Anyone up for a few more QR codes of Animal Crossing: New Leaf Christmas clothing designs?

As if one post packed full of holiday clothing designs for Animal Crossing: New Leaf wasn't enough, right?

Actually, I like the ones featured here a bit more than the ones highlighted in my last post--"Is it too early for me to post QR codes of Animal Crossing: New Leaf Christmas sweater designs?"--on the same subject. They're more fun and creative--or at least I think they are.

The first of the bunch (below) was inspired by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, obviously.



Now that I think about it, three of the four designs shared here incorporate reindeer--including the next one, which was inspired by those ugly Christmas sweaters that are all the rage these days.



I stole the reindeer "sprites" from this old Animal Crossing: Wild World pattern, by the way.



And then there's the shirt above, which is supposed to depict that iconic moment when Santa and his sleigh (and reindeer) are seen soaring above the rooftops (the gray triangles at the bottom of this particular design) courtesy of the shining moon.

By the way, I seriously considered creating a shirt design that depicted "Santa coming" in a more straightforward and direct manner, but in the end I decided against it. (Drat, right?)

Finally, we have the "Holly Dress," above. It would make a pretty terrific pair when combined with the "Xmas Tree Dress" I shared here, don't you think?

All of the above-mentioned designs were developed in Arbor, my "alt" New Leaf town, by the way. (Ardenne is its mayor.) Should you ever want to pay it a visit, feel free to do so using this Dream Code: 5300-3135-3333.

See also: 'Is it too early for me to post QR codes of Animal Crossing: New Leaf Christmas sweater designs?'

Should I be a boy or a girl? (Or, my kind of silly Animal Crossing: New Leaf conundrum)

So, here's the thing: I'm currently feeling a bit spastic because I can't make up my mind as to whether my Animal Crossing: New Leaf character will be a boy or a girl.

Why's that silly, you ask?

Basically, it's silly because in the past I've pretty much only chosen girl characters while playing Animal Crossing games.

There are a number of reasons for that, of course--with the main ones being that I think they're cuter and I prefer their selection of clothing and accessories--but that's really neither here nor there. The fact is that I usually go with a girl, no question.

So, why am I hemming and hawing about going with one this time around?

For starters, with New Leaf, I'll undoubtedly spend some of my time visiting friends' towns and otherwise interacting with fellow players while making use of the game's online capabilities. That's virgin territory for me, as all of my previous Animal Crossing forays have been completely solo affairs.

In that kind of situation, I was able to lose myself in the character and world I created--much like how I've been losing myself in the characters and world of THE "DENPA" MEN 2 over the last few days, or how I lost myself in the characters and world of Fire Emblem: Awakening and EarthBound before that.

Throw some honest-to-goodness, real-life interaction--especially with people I know--into the equation, though, and all of the sudden I have a different perspective on the experience before me.

Are people expecting to interact with "me" while traipsing around my village or theirs? And, if they are, does that mean I should play as myself rather than as a girl with rosy cheeks and pale pink pigtails?

Those are only a few of the questions currently swirling through my brain, though. A few others: will people think it's weird or strange or odd that I've chosen to play as a girl rather than as a boy? And, as such, will it make our online interactions awkward or uncomfortable or weird?

I know I'm likely over-thinking things, but I decided to share these thoughts and insecurities and feelings here anyway because I think it's interesting to suss out where they come from and what they mean.

I also think it's interesting to consider why I even care if people think it's weird or strange or odd to choose to play as a virtual character that's of a gender different from my real-world one. After all, given the name and content of this blog, I clearly don't much care if people have a problem with me being gay, or liking the color pink, or enjoying games with "cute" characters and settings.

So, why do I care if people have a problem with me preferring to play as a girl rather than a boy character in New Leaf?

I'm not sure, to tell you the truth.

I'm also not yet sure how I'm going to answer or solve this particular conundrum--although my current solution is that I'll make two different characters: one of whom will be a boy character who resembles my actual self (and who will represent me when I convo with friends, most likely) and one of whom is a girl who exists simply to look cute and don fabulous frocks.

With that out of my system, what are all of you going to do once you get your hands on a copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf? Are you planning to create a character who at least somewhat mirrors the real-life you, or will you create one who's little more than a figment of your imagination?

Famicom and NES designs for your Animal Crossing: New Leaf flat

Don't worry, those of you who aren't as obsessed with New Leaf as I currently am, this blog isn't transitioning into an Animal Crossing QR code blog, despite these last three posts.

