Animal Crossing: New Leaf

A player as town mayor with their assistant Isabelle

As in the previous installments of the Animal Crossing series, players take control of a villager who is moving into a new town. Upon arrival, the player is mistaken for the new town mayor and is given that position instead of being a standard resident. Like the previous games in the series, the game enables the player to explore their town, talk with other residents, and participate in various activities such as fishing and bug catching. Doing various activities or selling various items earns the player Bells, the game's currency, which they can use to purchase various items such as furniture or clothes, or pay loans used to renovate their house. The game is played in real-time, utilizing the Nintendo 3DS system's internal clock, with aspects such as shop opening times, species of wildlife and special events varying depending on the time of day and season.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf introduces many features to the series. Players begin the game living in a tent before their house, which eventually can be upgraded and expanded, is built.^[2] Customization, a major part of the series has been enhanced, particularly in the player's ability to modify their character's appearance and decorate their house. The character's pants can be modified in addition to their shirt, shoes, hat, and accessory; and the ability to hang furniture on walls has been added. Features previously only found in the Japanese Dōbutsu no Mori e+ for the GameCube, such as benches and lamp posts, have returned. Another addition is the ability to swim in the ocean that borders the town using a swimsuit.^[7] Players may visit each other's towns using the Nintendo Network and can be added to a friend's list that allows them to exchange messages with one another, while up to four players at a time can travel to the tropical Tortimer Island to take part in various minigames that award medals.^[8] Players are able to take snapshots at any time, which are saved to the Nintendo 3DS Camera and can be shared.

The game features a new mechanic that makes the player the town mayor, allowing them to have more customization of their town than in previous games.^[9] While taking part in mayoral duties is not obligatory to play the game,^[10] being the head of town imparts two gameplay features new to the series: Public Works Projects and Ordinances. Public Works Projects allow players to collect funds from townsfolk and other visiting players to construct new objects such as bridges, fountains, and light poles, as well as add new facilities such as campsites and cafés.^[11] Ordinances gives players the ability to customize the way their town functions by passing laws, such as making the town wealthier, encouraging citizens to plant more flowers, or making the shops open earlier or later.^[12] Only the first person to register a save file on each copy of the game will be able to become mayor, as subsequent save files will be able to become villagers.

New Leaf makes various uses of the Nintendo 3DS's features, some of which are made available as time passes. Players can visit other players' towns via local play or online with up to four friends (an optional club membership on Tortimer Island allows players to explore the island with other online players). A Dream Suite feature allows players to download dream versions of other people's towns to freely explore. The Happy Home Showcase allows players to view the homes of other players encountered on StreetPass, as well as order some of the furniture their house contains. A sewing machine in the Able Sisters shop allows players to create QR codes of their designs, which other players can download using the Nintendo 3DS's camera. Play Coins can be used to buy fortune cookies, which in turn can be exchanged for special prizes, such as rare items based on other Nintendo franchises.

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Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Isabelle, known as Shizue (しずえ) in Japan, is a fictional character from the Animal Crossing series of video games. She is a kindly Shih Tzu that debuted in the 2012 release Animal Crossing: New Leaf, where she serves as the secretary to the player character.

GameCube

GameCube

The GameCube is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii (2006). In the sixth generation of video game consoles, the GameCube competed with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Flagship games include Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Pikmin, Pikmin 2, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Chibi-Robo!, and the original Animal Crossing.

Nintendo Network

Nintendo Network

The Nintendo Network is Nintendo's online service which provides online functionality for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems and their compatible games. Announced on January 26, 2012, at an investors' conference, it is Nintendo's second online service after Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Former president of Nintendo Satoru Iwata said, "Unlike Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which has been focused upon specific functionalities and concepts, we are aiming to establish a platform where various services available through the network for our consumers shall be connected via Nintendo Network service so that the company can make comprehensive proposals to consumers."

QR code

QR code

A QR code is a type of matrix barcode invented in 1994 by Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about the item to which it is attached. In practice, QR codes often contain data for a locator, identifier, or tracker that points to a website or application. QR codes use four standardized encoding modes to store data efficiently; extensions may also be used.

