A well: as exciting as life gets in Animal Crossing.

Nintendo is finally starting to open up about Animal Crossing on 3DS, with a set of new screenshots and a short trailer unveiled at the Nintendo Conference this week.

AC aficionados will be pleased to hear the game is due for release in 2012, with new features letting you become head of the village to lead its development, install exterior furniture including benches and lamps and visit homes of players you've wandered past in StreetPass mode.

Nintendo is promising "robust communication features", so online play is a given, but we're hoping for live voice chat and improved messaging functions to elevate this above previous series entries.

Thanks to NintenDaan.