The Animal Crossing Calculator and Animal Crossing Clock (200 DSi points each) are more than simply themed utilities for your brand new Nintendo DSi. Sure, the calculator functions as a normal calculator would, with memory and unit conversion features, but you can also listen to Animalese number pronunciations, and when certain sums trigger appearances by famous Animal Crossing characters. I probably would have focused harder on math in school had my calculator included sum-based Easter eggs.

The same goes for the Animal Crossing Clock. It gives you the option of setting up three separate alarms, with the option of creating your own Animal Crossing town tune alarm or importing music created using the DSi’s built-in functionality. Rather than just closing your DSi and going to sleep, you can leave it open, watching the sky change colour as different AC characters appear on the screen.

Oh yes, and there are also downloads for WiiWare and the Virtual Console as well this week! WiiWare gets Gammick Entertainment’s Penguins & Friends – Hey! That’s My Fish! (800 Wii points), which as you can imagine involves penguins and fish. The Virtual Console library increases by one Commodore 64 title this week with Tower Toppler (500 points), the original tower offence title. Check out the full listings below for more information on these two.

This officially marks the first Nintendo Download week in which I purchase more than one title, though I wouldn’t take that as a measurement of quality. I’m so much of an Animal Crossing fan that I’d buy Animal Crossing Cat Just Sort Of Sits There for 200 points and never complain once.

Nintendo DSiWare

Animal Crossing Calculator (Nintendo, 1 player, 200 Nintendo DSi Points™): Need to figure out what you owe Tom Nook or the amount in your savings account? Animal Crossing Calculator features the full functionality of a traditional calculator, including a Memory key and the ability to display up to 13 digits, adding a layer of atmosphere unique to Animal Crossing. Use the Unit Converter to turn one unit of measure into another (such as length, weight, volume and age), or track the history of calculations you’ve performed. Listen to the Animalese pronunciation of numbers when you press them, and watch for a favourite Animal Crossing character to appear when your result meets certain criteria. Get ready for an inventive and practical way to experience the charm of Animal Crossing.

Animal Crossing Clock (Nintendo, 1 player, 200 Nintendo DSi Points): Enjoy the atmosphere of Animal Crossing in a whole new way with Animal Crossing Clock. Select from either an analogue or digital clock and set up to three alarms (with snooze functionality for those who need it). Make your own Town Tune or use sounds created in Nintendo DSi™ Sound, then assign them to the alarms you’ve set. Use the system’s internal clock or offset the time however you like. Then sit back and watch as different characters from Animal Crossing appear and the colour of the sky changes as time passes. You’ll never miss an important appointment with one of your Animal Crossing friends again.

WiiWare

Penguins & Friends – Hey! That’s My Fish! (Gammick Entertainment, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points™): The penguins are hungry and need your help. Catch all the fish you can before someone steals them from you. Strategy is fundamental in this exciting game. Keep moving ahead of the other penguins so you don’t get trapped, and try to get to the ice floes that hold more fish. One to four players can play Penguins & Friends at the same time, provided they can handle the polar cold. The board is made up of ice blocks with a set number of fish under them. The ice blocks are hexagonal and form a structure like a beehive. The starting position of the ice blocks can change, creating different game boards.

Virtual Console

Tower Toppler™ (Commodore 64, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Weird things are happening on Planet Nebulus. Someone or something has begun building huge towers on the sea floor without a construction licence. Your mission is to ascend each of the eight cylindrical towers, passing various obstacles along the way, and to trigger the tower’s destruction mechanism to demolish the evil threat. Praised upon its original 1987 release for its graphical innovation, this is considered to be the most outstanding game from Hewson. Don’t miss out on this classic favourite.

So, GameCube classic Pikmin is being re-released on the Wii. For older, pre-Wii Nintendo fans who probably already played it, it’ll be a tough sell. So Nintendo figure Pikmin-themed DLC for Animal Crossing might help.

Provided your Wii is connected to the internet, and provided you’ve enabled outside communication from within the game, from now until February 12 you’d best keep an eye on your mailbox, because until that date the Postman will be delivering little Pikmin hats to all and sundry.

Oh, and no, you won’t have to pay for it. This one’s on the house. Nintendo’s house.

