I saved up enough money in middle school to get myself a GC, and then traded that up for a Wii. I got Animal Crossing for GC when I got that system, and I loved it. I played it every single day. I had my main character, and then I had three others. I didn't have any friends to play with, though. Every so often, when I was tired of my town, I restarted with a new one.
When I got my Wii, I got my copy of City Folk. I played regularly with two of my school friends, until the servers were shut down. I had so much stuff in my town. I kept the same town all the time I played it, and never restarted it once. With my previous tendency to restart whenever I was bored (I restarted my GC town at least 10 times over the years), I was very proud of my single town.
I skipped Wild World, because I didn't have a handheld system until recently, and I have several friends who play New Leaf. I got it when I got my New 3DS XL. I had a town that I started when I got it, but back in early January I restarted because I just didn't like it anymore, the villagers were ones I didn't like/want, and the map was horrible. Now I've got a much better map, I love my villagers (most of them, some of the others JUST WON'T MOVE), and I love the look of my town. Plus, it's fun playing with my friends.