The game features two new animal types for regular villagers: hamsters and deer,^[13] as well as two new non-player character personalities: "smug" and "uchi", the latter described as a "big sister type". New special characters include a dog named Isabelle, who acts as the player's personal assistant,^[14] her twin brother Digby who runs the Happy Home Showcase where players can view model home layouts,^[15] a sloth named Leif who runs a gardening center,^[14] and a pair of alpacas named Reese and Cyrus, who run a store called "Re-Tail", a recycling shop where players can sell unwanted items or customize furniture for their house.^[16] Tom Nook returns as a real-estate agent instead of a shopkeeper,^[14] his former business run by his nephews Timmy and Tommy.^[17] The skunk Kicks and hedgehog Labelle from Animal Crossing: City Folk are featured as shoe and accessory salespersons respectively,^[17] while K.K. Slider has a position as a DJ at a nightclub called "Club LOL".^[14] The building is run by an axolotl named Dr. Shrunk, who is a stand-up comedian. Tortimer, the former mayor of the town, runs an island that can be visited by using the boat at the dock the day after the first home loan is paid off.

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Non-player character

Non-player character

A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster or referee rather than by another player. In video games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer that has a predetermined set of behaviors that potentially will impact gameplay, but will not necessarily be the product of true artificial intelligence.

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Isabelle, known as Shizue (しずえ) in Japan, is a fictional character from the Animal Crossing series of video games. She is a kindly Shih Tzu that debuted in the 2012 release Animal Crossing: New Leaf, where she serves as the secretary to the player character.

Sloth

Sloth

Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America. Sloths are considered to be most closely related to anteaters, together making up the xenarthran order Pilosa.

Tom Nook

Tom Nook

Tom Nook, known in Japan as Tanukichi (たぬきち), is a fictional character in the Animal Crossing series who operates the village store. He first appeared in the Nintendo 64 game Dōbutsu no Mori, released in Europe and North America on the GameCube as Animal Crossing. Nook sells a house to the player at the beginning of each title in the series, giving a set mortgage for them to pay, and offering to upgrade it after the mortgage is paid off. He has also made several appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Animal Crossing: City Folk

Animal Crossing: City Folk

Animal Crossing: City Folk, released as Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City in PAL territories, is a 2008 social simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii console and the third game in the Animal Crossing series. It is also one of the first titles that was re-released as a part of the Nintendo Selects collection in 2011.

Axolotl

Axolotl

The axolotl is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. It is unusual among amphibians in that it reaches adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of taking to the land, adults remain aquatic and gilled. The species was originally found in several lakes underlying what is now Mexico City, such as Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco. These lakes were drained by Spanish settlers after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, leading to the destruction of much of the axolotl’s natural habitat.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf at E3 2011

Animal Crossing: New Leaf was announced at E3 2010 as the first title in the series for the Nintendo 3DS.^[18] It later appeared at the 2011 Nintendo World expo,^[19] and again at E3 2011 during a short presentation where a release date was originally announced for later that year in Japan.^[20] Nintendo later pushed back the release to sometime in 2012 before the end of the fiscal year in March,^[21] and eventually finalized a Japanese release to Q3 of that year during a Nintendo Direct broadcast.^[22] Its English title was revealed in October 2012, along with a tentative release date in the west for early 2013.^[23] In February 2013, New Leaf's definite release date was announced for the following June in North America, Europe, and Australia.^[24]

The game was produced by Katsuya Eguchi and directed by the two-person team of Isao Moro and Aya Kyogoku, who had both worked under the previous director of Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii.^[25] The idea for the player to become mayor did not manifest until about a year into development, which stemmed from the concept of giving the player much more freedom in designing and shaping the way their town grew.^[25] Giving players the ability to pass ordinances and laws that involve shops being open earlier or later in the day was included to accommodate more personal schedules and play styles while still keeping the game synced with the passage of time in the real world.^[26] The main theme of the game was composed by Manaka Kataoka (formally known as Manaka Tominaga) while she composed the rest of the soundtrack with Atsuko Asahi.^[27] Kazumi Totaka was the sound director for the game as he was for the rest of the series.^[28] Monolith Soft assisted on development.^[29]

Because the game was being designed for a 3D display instead of a flat one like its predecessors, the design team had to pay extra attention to how objects and characters appeared in regard to lighting and shading, and that no obvious flaws could be seen from the different perspective.^[30] Design coordinator Koji Takahashi admitted that it was difficult thinking up new animal species to represent townsfolk since they primarily wanted to stick to ones people were familiar with, and had "pretty much used up" the most familiar examples in previous games.^[30] Alpacas in particular were chosen due to their recent popularity in the country.^[30]

In order to make New Leaf a more personal experience to players around the world, the development team researched customs and holidays from various countries, including collaborating with Nintendo offices around the world, and included them in versions of the game released in those regions.^[31] These include variations to in-game events such as New Year's Eve, such as eating New Year noodles in the Japanese version, drinking sparkling cider in the English North American version, and eating a twelve-grape plate at midnight in the Spanish-language North American or European versions.^[32]