One thing to bear in mind: this news come courtesy of Nintendo Australia, so there’s no guarantee it’s a global deal, nor that those dates will be the same if/when it’s offered in other regions. We’ll of course update when he hear more.

We’re calling it: Animal Crossing: Wild World is a hit with the Japanese. A pretty bold claim, we know, but with five million copies under its belt in Japan alone, we’re feeling pretty confident.

Japanese sales tracker Media Create revealed that the Nintendo DS game is the second title for the platform to move past five million. The other is, probably unsurprisingly, New Super Mario Bros. which actually made it past the five million mark much faster. It took Animal Crossing for the DS a little over three years to do it.

In terms of revenue, if every copy of Animal Crossing: Wild World was sold at the suggested retail price of 4,800 yen, the company would have sold 24 billion yen worth of the game. That equals a lot.

Media Create Weekly Ranking [via NeoGAF]

Entertaining for the fact he doesn’t just break through the fourth wall, he lives amongst its rubble. And informative because, well, after 2-3 visits from him, you know that every time you turn off Animal Crossing, you save your damn game.

Pity, then, that parents are being warned about his antics, as though he’s a bad thing.

Tucked away in the Animal Crossing: City Folk instruction book is the following passage:

Information for parents – Mr Resetti

It is important that players save before switching off the Wii console in order to retain data after each play session (see Saving Data, above). If players switch off without saving, the character Mr. Resetti may appear upon restarting.

Mr. Resetti’s purpose is to teach players the importance of saving. However, parents should be aware that his personality and tone of voice, while intentionally humorous, are authoritative and may be disturbing to young children.

May be? They will be. But parents, your kids need to run into him. The toughest lessons life teaches you are rarely the most pleasant ones.

News: Mr. Resetti ‘Disturbing To Young Children’ [N Europe, via Go Nintendo]

MTV Multiplayer’s Stephen Totilo questioned whether the “Game Experience May Change During Online Play” and “Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB” caveats provide adequate warning to those purchasing used games, the kind that neither a publisher nor retailer nor ratings board can vet before it gets into a consumer’s hands.

ESRB spokespeople defended the system, explaining that “ESRB ratings cannot anticipate and therefore consider user-generated content in the ratings we assign” and adding that most games are “read-only,” immune from such problems.

MTV also got in touch with GameStop, the mega-retailer whose business thrives on selling used games. Reps there said that the company has a policy to wipe data from the games it buys back, noting that some things may slip through the cracks.

I know that I’ve come across a stranger’s data more than once in my used game purchasing history, but found nothing that could be considered offensive. Has anyone out there in Kotaku land?

‘Animal Crossing’ Slur Incident Doesn’t Expose Used-Game Ratings Loophole Say ESRB, GameStop [MTV Multiplayer]

A copy of DS title Animal Crossing Wild World sent out to media yesterday by Nintendo came loaded with most of the game’s secrets unlocked, it also included a nasty surprise. When you come upon Baabara, the town’s resident sheep, you’re greeted with a racial epithet. The word is used repeatedly in your conversation with the sheep. Here’s the official statement on the issue from Nintendo:

“Previously played copies of the 2005 DS game Animal Crossing: Wild World were sent to 14 members of the media to demonstrate the ability of players to transfer items to the new Animal Crossing: City Folk for Wii. We regret that an offensive phrase was included without our knowledge via a wireless function that allows user-generated catchphrases to spread virally from one game to the next. This version is limited to 14 copies created for media review purposes only and is not available at retailers. We sincerely apologise for the incident and are working with media who received the game cards to return them to Nintendo immediately.”

The evil Internet strikes again.

Animal Crossing Screens

According to tipsters, the bundle will set you back $US 69.99, making the WiiSpeak mic a $US 20 value, presumably. Pricing in bells was not provided. We’re double checking with Nintendo to ensure maximum accuracy.

Tom East, online editor for ONM, writes on his blog that “those of you who have read the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine should already know that Animal Crossing Wii will be unveiled at the conference”. QED, I guess.

Since we’ve yet to see any ONM subscribers excitedly spill the details from the mag online — if there are any details, that is, outside of the brief Animal Crossing Wii mention we’ve already seen — we’re going to hold tight on this almost-confirmation. But yeah, Animal Crossing Wii. We’ll be shocked if it doesn’t come up next Tuesday.

One Week To Go… [Official Nintendo Magazin]