Are you ready to pet your Wii? Oh, wait, are you ready to pet WITH your Wii? Sorry, big difference there. EA today announced that it’s working on SimAnimals Africa for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, a sequel to the original SimAnimals game.
Presumably MotionPlus and the DS stylus will both be used to full effect to control the animals while gamers play with and tame such exotic creatures as lions, elephants and gorillas. The game’s landscapes will range from savannas to jungles and feature challenges and mini-games that players solve to unlock new items, animals and levels.
In SimAnimals Africa for the Wii, each animal has its own unique skill, and it’s up to players to find their secret abilities. Kicking zebras, rock-breaking rhinos and crocodiles that excel at hunting will assist players in keeping the environment happy and unlocking new areas, animals, and special items. New mini-games give players more ways to interact with the animals. The ring toss, drumming, and petting games help the animals hone their unique skill and assist players in achieving their goals more quickly. Additionally, there are more than 70 rare objects for players to collect including bugs, fruits and flowers — all of which can be fed to the animals. Kids can now choose to play as an animal.
In SimAnimals for the DS, gamers have access to all the animals from the Wii adventure, as well as DS-exclusive animals including parrots, cheetahs, meerkats and aardvarks. Players will collect items to earn each reward badge in the game, while the stylus and microphone allow players to interact with the animals and environment in unique ways. In fact, the parrot will guide players through the African landscape, and players can talk to him through the DS microphone — and he’ll repeat what was said. The DS version also includes a co-op mode in which friends can trade plants and animals and play together to achieve goals faster.
Both versions of SimAnimals Africa will ship later this fall.
