The First Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update Gifts Players A Nintendo Switch

Well, guess I'll just go ahead and preload this.

I hope other Nintendo consoles will come in other updates.

I did not receive a notification on my switch to download this update. Is it not available for the US yet?

Do the joycon colors match, like in Pokemon? I really like that detail.

@hopeless It downloaded for me.

@hopeless you have to press "+ / Start (GC)" and click where it saids to check updates.

It’s a bit strange that the festivals are coming in patches. Every other AC game had the whole game on the cartridge/disk, including festivals. I know New Leaf got a big update later on but that was a proper free DLC and there’s a 0% chance of us getting that without paying £20 now.

@hopeless will it matter if I'm buying the cartridge or does it have to be digital? I'll have to check my switch, I'm in the US as well.

Ok that bodes well for the supposed constant stream of updates people seem to expect to happen (besides holidays)!
It’s my first Animal Crossing guys, I really hope I like it!

@Aozz101x Thank you! I just tried and it said I have the latest version of the software T-T

@Joe-b I don't think that matters. But apparently I have the latest version of the software so nothing for me to update :[

@adddrrr I recommended joining the discord here: https://discord.gg/XPWuvm It doesn't have voice channels at the moment, but you could bring it up to the mods, and it's definitely a possibility they could add them.

Edit: Shoot, this dude is just spamming this in every article...

Ok, we'll we can keep our eye on it. I am bummed though and really disappointed in Gamestop. I only preordered the game through them because of a gift card....theres no pre order gift and they are not participating in an early release that I hear some retailers are doing . Not to mention the employees had no idea what the Animal Crossing Amiibo Cards were...

@nessisonett : Perhaps the game was rushed to get it on shelves as quickly as possible. Those who set their dates forward to experience Thanksgiving/Christmas ahead of time will probably be greeted to nothing (no events or acknowledgement of the holidays) until the updates are made available.

It could also be the case that Nintendo wants to avoid spoilers of any events in the games, and so they are adding them to the game incrementally rather than having people setting their clocks forward and revealing everything prematurely.

Either way, it is an annoyance as the events SHOULD be on the cartridge, but if it's any consolation, Nintendo makes a habit of updating their cartridges in the event of reprints (though the updated cartridge may STILL be out of date by the time it hits shelves).

@Silly_G It’s just another case of Nintendo ‘evolving’ this gen while also taking two steps back. They seem to be embracing all aspects of the industry that weren’t there with Wii U, good and bad. I just find it odd that they’d be concerned with spoilers in a game like Animal Crossing.

I have a regular switch but I want the special edition one so bad 😭

So I have to wait for more of those Animal Crossing Switch units to come back in stock... if I start playing on my regular Switch this Friday and get the new Switch in the future... does that mean I won't be able to get the limited edition one in-game? If so, that's pretty lame. Not a big deal but still lame.

@nessisonett @Silly_G idk why you are complaining though. Always looking at the negative... the only downside is that time travel is now a bit pointless. But the game is not meant to be played with time skips, if you want you are allowed to do so but you won't be able to see the events, that's it. I see this new approach as a positive thing because it means that they will be invested in supporting the game for at least another full year. Besides, there are really good examples of Nintendo supporting their games for free in recent history, Splatoon 2 got a ton of free up dates, but even if they should release some paid DLC I'm sure it will be top notch quality. To be honest I would welcome some year 2 paid dlc if it prolonged the game experience in some interesting ways.

If all the events were on the card, every event would have been leaked and spoiled by now, I'm happy to see events pushed out periodically

@Joe-b

I preordered our copies from Gamestop. They didn't do any kind of an early release, but they are supposed to be doing a midnight launch of the game. I'm going to call tomorrow to make sure it is still happening, though, just to be safe, and if so I'll head right there after work (I get off a little after 10pm) and just wait to pick up my copies.

@nessisonett It isn't two steps back, it's a big step forwards. It's ensuring that people don't just skip the clock forwards and spoil all the secrets for everyone, and instead making everyone discover the surprises at the same time (which will lead to greater discussion on social media etc when it happens).