New Leaf's English translation began in March 2012 by members of Nintendo of America's "Treehouse" localization group, who collaborated with the company's headquarters in Japan on creating in-game events.^[33] The North American and European versions contain an extra feature not included in the Japanese release - the ability to download example home layouts in the Happy Home Showcase from Nintendo over the internet using the SpotPass feature in addition to StreetPass, which requires players to physically pass by one another. According to localization manager Reiko Ninomiya, this was added due to the difficulty players in those regions experience with meeting others in public who own the game, explaining that "in Japan Streetpass happens really, really frequently. People take trains. It's a different community culture. Here, you've got people living in remote parts where they don't have an opportunity to pass by people who have the game."^[34]

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E3 2011

E3 2011

The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 was the 17th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 7, 2011, and ended on June 9, 2011, with 46,800 total attendees. E3 2011 was broadcast on the G4 channel.

Nintendo Space World

Nintendo Space World

Nintendo Space World, formerly named Shoshinkai and Famicom Space World, was an annual video game trade show hosted by Nintendo from 1989 to 2001. Its three days of high-energy party atmosphere was the primary venue for Nintendo and its licensees to announce and demonstrate new consoles and games. Anticipated and dissected each year with hype and exclusivity, it was a destination for the international video game press, with detailed developer interviews and technology demos.

Nintendo Direct

Nintendo Direct

Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began in Japan and North America with the first edition on October 21, 2011, before later expanding to Europe, Australia, and South Korea.

Katsuya Eguchi

Katsuya Eguchi

Katsuya Eguchi is a Japanese game designer, director and producer, most known for being a creator of the Animal Crossing series.

Aya Kyogoku

Aya Kyogoku

Aya Kyogoku is a Japanese video game director and producer. She is the current manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) Group No. 5, which oversees the Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and Wii Sports franchises. Kyogoku is best known for her work on Animal Crossing, where she has alternately served as a producer, director, and supervisor since 2008.

Wii

Wii

The Wii is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, following the GameCube and is a seventh-generation console alongside Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.

Kazumi Totaka

Kazumi Totaka

Kazumi Totaka is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who is best known for his various compositions in many Nintendo games. He occasionally does voice acting as well, most notably voicing Yoshi from the Mario series. He also directed the development of Wii Music.

Monolith Soft

Monolith Soft

Monolith Software Inc., trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game development studio originally owned by Namco until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007. The company was founded in 1999 by Tetsuya Takahashi with the support and cooperation of Masaya Nakamura, the founder of Namco. Their first project was the Xenosaga series, a spiritual successor to the Square-developed Xenogears. Multiple Square staff would join Takahashi at Monolith Soft including Hirohide Sugiura and Yasuyuki Honne.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to as “New Year’s Eve”. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January.

In October 2012, Nintendo Japan created an official Animal Crossing: New Leaf Twitter account featuring tweets from the character Isabelle that included updates and promotions about the game,^[35] with English versions established by Nintendo Europe in April 2013,^[36] and Nintendo of America in May 2013.^[37] Later that month, Nintendo of America began to produce a series of roundtable video discussions with the English "Treehouse" localisation team providing information on the game's development and translation, which were posted on YouTube as well as the game's Twitter and Facebook pages.^[38] Nintendo Japan would partner with the 7-Eleven convenience store chain to offer special company-brand in-game items and furniture such as signs, shirts, and food displays by accessing Wi-Fi hotspots at select store locations across Japan between May and August 2013.^[39] Two Animal Crossing-themed clothing items were also made available as downloadable content in the Japanese version of Style Savvy: Trendsetters for the 3DS, featuring designs based on the characters K.K. Slider and Gracie.^[39]

Nintendo released an Animal Crossing: New Leaf-themed special edition 3DS XL handheld bundled with a digital copy of the game alongside its standard release in Japan.^[40] In April 2013, the bundle was announced for North America and Europe in a Nintendo Direct broadcast, which would also be made available on the same day as the game's release in both regions the following June.^[41] The game was made available as a download title on the Nintendo eShop in Japan on the same day as the physical release,^[42] with a North American eShop version also accompanying its retail version.^[43] A pre-order bonus figurine featuring a model of the town hall with the character Isabelle was also distributed exclusively by EB Games in Australia and Game retailers in Europe.^[44]

A select number of American players chosen through Nintendo's Mayor Program were eligible to try the game out through the month of May and in return, chronicled their experiences online. On August 7, 2013, an app titled Animal Crossing Plaza was added to the Wii U, allowing players to communicate with other Animal Crossing players. The feature was available until the end of 2014.^[45] In Europe and Australia, a promotion was announced in which if players register their game on Club Nintendo between August and October 2013, they would receive a code that they can give to another 3DS XL owner, allowing them to download a free copy of the game.^[46] In September 2016, Nintendo and Sanrio has announced that they will be bringing Hello Kitty to the game in Japan.^[47]

