Animal Crossing: The Third Go-Round

I grabbed a copy of Animal Crossing: City Folk for Alexis over the holidays, figuring she'd pick it up once or twice, realize it was the same damn game we've already played twice and move on. I couldn't have been more wrong. Firstly, she's totally engrossed with the game's core busy work. She's fishing, working to pay off Tom Nook and playing the turnip market. And she's rapidly detecting all the minor differences between this game and the previous incarnations. 

For example: there's a shoe shine guy who changes the color of your kicks. Alexis told me tonight before dinner that shoe color was a big sticking point for her before. She could never get outfits to look the way she wanted. Some of the difference are purely cosmetic -- like the way the villagers dance when they're psyched about something. There's a real fluidity to the way they bop their bodies and strut around whistling multi-colored notes into the air. 

I've only played once or twice, doing some chores and arranging the meager furnishings in my house. But Alexis has already logged hours upon hours. She's obviously quite pleased with the game. And when the copy I sent to my three-year-old niece finally makes it to the West Coast there will probably be more fun to be had.

The only disappointed one in the formula is me. And I'm starting to think that's because I sit around all day thinking about ways to make Animal Crossing better. What if the city was a persistant, shared space where everybody had to go to work? Tom Nook could be the CEO of a massive corporation. Or maybe that rival that was hinted at in Wide World could be one of the executives that Nook charges you with toppling? What if there were forests outside your village that you could explore? Colonize? What if they brought the island back? And how about Nintendo DS connectivity? The character transfer was alright, but how cheap is it that none of your loot comes with you?

I could go on forever.

What kind of crazy person has two thumbs and would expect Nintendo to ever bother going so overboard when they've already got a game that is so obviously not broke? This sad guy right here.