Animal Crossing: New Horizons Manga Up For Grabs At Free Comic Book Day 2023

Ooooh free stuff my favorite!

New Horizons was such a phenomenon when it released in 2020. It's got me thinking, we know the next Zelda is launching in like a month, so that seemingly only leaves Mario as a potential launch title for the Switch successor. (Unless, of course, people are wrong in speculating the Switch will be replaced by 2025.) But what if they go a different route entirely, and we still get an Oddyssey sequel or original new 3D Mario this generation, while the next console actually launches with a brand-new Animal Crossing? Does the franchise have enough interest that it could cover a console launch by itself? I'm personally not a big Animal Crossing fan, but I could see it working out for them. Nintendo has launched every console ever with either a Mario or a Zelda game, but is now the time to buck that trend?

@Not_Soos As great as Animal Crossing is I don’t think it could be enough of “heavy hitter” to carry a new console launch. Mario and Zelda appeal.to both the hardcore and casual crowd just enough to be Nintendo’s must haves at launch. I was there for the GameCube launch and while Luigi’s Mansion was great it wasn’t Super Mario Sunshine either.

@Not_Soos interesting…. While I would love it, I don’t think Nintendo will do it. Zelda and Mario are so emblematic of the company. Maybe if Animal Crossing outsells the others in the next generation, maybe…

Free or not, this is a pretty cool idea, and I think it would be pretty interesting to read and check out the artwork.

@dugan I mean, Breath of the Wild is the bestselling game in the entire Zelda franchise by a huge margin, and yet New Horizons--which released 3 years later--has surpassed it by approximately 10 million units. Even the DS and 3DS Animal Crossing titles have outsold every Zelda game prior to BotW. People don't want to hear this, but despite being such a beloved series, Zelda games have always sold pretty modestly until very recently. I say this as a big Zelda fan who doesn't care that much about Animal Crossing. I agree with @derickw69 that it's not necessarily a game that will excite the hardcore audience, though. If nothing else, I think it will be an early launch window game like Splatoon 2, hitting store shelves just a few months after the console. Maybe that's why Nintendo dropped support for New Horizons as quickly as they did. They'd be foolish not to capitalize on this franchise's success; it's pretty much become their next Pokémon.

If you don't read it for months, do the comic panels fill up with weeds?

@Angelic_Lapras_King Only if the comicbook owner uses narcotics.

@Not_Soos You make very good points. I forgot how much ACNH outsold BotW. I would love it if a new Animal Crossing was a launch title. We will see...

Ah, Free Comic Book Day, the day that means that spending time with my family on the weekend nearest my birthday always involves popping to a comic book shop at some point.