Nintendo 64 version of the game was released in China in 2006 for iQue Player.[18]
Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005)
Animal Crossing: Wild World[lower-alpha 3] was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on November 23, 2005, North America on December 5, 2005, Australia on December 8, 2005, and Europe on March 31, 2006.[19] It was the first game in the series to use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The game was later re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console on October 13, 2016, although its Wi-Fi multiplayer feature is unavailable due to the discontinuation of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008)
Animal Crossing: City Folk,[lower-alpha 4] known as Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City in Europe and Australia, was released for the Wii in North America on November 16, 2008, Japan on November 20, 2008, Australia on December 4, 2008, and Europe on December 5, 2008.[20] It was later released in South Korea in 2010.[21] It was the first Wii game to utilize the Wii Speak, an accessory that allows players to talk to each other during online play.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf[lower-alpha 5] was announced at E3 2010.[22] It was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on November 8, 2012, North America on June 9, 2013, Europe on June 14, 2013, and Australia on June 15, 2013.[23] For the first time in the series, players are appointed to the role of Mayor.[24] In November 2016, a new update was released entitled Welcome amiibo, adding several new locations, items and activities.[25]
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons[lower-alpha 6] was announced in a Nintendo Direct in September 2018 for the Nintendo Switch. The game was released worldwide on March 20, 2020, though its release was initially planned for 2019.[26] It quickly became the first console game to reach five million digital sales within a month, with the high sales often attributed to the social distancing and stay at home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] Soon after its release, the game became one of the few in the series to receive additional content post-launch, with future additions rumored to be on their way.[28] The game won Best Family Game at The Game Awards 2020.[29]
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (2015)
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is a community simulation video game for the Nintendo 3DS and the first spin-off of the Animal Crossing series. It was released in Japan on July 30, 2015,[30] North America on September 25, 2015,[31] Europe on October 2, 2015,[32] and Australia on October 3, 2015.[32] The game revolves around designing houses for villagers based on their requests. By scanning Amiibo cards, players can unlock the ability to design special characters' houses.[33] The game has a score of 66 out of 100 on Metacritic, which signifies "mixed or average reviews".[31]
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (2015)
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival is a party video game for the Wii U released in November 2015 that heavily utilizes Amiibo. It was met with unfavorable reviews from critics.[34] It was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development and NDcube.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (2017)
In April 2016, Nintendo announced that an Animal Crossing mobile game, later named as Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, would be released as a part of their mobile game lineup.[35] The game was soft launched in Australia in October 2017, and released worldwide on November 21, 2017. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has a rating of 72 out of 100 on Metacritic.
Apps
- Animal Crossing Plaza, a WaraWara Plaza-like app for Wii U. Limited time promotion for Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
- Animal Crossing Clock, a Clock system app for Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS.
- Animal Crossing Calculator, a Calculator app for Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS.
- Photos with Animal Crossing, a Camera app for Nintendo 3DS allowing players to take photos with Animal Crossing characters.[36]
Reception and legacy
Game | Year | Units sold (in millions) |
Metacritic |
---|---|---|---|
Animal Crossing | 2001 | 2.71[lower-alpha 7] | 87/100[40] |
Animal Crossing: Wild World | 2005 | 11.75[41] | 86/100[42] |
Animal Crossing: City Folk | 2008 | 3.38[43] | 73/100[44] |
Animal Crossing: New Leaf | 2012 | 12.82[45] | 88/100[46] |
Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 2020 | 31.18[47] | 90/100[48] |
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer | 2015 | 3.04[49] | 66/100[50] |
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival | 2015 | 0.09[38] | 46/100[51] |
The Animal Crossing games have garnered positive response.[12][13][14] The first four main series games are among the best-selling video games for their respective consoles. Animal Crossing has sold 2.71 million copies,[lower-alpha 7] Wild World 11.75 million,[41] City Folk 3.38 million,[43] New Leaf 12.82 million,[45] and Happy Home Designer 3.04 million.[49] New Horizons eclipsed the lifetime sales of all past installments within its first six weeks of release,[52] and became the second best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch system with 26.04 million sales.[47] Amiibo Festival was a critical and commercial failure;[34][53] in Japan, it only sold 87,872 copies.[38] In total, the Animal Crossing franchise has sold 59.74 million units worldwide.
In terms of digital revenue, the mobile game Pocket Camp grossed over $150 million by April 2020.[54] New Horizons grossed $654 million in digital sales as of December 2020,[55] bringing combined digital revenue to over $804 million for New Horizons and Pocket Camp as of December 2020.
