Nintendo Announces Animal Crossing Pocket Camp for iOS Devices

[MacRumors]

Nintendo this evening shared details on its upcoming Animal Crossing game that's coming to iOS devices, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.

In Pocket Camp, you manage a campsite that you can decorate with furniture and items to attract the traditional Animal Crossing villagers. When you place an animal's favorite furniture item, that animal will come to visit your campsite. Based on the Animal Crossing Pocket Camp website, the full range of animal types will be available in Pocket Camp.

The game is highly focused on crafting, and crafting is used to create the furniture items that will draw villagers to the campsite. Crafting furniture requires materials, which are earned by completing quests for your campsite visitors.

Animals will ask you to collect fruit, bugs, fish, and other items, and will reward you with crafting materials when the job's done. As with other Animal Crossing games, you can catch bugs and fish and sell them to get bells, the game's main currency.

You live in a camper, which can be customized both inside and out in the city. You can purchase furniture and new exterior paints and other options, and there are also stores for buying new outfits and accessories. Limited time and seasonal items will be available.

You can also build amenities like pools for your campsite visitors, and there are nearby recreation spots to explore for exotic bugs and fruit, like a beach and an island.

Time passes as it does in real life, so when it's morning, it's morning in Animal Crossing Pocket Camp. You can visit your friends' campsites, and sell and exchange items with one another.

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is a freemium game and it uses a "Leaf Ticket" currency. Leaf Tickets can be earned in games or purchased with real money. Leaf Tickets speed up building times for furniture and can be used to purchase the resources necessary to build furniture.

When you put out an animal's favorite furniture item, that animal will come visit the campsite, and when completing tasks, you can also level up your friendship with each animal.

Nintendo didn't share a specific launch date for Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, but it is set to be released in late November, so there's about a month to go before it sees a release.

Article Link: Nintendo Announces Animal Crossing Pocket Camp for iOS Devices

 

[Appleaker]

This looks really cool, I’m glad they kept the dynamic of the regular games rather than creating a different game under the animal crossing name.

 

[vertsix]

not your typical animal crossing game but a step in the right direction

 

[4jasontv]

Is it just me, or do the first two comments directly conflict?

 

[akfgpuppet]

Finally, Tom Nook would play with real currency instead of fictional bells.

 

[dominiongamma]

Finally, Tom Nook would play with real currency instead of fictional bells.

Those loans he gives lol

 

[ghost187]

Ever since the Switch came out, I’m done with smartphone games. I waited long enough for smartphone gaming to catch upto consoles, but from the looks of things it will never happen. Developers tried with titles such as XCOM, Bioshock, FF7, Oceanhorn, etc... but there seems to be this idiotic logic that all apps should be free even though 100s of millions of people spend nearly $1000 every year to buy a smartphone. I’ll wait 2 more days for Mario Odyssey.

 

[viachicago22]

Ever since the Switch came out, I’m done with smartphone games. I waited long enough for smartphone gaming to catch upto consoles, but from the looks of things it will never happen. Developers tried with titles such as XCOM, Bioshock, FF7, Oceanhorn, etc... but there seems to be this idiotic logic that all apps should be free even though 100s of millions of people spend nearly $1000 every year to buy a smartphone. I’ll wait 2 more days for Mario Odyssey.

I really could not agree more. Rare is the game like Monument, not only for its quality but in its lack of IAPs. But yeah since the Switch I just don’t have any interest in the far lesser, much more patronizing smartphone games. Can’t wait for Friday

 

[jclo]

Is it just me, or do the first two comments directly conflict?

Technically they're both right. It's the same Animal Crossing aesthetic and idea with the same villagers we're used to, but instead of running a full village as the mayor, it's a smaller campsite environment with new game mechanics like crafting.

 

[Sunshoopa]

Ever since the Switch came out, I’m done with smartphone games. I waited long enough for smartphone gaming to catch upto consoles, but from the looks of things it will never happen. Developers tried with titles such as XCOM, Bioshock, FF7, Oceanhorn, etc... but there seems to be this idiotic logic that all apps should be free even though 100s of millions of people spend nearly $1000 every year to buy a smartphone. I’ll wait 2 more days for Mario Odyssey.

I agree with the free thing and people being cheap, but there are a lot of games that are very excellent to play (not talking about F2P at all). Though I get what you mean by wanting AAA games on it, it’d be cool, but that’s what we got consoles for!

As for me, I can’t wait for this! I’ve been playing FE Heroes since it released and it still has me hooked, and haven’t payed a dime.

 

[honglong1976]

I love handhelds. I had a Gameboy, Lynx, GBA, DS, 3DS, PSP, N-Gage (seriously, it had some great games) and I thought the iPhone was going to next one. All the decent games came out for it, Dance Dance Revolution was superb, resident evil, need for speed, Konami, Namco and Capcom bought out some superb games. Then it all got taken over by IAP games. I haven't bought a game for the iPhone since about 2010 and have been playing on my PSP, 3DS more for games.

