Doubutsu no Mori

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Doubutsu no Mori.

To do: Lots to cover; https://triviacrossing.tumblr.com/post/179351038694/the-first-ever-english-press-materials-for-animal https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131056/gdc_is_that_a_franchise_in_your_.php https://web.archive.org/web/20010821065247/http://ign64.ign.com/news/20423.html https://web.archive.org/web/20130701013643/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/event/sw2000/itiran/n64/soft/d_mori/index.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDlqHLoeqiA&t=1449s&ab_channel=AdamWashington

Development Timeline#

2000

• June 5 - Shigeru Miyamoto tells IGN that he is working on a "communication game" for the Nintendo 64.
• August 25 - Doubutsu no Mori is shown off at Spaceworld 2000, with a release date of February 2001.

2001

• April 14 - Doubutsu no Mori is released.

Initial Concepts#

Though many of the ideas like a working clock were thought of early in development, Doubutsu no Mori originally had a lot of RPG elements.

The game was initially developed for the Nintendo 64DD in order to take advantage of the system's memory and real-time clock, but was moved to a standard N64 cartridge due to the add-on's failure. This resulted in many of the intended features and elements having to be reworked or scrapped.

2000#

August#

Doubutsu No Mori was first revealed at Spaceworld 2000 with several differences from the final game:

• The bulletin board was near the Bell Shrine instead of the four houses in which the players live.
• Some of the house exterior colors seem to have been removed.
• Some of the names and phrases for villagers seem to have been changed.
  • Kiki: In the early version her name was アンチョビ (Anchovy), whereas in the final game her name is キャビア (Caviar).
  • Olivia: In the early version her name was ラメラメ, which could mean "lame lame". In the final version, her name is オリビア, which is her English name in Katakana.
• Nook's Cranny features a different set of wallpaper and flooring, looking similar in style to a log cabin, and the work uniform consists of "店" ("shop") repeatedly written in white atop a sky blue backdrop. A screenshot depicting these differences is included in Nintendo's official press kit for the demo.