The new Animal Crossing installment for Nintendo Wii will be launched across Europe in December 2008.

The game has seen a slight name change from Animal Crossing: City Folk to Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City, but will still be compatible with the new Wii Speak accessory, as we reported back in July.

Wii Speak will enable you to chat to other players in the game as you wander around the community, doing everything from shopping to fishing.

As you'd expect from the title, you can take a break from the peaceful countryside setting of the game and explore the new city environment, just a bus ride away. Whether you want to take a trip to theatre, get your hair done or bid for items at the auction house, the city is the place to do it.

Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City operates in real time, which means if twenty-four hours has passed in the real world. It even knows when special events like Halloween and Christmas are happening so you can celebrate them in-game too.

For gamers who have already created their own character in Animal Crossing: Wild World on the Nintendo DS, you can transfer some of the character data to the Wii, which is a nice touch.