In fact, this will be the last QR code-focused post for a number of days--although I can't promise that another won't be published on, say, Friday or Saturday.

As for this particular QR code-filled post: as I'm sure you surmised from the header above, the focus today is on Famicom and NES designs.

In the screencap below, Aino, the Fabulously Coifed Mayor of Animachi, shows off a couple of cushions that have been affixed with my most recent designs:

I know the NES cushion is a bit wonky, but the actual design is pretty nice (if I do say so myself):



Oh, and here's the Famicom design (and corresponding QR code, for those of you who want to plop a cushy Famicom in front of one of the many TVs that are surely sitting in your New Leaf pad):



You don't have to have these designs etched onto a cushion (by Re-Tail's Cyrus), of course. Another option is to hang them on your walls, like art--and like Bryan demonstrates in the following screenshot.



Or you could sit them out on easels, for an even more artsy interior design element.

Next up: a handful of handheld designs--assuming they look decent enough after being plastered onto cushions.

See also: 'PC Engine and Dreamcast designs for your Animal Crossing: New Leaf pad' and 'Sega Saturn and Mega Drive 2 designs for your Animal Crossing: New Leaf suite'

Five games I'm going to start playing (or get back to playing) as soon as my obsession with Animal Crossing: New Leaf fades a bit

It's no secret (or it shouldn't be, at least) that I've been a bit obsessed with Animal Crossing: New Leaf since it hit North American store shelves just over two months ago. In fact, I've played little else these last few weeks.

Although I have no idea when that obsession will fade, I'm fully prepared for when it does thanks to the following list, which details the five games I'm going start playing or, in some cases, get back to playing as soon as my heart yearns for something other than a little New Leaf action.

1. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale--I've been hot to play this 3DS eShop title (see screenshot below) ever since the Japanese version was announced many moons ago. Those feelings only intensified when it was miraculously brought to North America. I hear it's a pretty brief experience, but that's OK with me--as long as it's as enjoyable as everyone (the guys over at tinycartridge.com, especially) says it is.



2. Black Rock Shooter--This curious-looking PSP game (below) landed in my lap shortly after its release, but I've yet to even boot it up. That's kind of the story of my gaming life these days, isn't it? Anyway, my neighbor (of sorts--we both live in the same Seattle 'hood), Brad Gallaway of the Drinking CoffeeCola blog, swears it's a worthwhile endeavor, so I'm determined to give it a go before this year is out.



3. EarthBound--Sometimes I think it's just not meant to be with me and this SNES classic. I mean, I've started it on at least three separate occasions, but I've yet to see its credit roll. That has nothing to do with me disliking the game, by the way; on the contrary, I love every aspect of it. For whatever reason, though, I've always been pulled away from it partway through the adventure. Don't worry, I'm going to do whatever I can to buck that trend when I return to last playthrough in the next couple of weeks.

4. Shin Megami Tensei IV--This poor 3DS game has been staring at me since it arrived on my doorstep a few weeks ago. That's because I have it sitting on my desk--in part to serve as a reminder that I have to get off my ass and play it. Sadly, all it's done so far is make me feel guilty that I've ignored it for so long. If what I've read about it so far (about its difficulty) is any indication, though, I have a feeling it'll savor the sweet taste of revenge in the end.



5. Xenoblade Chronicles--I was a little apprehensive about adding this much-ballyhooed Wii RPG (above) to this list, I have to admit. Although I enjoyed what I played of it late last year, there was something about the gameplay that just didn't sit well with me. Will those feelings fade away and allow me to make some real headway when and if I return to it sometime soon? I certainly hope so.

I have to note that I'm also planning to get back to playing THE "DENPA" MEN 2 once I've put Animal Crossing: New Leaf to bed (or at least convinced it to take a bit of a nap). I've put a good 17 hours into it so far, but I have a feeling I've got many hours to go if I want to see its ending.

With all that said, are any of you in the same boat as I am, spending all your gaming time with New Leaf and basically leaving everything else to rot on the vine? Even if you aren't feel free to share which games you are playing at the moment in the comments section below.

BREAKING NEWS: I finally let someone visit my Animal Crossing: New Leaf town

OK, so I'm being kind of silly with the header above. Only kind of silly, though, as it's true that since I started playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf I've yet to let another human visit Animachi.

I haven't kept people out of my New Leaf town because I'm a big jerk, by the way. Rather, I kept them out (until now) because I was feeling bashful about Animachi's status as a "work in progress."

