In pictures and cosplay - Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Leaf launch event in New York City

Nintendo transformed its flagship world store into a carnival of Animal Crossing fun, games, and prizes today to celebrate the launch of the Pocket Gamer Gold Award-winning Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

The game isn't actually available in the states until tomorrow, but a few intrepid souls willing to brave the queue (some were there as early as 5am!) picked up the game - or the limited edition 3DS XL - a day early.

With camera in hand, we sneaked past the line to bring you pictures of the event which runs until 1pm on Saturday. The Nintendo World Store hosts events like this to celebrate launches of important first-party titles, so if you missed today's event you may want to check back around the retail releases of Mario & Luigi Dream Team, Pokemon X and Y, or A Link to the Past 2.

But enough about that - it's time for the pictures!

I asked her about this purse - she said it only took about an hour to put together thanks to a handy hot glue gun.

A fossil-based memory/matching game

Now this is dedication to your cosplay: wearing it into the prize-grab booth!

He should have entered our dedicated Zelda fan contest!