Animal Crossing Was Deemed So Difficult to Launch Outside Japan, Nintendo's Former Boss Satoru Iwata 'Burst Out in Laughter' After Hearing it Would Finally Happen

Years earlier Animal Crossing became a planetary success, Nintendo warned its localisation squad however "difficult" it would beryllium to marque the crippled enactment extracurricular of its autochthonal Japan.

Speaking to Time Extension, Nintendo localization manager Leslie Swann said bosses cautioned that the English-language motorboat of Animal Crossing, past titled Animal Forest, would beryllium a immense occupation owed to the sheer magnitude of in-game substance wrong the title, arsenic good arsenic its galore Japan-specific taste references and items.

Indeed, Swan remembered then-Nintendo president Satoru Iwata discovering her squad was moving connected bringing the notoriously unusual and text-heavy crippled would beryllium launched extracurricular of Japan — thing that near him successful disbelief.

"We knew of Animal Forest, but we hadn't truly dinked astir with it — we usually would get the Japanese versions of games and play done them," Swann recalled. "But we hadn't truly messed astir with that 1 precise much. So, anyway, [Takashi Tezuka, Nintendo enforcement officer] fundamentally said to me, 'We'd similar to person you localize it' and I said, 'Sure.'

"But past helium said, 'No, Leslie, I'm not definite you understand, it's going to beryllium difficult.' And I kept having to guarantee him that we would marque it happen."

Animal Crossing's earliest incarnation, known arsenic Animal Forest, launched for N64 successful April 2001 and ne'er made it extracurricular of Japan. It was lone erstwhile the crippled was fixed an expanded GameCube motorboat that the determination was made to localise the rubric elsewhere — and adjacent then, its accomplishment astir the satellite took years.

"A period oregon 2 later, I was successful a gathering with Mr. Iwata and immoderate different heads of the improvement group," Swan recalled, "and we were conscionable benignant of going astir saying, 'Here's what we're going to beryllium moving on,' and I conscionable said, 'Well, Mr. Tezuka is asking america to enactment connected Animal Forest' and helium conscionable burst retired successful laughter. He conscionable laughed and said, 'I don't cognize however you're going to bash this.' And it's true, conscionable everything successful that crippled was truthful circumstantial to Japan."

The precocious Satoru Iwata reportedly laughed astatine the thought of bringing Animal Crossing to the west. Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images.

Swann's squad had to rename each character, find each character's catchphrase and localise the game's calendar of in-game events to marque consciousness to a much planetary audience. Other enactment progressive sifting done the game's inventory of items to guarantee everything made consciousness for players extracurricular of Japan.

"I can't archer you the fig of hours we spent connected that game, each hands connected deck," Swann continued. "We were truthful fortunate astatine that constituent that we didn't person different large projects, arsenic we beauteous overmuch had the full unit dedicated to that game.

"Everybody would get unneurotic successful a country and we would say, 'Okay, contiguous we're going to rename each the furnishings successful this set,' oregon 'Today we're going to enactment connected names for these characters and their catchphrases.' Then, aft this, we would taxable each this worldly to our ineligible section who had to wide everything due to the fact that our thought from the opening was if this is big, past we're going to privation to marque merchandise."

Even the game's name, Animal Crossing, went done assorted changes earlier motorboat — with immoderate proposition it mightiness see 'Forest' successful the rubric earlier it was yet dropped.

"It indispensable person been astatine slightest six months oregon possibly a twelvemonth for america to wide the sanction Animal Crossing," Swan concluded. "I retrieve we had truthful galore different names that we were successful emotion with and past we would beryllium crushed erstwhile they would beryllium rejected. My favourite was 'Animal Acres,' due to the fact that the grids of the municipality lent themselves to being called acres. But again, that didn't clear."

For much from Swann connected her career, including her enactment connected Nintendo Power mag and however she ended up voicing Princess Peach for years, the afloat Time Extension interrogation is good worthy a read.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social