IGN: SimAnimals First Look

News for SimAnimals have been quite, but I guess that is normal considering it still has a few more months before it’s release…Actually, next year!  IGN gives their look of the game coming off of the Games Convention Event:

The Wii version of the game is controlled entirely by Wii Remote. Grabbing and dropping animals is a simple point and click, and moving around the world is a click and drag affair. The Wii pointer functions handle most of the control in SimAnimals, but there’s a little accelerometer usage here as well: if you twist the remote left or right you’ll rotate the camera. No unnecessary Wiimote shaking here.

The Nintendo DS version has a similar design as the Wii game, but the visuals are more scaled back – all animals, plants, and environments are 2D pixel art, and because of this the camera is fixed at a set distance in an overhead perspective. You still have the ability to shift things around with your on-screen hand…it’s just not as fluid as if it was in a 3D environment. The DS game is being developed by EA internally, a first for the Sims team since it usually outsources Nintendo handheld versions to studios like Griptonite and Full Fat.

GC 2008: SimAnimals First Look