As a member of the nerd illuminati (also known as the gaming press), it's my job to get people hooked on video games, if only to make myself look less nerdy in comparison. Friends, family members, loved ones; all have been infected by a love of gaming--with me being the main carrier of this virus. So, when my girlfriend expressed a desire to get back into gaming with the purchase of a DS, I was as helpful and overbearing as anyone in my position could be.
And when it came to getting a game to go with this system, there was only one answer: Animal Crossing. While I prefer the GameCube version out of all the others (you can't beat free NES games), someone who's never played Animal Crossing has absolutely no idea what they're getting into; I was the same way back in the Fall of 2002, when this cutesy little underhyped Nintendo game charmed and surprised the pants off of me. But, as I watch my girlfriend become delighted by the antics involved with being enslaved by a shop-owning raccoon, I'm brought back to that old saying: you can't go home again.
This doesn't mean I never tried to re-capture some of that old Animal Crossing magic, though. I picked up the DS port of the game when it came out, legitimately thinking that I'd be able to lose myself in it like I did back in 2002. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case; while the online features were nice, I was bored by the fact that there were no fundamental changes to the game itself--and with the unlockable NES games eliminated, I had no real incentive to keep playing. The real shame in this is that Animal Crossing is an experience that could have--and should have--grown with its audience, but Nintendo is content with having their audience play what's essentially a port of an 8 year-old N64 title. The premise of Animal Crossing holds almost limitless potential, but Nintendo's "if you've never played it, it's new to you" sequel policy is really holding the series back.
Each version of Animal Crossing is a fantastic game, but Nintendo's life-sim experience is something you can only have fun with once. I'm actually a little jealous of my girlfriend, because she's experiencing the game as if it were new; and this makes me think how obsessed I was with Animal Crossing back in those early years of this decade. I may never be able to go home again, but I can at least dispense tips on the subject of playing the stalk market. Hey--a little insider trading never hurt anyone.
Related Links:
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Old Man Brings Misery to Animal Crossing
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