Animal Crossing for the Wii will be an MMO/social networking title. It's no great surprise – in a few short years, Animal Crossing has become one of Nintendo's most-loved and top selling franchises (over seven million copies sold), particularly in Japan. Nintendo refers to the title as a 'communications game' rather than a videogame, and playing already depends on real-world timekeeping, weather patterns, social conventions, and above all else economic interactions. In almost every way, Animal Crossing has always been the perfect MMO concept, and this development is simply a fulfilment of that promise.