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Published by Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439.
Copyright 2022 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International copyrights reserved in all countries.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Checkerboard Library is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing.
Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota
052021
092021
Design: Aruna Rangarajan, Mighty Media, Inc.
Production: Mighty Media, Inc.
Editor: Rebecca Felix
Design Elements: Shutterstock Images
Cover Photograph: Shutterstock Images
Interior Photographs: ArcadeImages/Alamy, p. 24 (bottom); Brian Jiang/Flickr, p. 11; Bryan Ochalla/
Flickr, pp. 9, 17, 28 (bottom right); charming meiler/Flickr, p. 5; Dennis Amith/Flickr, pp. 21, 25 (top);
Evan-Amos/Wikimedia Commons, pp. 24, (top); Hanbyul/Flickr, p. 23; John/Flickr, p. 13;
ninetailedsquid/Flickr, p. 27; Pavel Kapish/Alamy, pp. 19, 29; Redazione Fuorigio.co/Flickr, p. 15;
Shutterstock Images, pp. 25, 29 (bottom); Vince Bucci/AP Images, pp. 7, 28
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020949737
Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rusick, Jessica, author.
Title: Animal Crossing / by Jessica Rusick
Description: Minneapolis, Minnesota : Abdo Publishing, 2022 | Series: Game On! | Includes online
resources and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781532195785 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 9781644945476 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781098216511 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Video games--Juvenile literature. | Simulation games--Juvenile literature. | Nintendo
video games--Juvenile literature. | Video games and children--Juvenile literature.
Classification: DDC 794.8--dc23
NOTE TO READERS
Video games that depict shooting or other violent acts should be subject to adult discretion and
awareness that exposure to such acts may affect players perceptions of violence in the real world.
ANIMAL CROSSING
A smiling human villager runs through a colorful cartoon town.
On the banks of a river, the villager watches a butterfly slowly
fly by. The villagers net swoops down on the bug. Hooray! He
has caught a tiger butterfly. The villager gives the butterfly to a
town resident, a talking frog named Tad. In return, Tad gives the
villager a shirt.
Nintendos Animal Crossing is a life simulation video game
series. In Animal Crossing games, there are no levels to beat.
There are no enemies to fight. And, the goal is not to win.
Instead, players live a virtual life in a small community. They
gather items, decorate their homes, and build relationships with
the towns talking animal residents.
Animal Crossing was one of the first life simulation video
games themed around friends and community. It is also one of
the most popular. For decades, players have loved the Animal
Crossing franchise for its fun, relaxing gameplay.
ANIMAL FOREST
Animal Crossing s creator is Katsuya Eguchi.
He was born
in Tokyo, Japan, in 1965. Eguchi was raised in Chiba, Japan.
In 1986, he got a job working for the video game company
Nintendo. Eguchi moved 500 miles (805 km) from home to
work at Nintendo in Kyoto, Japan.
Eguchi missed his family and friends after moving. These
feelings inspired him.
Eguchi wondered if he could create
a video game around the ideas of family, friendship, and
community. In the next years, he worked on many games
for Nintendo. But Eguchi never forgot his idea.
In April 2001, Eguchi brought his idea to life. That year, Animal
Forest debuted for the Nintendo 64 (N64) in Japan. Each player
navigated the game as a human character who moves to a small
town filled with talking animal residents. The character takes out
a loan for a house from a resident named Tom Nook.
as fish, bugs, and fruit for the residents. In return, the residents
would gift the player items and money, called Bells. The player
could use Bells to repay their loan to Nook, expand their house,
and buy goods at shops.
Another feature of Animal Forest was real-time gameplay.
At the start of the game, the player entered the date and
time where they lived. This made the games town reflect the
players real-world season and time of day.
Animal Forest was a unique game. And players loved it!
In December 2001, an upgraded version of Animal Forest was
released in Japan. It was made to play on Nintendos new
home console , the GameCube. The
A UNIQUE TOWN
In Animal Crossing ,
players towns were
randomly generated
by the game. So, each
players town had a
different layout and
residents. The chance
of two players starting
with the same town
was very low.
new version of the game was called
Animal Crossing .
In September 2002, Animal
Crossing debuted in the United
States. In 2003 and 2004, the game
debuted in Australia and Europe.
WILD WORLD
In 2005, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: Wild World in the
United States and Japan.
The game released in Europe the next
year. Wild World was made for the Nintendo DS, a handheld
console . Unlike the GameCube, the DS was portable . Fans loved
their new ability to take the game with them and play on the go.
Fans also loved the games new features.
In Wild World ,
players could change their characters hairstyle and hair color.
There were also new residents and
options to create custom clothing. In
addition, players could cut down trees