• The sky will be shown on the top screen, and the ground on the bottom. The view of the sky will enable players to see balloons carrying items, the mail delivery pelican, and stars at night. Players can even create their own constellations for their towns.
• The graphics are reminiscent of the GameCube predecessor, with slight modifications to suit the DS.
• Supports both local wireless multiplayer and Internet play using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
• K.K. Slider, Tom Nook, and Officer Copper, among others, are returning from the previous GameCube game.
• Players are now able to change their hairstyles and wear accessories, such as hats and glasses.
• There will be new villagers and furniture, along with the popular characters and furniture from the Gamecube predecessor. • All buildings (houses, shops, etc.) have been updated from the GameCube edition.
• Major holidays, such as Christmas and Halloween, are no longer in the game. They have been replaced with more Animal Crossing-specific holidays.
• When visiting other towns, the local time for all players will match the visited town.
• Using wireless LAN or the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, up to four players (the resident and three visitors) can be in a town at any given moment.
• The game will be fully usable without the Internet.
• There is a possibility that players will be able to create their own computer-controlled characters to visit other towns and tell the human players about their towns, though this has not been comfirmed.
• Players may only visit another player’s town if he or she is online.
• Players may send letters and items to friends via Nintendo WFC, regardless of their online status. To do this, the player sending the mail must be in the letter recipient’s town.
• A friends list will be available to either manually enter names or upload those of LAN players. This will be used to prevent pranksters and vandals.
• There will be no NES games to play or collect.
• Up to four players can share a single DS card of the game, and live in the same residence. The first player to move into the town gets to decide where the house goes.
• Cliffs, bridges, and lakes are still in the game.
• The dump has been replaced by a recycle bin at the town hall.
• The map is the same, though there are no grids, is accessible from the item screen, and is pixellated.
• The addition of Dr. Shrunk, a character who can sell emotions that can be used during player-to-player chat.
• The addition of Lyle, a character who sells accident insurance for bee stings and counterfeit paintings.
• The museum will have two more floors. The bottom floor will be a coffee bar run by a character named Brewster, and the top floor will be a observatory run by an owl named Celeste. Here, the players can create constellations that can be seen on the top screen of their DS at night.
• The snowman may return, given the Nintendo Power article stating that “the wintry days that see a frosty visitor roll into town”.
• Gulliver, the seagull who washed up on shore, now rides the sky in a UFO.