It also potentially means that you won't get exactly the same stuff every year, meaning next year's Easter may be different from this year's, rather than just the same event triggering each time the calendar his a certain date.

Animal Crossing had always done its best to pretend to be a 'living' game that offers new stuff every day depending on the calendar. Now it can actually do it for real, and that can only be seen as a good thing, not a sign that it was "rushed" as @Silly_G suggests.

What's it to complain about events coming via updates? Why do we have to moan about everything?

@nessisonett,

We are only assuming that Nintendo are concerned about spoilers, this seem more about timing than anything else, but let's give them a little credit for taking the extra time to make sure the game itself looks amazing.

@scully1888 : Have you even read my comment in its entirety? I said that it could be "rushed" (given the now common industry practice of "release now, patch later"), but it could also be the case that Nintendo are patching content incrementally in order to prevent content from being revealed prematurely (and like you've suggested, perhaps to keep annual events fresh in the coming years). I did not make a sweeping claim one way or the other.

Ok getting the themed Switch, if that’s what you own, is pretty cool, a nice touch.

@nessisonett I do agree that Nintendo usually makes sure to include features that are restricitve for no reason but the events in Animal Crossing are no such thing. Youtube would already be flooded with all the possible events by now if it was like in previous games. Also, as was already mentioned in a different post, it adds buzz on social media during those events and will spread awareness of the game which will boost sales in the long run.

Also, I see comments like "who cares about spoilers in Animal Crossing" a lot lately and you should keep in mind that not everyone plays games the same way.

@Silly_G Yes, I read it. I'm just saying that the claim it may have been "rushed" is a non-starter, because events are part and parcel of Animal Crossing and wouldn't be something left to the last minute. It's clear that regular updates have been part of the plan all along: see Splatoon 2 as perfect proof that this isn't a new thing for Nintendo.

As others have said, if all the events were on there and they were available by moving the clock forwards, they'd all be on YouTube by the end of launch day and there would be no surprises. When you also consider the fact that these days you have dataminers who rinse the entire code of a game looking for locked content, adding it through updates was 100% Nintendo's plan all along. It was already confirmed for 2019 then delayed to the end of March 2020: being rushed to completion isn't the issue.

@scully1888 "It's ensuring that people don't just skip the clock forwards and spoil all the secrets for everyone"

While I completely agree, it's kind of ironic to see that comment in a post that literally spoils a secret in it's headline a day before the game's released! 😅

@Highlar that's cool. Good luck! The gamestop I went to isn't doing any early opening..just their 10am Friday schedule.

So I'm in between a rock and a hard place. I have the OG Switch and I've wanted to upgrade for a while but there are no Switch stocks available in my area (South Korea) because of Covid-19. Schools have been closed here for 6 weeks so everyone bought a Switch and the Chinese factories didn't ship any here. If I start playing Animal Crossing, it will be stuck on my old Switch. I want a new Switch but I want to start playing AC. GAHHHHHH

Enjoy everyone! lol

The Nook Inc. rug is apparently exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, you need to download bonus data (probably means it's in the eShop like the Smash Spirits bonuses).

@DeathByLasagna
The article says you'll be able to order both Switches from the in-game Nook Shopping in normal gameplay. Which sounds like 'catalogue event items and you can usually order them' from previous games, so at worst, people who do have it should be able to order them and trade them easily.

The exact condition for the AC Switch gift is stated to be using both of the Joy-Cons from the AC Switch, so I wonder how they're doing that, checking the controllers' colour info or something?

@hopeless You often don't get notifications for updates on games that aren't out yet. You can press + and manually update anything, though. And it definitely works for Animal Crossing.

@nessisonett It makes perfect sense why they'd wait on certain content. Regardless of whether or not you're the person who defends manipulating the clock in the game or not, Nintendo is against it and this forces people not to get rewarded for as much for doing so. It also allows them to make changes to the festivities right up until they launch.

And everyone in the world will find out about what exactly they entail at the same time, when they arrive in the real world, rather than having people inevitably post pictures/videos all over social media within the first week of launch, showing off all future events.