I still am, to tell you the truth, but my shyness has softened a bit thanks to the fact that Animachi's main street is nearly full--Kicks just opened and Club LOL will follow this weekend--and its trees now feature every kind of fruit a visitor could desire.

Anyway, the point is that I welcomed my first human visitor--Terry, aka Zaphod65--last night. Of course, me being the numbskull that I am, I didn't nab any screencaps while we roamed about Animachi.



Thankfully, Terry did. Not only that, but he made a little comic out of said screencaps for his New Leaf-focused tumblr, The Dunwich Hoarder, and published it (above and here) earlier today.

Would you believe I'm now starting to second guess my decision to allow Terry to (attempt to) woo away Hamlet?

Oh, well, at least if he succeeds I may finally get to meet one of the game's many deer villagers (especially Fauna or Erik).

See also: 'He likes Animal Crossing: New Leaf and he loves to abuse the screencap function'

A little K.K. Slider fan art to tide some of us over until Animal Crossing: New Leaf arrives

So, I was this close to buying and downloading a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf last night. I got all the way to the "Add Funds" button on the 3DS eShop, actually, but after pausing there for a few seconds I came to the--surprisingly level-headed, I think, given my purchase history--conclusion that spending about $70 on two copies of this game (I pre-ordered the retail version long ago via Newegg) may not be the wisest use of my hard-earned cash.

As a result, I'm now rather impatiently waiting for my physical copy of New Leaf to make its way to my doorstep while huge swaths of my North American brothers and sisters busy themselves with setting up their own characters and towns.

Will the piece of K.K. Slider fan art above, produced by illustrious Atlanta-based illustrator Drew Green, help make that wait a little more bearable? Probably not, but it should make it a bit more enjoyable.

Signed, 11-inch-by-17-inch prints of this illustration can be bought for $12 (plus shipping) from Green's etsy shop, ArtDrewveau, by the way.

Aside from all of the above, how many of you nabbed a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf last night or will be grabbing a physical copy of it sometime today? And for those of you who bought one or the other (or both, I guess), what did you decide to name your character and what did you name your town?

PC Engine and Dreamcast designs for your Animal Crossing: New Leaf pad

Early yesterday, the guys over at tinycartridge.com published a post about a trio of Animal Crossing: New Leaf designs that, after being applied to the cushions that can be purchased within this addicting 3DS title, allow players to plop adorable Mega Drives, Super Famicoms and even PlayStations in front of their retro TVs (or, if they're like me, their modern/mixed-wood TVs).

As much as I liked those designs, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that the person responsible for them didn't create Dreamcast and PC Engine ones, too--especially since both of those systems actually were square-shaped, unlike their aforementioned 16-bit and 32-bit counterparts.

So, what did I do? I whipped up a few of my own designs. Four, in fact: a white Dreamcast, a properly gray Dreamcast, a PC Engine and a PC Engine Core Grafx II.

Here's what my first PC Engine design looked like after Re-Tail's Cyrus got through with it:

I've since changed it up ever so slightly, although I'm guessing most folks won't notice the alterations.

Here's a closer look at the design, by the way, as well as its associated QR code:

And here's the Core Grafx II design I came up with, as well as its QR code:

Like I said earlier, I ended up making two Dreamcast designs--one of which is gray, and one of which is white. 

I know the Dreamcast's actually a light gray, but for whatever reason I prefer the white design to the gray one. (Maybe because a cushion bearing it is sitting beside a PC Engine cushion in my male New Leaf character's "man room," and I've always had a thing for symmetry.)

I'm pretty sure most hard-core Sega fans are going to want their Dreamcasts to be gray, though, so I made a design to please them, too.

Anyway, here's the gray Dreamcast design:

And here's the white one:

Finally, here's a screencap of the Dreamcast and PC Engine designs--affixed to cushions courtesy of Cyrus, of course--sitting in my above-mentioned man cave. 

Should I make any other console-inspired designs? If you think so, feel free to let me know which ones in the comments section below.

Note: just in case anyone's wondering, I realize the lid on the Dreamcast design is a bit smaller than it should be. It was the proper size in my original design, but it looked all sorts of wrong when applied to a cushion. So, I shrunk it a bit, as my intention was to make a cushion design. If anyone would like me to make and share another Dreamcast design--one that features a properly sized lid (so you can hang it on your walls or something)--let me know in the comments section below.

See also: other Animal Crossing: New Leaf-centric posts

Don't mind me, I've just gone Animal Crossing crazy (again)

I don't know about you, but all of this talk about Animal Crossing: New Leaf--or Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori, for those playing the just-released Japanese version--has me feeling a little, well, crazy.

