Animal Crossing Switch delay video is a fake and whoever made it should just feel awful

Animal Crossing Switch did not just get a delay, despite a very official looking video you may have seen making the rounds. A YouTube account claiming to represent Nintendo posted the video, which features development head Shinya Takahashi delivering a sincere apology for the delay. This isn't some kind of cyberpunk-style identity spoof - it's just a new version of the video in which Takahashi announced the Metroid Prime 4 delay with some fake subtitles.

Here's the fake video:

And here's the real one. Notice any similarities? You don't need to speak Japanese to pick up on the fact that he's saying all the same stuff in the same way in (almost) the same 3:09 runtime. Update: Amusingly, they were so similar that I accidentally embedded the same fake video twice. The right one's in there now.

Nintendo confirmed a few months ago that it still planned to release Animal Crossing Switch sometime this year, despite saying nothing about the game beyond confirming its existence. That left fans of catching fish, decorating homes, and making friends with animal neighbors biting their nails for the Nintendo E3 2019 presentation. Then somebody picked up on all that hope and anticipation and decided to just poo all over it.

Granted, you've gotta respect the commitment the faker had to their project - some effort was shown here. Especially the part about Nintendo bringing in Bandai Namco to help with development. Still: shame on you for making the entire GamesRadar+ office erupt in shouts of anguish for about 3 and a half seconds. Those were some of the worst 3 and a half seconds of our lives.

Be sure to check out our comprehensive E3 2019 schedule so you can be sure to catch the actual announcements from Nintendo, and see what's big in games and entertainment this week with our latest Release Radar.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

Latest in Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing's "obscure references" were all "localized out completely" before its debut in the West, as Nintendo felt it needed to "change everything"
Anime Life Sim
After unsuccessfully attempting to launch a Monster Hunter clone, this controversial dev is now supposedly releasing an Animal Crossing-like game on PS5
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp trailer screenshto showing a chibi-style female character with bobbed brown hair, a yellow flower atop her head, and a chef-like top, smiling with her arms out
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's new paid version has finally arrived and is microtransaction-free, but fans already miss the old app
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp trailer screenshto showing a chibi-style female character with bobbed brown hair, a yellow flower atop her head, and a chef-like top, smiling with her arms out
As the free-to-play Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp prepares to go offline, Nintendo reveals more on the paid replacement - including its $20 price tag
Galactic Getaway
This multiplayer life sim is like Animal Crossing in outer space with Mario Party minigames, and it's just what I needed this Steam Next Fest
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp trailer screenshto showing a chibi-style female character with bobbed brown hair, a yellow flower atop her head, and a chef-like top, smiling with her arms out
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp players blast "greedy" Nintendo as new items roll out despite the game's imminent shutdown
Latest in News
God of War
20 years later, God of War's original monster art has been revealed: behold this army of stick figures slapped on a whiteboard, no clue Kratos is coming for them
The T6 Power Armor
I'm about to spend over $400 on this iconic T60 Power Armor figurine because "Communism is the very definition of failure"
A large, muscly bloke eating noodles at a bar while two people point pistols at him from behind in Cyberpunk 2077.
The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developer enters into partnership with Pokemon Go owner to create a new game "set within one of CD Projekt's IPs"
Owen Cooper in Adolescence
Sorry, Adolescence season 2 isn't happening, despite its 99% Rotten Tomatoes score and record-breaking Netflix audience
Daredevil: Born Again episode 6
Daredevil: Born Again's long-awaited moment has been called "pure cinema" featuring one of the "best lines in comic book movie history"
Daredevil looking mean and moody.
Daredevil: Born Again episode 5 just nodded to Thanos and the Avengers movies in the most obscure way