A large update known as Welcome amiibo was released on November 2, 2016, adding support for amiibo (including Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda, and Splatoon figurines and cards)—which can be used to summon villagers and vendors to a new campsite area. The update also features save data integration with Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, and backports the game's touchscreen controls for furnishing.^[48][49][50]

Discover more about Promotion and release related topics

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American technology giant Meta Platforms. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name derives from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to only Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities and, since 2006, anyone over 13 years old. As of December 2022, Facebook claimed 2.96 billion monthly active users, and ranked third worldwide among the most visited websites. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s.

7-Eleven

7-Eleven

7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVEn, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. After 70% of the company was acquired by an affiliate Ito-Yokado in 1991, it was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings.

Style Savvy: Trendsetters

Style Savvy: Trendsetters

Style Savvy: Trendsetters, known as Nintendo presents: New Style Boutique in the PAL region, as Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode Yokubari Sengen! in Japan, is a fashion video game developed by Syn Sophia and published by Nintendo and a sequel of the Nintendo DS game Style Savvy. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS on September 27, 2012 in Japan, on October 22, 2012 in North America and November 16, 2012 in Europe.

Nintendo eShop

Nintendo eShop

The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch, and formerly available via the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. The eShop was first launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS via a system update that added the functionality to the HOME Menu. It is the successor to both the Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop. Unlike on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was made available on the launch date of the Wii U, although a system update is required in order to access it. It is also a multitasking application, which means it is easily accessible even when a game is already running in the background through the system software, though this feature is exclusive to the Wii U and the Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo eShop features downloadable games, demos, applications, streaming videos, consumer rating feedback, and other information on upcoming game releases.

EB Games

EB Games

EB Games is an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prussia mall near Philadelphia, the company has grown into an international corporation. EB Games's parent corporation, GameStop, has its headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. When Electronics Boutique was an independent company, its headquarters was in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, near West Chester.

Game (retailer)

Game (retailer)

Game Retail Limited is a British video game retailer, owned by Frasers Group since June 2019.

Animal Crossing Plaza

Animal Crossing Plaza

Animal Crossing Plaza is a discontinued free to play social networking service developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. A spin-off of Animal Crossing: New Leaf of the Animal Crossing series, Plaza was released as a tie-in to Miiverse, Nintendo's now-defunct social networking service. The application is no longer actively supported by Nintendo, and was removed from the Nintendo eShop on December 22, 2014.

Club Nintendo

Club Nintendo

Club Nintendo is a customer loyalty program provided by Nintendo. The loyalty program was free to join and provided rewards in exchange for consumer feedback and loyalty to purchasing official Nintendo products. Members of Club Nintendo earned credits or "coins" by submitting codes found on Nintendo products and systems, which could be traded in for special edition items only available on Club Nintendo. Rewards included objects such as playing cards, tote bags, controllers, downloadable content, and warranty extensions on select Nintendo products.

Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty , also known by her real name Kitty White , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an anthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. According to her backstory, she lives in a London suburb with her family, and is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is depicted with a yellow bow.

Amiibo

Amiibo

Amiibo is a toys-to-life platform by Nintendo, which was launched in November 2014. It consists of a wireless communications and storage protocol for connecting figurines to the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch video game consoles. These figurines are similar in form and functionality to that of the Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Lego Dimensions series of toys-to-life platforms. The Amiibo platform was preannounced to potentially accommodate any form of toy, specifically including general plans for future card games. These toys use near field communication (NFC) to interact with supported video game software, potentially allowing data to be transferred in and out of games and across multiple platforms.

Splatoon

Splatoon

Splatoon is a third-person shooter video game franchise created by Hisashi Nogami, and developed and owned by Nintendo. Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth inhabited by anthropomorphic marine animals, the series centers around fictional cephalopods known as Inklings and Octolings – based on squids and octopuses respectively – which can transform between humanoid and cephalopod forms at will. They frequently engage in turf war battles with each other and use a variety of weapons that produce and shoot colored ink while in humanoid form, or swim and hide in surfaces covered in their own-colored ink while in their cephalopodic forms.

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is a 2015 sandbox video game developed and published by Nintendo, with assistance from Monolith Soft, for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was released in Japan in July 2015, in North America in September 2015, and in PAL regions in October 2015. The game is a spin-off of the Animal Crossing series where the player has to design homes for various anthropomorphic animal characters. The game received mixed reviews from critics upon release, praising the creative freedom and improved design controls, but criticizing the lack of challenge, lack of reward, and the game not being DLC for Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and has sold 3.04 million copies worldwide as of March 2016.