What talk, you ask? For starters, there are blog posts like Chic Pixel's "Initial Animal Crossing: New Leaf Impressions" and "Gratuitous Animal Crossing 3DS LL/XL Photo Shoot"--both of which I've read and re-read more times than I'd prefer to admit over the last few days.

And then there's the spate of ads and promo videos that have been released in the wake of the Japanese iteration's release on Nov. 8. My favorite so far:



As for how I've been trying to quell this bout of Animal Crossing craziness: Would you believe I decided late last week to start a new town in the GameCube-based original?

My wide-eyed character, Mimi, is still getting a feel for the burgh she now calls home--Miminton, whose name was inspired by the import-only Wii game, Captain Rainbow--but I think both she and I will settle in soon enough. I just hope I don't settle in to the extent I did the last time I played it--as that experience lasted 80 hours (or more) and at least eight months.

Are any of you chomping at the bit to get your hands on this 3DS game? If so, has that desire caused you to make a return trip to the towns you created in the first Animal Crossing or in Wild World or City Folk?

Can't get enough of Animal Crossing: New Leaf? These pillows should be right up your alley ...

I've only just gotten around to thinking about the interior of my Animal Crossing: New Leaf homes, so I'm not as educated as I should be about things like customizing furniture and other household items (although I have dabbled in it a tiny bit).

As such, I've yet to make--or even encounter in someone else's town, really--the kind of customized crafts that inspired Australian game-design student Bilvy to make the fabulous throw pillows seen below (and here):



Blathers, Chief, Lolly and Punchy aren't the only Animal Crossing characters Bilvy's immortalized in her pillows, by the way. Bob, K.K. Slider, Octavian, Stitches, Tangy and Wolfgang are included among the first batch--being sold at society6.com/bilvyy/pillows for $20 each--as well.

Although I initially was a bit disappointed not to find Snake, Bluebear or Barold (my current favorite Animal Crossing villager) pillows, it appears Bilvy is willing to take requests, so maybe I should take her up on that offer sometime soon?

Bilvy also maintains an New Leaf-focused tumblr, willgrayhound. tumblr.com, and an art blog that's intriguingly titled "there is no gender in jumperland," by the way, so if you like what she did with the cushion designs seen above, you might want to give them a look, too.

Just in case you didn't know, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has taken over my gaming life

And worse, it's nearly taken over the rest of my life, too, but that's another story.

(That said, I should note that things have gotten quite a bit better in that regard in the last week or so due to the fact that I'm pretty darn happy with my New Leaf village at the moment--so most of the time I now spend in it revolves around me chatting with my buds, checking the shops, digging up fossils and gyroids and plucking errant flowers from the soil.)



Anyway, I'm sharing this here because: 1) I'm guessing at least a few of you are in the same boat and, as such, may be looking for a bit of supportive company, and 2) I'm hoping it'll help explain why my blogging output has been suckier than normal since Animal Crossing: New Leaf entered my life three or so weeks ago.

With that out of the way, are any of you also finding yourself a bit obsessed with this disturbingly addicting 3DS game?



If so, which aspects are most responsible for your New Leaf obsession? Is it arranging flowers, or planting and maintaining orchards? Or maybe it's decorating your house, or creating fabulous pieces of clothing?

For me, the main draw at the moment is the overall town-planning element--laying down paths, deciding where to place public works projects, that sort of thing. Soon, though, I'll likely transition from focusing on that to focusing on getting the interior (and exterior, really) of my home(s) in order.



By the way, if you'd like to check out my village, Animachi, but are too shy to visit it while I'm there (or you have a hard time attracting my attention while I'm playing the game), you can do so by sharing my "Dream Address"--5600-2252-0337--with the Dream Suite's Luna.

Feel free to share your New Leaf town's Dream Address in the comments section below, as I've love to check them out when I'm not busy watering my precious flower beds or stockpiling (and selling) beetles that have been scoured from Animachi Island.

He likes Animal Crossing: New Leaf and he loves to abuse the screencap function

Those of you who frequent the comments section of this here blog (and to those of you who don't: why not?) may recognize the username Zaphod65.

Well, that same Zaphod65 has been posting silly, and even a bit saucy, Animal Crossing: New Leaf-inspired comics via Twitter for the last week or so, and as of Friday he's publishing them via a tumblog as well.

