The Animal Crossing series has been a big hit for Nintendo, so in a bid to enhance the experience even more for users, the game is getting the augmented reality treatment.
The latest update for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp adds two new features for iOS and Android smartphone users.
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First, there’s an AR Camera that brings characters and furniture from the game into your personal space using ARKit on iOS and ARCore on Android. Once placed in your environment, you can take pictures of the scene and share them with others.
Next, the AR Cabin feature applies the tried-and-true virtual portal effect. If you have progressed far enough into the game to have designed a cabin and filled it with furniture and other possessions, then, with AR Cabin, you can place a digital door in your physical environment and then enter your virtual home away from home and explore it. In addition, you can bring up to eight game characters into the virtual space with you.
Both features can be found in the floating action button at the bottom right of the game’s home screen.
If anyone doubted Nintendo’s commitment to augmented reality gaming, then they may not realize that the company is one of the entities behind Pokémon GO, the reigning champ in mobile AR gaming. Or they may have forgotten that Nintendo has been experimenting with AR since the Nintendo 3DS. Along the same lines, there’s also the recent release of Mario Kart Live, which reinvents the classic racing series by bringing the action to your living room with a combination of the Nintendo Switch, a camera-equipped remote control car set, and some augmented reality magic.
Yes, AR is a sideshow for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (and, arguably, for Pokémon GO in its current form), but Nintendo may very well be the company that makes AR gaming the main event.