Animal Crossing to use Miis

Tuesday 12 December 2006
Your Wii-made Mii persona will be used as your playable character in the Wii version of Animal Crossing, and any accessories or clothing collected in-game will be available for your Mii to wear in other Nintendo Wii titles, according to US games magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly.

These hints were dropped in EGM's most recent rumour column, although Nintendo's eagerness to use Mii characters in other Wii games - Wii Sports, The Sims Wii, WarioWare Smooth Moves - suggests that there may be a shred of truth to the speculation.

But we're not convinced it'd be a wise move. Animal Crossing's charming and beautifully cartoonified visual style is one of the series' strongest assets. If Animal Crossing on Wii shares the same, much less attractive style as The Sims Wii, we're sure there'll be hordes of 'Crossing fans lining up to give Nintendo a piece of their minds. And we'll be right at the front of the crowd.

The ability to transfer your bits and bobs - perhaps enabled by a firmware update - is a nice touch. But please, if you're listening Nintendo, don't compromise Animal Crossing's fantastic visuals by turning it into just another Mii vehicle.

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.