The arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has triggered a surge in demand for the Switch in Japan, but, thanks to the recent coronavirus outbreak, demand has increased to the point where consoles are incredibly hard to come by.
With everyone talking about the new entry, interested players in Japan are having to settle for second best in order to get their fix – and that means tracking down a copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf on the 3DS.
We're seeing reports from Japan that physical copies of New Leaf are changing hands for as much as 10,000 yen (approximately $92 / £74), while the 'Welcome Amiibo' update is selling for around 5,000 yen ($46 / £37).
Take into account that a digital copy of the Welcome Amiibo update of the game from the 3DS eShop costs 2,500 yen ($23 / £18) and that gives you some indication of how high the price is going – and, if the Switch shortage continues, we could see it jump even further.
Do you know anyone who has dropped back to New Leaf on 3DS to get their Animal Crossing fix recently? Leave us a comment to let us know.
[source blog.esuteru.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 26
Neat, maybe the online community for the game will come back.
Nee Leaf has topped the 3DS eShop charts for the last few weeks, breaking Pokemon Crystal's near-2 year streak on top of the 3DS eShop charts.
This game is not second best it IS the best. New Horizons is lacking too much features to call it the best.
@PickledKong64
Hopefully they are added in as updates
Why remove what worked?
I think New Leaf would have sold more if announcement for Switch would have been made much later/closer to release, which in the end it was delayed anyway.
A lot of people didn't jump to Switch until November Pokemon release and still heavily used their 3DS
Glad I got all the AC Amiibos and quite a few of the cards but unopened though.
New Leaf is the better game.
@PickledKong64
Lacking some features, added a bunch more. The QoL improvements, better visuals, more customization and ability to shape my island how I want are all better than a coffee shop that doesn’t actually do anything. I played over 600 hours of New Leaf and I love it, but New Horizons is much better and unlike New Leaf it’ll be regularly receiving content updates.
Not sure I'd agree that it's second best. There's pros to both games, but nothing that swings it either way so far in my book.
@PickledKong64 just out of curiosity (since I haven’t played either) what are some features that they don’t have in the new game that you think should be.
@RainbowGazelle
Well there are 5 mainline C games by my count plus a couple spin-offs. My favorite is the GC original (well, sort of original). I recently bought the Wii version though as I had never played it before. so far, 600 hours (in 9 years or whatever it's been) in new leaf for me too.
@AG_Awesome For a start, it's not got Crazy Redd. Or kicks' shop. Or pitfall seeds. Or diving. Or re-tail. Or Shampoodle
@noswitchbutidc But pitfall seeds literally exist in New Horizons. What kind of argument is this? Are you just adding invalid things to make New Leaf seem like the better game?
Though I miss diving, they better add that in a future update.
I miss meeting strangers on a mysterious island with the possibility to offer friendship to them.
The way it now works to get friends into the game is not overwhelming as far as I don't overlook how to become friends with strangers.
@PickledKong64 Totally agree... was thinking "Maybe they have played New Horizons and are trying to buy back their New Leaf copy as it is a better game."
@RPGamer While I dont agree with him, just because his opinion doesn't match yours doesn't make it negative. Social Media has conditioned people to silence their personal opinions to appeal to the hivemind of the majority.
I'm confused, why pay like 4x the price of the digital version? Oo
Even in my country the game is hard to get, luckily when you find a copy it is the regular price.
Even while I prefer physical games I got AC digitally, because it is fun to play in between so I don't need to swap cartridges, also the low stock and cheaper digital price (I got the code from play asia a week ago) played a role for me.
As for New Leaf, 2 months ago every shop had plenty of stock but now it's sold out everywhere.
@PickledKong64 name a few please/
As a returning player, NH may feel quite bare bones.
That said, I'm about 150 hours in now and last night I booted up New Leaf to copy my town song.
The music in NL is much better imo, but not being able to pick/place things in your town is a major bummer.
Both games are great.
@Phostachio content that should've been there at launch
@AG_Awesome art, better online, cafe, and many more
@PickledKong64
Also new content that wasn’t in New Leaf. What’s your point? Unless you’re a time traveling cheater it doesn’t really matter anyway.
@Jutandy
I never said it was a 10/10 or a masterpiece, just that it’s a better game than New Leaf. A lot of your criticisms with Horizons were also present in New Leaf, like the repeated dialogue and not being able to move furniture diagonally. Horizons isn’t perfect, but it’s definitely one of my all-time favorite Switch games and probably the one that I’ll play the most.
@Phostachio look at you pointing fingers. I dont tine travel but I can do way more on city Folk than I can on new horizons tight now. I love how angry you are over someone's opinions
@Phostachio I'm so happy my opinion triggers you. I win
@Moon ikr! This games music hasn't stuck with me 100 hours in. I played the gamecube animal crossing for the first time almost a year ago, and while I wasnt the biggest fan of the music, it stuck with me. New Leaf and Wild World had waaay better music than New Horizons
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