So, it seems to be, want a free game (that's not actually free) IAP, buy an iPhone. I know someone who won't pay £30 for a game but pays £50 for IAP content? bonkers!

If you want to play proper games buy a Nintendo. Switch next for me

I had a Vita, and I tried to love it, but while the hardware was decent, game support sucked! Although the Final Fantasy games were superb! Nothing else ever came out for it worth while.

Thanks IAP. You ruined the whole gaming experience!

 

[urtules]

Another game which could be perfect ruined by micro transactions.

 

[5105973]

Is it just me, or do the first two comments directly conflict?

They do in some ways. The first comment is accurate in that they kept the basics of how you make a living, decorate, and get clothes for your character, and are linked to the real world’s clock and seasons.

But the second comment is accurate in that we are living in a freemium world now and that opens up new inducements to do things for different reasons or different ways than we did in the more closed off Animal Crossing. The focus now is also on the campsite subsection of traditional Animal Crossing and seeking out specific characters to attract. Before we kind of had to consider random visitors on a case by case basis and never knew nor had control over when a favorite would show up.
[doublepost=1508936791][/doublepost]

Another game which could be perfect ruined by micro transactions.

I’m not a fan of them myself, but let’s hope the pricing structure is reasonable and not crippling to customers. I want them to make enough money to keep up the quality of the game but I don’t want to bust my game playing budget playing this.

 

[rizzo41999]

Wow, flashing back to 01. Tom Nook teaches some real financial lessons

 

[ghost187]

I agree with the free thing and people being cheap, but there are a lot of games that are very excellent to play (not talking about F2P at all). Though I get what you mean by wanting AAA games on it, it’d be cool, but that’s what we got consoles for!

As for me, I can’t wait for this! I’ve been playing FE Heroes since it released and it still has me hooked, and haven’t payed a dime.

For me the IAP for that game was way overboard. I’m glad you enjoyed it, as I did too but I stopped playing once I beat the main story.

 

[linkmaster02]

Another game which could be perfect ruined by micro transactions.

Oh, you got early access to the game? Please tell us how it is and how it's ruined by micro transactions.

 

[fairuz]

Am I the only one who never got the appeal of this game? I played it on GameCube a long time ago, and it seemed rather boring. If you're going for the whole home-building thing, Minecraft is a lot better.
[doublepost=1508947515][/doublepost]

Ever since the Switch came out, I’m done with smartphone games. I waited long enough for smartphone gaming to catch upto consoles, but from the looks of things it will never happen. Developers tried with titles such as XCOM, Bioshock, FF7, Oceanhorn, etc... but there seems to be this idiotic logic that all apps should be free even though 100s of millions of people spend nearly $1000 every year to buy a smartphone. I’ll wait 2 more days for Mario Odyssey.

Yeah, it's annoying. I used to buy an iPhone game every now and then, and now I'm done. $4 for Bloons Tower Defense 4, great deal. It would be at the very least $15 on a console. But other games are going freemium.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Ever since the Switch came out, I’m done with smartphone games. I waited long enough for smartphone gaming to catch upto consoles, but from the looks of things it will never happen. Developers tried with titles such as XCOM, Bioshock, FF7, Oceanhorn, etc... but there seems to be this idiotic logic that all apps should be free even though 100s of millions of people spend nearly $1000 every year to buy a smartphone. I’ll wait 2 more days for Mario Odyssey.

The issue is the iPhone doesn't come with joycons. If Apple made an official controller for the iPhone and there was a mutual understanding between developers that their users would have these controllers and the users that the developers would support them, then I think you'd see a lot more real games coming to iOS.

If I knew that Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart, Snipperclips, Mario + Rabbids, Yooka Laylee, and DOOM were all coming to the iPhone, and I could buy a pair of joycons for $80, I wouldn't have bought a Switch - I would have happily paid $60 for each of those games (or $10 for Snipperclips).

 

[AronDraws]

My friend in Australia has it already and we're stuck waiting until end of November in US

 

[fairuz]

The issue is the iPhone doesn't come with joycons. If Apple made an official controller for the iPhone and there was a mutual understanding between developers that their users would have these controllers and the users that the developers would support them, then I think you'd see a lot more real games coming to iOS.

If I knew that Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart, Snipperclips, Mario + Rabbids, Yooka Laylee, and DOOM were all coming to the iPhone, and I could buy a pair of joycons for $80, I wouldn't have bought a Switch - I would have happily paid $60 for each of those games (or $10 for Snipperclips).

