Animal Crossing director on how Amiibo influenced new games

LOS ANGELES — Animal Crossing is beginning to branch out.

Every entry in Nintendo’s life-sim series has been pretty similar to this point. You move into a new town, you make friends, you fish, upgrade your house, and just kind of hang around. However, two upcoming games are starting to play around with these conventions. Happy Home Designer for 3DS focuses on building houses, and Amiibo Festival for Wii U is a multiplayer digital board game.

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Mike Minotti

Mike Minotti has been with GamesBeat since 2012, starting as an intern. Based near Youngstown, Ohio, he now manages GamesBeat's editorial team. He's also a prolific podcaster, appearing on multiple shows covering the gaming industry.