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Nintendo's new Animal Crossing Switch is super chill

Hello, you beautiful New Horizons.

Daniel Van Boom Senior Writer
Daniel Van Boom is an award-winning Senior Writer based in Sydney, Australia. Daniel Van Boom covers cryptocurrency, NFTs, culture and global issues. When not writing, Daniel Van Boom practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reads as much as he can, and speaks about himself in the third person.
Expertise Cryptocurrency, Culture, International News
Daniel Van Boom
2 min read
The Animal Crossing: New Horizons version of the Nintendo Switch

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch is the visual equivalent of a warm ocean breeze.

Nintendo

Animal Crossing is finally coming to the Switch, on March 20, but before then the Switch will go full Animal Crossing. Nintendo announced Thursday that a special Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch will go on sale on March 13, a week before the game's release. It'll cost $299, and it's zen. Just looking at it lowers my heart rate. 

The Switch features pastel mint and blue Joy-Con controllers, an Animal Crossing pattern on its back and a Switch dock adorned with Tom, Tommy and Timmy Nook. Real island vibes here. A carrying case will be sold separately. The special Switch will also hit Australia (AU$470) and the UK (£330) on March 20. The latter will include a download code for the game, and the company's UK branch released a suitably relaxing trailer for the console.

Nintendo first announced an Animal Crossing game for Switch back in 2018. That game would eventually come to be known as Animal Crossing: New Horizons and was supposed to launch in 2019. Last E3 brought news of the game being delayed, which in part led to a big drop in Nintendo's stock price

People are excited. The last proper Animal Crossing game was New Leaf, released on the 3DS all the way back in 2012. We've since gotten some spin-offs, including 2017s Pocket Camp mobile game, but fans are ready for the real deal. 

CNET's Sean Keane contributed to this report.

First published at Jan. 30, 2020 at 5:18 p.m. PT.
Updated at Jan. 31 at 3:20 a.m. PT: Adds UK pricing and trailer.

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