Yeah, I don't get how this ended up so badly. Is it really that hard to produce an official controller? For some reason, all the third-party ones were $100, and I've never heard of any game using one. Worse, iOS doesn't even work with regular Bluetooth controllers.

 

[ghost187]

The issue is the iPhone doesn't come with joycons. If Apple made an official controller for the iPhone and there was a mutual understanding between developers that their users would have these controllers and the users that the developers would support them, then I think you'd see a lot more real games coming to iOS.

If I knew that Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart, Snipperclips, Mario + Rabbids, Yooka Laylee, and DOOM were all coming to the iPhone, and I could buy a pair of joycons for $80, I wouldn't have bought a Switch - I would have happily paid $60 for each of those games (or $10 for Snipperclips).

I wish I can agree with you, but even games like XCOM that are perfect for the iPad sold very little. The top paid app only sells about 15,000 copies per day, which is why Minecraft is almost always #1. There are plenty of console games (even exclusives) that sell 10 million plus at $60. The newest iPhones and iPad Pros are likely more powerful than the Switch so that’s not even an excuse anymore. I wish I could buy a game like Mario Odyssey on the App Store but that’s never going to happen.

 

[lunarworks]

The issue is the iPhone doesn't come with joycons. If Apple made an official controller for the iPhone and there was a mutual understanding between developers that their users would have these controllers and the users that the developers would support them, then I think you'd see a lot more real games coming to iOS.

If I knew that Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart, Snipperclips, Mario + Rabbids, Yooka Laylee, and DOOM were all coming to the iPhone, and I could buy a pair of joycons for $80, I wouldn't have bought a Switch - I would have happily paid $60 for each of those games (or $10 for Snipperclips).

That's exactly why those games will never come to iOS.

Nintendo will sell you casual and gatcha stuff, but they want you to buy their console to play their real games.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

That's exactly why those games will never come to iOS.

Nintendo will sell you casual and gatcha stuff, but they want you to buy their console to play their real games.

Yeah, I know that's why real Nintendo games will never come to iOS, but what about the third parties? Where is the $60 DOOM for iOS? It doesn't exist, because they didn't bother porting it, because few are willing to pay for the experience?

Why? Because there's either not going to be controller support at all, or if there is controller support, it'll be a janky controller with limited support in other games - nobody will bother buying the controller, thus they won't be buying the game, thus porting the game at all is pointless.

It's all a catch-22. Apple doesn't actually have to be the one to fix it. Bethesda or Ubisoft or Blizzard or Valve or some other third party developer could fix it. They'd make their own great controller, put out a collection of 5-10 fantastic games for iOS using that great controller, and that'd get a lot of people buying the controller plus the games. Other developers would see that happening, and they'd support the controller too.

Although... I don't think any of those developers have deep enough catalogs. Really Nintendo is the only developer I can think of with enough franchises to their name where they can sell hardware with their games alone. A few companies have one or two or three great franchises, but Nintendo is the only one with 10 or 20 great franchises (have to take a look at the Super Smash Bros roster to see them all...)

 

[lunarworks]

Yeah, I know that's why real Nintendo games will never come to iOS, but what about the third parties? Where is the $60 DOOM for iOS? It doesn't exist, because they didn't bother porting it, because few are willing to pay for the experience?

Why? Because there's either not going to be controller support at all, or if there is controller support, it'll be a janky controller with limited support in other games - nobody will bother buying the controller, thus they won't be buying the game, thus porting the game at all is pointless.

It's all a catch-22. Apple doesn't actually have to be the one to fix it. Bethesda or Ubisoft or Blizzard or Valve or some other third party developer could fix it. They'd make their own great controller, put out a collection of 5-10 fantastic games for iOS using that great controller, and that'd get a lot of people buying the controller plus the games. Other developers would see that happening, and they'd support the controller too.

Although... I don't think any of those developers have deep enough catalogs. Really Nintendo is the only developer I can think of with enough franchises to their name where they can sell hardware with their games alone. A few companies have one or two or three great franchises, but Nintendo is the only one with 10 or 20 great franchises (have to take a look at the Super Smash Bros roster to see them all...)

But there is an official Apple-supplied MFi controller standard for games to use, and there are a bunch of high quality controllers to buy. Even at the Apple Store.

Here's the catch, and it's a catch that's long existed in the world of consoles: If the base purchase doesn't come with an accessory that adds functionality, then most people will never go out of their way to buy it to gain that functionality. So, in this case, developers have to consider that the vast majority of their customer base aren't going to have a controller for their phone, iOS or Android. Add that to the fact that, yes, people won't pay $60 for an iPhone game (but are happy forking out dough for IAPs), and there's like zero incentive for developers to create console-grade games.

The Apple TV could literally be considered a console, but again, it doesn't come with a gamepad, and most people aren't gonna buy one separately, so it's not a big target device for developers to create console games.