Animal Crossing Was Almost Given a Different Name

A recent interview has shed some light on Animal Crossing's early days, revealing that the English version almost received a different title. Although the Animal Crossing series is now considered to be a record-setting fan favorite, the early days working on the English-language version had some unique complications.

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Animal Crossing was originally titled Dobutsu no Mori, and has continued to carry that title in Japan. It literally translates to Animal Forest, which is fairly different from the title that English-speaking audiences ended up with. Now, a discussion with a member of the localization team for the game has talked about an entirely different title that it almost ended up with.

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By Luci S

Former Nintendo Localization Manager Talks Animal Crossing

Dobutsu no Mori eventually became Animal Crossing in the west, but it was almost called Animal Acres. Leslie Swan, a former Nintendo localization manager, spoke with Time Extension about her time in the industry working with the game company, including work on Animal Crossing. According to Swan, a number of names were floated for the translated version of the title, with her favorite being Animal Acres due to the original game's town grids reminding them of acres. Swan also noted that the team wanted to keep both "Animal" and "Forest" as parts of the title, but it didn't work out.

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While the title is interesting enough on its own, Swan also detailed some of the difficulties with the localization of the game. Animal Crossing posed a much larger challenge than many of the games they had worked on prior, as the content of the game "was so specific to Japan." She noted that the team had to rename all characters, rework their catchphrases, game events, and even items. Apparently, the localization's challenges were well-known by Nintendo higher-ups. When the project was presented to Swan by Nintendo dev Takashi Tezuka, he warned from the get-go that localizing the game would be difficult. Months later, when the localization project was revealed to Satoru Iwata, he actually laughed and said that he had no idea how the team would be able to do it.

Promo art featuring characters from Animal Crossing

Clearly, the work the team put into the original Animal Crossing paid off. While the initial game wasn't a massive success in the west, it did gain a following, which continued to grow as more subsequent releases reached players. The eventual launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons saw the series become a worldwide hit, with New Horizons smashing sales records and becoming a popular escape for gamers during the pandemic. While the series has come a long way, the foundations set in the original English release of the GameCube title's localization have been carried on to this day.

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