#48 Animal Crossing - Nintendo's New Communication Game

I'm sick of the whole anti-cute thing. Animal Crossing is blatantly adorable, and I never for one moment cared. The game allows you to move into and explore your own town. You have a house (complete with mortgage) where you can store all the neat stuff that you find. A lot of time can be spent customizing your clothes, home and even the music that plays in the game. I just figured out how to get the town bells to chime the opening riff of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love."

What's enthralling about the game is that it's a sim that awards you for playing nice, and I'm not just talking in-game. Nobody dies or takes bonks to the head in Animal Crossing, but the really neat part of the game takes place when you visit your friend's village. Each village is stored on a memory card; by plugging both cards into the same Gamecube, you can take a trip to the adjoining town and explore (or vandalize) your pals home.

Mike and I have been taking jaunts between Meridan (Mike's) and Laputa (Mine) for the last couple of days. Yesterday I found a note in my mailbox saying, "Look near the Eye of the Sea." After a search of the shore, I found a treasure, left by Mike, buried in the dirt under the shadow of the lighthouse. I can't wait to figure out more ways to play this incredibly open game.