Bright lights, Bad controller.

So last night I finally began playing Animal Crossing: City Folk.

The game came in on Sunday but we were out of town so it didn't get picked up until Tuesday. Then I had to wait for Josh to explain the complicated system of switches used to hook up the Wii in the living room and stand around to make sure I didn't some how break the Wii while trying to make my town. (What? I never said I was a video game geek.)

Now I love Animal Crossing. It's my game. I play it the way some people play World of Warcraft. But I didn't really enjoy City Folk right off because of the controller.

I realize i'm risking my Geek License here but I don't care. I don't like the nunchuck controller, I don't think it works well in the situations that come up in Animal Crossing, and i'm honestly kind of pissed at Nintendo for forcing their gimmicky controller on me.

I'm also still a bit pissed at the forced use of the touch screen in Wild World. The fact that the only efficient way to sell multiple items to Nook was by dragging them with the stylus really bugged the shit out of me. And did anyone really use the stylus to make their person walk around town? I couldn't get myself to move without either running or digging in random places. And of course there was the little fiasco of needing a second person in town to get any Spotlight Items but not being told this, and the cock up with the feather rewards for donating to Boondox that is so screwed up i'll never get my feathers and thus never have all the accessories. So Nintendo is a little on the outs with me already for their various gimmicks that don't really add to the game, but the nunchuck really pissed me off.

The nunchuck doesn't do anything that couldn't be done with the control stick and the A button. When you are forced to use the thing it's in the worst possible way. For instance to bring up my "pockets" where all my stuff is I have to move the Wimote so that the little hand is on the screen. Then I have to chose my pockets from the bottom of the screen. The problem is that my pockets are in the far left so it's very easy to move too far take the hand off the screen and the whole damn thing disappears. When i'm selling to Nook rather than use the control stick to move over my items I have to use the Wimote. Again the Wimote moves so erratically that it's a real pain in the ass to select an item. I dread how i'm going to have to fish with this thing.

Other than my burning hot hatred for the controller I was pretty pleased by the game so far. I like the feel of the big town that I didn't get with Wild World. I liked the return of different levels to the town. Shopping at Nook's Cranny gives me a nice sense of nostalgia for when things were simple and when I didn't have to deal with Tommy and Timmy at Nookingtons. I caught a cricket and donated it to the musuem, my first donation in this town. And of course there is a whole new world of terrible puns for me to read over and over again as I catch all the fish and bugs over the next year.

I haven't been into the city yet. Josh forgot to buy the strategy guide with the game so i'm waiting for it to come from Amazon before I venture beyond my town. I'm curious how the city will be. I know that Crazy Redd and Gracie have stores in the city, but i'm not sure how Wendell and Sahara will work. I am excited over this new aspect to the game, but i'm also a little sad that it's not about just living in your small town and making your way there anymore.

That said i'm sure i'll enjoy this game as much as i've enjoyed the last two. That is if the stupid controller doesn't annoy me enough to keep me from playing.