Trivia / Animal Crossing: Wild World

• Breakthrough Hit: While the original game was relatively popular, it was more of a cult hit than a mainstream success due to the GameCube's low market share and the game's relative lack of advertising. Wild World, meanwhile, was released on the extremely popular DS and had a more aggressive marketing campaign (especially in Japan, with a theatrical run of a tie-in feature film). The game would outsell its predecessor fivefold and introduce a large number of neophytes to the nascent series, proving the mainstream potential that would be further developed over the following 15 years.
• Killer App: While not nearly as much of a Killer App as New Leaf, Animal Crossing: Wild World sold quite well and helped stir interest in playing DS games online alongside Mario Kart DS, with both games being released around the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection's debut in late 2005.
• Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros.": Several villagers thought to have debuted in this game, such as Marina the octopus and Agent S the squirrel, actually first appeared in the Japan-only e+ version of the first game. This applies to some gameplay changes as well, such as the addition of medicine to heal bee stings or sick villagers, and the removal of the ability to ask villagers for favors directly.
• Newbie Boom: Wild World introduced a great deal of newcomers to Animal Crossing thanks to coming out on a far more popular system than the first game and receiving much more extensive advertising.
• What Could Have Been: The concept trailer for a DS version of Animal Crossing more resembles the original titles than the final product. It even had the mandatory hats on characters. This early version also had main gameplay occur on the top screen rather than incorporating touch-based overworld controls; this configuration would later be used for Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

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