Animal Crossing devs talk smartphone integration, social elements, franchise fatigue, consoles and more
The following info and comments come from a Polygon interview with Animal Crossing producer Katsuya Eguchi and Animal Crossing: New Leaf co-director Aya Kyogoku...
On the series heading to smartphones
"Actually a lot of people have the same sort of idea, but contrary to what it seems like, there's a lot to do in Animal Crossing. It's really focused on a very free style of control. Whether it's the buttons or the stick on the 3DS, we really use [the hardware] to its fullest to get the maximum amount of joy, so I personally don't agree with the sentiment [that Animal Crossing would work on mobile devices].
At at the same time, we don't want to force a player to be tied down to a Nintendo device. The game is really enjoyable for people across gender and all ages, so I feel if we were to be able to do something that supports playing on a Nintendo device, something that relates to the information content of the game, something that brings players back to the main game, if it's something that can work as a catalyst to get players back into the game, it's something we might look into." - Eguchi
On social elements
To have reminders, to have people remember there's something going on in the world of Animal Crossing, is something I think is great. Things like Twitter and Animal Crossing work really well together. If it's something that users will be able to enjoy together along with a Nintendo system, it's something I would like to look into." - Kyogoku
On returning to the core of the franchise, avoiding franchise fatigue and home console versions
"No matter what the franchise is if you want to have it grow, it's important that it doesn't do the same thing over and over again. It leads to fatigue. As a franchise I think everybody at Nintendo is trying to think what we can do to make these franchises grow and continue, and what changes are necessary for that. [Super Mario producer] Mr. Koizumi's team, I think, is trying to do the same as well. - Kyogoku
"The current gameplay style of Animal Crossing is best suited for a portable device, but if we were to create an Animal Crossing for a home console, I think we would really have to invent a new style that's suitable for the platform. The environment in which the player is playing the game is very important, so we need to think that through before we start creating something like that. We might not have been able to do that for Wii, but whether it's the Wii U or a future hardware, it's important to think about what environment the player will be in." - Eguchi
Link
On the series heading to smartphones
"Actually a lot of people have the same sort of idea, but contrary to what it seems like, there's a lot to do in Animal Crossing. It's really focused on a very free style of control. Whether it's the buttons or the stick on the 3DS, we really use [the hardware] to its fullest to get the maximum amount of joy, so I personally don't agree with the sentiment [that Animal Crossing would work on mobile devices].
At at the same time, we don't want to force a player to be tied down to a Nintendo device. The game is really enjoyable for people across gender and all ages, so I feel if we were to be able to do something that supports playing on a Nintendo device, something that relates to the information content of the game, something that brings players back to the main game, if it's something that can work as a catalyst to get players back into the game, it's something we might look into." - Eguchi
On social elements
To have reminders, to have people remember there's something going on in the world of Animal Crossing, is something I think is great. Things like Twitter and Animal Crossing work really well together. If it's something that users will be able to enjoy together along with a Nintendo system, it's something I would like to look into." - Kyogoku
On returning to the core of the franchise, avoiding franchise fatigue and home console versions
"No matter what the franchise is if you want to have it grow, it's important that it doesn't do the same thing over and over again. It leads to fatigue. As a franchise I think everybody at Nintendo is trying to think what we can do to make these franchises grow and continue, and what changes are necessary for that. [Super Mario producer] Mr. Koizumi's team, I think, is trying to do the same as well. - Kyogoku
"The current gameplay style of Animal Crossing is best suited for a portable device, but if we were to create an Animal Crossing for a home console, I think we would really have to invent a new style that's suitable for the platform. The environment in which the player is playing the game is very important, so we need to think that through before we start creating something like that. We might not have been able to do that for Wii, but whether it's the Wii U or a future hardware, it's important to think about what environment the player will be in." - Eguchi
Link