Following its announcement at E3 2010, very positive response was given to the game's visuals. Writing for G4TV, Patrick Klepek felt that the game's use of the Nintendo 3DS's stereoscopic 3D effects gave the game world "real, tangible depth",^[58] while IGN editor Craig Harris described them as "subtle, but helpful". Both Harris and GameSpot editor Tom McShea praised the level of detail in the game's environment and objects, stating that they exceed that of the game's predecessor, Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii console.^[59][60]

The game received "generally positive" reception, according to review aggregator Metacritic.^[51] The Japanese version of the game received a 39/40 from Japanese magazine Famitsu, earning the publication's Platinum Award,^[52] while the English version received an 8/10 from GameSpot, and a 9.6/10 from IGN.^[61][62]

The game debuted in Japan with sales of just over 800,000 units sold, with 200,000 of them being digital downloads.^[63][64] Animal Crossing: New Leaf became the first 3DS game in Japan to pass two million units sold, doing so in just under two months.^[65] By March 2013, 3.86 million copies had been sold.^[66] By August 2014, 1.36 million copies had been sold in the United States.^[67] By the end of September 2022, all versions combined had worldwide sales of 13.02 million copies making it one of the best-selling 3DS games.^[68] A week following the release of the mobile app Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp in November 2017, sales of New Leaf saw a 214% sales increase in Japan.^[69][70]

Discover more about Reception related topics

Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged. Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts in 1999, and is owned by Fandom, Inc. as of 2023.

Famitsu

Famitsu

Famitsu, formerly Famicom Tsūshin, is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage, a subsidiary of Kadokawa. Famitsu is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special topical issues devoted to only one console, video game company, or other theme. Shūkan Famitsū, the original Famitsu publication, is considered the most widely read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. From October 28, 2011, the company began releasing the digital version of the magazine exclusively on BookWalker weekly.

GameSpot

GameSpot

GameSpot is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition to the information produced by GameSpot staff, the site also allows users to write their own reviews, blogs, and post on the site's forums. It has been owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022.

IGN

IGN

IGN is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former editor-in-chief, Peer Schneider. The IGN website was the brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Anderson and launched on September 29, 1996. It focuses on games, films, anime, television, comics, technology, and other media. Originally a network of desktop websites, IGN is also distributed on mobile platforms, console programs on the Xbox and PlayStation, FireTV, Roku, and via YouTube, Twitch, Hulu, and Snapchat.

Joystiq

Joystiq

Joystiq was a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 as part of the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs, now owned by AOL. It was AOL's primary video game blog, with sister blogs dealing with MMORPG gaming in general and the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft in particular.

Polygon (website)

Polygon (website)

Polygon is an American entertainment website that publishes blogs, reviews, guides, videos, and news primarily covering video games, as well as movies, comics, television and books. At its October 2012 launch as Vox Media's third property, Polygon sought to distinguish itself from competitors by focusing on the stories of the people behind the games instead of the games themselves. It also produced long-form magazine-style feature articles, invested in video content, and chose to let their review scores be updated as the game changed.

Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generation console, its primary competitor was Sony's PlayStation Vita.

Autostereoscopy

Autostereoscopy

Autostereoscopy is any method of displaying stereoscopic images without the use of special headgear, glasses, something that affects vision, or anything for eyes on the part of the viewer. Because headgear is not required, it is also called "glasses-free 3D" or "glassesless 3D". There are two broad approaches currently used to accommodate motion parallax and wider viewing angles: eye-tracking, and multiple views so that the display does not need to sense where the viewer's eyes are located. Examples of autostereoscopic displays technology include lenticular lens, parallax barrier, and may include Integral imaging, but notably do not include volumetric display or holographic displays.

Review aggregator

Review aggregator

A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services. This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users can view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies, and creating databases for companies to learn about their actual and potential customers. The system enables users to easily compare many different reviews of the same work. Many of these systems calculate an approximate average assessment, usually based on assigning a numeric value to each review related to its degree of positive rating of the work.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a 2017 free-to-play social simulation mobile game in Nintendo's Animal Crossing series for iOS and Android devices. It was released in Australia in October 2017 and worldwide the following month. The game continues the series of social simulations that allow players to interact with a small campsite with various campers, performing small tasks, engaging in commerce, and decorating living spaces.

In the 2014 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the character Isabelle appears as an Assist Trophy, while Tortimer Island appears as a playable stage in the 3DS version of the game.^[71][72] She became a playable character in 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.^[73]

Polygon named the game among the decade's best.^[74]