6 Wii U Games That Should Have Been

Animal Crossing

Nintendo absolutely broke my heart with Animal Crossing and the Wii U. First, there was Animal Crossing Plaza, which was a Miiverse home menu that showed off all my animal friends in their Wii U glory. Then, they teased us with Happy Home Designer on the 3DS and dug the knife further in with amiibo Festival. amiibo Festival showed off how stunningly adorable a Wii U Animal Crossing could look, and resulted in the release of both Animal Crossing amiibo and amiibo cards perfect for a console game. And yet, here we are, a year away from the NX, and we never got a main series Animal Crossing Wii U. The last game was New Leaf for 3DS in 2012. Releasing an Animal Crossing this late in the game on a dying console would end up disastrous, as no one would want such a long-term game on a console they’re about to scrap.

But oh, it would have been so beautiful. We’ve already seen what the town would look like in amiibo Festival, but can you imagine the online connectivity options with systems like Miiverse? Visiting friends’ towns would be a breeze! And what if there was a central hub online like the island in New Leaf, but also similar to Inkopolis in Splatoon where you could see and connect with strangers? All that, paired with the use of the Gamepad for town and home design (similar to Happy Home Designer) and a bigger town map than ever before would have made Animal Crossing Wii U a dream.

I’m currently in the process of sacrificing bells to the great Nookling gods in hopes of Animal Crossing as an NX launch title that’s everything my imaginary Wii U version would have been, and more. Fortunately, insiders indicate that such a title is a distinct possibility.

Next: Spin-offs weren't what we had in mind