Female demographic
Former president of Nintendo Satoru Iwata noted that 56% of people who pre-ordered Animal Crossing: New Leaf identified as female, with many of them purchasing a Nintendo 3DS specifically for the game. He found the game's success with women between the ages of 19 to 24 to be particularly noteworthy.[56][57][58]
Hong Kong protests
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was used by democracy activists in Hong Kong as a platform to protest. In reaction, the game, although not officially available in mainland China, has been removed from online stores such as Taobao, but parallel import copies continue to remain on sale.[59]
Other media
![](../I/Villager_(character).png.webp)
An anime film adaptation of Wild World, titled Dōbutsu no Mori, was released in Japan on December 16, 2006. The film was produced by OLM, Inc. and distributed by Toho. Dōbutsu no Mori earned ¥1.8 billion (approximately $19.2 million) in the box office.[60]
In the Wii game WarioWare: Smooth Moves, released in Japan in 2006 and Europe, North America and Australia in 2007, there is a minigame that is modeled after Animal Crossing: Wild World, under the same name. The player has to catch a fish using the same mechanics as the original game.
The 2008 Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl features elements from Wild World. Most prominent is a stage based on the animal village, called "Smashville", which changes its scenery in accordance with the Wii system clock[61] and features a number of songs remixed or extracted from the original game.[62] Mr. Resetti and a pitfall seed, which appear in all Animal Crossing games, are available as an Assist Trophy and an item respectively.[63][64] Brawl also features 24 collectible trophies based on Animal Crossing characters and items.[65]
Wii Music features two playable songs from Animal Crossing.[66]
The minigame "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day" in Nintendo Land is based on the Animal Crossing game series. The objective of the game is for the Wii Remote players (1-4), to gather large amounts of candy scattered around the area and store them in their head without getting caught by the Gatekeepers, who are controlled using the two Wii U GamePad analog sticks.[67]
A playable character called "Villager" represents the Animal Crossing series as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The character has both male and female forms, which are selected when choosing the character. His or her moves include the ability to catch other players in a net and firing Lloid the gyroid as a missile.[68] Additionally, Isabelle from New Leaf appears as an Assist Trophy,[69] and later appeared as a standalone fighter in Ultimate.[70] Two new Animal Crossing stages appear in the games: "Town & City" from City Folk in the Wii U version, and "Tortimer Island" from New Leaf in the 3DS version.[71] "Smashville" from Brawl returns in the Wii U version.[72]
Villager and Isabelle are playable characters in Mario Kart 8 via downloadable content, along with a racetrack based on Animal Crossing and a cup named after the series known as the "Crossing Cup".[73] The two racers, along with the Animal Crossing track, were also included in the Nintendo Switch version of the game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe along with a racing suit based on the series for the Mii. In June 2015, Isabelle and Mr. Resetti-themed cosmetics were added as costumes options for the player's "Palico" companion in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.[74]
See also
Notes
- Japanese: どうぶつの森, Hepburn: Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Forest)
- Known in Japan as Dōbutsu no Mori (どうぶつの森, lit. Animal Forest)
- Known in Japan as Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori (おいでよ どうぶつの森, lit. Come to Animal Forest)
- Known in Japan as Machi e Ikō yo Dōbutsu no Mori (街へ行こうよ どうぶつの森, lit. Let's Go to the City: Animal Forest)
- Known in Japan as Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori (とびだせ どうぶつの森, lit. Jump Out Animal Forest)
- Known in Japan as Atsumare Dōbutsu no Mori (あつまれ どうぶつの森, lit. Gathering Animal Forest)
- Animal Crossing (GameCube) sales:
- Japan – 1,027,558
- Dōbutsu no Mori (2001) – 641,300[37]
- Dōbutsu no Mori e+ (2003) – 386,258[38]
- United States – 1.68 million[39]
- Japan – 1,027,558
References
- Knezevic, Kevin (April 6, 2020). "How Animal Crossing Was Born From One Of Nintendo's Biggest Flops". GameSpot. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- "Learn more about the development of the Animal Crossing series in our interview!". Nintendo. November 25, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- Andrew H (March 27, 2014). "While Animal Crossing may never see a mobile game, there could be companion apps on the way". DroidGamers. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- Stephen Totilo (June 8, 2013). "No Retro Games in Future Animal Crossings—With One Possible Exception". Kotaku. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- Brett Elston (July 15, 2008). "E3 08: Nintendo Press Conference". GamesRadar+. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
- Hood, Vic; Gaming, Nick Pino 2019-06-18T17:06:19Z. "Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch: release date, news and features". TechRadar. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
- Jackson, Gita. "Tom Nook Needs To Get With The Times". Kotaku. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- "Animal Crossing New Horizons has autosave, so Resetti's out of a job". VG247. June 17, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- Life, Nintendo (May 8, 2013). "Profile: Kazumi Totaka - The Man Behind Animal Crossing's K.K. Slider". Nintendo Life. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- Jr, Tom Zeller (December 19, 2005). "Social Commentary, or Just a Dog's Opinion?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- Schneider, Peer (May 30, 2002). "Animal Crossing Preview". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Schneider, Peer (September 5, 2002). "Animal Crossing Review". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Harris, Craig (December 5, 2005). "Animal Crossing: Wild World Review". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Harris, Craig (November 16, 2008). "Animal Crossing: City Folk Review". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Harris, Craig. "The Evolution of Animal Crossing (page 2)". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing Review". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Doubutsu no Mori e+". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Forest" (in Chinese). iQue Ltd. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: Wild World Review". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: City Folk Review". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "타운으로 놀러가요 동물의 숲" (in Korean). Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Thomas, Lucas M. "E3 2010: Animal Crossing 3DS Announced". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: New Leaf". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Drake, Audrey. "Animal Crossing 3DS Has a New Name". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Welcome Amiibo". mojenintendo.cz. September 13, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Plante, Chris (June 11, 2019). "Animal Crossing: New Horizons looks magical, but is delayed to March 2020". Polygon. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- "Worldwide digital games market". SuperData, a Nielsen Company. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- Hernandez, Patricia (April 9, 2020). "Animal Crossing villagers have started talking about missing features". Polygon. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "Animal Crossing Didn't Win Game Of The Year At The Game Awards, But Definitely Won It In Our Hearts". TheGamer. December 11, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- Romano, Sal (May 31, 2015). "Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Japanese release date set". Gematsu. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer". Metacritic. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Abou-Nasr, Adam. "Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Bundles Announced for UK and Australia". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Vogel, Mitch (June 25, 2015). "Animal Crossing Director Talks More About Happy Home Designer and amiibo". Nintendo Life. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival". Metacritic. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Seedhouse, Alex. "Next Nintendo Apps Will Use Fire Emblem & Animal Crossing Franchises". Nintendo Insider. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Photos with Animal Crossing - Nintendo UK Summer Tour 2015 video". Nintendo Everything. August 25, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Nintendo Gamecube Japanese Ranking". Japan Game Charts. May 6, 2007. Archived from the original on July 23, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Game Search". Game Data Library. Famitsu. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- "US Platinum Videogame Chart". The Magic Box. December 27, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing (GCN) at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Nintendo DS Software". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: Wild World". Metacritic. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Financial Results Briefing for the Fiscal Year Ended March 2009: Supplementary Information" (PDF). Financial Results Briefing for the 69th Fiscal Term Ended March 2009. Nintendo. May 8, 2009. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: City Folk reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Top Selling Software Sales Units: Nintendo 3DS Software". Nintendo. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
- "Animal Crossing: New Leaf". Metacritic. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Top Selling Title Sales Units". Nintendo. September 30, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- "Animal Crossing: New Horizons". Metacritic. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- "Supplementary Information about Earnings Release" (PDF). Nintendo. April 27, 2016. p. 4. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer". Metacritic. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- "Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 30, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- "Fiscal Year Ended March 2020: Financial Results Explanatory Material" (PDF). Fiscal Year Ended March 2020: Financial Results. Nintendo. May 7, 2020. p. 13. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- "「モンスターハンタークロス」狩猟解禁で初週販売数148万本の「ゲームソフト週間販売ランキング+」". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Aetas Inc. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Chapple, Craig (May 5, 2020). "New Horizons Drives Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's Best Month Ever as Title Surpasses $150 Million Lifetime Revenue". Sensor Tower. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
- "Games and interactive media earnings rose 12% to $139.9B in 2020". SuperData Research. Nielsen Company. January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- "A Lot Of Women Bought A 3DS For Animal Crossing: New Leaf In Japan". Siliconera. February 10, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- "Satoru Iwata On Animal Crossing Sales, 56% Of Players Are Female". Siliconera. January 8, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- Stark, Chelsea (April 2, 2014). "More Women Game Developers Means More Success, 'Animal Crossing' Director Says". Mashable. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- "Nintendo game pulled from Chinese platforms after Hong Kong protest". Reuters. April 10, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- "2007年度興行成績ランキング" (in Japanese). Rakuten. Archived from the original on October 29, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Sakurai, Masahiro (July 13, 2007). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Smashville". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Sakurai, Masahiro (April 3, 2008). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Full Song List with Secret Songs". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Sakurai, Masahiro (September 26, 2007). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Mr. Resetti". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Sakurai, Masahiro (September 26, 2007). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Pitfall". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Sakurai, Masahiro (April 8, 2008). "Smash Bros. DOJO!! Trophy List". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- North, Dale (October 20, 2008). "Here's the rest of the Wii Music tracklist". Destructoid. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Petit, Carolyn (November 18, 2012). "Nintendo Land (Wii U) review". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Torres, Timothy (September 13, 2014). "How to Beast With Villager, Mega Man in Super Smash Bros. 3DS Demo". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Assist Trophies". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "'Animal Crossing' Favorite Isabelle Joins 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' Roster". Comicbook.com.
- "Stages 1". Nintendo. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Bhat, Aditya (October 22, 2014). "Super Smash Bros 4: Unlock Guide -- Characters and Stages; How Wii U and 3DS Connect; 10 Million US Sales". International Business Times. IBT Media. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- Plunkett, Luke (August 26, 2014). "Zelda, Animal Crossing Coming to Mario Kart 8". Kotaku. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- "Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate June DLC Brings Animal Crossing, Devil May Cry and Awesome Designs". Nintendo Life. June 5, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2017.