Retailers all over the world seem to have caught on to the fact that the Animal Crossing fanbase is one hungry beast; UK stores have been sharing all sorts of Animal Crossing: New Horizons pre-order bonuses over the past few weeks, and now it looks like the US might be going one better.
An advertisement flyer for Target has been spotted and shared online, suggesting that pre-orders of the game will net players an exclusive Animal Crossing journal and a custom 2020 calendar. No images have been released for the calendar bonus, but you can see the journal below (incidentally, you can grab that controller right here).
Target's product listing for the game doesn't mention any of these bonuses yet, but pre-orders are already live. It's impossible to say with absolute certainty, of course, but we'd guess the bonuses could be planned to be officially unveiled on the site nearer to the game's release.
Elsewhere in the US, Best Buy has also put up pre-orders which come with a Tom Nook phone badge.
Like the sound of this journal/calendar combo? We can already imagine writing down our list of chores in that little book as we play...
Further Reading: Guide: Get In The Mood For Animal Crossing: New Horizons With This Adorable Merch
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[source reddit.com, via animalcrossingworld.com]
Comments 40
Ffs. I want this digital but that’s some good bonuses...
Hmm... 👀 I s'pose that's not bad at all.
I’d jump on this, but Animal Crossing is one of the few series where I always buy digital, if possible. I want to be able to jump in and out of it easily and frequently and juggling a game card will make that difficult.
I have a sneaking suspicion that these cool pre-order bonuses are precisely because enough folks are considering going digital with this game. Gotta get those retail sales anyway you can.
That said, I'm surprised there's no announced Special Edition bundles yet. Not even a LE Switch Lite?
I read the advert as "journal with custom 2020 calendar" which to me, implies the calendar is printed in the journal, like a diary typically has a overall yearly or monthly calendar printed in it.
So I wonder... if there's no indication of an Animal Crossing Lite Switch yet, should we assume it's not gonna happen?
Dunno about best buy but for the Target journal thing, if it's anything like past preorder bonuses items, it's actually sold separately on shelves for $0.01 (basically free) so if you plan on going digital still a possibility to get it
I do not understand the point of this game. Why is everyone looking forward to it so much?
This game has had such a slow drip compared to almost every other Nintendo release on Switch.
I mean, a journal more than halfway thru the schoolyear is pretty lame and I wont use it...but it's still neat and free so why should I complain? Maybe this will be cool vintage 20 years from now
Going digital on this, but that is pretty sweet
Wish there was a way to get some physical pre-order bonus when you pre-order the digital version
Just bought this for the wife who was dying to have the journal. I fully intended on buying these digital for both of our switches, however this pushed her over the line to go physical.
Well played Target.... well played.
I have never played this game series, but people being so excited for it makes me feel hyped, too. Can't wait to play.
It's starting to look like Canada is gonna get the shaft again when it comes to any pre order goodies
Cool. I'll probably pre-order from Target. The million dollar question though is when we'll get details of a Switch bundle. It's inevitable. My brother is getting a Switch when Animal Crossing comes out, and he would want to get a bundle.
@Grant007 My best advice? You have to play Animal Crossing to really understand it.
If I were planning on getting a physical copy, I'd be all on this pre-order. But I went digital with New Leaf on a whim and never regretted it. Animal Crossing is a series I plan on playing for years to come. So I'll never have the need to sell it
@Grant007 Animal Crossing is a town management game, planting harvestables, decorating a house, etc etc, that was released years before the farmvilles and other similar games. Animal Crossing has the charm factor and one of its USPs is the real time management. If you play it at midnight, it's night, play it at noon, it's day, play it in December there's snow, play it in June, it's hot. There's a lot there that people like. If it's not your kind of game, no amount of press and hype build will convince you otherwise. But you should at least understand why others would be interested.
Yeah, I'm not advertising the NookPhone more than I have to.
@ralphdibny you beat me, I came here to say the same thing. Calendar not pictured because calendar is probably the first page in the journal.
@LavaTwilight excellent summary, thank you
@Panopticon well it's a good shout, we could be wrong but that's how I read it at least, doesn't seem to be any other info to say otherwise
Whereas I'm sure that Gamestop will almost definitely be offering a cheap poster, so it's not all sunshine and rainbows in the pre-order world.
@thesilverbrick Juggling is not required.
Almost got controller till I saw was the weird none Amiibo battery junk. But will get the preorder from Target.
This is considered the "best" preorder bonus?
Yeah I'll stick with digital.
Seems ridiculous to incentivise a physical journal for a game intended to be played on what is essentially a tablet.
I wish Nintendo would implement a note-taking feature (including the ability to type notes, as opposed to doodling them) similar to the one included in the 3DS. The note-taking feature was really handy for tracking which items I needed to buy in order to fill out my catalogue in past games.
It's Target..... They'll have three!
I so want that journal... but yeah. This is a game I 100% want digital since it's a game I'll want to jump into every day without changing cards.
I REALLY want that journal, you have no idea.
It's a shame that certain Target stores won't get this bonus, tho.
Ooh that journal looks nice, but I’m leaning towards a digital purchase for this game. Hopefully I can pick up the journal by itself ☺️
With so many kinds of animal crossings amiibos being released, i’m surprised that they did not offer free amiibos for preorders... or mention what kind of amiibo features present in the game.
20 million lifetime for this game? Best seller of the franchise
Laaaaaaaaaaame
Nintendo should do a collector's edition or something
Shoot. Want it but want more to go digital. Might buy this later on ebay
No plushies nor OST. That's a no buy from me.
@Smashfan502 yeah it's similar, though I've not played Harvest Moon so I can't compare. And yes, Harvest Moon came before. I'm not saying Animal Crossing was the absolute first, but that it was released before it was a popular genre. Harvest Moon had the same acclaim.
@Smashfan502 It's more like it's practically a meme at this point, like the stores have some sort of obsession with "Posters! Posters are great, everyone loves POSTERS! ...and nothing else." There was a time where Gamestop had decent preorder bonuses sometimes, but now it feels like it's cheap - as in low-quality - posters most of the time, double-sided for the big-name games sometimes, and a nice-quality poster or wall hanging a small percentage of the time.
For example, Sword/Shield had a nice cloth wall hanging, but the last few Zelda and Pokemon games - and most other things, actually - just got the sort of poster you'd buy at a store for a few bucks. When the game is big enough and they're feeling pretty generous sometimes they'll throw in a guidebook - it feels like they've got a love affair with paper, and that's the joke.
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