New Leaf Update Announced

Yesterday, Nintendo announced an Animal Crossing: New Leaf update that’s coming this autumn. The most notable addition (at least of what’s been mentioned so far) is Amiibo support.

You can scan an Amiibo card or figure to invite that villager to your campsite! Then, you may be able to get them to move into town–if you have a free spot, of course. This will make it much easier to get a specific villager you want (if you have that character’s Amiibo card).

This does sound like a ploy to sell more Amiibo cards, but there’s more to the New Leaf update than just that. There will also be collaborations with other Nintendo series, with Splatoon being the one confirmed example so far.

Nintendo’s announcement shows two players dressed as Callie and Marie, and there are also new Callie and Marie villagers! Perhaps they only show up if you scan their Amiibo figures? It makes you wonder what other Amiibo figures might have corresponding villagers!

Hey, everyone! I've been working on a big surprise for your towns. Some fun changes are coming soon—so exciting! pic.twitter.com/MrTYbj4bia

— Isabelle (@animalcrossing) July 20, 2016

I imagine that the New Leaf update will also include connectivity to the Animal Crossing mobile app that’s also coming this autumn. I’m glad to see New Leaf getting some new content 3+ years later. It will likely bring some fans back to New Leaf, and may reinvigorate interest in the series overall.

My only concern? I’m wondering if this New Leaf update indicates that a possible NX version of Animal Crossing is farther away than we thought or hoped. Because I am soooo ready for a new Animal Crossing game.

But if you want to stock up on Amiibo Cards to make sure you have the card of your favorite villager, here are some Amazon links to purchase them: Series 1 – Series 2 – Series 3 – Series 4

And remember, if your 3DS isn’t a New 3DS (or New 3DS XL), you will also need an NFC Reader to be able to scan the cards.

Note: More information about the update was revealed on September 1st.

As for what’s going on in my town lately, Beth came over for a short visit today. She sold some stuff at Re-Tail and then followed me around for a bit. When I heard a frog croaking in the pond, I knew I had to catch it and show it off. 😛

I actually caught a second one a minute or two later, and I put them both in my house. Sadly, each time you start up the game, the frogs will synchronize their croaks and there will be long pauses in between. I wish the frogs would croak at irregular intervals, because that could create a continuous cascade of croaking and provide a profoundly pleasing pond-like presence.

After kicking Beth out, I caught a black bass. Rolf came over and started eating it up!

Actually he just wanted to chat about macaroni and cheese. I guess he’s not a strict carnivore, but maybe that’s a good thing. He’d probably eat the residents of Forest otherwise, including Mr. Mayor!

And last but not least, Hamlet told me he heard a story about him being a prince from another planet! I wonder if he’s been eating some of Rolf’s mac and cheese, which may have been laced with hallucinatory catnip.

Update: I just wanted to add that the upcoming New Leaf update isn’t the first time Splatoon and Animal Crossing have crossed paths. Nintendo also posted a Splatoon room and Splatoon patterns (including face-cutout standees) in the official Japanese Nintendo dream town. For more info on that, see this blog entry from 2015: Splatoon in NoJ Dream Town.