The announcement of Animal Crossing: City Folk was probably one of the most welcomed news at Nintendo’s primarily criticized press conference. There were a few whispered rumors here and there that it would make an appearance at E3, and lo and behold, it played a prominent role in the press conference.

Animal Crossing: City Folk is the first in the series to appear on the Wii. Much like its predecessors, the storyline merely adds a ghost of a structure to the game’s open-ended gameplay. You get a house, fill it with furniture, make friends, earn money for furniture and clothes, and engage in various hobbies like fishing. The latest addition to the game world is a city area where you can shop at trendy clothing stores and the like.

You can play as the characters that come with the game, or use your Mii’s face by going to a salon and getting a “makeover”. You and your AI animal friends can also celebrate holidays based on their real-time dates. Therefore, if it’s December 25th in real life, when you start up the game on that date you’ll see them celebrating Christmas.

Since the game is on the Wii, one may assume that some form of interactive gameplay is available. After all, wouldn’t it be cute to flick the Wii-mote over your head as if you were really casting a line to fish, or moving it to mimic the actions of using a butterfly net? Unfortunately, you use the Wiimote and nunchuk in a straightforward manner. Interestingly enough, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility does offer motion-related gameplay, as I mentioned in my preview .