Also, it allows them to do more. You may assume that no big update would come without a moderate price tag, but assuming that sure is not in line with what Nintendo has done with the Switch so far. Certainly they've had plenty of paid DLC, but they've also had an absolutely colossal amount of free DLC for tons of their games and the paid DLC has also been pretty beefy and worthwhile for their games.

@Nintendofan83 It wouldn't be stuck on your old Switch. You can easily transfer all your data to a new system when you get it.

@Deltath I thought you couldn't transfer your Animal Crossing save data? If it's just a complete system transfer then it's ok?

@Nintendofan83 You can transfer your saved data. It moves over when you do a full system transfer. The only thing you can't do is normal save data cloud backup. But even then, they'll still back up your data in the event that you lose your Switch for whatever reason. So yeah, you're fine to start playing.

@Joe-b Unfortunately, I just called to see if they were going to still be doing the midnight launch tonight, and it was cancelled due to the "no more than 50 people at a time in an area" thing going on here. But I was told that it will be available at open tomorrow (10am here too), so I know where I'll be at 10am! lol

@Highlar yes! Me as well! I took the day off from work!

I'm not sure about getting the game now. I'd much rather have the whole thing on the game card. This is just data needlessly held back so you have an incomplete game at launch, and more space taken up on your SD card with each pointless update.

@nessisonett I think it's a good idea to stop spoilers from Deadbeat hackers! But, it sucks. Physical games are almost dead do to decisions like this.

Preloaded and Ready!

@dux I hope you enjoy it. Just don’t expect lots of action! Is a great game to relax to and pass the time during this lockdown period...

You get a new horizons switch if you use the joy cons from the special edition console.

@Deltath @Nintendofan83

No, you can't transfer save data to another Switch at the moment because Animal Crossing handles its save differently from other games and doesn't support the standard Switch transfer features.

However they announced that they will release a custom made transfer function some time later this year.

@datamonkey it's definitely a different rhythm than I'm used to, but I think I'm getting the vibe. It's basically a "play 30min everyday" situation apparently, and I'm actually trying to hold on to that (I have refused to upgrade to a house yet even though I've payed my Getaway Package. I kind of wanna camp a little more before things get urban)

@scully1888 Have fun revisiting New Horizons in a couple of years, when there will never be any events ever again because Nintendo no longer provides them. All of the previous games can be revisited (AC's gameplay is evergreen) even 100 years from now with everything intact, this one not so much. You can hope that the final update Nintendo releases will permanently unlock all events, but it's Nintendo, so that won't happen.

@nintendoknife So edgy! Ouch! There's no precedent for Nintendo ditching Animal Crossing games so, yes, I'd imagine that what you suggest is exactly what WILL happen: when Nintendo is ready to stop supporting the game the last round of events will probably continue to appear on a yearly basis.

@scully1888 I don't know what's edgy about what I wrote, but anyway, let me just install that Metroid: Samus Returns update that unlocks everything now that the Amiibo are no longer for sale... Or that DSi/Wii/3DS/Wii U update that removes the region lock... Or the Breath of the Wild update that adds sufficient inventory slots to let you actually own every piece of clothing (including the ones locked behind Amiibo you can also no longer buy)... Most of Nintendo's games are fun, but that doesn't make them exempt from any criticism. If, a couple of years from now, they do actually release an update to unlock everything forever, feel free to send me a message and I'll eat my hat.
Edit: or the Link's Awakening update that fixes the atrocious performance issues, or the updates for any of the Pokémon games that either unlock online exclusive functionality or seal it away entirely, or ..., or ...

I don't think we have to worry about anything being inaccessible for anyone who still wants to be playing 10 years from now. The drip feed of events is purely to keep people from spoiling them. Once they've all been released, they'll be in your patched file forever. Animal Crossing is a different ... well, animal ... and I can say with virtual certainty that Nintendo understands that and won't leave us with a shell of a game when the updates end. Also, this is one of Nintendo's most evergreen titles. They want to keep it selling until the next one releases however many years down the road, so it will be maintained.