Hands On: Nintendogs
Three puppies and no “accidents” on the new rug
Tags: Nintendogs Categories: GBA Previews, Previews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Apr 11th, 2005
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Having recently gotten my hands on an early copy of Nintendogs (as it is now officially being named for North America) I found myself transported back several years ago to when the Tamagotchi electronic pets were the season’s biggest “must have” toy. I freely admit to wanting, receiving, and caring for one, which – admittedly – for a man at my age (even at the time) was a bit odd.
Fast forward several years and virtual pets are making a comeback. There are internet sites devoted to the creation and care of such creatures, the keychain Tamagotchi have seen a reintroduction, and videogames have even started to dip their toes into the virtual pet pool – most notably in the Chao raising as typified in recent Sonic titles. Nintendo is publishing Nintendogs (for a while it was referred to as Puppy Times) for the Nintendo DS and is raising the bar on what it means to care for a virtual pet.
The idea is to allow players the opportunity to have a puppy without actually having one. Using the stylus, I played ball with my puppy and rubbed it’s head, just like I would with any canine. The stylus is put to great use with Nintendogs.
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Players start out with one dog, and after a while of playing with it, teaching it voice commands, taking it for walks it becomes possible to take it to dog shows to compete for cash. Earning money will allow you to buy new toys as well as other puppies to keep yours company when you’re off doing what you normally do.
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There are many different breeds within the game, and they will all remain puppies throughout their life. There is reportedly over 100 items to purchase for your puppy as well, from different outfits to items such as jump ropes and balls. The jump rope was particularly interesting (unlocked in the build I was playing) as one puppy held it in its mouth, with myself on the other end “holding” it by keeping the stylus on the screen. I would move the rope by moving the stylus in a circular motion, but I had to pace it properly so that the puppies could jump (there were three in my game).
Each of the puppies had expressive faces, and when coupled with the body language they actually looked fairly realistic. Running, however, looked a bit… off, almost like slow motion jumping, but not quite. It wasn’t anything that will detract from the overall enjoyment.
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The graphics were sparse, mostly for two reasons – to allow the software to concentrate on the puppy’s interactions, and to give enough room to play. There was no sound in the build that I played, so I wasn’t able to test out the voice commands or hear what the pups had to say (most likely “Bark!”).
While it is possible to purchase more puppies as time progresses, the limit will be three. Each will have their own characteristics which you will need to find out on your own as time goes on (some have a particular affinity to belly rubs for example). Though that feature could just be breed-specific.
Nintendogs will also have some multiplayer aspects as well, allowing for players to interact via wireless connectivity. Players can visit an in-game park to interact with each other’s pets. This feature has only been touched upon and we expect more clarification at E3.
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Tags: Nintendogs
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Apr 11th, 2005 and is filed under GBA Previews, Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