Here's an example of one that's both silly and saucy (in my humble opinion, of course):



To see more of Zaphod65's "The Dunwich Hoarder" comics (he's published nine as of yesterday), check out dunwichhoarder.tumblr.com at your earliest convenience.

And if your Animal Crossing: New Leaf itch hasn't been scratched after you finish perusing the above-linked tumblog, scroll through this recent blog post--devoted to my own playthrough of this uber-addicting 3DS title.

Sega Saturn and Mega Drive 2 designs for your Animal Crossing: New Leaf suite

You know how at the end of yesterday's post--about the rather rad (if I do say so myself) Dreamcast and PC Engine cushion designs I recently made for Animal Crossing: New Leaf--I asked people to let me know if I should conjure up designs for any other consoles?

Well, a few people actually took me up on that offer--especially on Twitter.

The results of their suggestions can be seen in the Mega Drive 2 and Sega Saturn (the original Japanese version, of course) designs below.

As was also the case last time around, I made "light" and "dark" versions of both of today's designs. I prefer the dark (regular) ones myself, but I thought some folks might like the light ones better so I'm sharing QR codes for them as well.



Above and below: light and dark Sega Saturn designs.





Above and below: dark and light Mega Drive 2 designs, respectively.



Oh, and here's how the "dark" Saturn and Mega Drive 2 designs look when applied (by Re-Tail's Cyrus) to a plain ol' cushion.



Got any other design suggestions for yours truly? Let me know all about them in the comments section below.

See also: 'PC Engine and Dreamcast designs for your Animal Crossing: New Leaf pad'

Happy 15th anniversary, Animal Crossing!

Excuse me for sharing this story again, but Animal Crossing first hit North American store shelves 15 years ago today, so I think it bears repeating.

Which story? The one that goes something like this:

Before Animal Crossing was released in my neck of the woods on Sept. 15, 2002, I was only mildly curious about the GameCube. I found early titles like Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Monkey Ball awfully appealing, but not appealing enough to purchase the disc-based successor to the Nintendo 64.

Even Animal Crossing's initial release didn't prompt me to pick up a GameCube--despite my keen interest in the game.

No, it wasn't until a year later, when Nintendo dropped the GameCube's price to $99 and published a "Player's Choice" version of this adorable life sim that I jumped in with both feet. The rest, as they say, is history.

I still fondly remember my gaming setup in those days. My husband and I lived in a tiny apartment (just 450 square feet, at most) in Madison, Wisconsin, at the time, so I after my silver GameCube and a copy of this game arrived on our doorstep I promptly tucked both of them and a similarly tiny TV into one of the corners of our bedroom.

I played Animal Crossing whenever I could from that moment forward. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I quickly became obsessed with it--checking in on my big-headed, stubby limbed avatar (a pink-haired girl, if I'm remembering correctly) at least once, and often a couple of times, a day.

At some point, many months down the road (maybe eight, but definitely not 12), it all became a bit much and I walked away from my first Animal Crossing town and all of its anthropomorphic inhabitants cold turkey.

That's actually become a tradition for me with this long-running series. Every Animal Crossing game I've tackled since this GameCube iteration has fascinated me to the point that I played them daily until I felt I either had to walk away without a backward glance or risk my sanity.

As much as I've enjoyed all of those subsequent titles--New Leaf, especially--none has matched the original. Yes, the first Animal Crossing (at least as far as folks outside of Japan are concerned) is by far the most antiquated, but I also think it's the most focused.

My affinity for this Animal Crossing's simplicity probably explains why it's the only entry in the series I've ever returned to--and not just once, but multiple times.

I'm sure that will remain true even after the inevitable Switch title drops next year or the year after, no matter how great the latest sequel is.

How about you? Do you return to Animal Crossing for the GameCube now and then? Or do you have particularly fond memories of your only playthrough of this one-of-a-kind experience? If so, share some of them in the comments section below.

The perfect Animal Crossing: New Leaf accompaniment

I don't know about you, but I'm going to spend a sizable chunk of this coming June glued to my pink-and-white 3DS XL--which will, of course, have an Animal Crossing: New Leaf cart stuck squarely into its backside.

Paul Veer's contribution, above, is my favorite so far.

A comparably smaller, but not at all insignificant, chunk of my time that month likely will be spent with my nose stuck in Meghan Lands' and Justin Woo's Animal Crosszine, a 70-page "love letter to the Animal Crossing video game series" that will contain art, comics and stories that have been contributed by 38 different writers and artists (including Daniel Bressette, Ashley Davis and Jake Lawrence).

