WTF is this shopping card for?

Some shots of the first time I wandered online...

Jack was hosting his friends Tobias and Youtubes. By pure luck I happened to check the WiFi door and noticed his gate was open. I friended the two I did not know - you do not need Wii Friend Codes when you encounter Friends of Friends, which is a small concession on Nintendo's part - and proceeded to enjoy what I could of the woefully underdeveloped Animal Crossing online play. IE, stealing fruit. It would be really nice if the game had a live Friend list that showed who currently has open gates without having to click through all the obnoxious text and menus from Copper. Really, really nice.

Although everyone can have a seat at Brewster's, once you sit you can't type. Also, you can't all go to the City, WHICH IS AMAZINGLY STUPID.

I love the Power Ranger styled costumes. We're hoping to collect those for Clark.

The floating name bubbles are nice. They let you know who is nearby because they hover onscreen in accordance with everybody's map position.

Another cool feature is that you can now send letters to people in other towns via your own City Hall. Previously, you had to be IN somebody's town to send them a letter, which was nuts. I think you have to actually visit that town first at least once, however, you can't just send in-game messages based on Friend Codes alone.

Ever since I read that Brewster eventually offers up secret Gyroid storage, I've been hoarding them. Once again, the strategy guide just tosses that nugget out there without specifically telling you how to do it. You have to buy coffee (and drink it hot) on at least seven different occasions. I don't know if they have to be on sequential days. Then you have to have a Gyroid in your inventory when you talk to him WITHOUT BEING SEATED. He will not offer up his secret storage unless he "sees" you holding one, and he won't bring it up when you sit down to have coffee.

There's a ball of shit right there.

And I love how pro-science Blathers gets. He's all into evolution and stuff.

This has been Animal Crossing canon since the first game, but I think a lot of players dismissed this as unfounded rumor. You can't argue against the unPhotoshopped screenshot! Sable and Mabel's parents died quite some time ago when Mabel was very young. Sable is about ten years older and has been taking care of her little sister - and the family business - even since then. Maudlin!

In other depressing AC news, Lyle is the equivalent of Gil on The Simpsons. He previous job was a Bee Sting Insurance salesman, and now he works for the Happy Room Academy and hates it.

And can somebody please tell me of the purpose behind the Shopping Card? You do not require it to make deposits/withdrawals at the bank, and Nook does not notice when you carry it into his store.