Animal Crossing Wii this December

The European arm of Wii and DS platform holder Nintendo has confirmed that the Wii iteration of Animal Crossing will be released in Europe this December – along with a new name for the title.

Mirroring the recent announcement about the Australian release, the game will be called Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City in Europe. Also confirmed is the fact that the title will include the Wii Speak accessory, the first peripheral to allow online voice chat in a Wii game.

For the first time in the series players will be able to explore a big city as well as the usual rural dwelling. The game will also retain the successful ‘real-time’ mechanic seen in previous titles, meaning that the in-game time mirrors that of the real world. Time also continues to pass even when the game is not being played.

And considering the emphasis the brand has always placed on communication, Let’s Go to the City will wisely make use of Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connect network to allow players to send letter, items and even visit other towns.

There will also be provisions for transferring data from DS title Animal Crossing: Wild World, and the handheld can also be used to transport characters from Wii to Wii.