The latter is supposed to ship around the time of the former's North American release (June 9), by the way, and can be pre-ordered--for just $12 per copy--right now at animalcrosszine. bigcartel.com. (If you'd like to know a bit more about this black-and-white fanzine before handing over your hard-earned dough, check out its official tumblr at animalcrosszine.tumblr.com.

In other New Leaf-related news, Nintendo of Europe recently published on its website an English version of an Iwata Asks Q&A about this 3DS title that originally appeared on its Japanese parent company's site back in October. Read it in all its giggly glory here.

Welcome to Animachi

For the last two days, I've been doing what every self-respecting 3DS owner has been doing for at least that long, if not longer--playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf as much as possible.

Granted, much of that time has been spent fishing and "hunting" various insects with my trusty butterfly net--as opposed to, you know, gardening or landscaping or planning the layout of the gyroid-filled mansion I'm sure to own in the future--but considering that's how I've spent 90 percent of my time while playing previous Animal Crossing games, I guess it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

That's not what you came here to read about, though, is it? No, I'm guessing you came here to read about--and see screenshots of--my New Leaf town and characters. Thankfully, I've got all of that in spades.

Below, for instance, is a snapshot of my female character, Aino--named after a figure from Finnish mythology--stepping foot into Animachi, my town, for the first time.



I came up with the name Animachi, by the way, by combining the first three letters of "animal" with one of the Japanese words for town or village. Fitting, don't you think?



Oh, and here's a shot of Animachi's first citizens (aka my welcoming committee): Rizzo, Barold, Snake, Winnie and Chevre. (My favorite at the moment is Barold, by the way--don't tell Snake!)



One of the first things I--er, I mean, Aino--did after getting settled in Animachi: buy a fortune cookie from the nearby Nookling Junction shop. (And, no, I don't know why Aino decided to wait until she was inside the museum to crack it open.)



Aino sports the above-mentioned "green hat" (aka the "hero's cap") in the screenshot below. Pretty nifty, eh?



Not so nifty: the fact that the river that runs through Animachi is infested with piranha. Not that Aino seems to mind.

The Great Gaymathon Review #63: Animal Crossing (GameCube)

Game: Animal Crossing

Genre: Life Simulation

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

System: GameCube

Release date: 2002

Given how much time I've put into the first--the first to be released in North America, anyway--Animal Crossing title, you'd think I would've reviewed it by now. One of the main reasons for this inexplicable delay: I wasn't at all sure how to explain to readers why I adore this "life simulation" as much as I do. In part, that's because I probably shouldn't adore, or even enjoy, this "game"--which basically consists of having players run errands (usually in the form of fetching or delivering packages) for their anthropomorphic animal neighbors and otherwise busy themselves.

Sounds boring, right? Well, it isn't--or at least most of it isn't. Yes, the fetching and delivering of packages can be trying, but even that aspect has some appeal thanks to the game's brilliantly witty (and snarky!) dialogue. Where Animal Crossing really shines, though, is in those "other" activities that are made available to players. Among them: catching insects and fish, digging up fossils, decorating your house, designing clothes, planting flowers and even playing classic NES games.

(All of these endeavors are accomplished in real time, by the way, thanks to the fact that the game is synched with the GameCube's internal clock and calendar. In practice, that means that if you decide to boot it up at, say, 8 am on Friday, Jan. 11, it will be the same day and time when you arrive in your Animal Crossing town. Also, the game's environment reflects the time of day and the time of year--so, it gets dark at night, it snows in winter and cherry blossoms appear on trees in the spring.)

None of the above-mentioned tasks are particularly deep or involved, nor do they take much time to complete, but all are implemented in such a way that, when tackled, feel fun rather than tedious.

That's not to say there's nothing about Animal Crossing that's, well, a bit of a chore. For instance, writing letters to your furry neighbors is OK at first--until you come to the realization that they respond negatively to 95 percent of what you write. Likewise, picking weeds in your artificial town--especially after you've spent some time away from the game--is just as thrilling (or not) as it is in real life.

Thankfully, you don't have to send letters to your neighbors, nor do you have to run errands for them or talk to them or otherwise acknowledge their existence. Sure, it may cause a few of them to move out in a huff, but that's about the worst that'll happen to you if you neglect them. You also don't have to pluck weeds or plant flowers or catch fish if you're not so inclined. In other words, it's quite literally up to you to create your own experience while playing this adorably and lovingly crafted "life sim."

Does that mean everyone can or will enjoy Animal Crossing? Of course not. Some are likely to find the lack of action and direction and goals to be completely bewildering, if not downright off-putting. Others are sure to dislike the game's aesthetics, which are bright and cute but also more than a bit rough at times. (It doesn't help that this is basically a Nintendo 64 title ported to the GameCube.) Even the soundtrack, masterfully directed (in my opinion, of course) by Kazumi Totaka, is sure to earn its share of detractors thanks to its rather subdued, subtle nature.

Oh, and then there's the fact that playing this game is a fairly solitary experience--as in, you won't be wirelessly visiting the towns of family and friends as you could if you played follow-ups Wild World (for DS), City Folk (for Wii) or New Leaf (for 3DS) instead. Personally, I'm OK with that, as for me Animal Crossing is about me interacting with my cat, dog, fox and horse buds rather than any human ones.

Should you not consider any of the above-mentioned quibbles to be deal-breakers, though, and should you be longing to escape real life and experience a second one on the proverbial small screen, you'll probably find this iteration of Animal Crossing to be a suitably entrancing diversion.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' reviews

10 Nintendo Switch games I want to play in 2020

I put time into a whopping 20 Nintendo Switch games in 2019. (Twelve of which are represented in this recent post.)

I'm not sure I'll be able to top, or even match, that number in 2020, but I'm going to give it my best shot--starting with the 10 existing and upcoming Switch titles below.

Alien: Isolation--I don't know if you're aware, but I'm a huge fan of the first two Alien films. For me, they're the movie equivalent of comfort food. That probably seems kind of weird given the content of those flicks and my preference for cute games, but it's true. At any rate, I've wanted to play through Alien: Isolation ever since it first came out for the Xbox 360 back in 2014. Honestly, I'm worried it's going to be too stressful for me, but I'm willing to chance it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons cover

Animal Crossing: New Horizons--On the one hand, I'm one of those cranky old codgers who thinks the Animal Crossing series peaked with its original release. On the other hand, I put over two hundred hours into my two (or was it three?) copies of Animal Crossing: New Leaf in the year following that title's release. I get the feeling New Horizons will similarly take over my life after I get my grubby hands on it in March--despite my crotchety misgivings about the direction the series has taken since its debut.

Bravely Default II--I'm not sure why the bigwigs at Square Enix decided to call the third game in the Bravely series Bravely Default II, but whatever. All I really care about is a third Bravely game is coming out. And Revo is working on its soundtrack--I couldn't ask for anything more. OK, I guess I could ask for it to be less prone to exposition than its forebearer. But I'll gladly accept a "return to form" in that regard if everything else about Bravely Default II follows in the footsteps of its predecessors, too.

Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories--I haven't played, or even owned, a single Disaster Report game to date, but I hope to change that with the surprising Switch port of the long-running series' fourth and latest entry. To be honest, I have almost no idea what to expect from Disaster Report 4. Still, I'm champing at the bit to sink my teeth into it thanks to the positive word of mouth that surrounds its precursors.

Raging Loop--I eagerly awaited the North American release of this visual novel once I learned it was not only spooky but featured werewolves. I'm still a bit unsure about its art style, but at least it's unique. Plus, I didn't buy a copy of Raging Loop because its visuals wowed me. I bought it because I've heard only good things about its complex story, multitude of endings, and intriguing "revelation mode."

SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions--My original plan as 2019 came to a close was to purchase and play this game at launch and save the Romancing SaGa 3 remake for early 2020. In the end, the opposite happened. Although I enjoyed the 26-plus hours I put into Romancing SaGa 3 well enough, I'm hoping I'll enjoy SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions even more. At the very least, I suspect I'll have a blast with its battles, which sound a lot more exciting than those of Romancing SaGa 3.

Sega Ages: Fantasy Zone--No, your eyes aren't deceiving you here. This most recent port of Sega's 35-year-old cute 'em up really is one of my most-anticipated games of 2020. After stupidly turning up my nose at it for decades, I fell head over heels in love with Fantasy Zone a few years back via the PC Engine port from 1988. This release should be the best version of Sega's seminal shmup, so of course I'll be buying it the second it hits the North American Switch eShop this year.

Spirit Hunter: NG--Although I wouldn't say I adored this game's predecessor, Death Mark, I also wouldn't say I abhorred it. Actually, I had a pretty good time with it when I played through it last year. The macabre mysteries at the heart of that first Spirit Hunter title were a tad urban legend-esque, but it hardly impacted my enjoyment of it. Does the oddly named NG avoid such clichéd storytelling? I have no idea, but I'm willing to give it a try in 2020 anyway.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore cover

Susume!! Mamotte Knight: Hime no Totsugeki Serenade--I always find it kind of strange when I get excited about a sequel to a game I barely played. Well, in the case of Susume!! Mamotte Knight, I barely played two of its prequels--2010's Protect Me Knight for the Xbox 360 and 2016's Gotta Protectors for the 3DS. Still, I experienced enough of both titles to feel completely comfortable buying this latest entry in the Mamotte Knight series as soon as it releases in my neck of the woods--no matter what developer and publisher Ancient decides to call it this time around.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore--Of all the Wii U games I wanted to be ported to the Switch, this is the one I had the least confidence in ever making that leap. My interest in Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a bit peculiar, admittedly. After all, I've never been much of a Fire Emblem fan (gulp!), and my experience with Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei series has been depressingly limited thus far. Still, my gut tells me I'll get a kick out of this enhanced mash-up.

BONUS ROUND: Moon Remix RPG Adventure--I stupidly left this on-the-way port of cult developer Love-de-Lic's PSone classic from 1997 off my original version of this write-up, so I'm adding it in now. Hey, it's my blog and I can do what I want with it! Anyway, so what's the big deal? For starters, Moon has long been hailed as a quirky "anti-RPG" by those who've played it. Sadly, it's never been translated into English--either officially or unofficially. That's changing as we speak, though, and the end product of indie studio Onion Games' hard work should hit Western Switch eShops at some point in 2020. I'll buy this localized Moon the second it does thanks to my positive experiences with a pair of of Onion's previous efforts, 2018's Black Bird and 2019's Dandy Dungeon.

See also: 'Five Nintendo 3DS games I want to play in 2020'

Completely random (and likely unpopular) opinion: Nintendo should reconsider Animal Crossing's North American logo

Here's the thing: I actually liked the North American Animal Crossing logo well enough at first. Over time, though, I've grown a bit bored with it. After all, all Nintendo of America's staffers seem to do these days is paste a rather cheap-looking accessory (for lack of a better word) on top of the tried-and-true signpost-esque design they came up with back in 2002.

Case in point: the logo that appears on Animal Crossing: New Leaf's North American box art (below).

The logo created for Animal Crossing: Wild World (below) is a bit better, it has to be said, but even then I'd hardly call it creative.

Compare both of the above-mentioned logos to the one conjured up for the Japanese version of Wild World (aka Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori), which in my opinion not only is more whimsical--always a plus in my book--but also is a better fit with the rest of the cover imagery.

That said, I think the logo crafted for the Japanese release of New Leaf (aka Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori) is even better--and is the kind of thing Nintendo of America's designers should strive for in the future.

I especially like how the game's title is contained within a row of homes as well as a tree--elements that play a major role in this series of adorable "life sims." The subtitle's placement within a bunch of communication bubbles is a nice design choice, too, as it helps depict the series' increased focus on interactions with players both near and far.

Anyway, that's what I think about this admittedly rather unimportant matter. What do all of you think about it?

For anyone who cares, a small sample of my favorite Animal Crossing: New Leaf QR codes

After spending just about a month and a half with Animal Crossing: New Leaf, I'm finally at a place where I'm pretty darn happy with the look of my town. As such, I thought I'd take a moment today to share some of the QR codes I've put to use while developing Animachi.

For instance, here's the path design that twists and turns its way around my humble borough:





(I found it while perusing the wonderful merongcrossing.tumblr.com, by the way.)

I considered using the following design instead, but in the end I preferred the more natural look of the one above.



That said, if I ever buy another copy of this game (a distinct possibility given the number of 3DSes in my possession at the moment), I may finally put it to use.



I also like the path design shown above, but I've been unable to find a QR code of it anywhere. (FYI: QR codes for the "little boats on water" pattern can be found here.)

Those of you who have visited Animachi in person or via its Dream Address (5600-2252-0337) likely have encountered the adorable Isabelle "photo face board" that sits just a hop, skip and a jump away from the town's Re-Tail shop.



It was nabbed from soeurs-doigts-de-fee.skyrock.com, in case any of you would like to know where I first came across it.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the fabulously fungal pattern that covers the walls of my main character's (Mayor Aino) cozy study.



It was produced by Pixiv illustrator Meyu, by the way, and I was turned onto it by my pal Anne (of chic-pixel.com).

If any of you have favorite New Leaf QR codes you'd like to introduce me to, please feel free to do so in the comments section below.

See also: 'Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi'