Review: Nintendogs

The unique elements of Nintendo's Dual Screen handheld have led to titles with very different gameplay. Warioware Touched and Kirby Canvas Curse typify the ways that Nintendo wants game designers to begin thinking about using their hardware. There are still new directions that Nintendo wants to push gaming, though, and they're not content to sit back and let others find the path. Non-game games, then, are what seems to be in store for the DS. Titles like Electroplankton, the music-making system, and the tamagotchi-esque Nintendogs are intended to bring non-gamers into the fold with interactive software that they can enjoy but aren't necessarily games. In the spirit of the non-game games, then, read on for my non-review of Nintendogs.

By non-review, I mean I'm not going to give this game a score. Moreover, if I was to give this game a score it would be a meaningless act. Unlike say, Daikatana (pause for laughter), where my opinion of the game could bear some relation to what your opinion of the game is likely to be, Nintendogs is a very different animal. If you don't like dogs, don't play this game. If you require long sweeping narratives with grandly composed music in your gaming chowder, don't play this game. If the thought of having to bathe a virtual creature gives you the shivers, don't play this game. Because, in a nutshell, Nintendogs is a virtual pet simulation where you pretend to have a dog. You feed the dog, you walk the dog, you play with the dog. And that's about it.

All that said, it is easily the most enjoyable Tamagotchi ripoff I've ever played with. When you first start the game, you're presented with a trip to the puppy mill. There are three versions of the game, and each one has different dog breeds available to play with. I got "Miniature Dachshund and Friends", and along with the title breed you also get the option to adopt Shih Tzu, Golden Retrievers, Beagles, Pugs, or Siberian Huskies. Even if you choose a larger breed, you needn't worry about ruined furniture; the dogs in this game are eternal puppies. Once you've gotten a puppy, the game puts you through a quick tutorial ... and then you're on your own. If you just want to sit around and rub your dog's tummy all day, that's cool.

On the other hand, if you just have to do something constructive with your puppy you can teach your critter tricks. By moving the stylus in certain ways, you can get your pup to approximate certain positions (sit, lie down) or actions (roll over, chase your tail). When they perform the trick with your stylus prompting, a little light bulb shows up on screen. If you press the icon, you're given the chance to say something into the built in microphone. Say roughly the same thing enough times, and your dog will associate that vocal imprint with the trick. The key with this is that, as good an idea as it is, the microphone isn't all that great. Multiple words (like "sit down" or "chase your tail") with distinct sounds are the best way to get the wee canine to do what you want.

Once you have it following your voice you can do what every dog owner dreams of: enter it in contests! Actually, the contests are phenomenally boring and are hosted by two incredibly annoying virtual yahoos. The only reason to enter a contest is if you want money ... and you're going to need it. In order to pick up dogs from the kennel, you need to spend money on them. At the start of the game you have more than enough to buy one dog, but if you want to buy any more you're definitely going to need to enter a few contests. Despite the annoyance factor, you've just got to do it. Having two dogs in the house is part of the whole fun of the game. The easiest contest is the obedience contest, which asks you to have your dog perform certain tricks in a specific order prompted by the game. You also have the option of entering your pooch into a frisbee competition or an obstacle course event. The frisbee toss is relatively easy once you get the hang of it, but the control for the obstacle course is terrible. Even with practice it's hard to know what the dog is going to do. Whether it's going to understand your stylus clicks enough to go through the little doggie tube in a timely fashion is critical to success in the contest, and the control just isn't there.

Personally, I much preferred one-on-one time with my dog (a Siberian Husky named Lupus) in the house or taking it for walks. Going for a walk isn't a terribly interactive event, but your dog enjoys it a whole lot. From your house you plan out the walking route, and can aim yourself and your dog at places like the park or the obstacle course arena. At the park you can play catch or practice with your frisbee, and at the arena you can get in some time with the awful jumps and tubes for the obstacle course competition. There are also cheaper second hand stores than the corner store near your place, where you can buy toys, food, and water. A walk mostly consists of you holding the dog's leash while it chugs along, occasionally stopping to wizz or poop. There are occasional points of interest, where your dog might find a gift for you or run into another dog owner out for a walk. The presents are cute, ranging from odd objects that you can use to play with your dogs to even odder fashion items that you can cruelly place on your animal. The other dog owners are know-it-alls, and seek to give you unasked for hints about how you should best play the game.

And really, who cares what they think? Nintendogs is entirely about what you can get out of it. Whatever makes you laugh or get warm fuzzies is the right thing for you to do. For example, for a reason that escapes me Nintendo thought that it would be important for you to know every place in the neighborhood that your dog has peed. They're marked by little blue dots on the mini-map showing your progress on your walk. The more your dog pees in a certain spot, the larger the dot gets. Though I know it isn't always the case with Nintendogs, Lupus only peed in places he'd already done so. By the time I was ready to write this article the mini-map resembled a smurf's version of mapquest.

The intelligence and responsiveness of the virtual puppies, as well as their individual personalities, is quite a sight to behold. Not only can you derive enjoyment from your interaction with the dogs, but if you have more than one in your house you can watch them play with each other. Some dogs are playful, some are lazy, and some are troublemakers. Together, a pair or trio of dogs is almost more than you can comprehend. You can only actually play with one dog at a time, but that doesn't stop the puppies from getting right up against the touch screen and struggling for your attention. Lupus and my wife's dog Erin would constantly battle each other for chew toys, affection, and (thanks their exuberant natures) who got to be standing at any given time. If you like animals at all, it's hard not to smile at the image of two happy puppies literally warring for your attention. Nintendo has really captured something intrinsic to the appeal of having a dog for a pet here, and everyone I've shown the game to has had a hard time putting it down. Even without the voice element (the voice commands only work for the dog's owner, obviously) it's hard not to be drawn in by their enthusiasm and wagging tails.

In the end, this unique title for the DS is all about who you are and the connection you can form with little virtual critters. If the idea of a virtual puppy isn't appealing to you, you're probably not going to get a lot of enjoyment out of Nintendogs. If the venerable PC titles "Catz" and "Dogz" were your thing back in the day or you were one of the people that made sure your Tamagotchi was fed regularly, these pups will be right up your alley. Judging by sales numbers the non-hardcore market has already adopted this title, and a dog of their own. Your mileage may vary, but Nintendo has a real accomplishment here.

Old Concept Revisited with more schmaltz

[ackthpt (218170)]

Ah, the joys and travails of a virtual pet. [penny-arcade.com]

These concepts go a bit further back than Tamogachi, i.e. David Crane's Little Computer People [lemon64.com], which today would be something akin to a cross between Tamogachi and Sims, as you could interact with some little dude who lived in your C64. I thought it was a bizzare idea when I first saw in in development at Activision in Mountain View, back in 1985 (that's twenty years ago!) and it runs in only 64K of memory. Imagine David Crane coming out of retirement or someone else picking this old nut back up and injecting it with new life. IIRC the main fault of LCP was the limited repetoire of the character, which Nintendogs seems to take advantage of technology (i.e. lots of cheap memory) to hold more behaviour and possible courses of action.

I'd probably lean toward some other animal than a dog. A cat would be easy, it just eats and sleeps most of the time, though you could enjoy the thrill of virtual litterbox cleaning and dragging a string around while the cat chases, or even give it a brown paper shopping bag to hide in.

What animal would really make for an ideal pet? I've tried spiders, which are actually fascinating pets and that might be cool in a virtual way.

Re:Old Concept Revisited with more schmaltz

[ninjakoala (890584)]

What was really great about The Little Computer People Research Project (as it was called at least on the C64) was the concept.

The AI was fairly good and the possiblities were quite impressive - e.g. playing cards with your LCP buddy, have him write you letters, make him play music for you (if you ask nicely and he feels like it) and so on. With an LCP inside your computer life never gets boring.

There was a competition where you could win an amazing amount of money if you could make an LCPEnglish dictionary. I doubt anyone ever did though.

Re:Old Concept Revisited with more schmaltz

[flyingsquid (813711)]

What animal would really make for an ideal pet?

Well, for Slashdotters, how about a virtual girlfriend?

Re:Old Concept Revisited with more schmaltz

[spectre_240sx (720999)]

If I wanted my computer to complain all the time I'd just run windows.

You're forgetting about...

[goodenoughnickname (874664)]

A cat would be easy, it just eats and sleeps most of the time, though you could enjoy the thrill of virtual litterbox cleaning and dragging a string around while the cat chases, or even give it a brown paper shopping bag to hide in.

You're forgetting about putting a sock on its head.

Beep beep

[ReformedExCon (897248)]

I need to feed my Tamagotchi!

Puppy love

[ninjakoala (890584)]

It's an excellent title and it's clear that an amazing amount of work has gone into making these critters very lifelike. I do have a dog IRL and the puppy behaves very much like him. There are of course still some limits (it's obvious that there are lots of event triggers, that can make things look unrealistic), but generally it's just an amazing piece of software and a great toy.

Now if you'll pardon me I'm off to win the master series in disc throwing ^_^

Re:Puppy love

[KDR_11k (778916)]

I hear there's a hidden "Hot Dog" mode in the game that will let your dog do everything you said plus maiming little children that can only be accessed with some patch from the internet. Apparently the ESRB has started to investigate and Jack Thompson is scheduled to speak on the subject on Friday.

non-game games

[CSHARP123 (904951)]

WTF is non-game games?

Re:non-game games

[mblase (200735)]

WTF is non-game games?

As near as I can tell, it's kind of like having tea and no tea.

Re:non-game games

[focitrixilous P (690813)]

A Cash cow for Nintendo without forcing Nintendo to actually create innovative gameplay for a revolutionary game.

Are you seriously telling me that you think a game where the sole point is to raise a dog using a handheld system with a touch screen and microphone ISN'T INNOVATIVE? It may not be your cup of tea, but it is innovative, at the very least.

Why no Cubicleman?

[by Anonymous Coward]

A non-game game where you enter numbers into spreadsheet cells. Sounds like non-fun to me.

Nintendo simplicity

[mario64 (573112)]

This is another example of Nintendo's gaming genius. Take a simple idea, make the gameplay simple to get to grips with, but program it well.
The game has been well thought out with some nice touches, but has not been made over-complex.

Games like this show that you do not need a top spec machine with flashy graphics to run an addictive game. Some of the most addictive games ever made have been simple, but they have a hidden depth (playability).

Well done to Nintendo, lets hope they keep up the good work.

Pee spots

[Overly Critical Guy (663429)]

For example, for a reason that escapes me Nintendo thought that it would be important for you to know every place in the neighborhood that your dog has peed. They're marked by little blue dots on the mini-map showing your progress on your walk. The more your dog pees in a certain spot, the larger the dot gets. Though I know it isn't always the case with Nintendogs, Lupus only peed in places he'd already done so. By the time I was ready to write this article the mini-map resembled a smurf's version of mapquest.

It's rumored that the dogs use this to mark territories. Notice that if you meet another dog during your walk, sometimes the mini-map will highlight the other dog's pee spot by making it blink in red, as though you're entering its territory. At this point, it's unknown what effect this has on the two dogs becoming playmates or fighting. There are a ton of weird undocumented little things like this in the game. I found a stick and a juice bottle, and I accidentally bopped my dog in the head with them during catch, and now he just growls and them and runs away when I bring them out. But he loves my kleenex box. Weird little virtual dogs, man.

Thing to note about microphone

[Overly Critical Guy (663429)]

Some people have been having trouble with their dog recognizing vocal commands, until they realized they were leaning forward and practically yelling into the DS mic. The mic is very sensitive, and you only need to speak clearly at room-level volume with the DS at a normal distance, and the game will recognize your voice much more clearly.

Minigames

[pavon (30274)]

Bah, my pets were never that well-behaved. Bringing the frisbee back to you after you threw it - what is the fun in that? No, with my dogs you had to chase them down and pry it out of their mouths, while defending from the other dogs that were also trying to get at it. It made for some awesome games of base^H^H^H^Hcalvin ball.

Which brings me to the question of why these role playing games never include any decent side games. From everything I have talked to this game has the pet-owner emotional attachment parts down to a tee, but then you have all the boring things, that you would have in real life. I guess it has the redeeming factor of teaching kids responsibility, but as an adult I have enough of that, so it just comes acrossed as meaningless busy work - the infamous grind. Why not make the contests where you earn money more fun mini-games?

If you look at the old Atari games, most of them were nothing but mini games, and they fun. Now you have all these MMORPGs, where advancement and community is the entertaining aspect of the game, while the things you do to advance are dull, dull, dull. Something that Nintendo does very well in nearly all their games is combining fun gameplay with the opportunity for advancement (new things to unlock). I am still waiting for someone to create a MMORPG, take a cue from the old Atari games and newer games like Super Monkeyball, Mario Party, and approach the advancement tasks like they were mini-games that are fun to play in and of themselves. They would have to do a little more work to integrate them into the game (for immersion and all that), preferably happening in the same world. For example, being in a race should be implemented more like vehicles in FPS, rather than like Mario party where map screen and game screens are completely different. They would also have to include multiplayer coop games for the community aspects, and have different characters classes and stats would result in diffent advantages in the games. If anyone ever did this, it would be pure crack.

Foxtrot

[dividedsky319 (907852)]

The nice thing about this game is that it can appeal to gamers and non gamers alike... Nintendo is really trying to reach out to the people that typically wouldn't pick up a gaming system, which is smart IMO. An untapped sector of the market.

Last week, the comic strip Foxtrot dealt with the mom and her wanting to play Nintendogs... it was pretty funny. Here's the first day's comic [ucomics.com], click "next date" to read the days following.

Nintendogs is too much of a chore

[elcheesmo (646907)]

I got Nintedogs about two weeks ago, and I enjoyed it for about the first week. Now it's starting to get old. The problem is that you have to actually feed the dog everyday. Shouldn't a virtual pet have the benefit of not having to be fed and washed like a real dog? I even tried setting the DS's game clock backwards to try to fool it, but it somehow knows if you've done that. The last straw was when one of the virtual people in the game yelled at me for not picking up my dog's virtual poop. Nintendogs needs a virtual shotgun so that I can end it Old Yeller style.

Offtopic comment re: puppy mills

[smooth wombat (796938)]

When you first start the game, you're presented with a trip to the puppy mill.

I know that this comment will be trashed to hell and back and yes, I know that Zonk was just using a phrase but please, those of you who are considering getting a pet do not go to puppy mills (or kitten mills).

The animals are kept in cramped, deplorable conditions. Instead of having some semblance of a decent life the females are impregnated as fast as they can. It doesn't matter if the one doing the impregnating is one of her offspring, so long as she is pregnant is all the breeder cares about.

If you're considering getting a pet please go to either your local Humane Society or a reputable non-profit animal shelter. Your new companion will thank you for giving it a good home where it is wanted.

Also, please remember to spay/neuter your new friend. If that simple act were done the tens of thousands of animals a year who are dropped off at shelters or abandoned along a road would be significantly reduced.

I now return you to your normally scheduled rantings about whatever you think is worthy of your time.

So much for Death to the Industry

[mblase (200735)]

Compare and contrast this game (and several commentators' negative opinions on it) with this flashback [slashdot.org] about the death of creativity in the gaming industry. Comments of note:

"A great video game does something that nobody expects and totally expands views of what's possible in the genre."

"What makes a game fun is the pattern it forms in your mind as you do things and get rewards for them. Building a business around these patterns is tricky...."

"To say there's been no creativity in games of recent times is to admit that you haven't played any."

So, congrats to Nintendo for going out on a limb with a new type of game system and new types of games to play on it. They may not have a majority marketshare, but they've got imagination in spades.

Graveyard of forgotten virtual pets..

[modi123 (750470)]

*sigh* Here comes another round of misery and depression for the world.

Back in the Tamagatchi era, I worked in a retail store that sold them. I could never get over the emotions attached to the toy - specifically the sadness people would have over their deaths (read: battery loss, water, older brothers, fights, etc). At one instance a little girl was balling over her Tamagatchi's death (due to battery loss) and refused to have her mother buy her a new one - she wanted her old one back. She was so distraught that I decided to step in and be the humanitarian. I told her I would try to bring it back, and took her toy over to the batteries department. Luckily they had the right size, so I popped the back off, slapped the new battery in, and replaced the facing. At the initial chirp the girl freaked out, latched onto my leg in exuberant gratitude, while the mother thanked me (apparently the girl had cried non-stop for two days now) for pacifying her daughter. Soon after other parents of this girl's friends approached me - all asking me to help bring their kids toys back from the dead. Smelling a pretty penny to be made off the irrational suffering of children I started dolling out my phone number and made house calls on the side. I was raking in $15.00 per house call off of a dollar battery install. Unfortunately the replacement batteries outlived the Tamagatchi phase. Such is the whim of children.

This irrational concern for the artificial seems strange to me. I have seen girls all out ignore flesh and blood cats for the Catz program, or in the same vein shun real dogs for Sony's Ibo. I would be curious to see a study on the empathetic relationship between people and their real animals versus people and their real animals plus the artificial ones. I would think the latter would be a bit more twisted since digital pets reinforce the "use, abuse, throw away" relationship. *shrug* I guess that is why there are alligators in the sewers, and feral cat colonies in the country - some people just cannot take care of something.

Well enough of memory lane..

modi123
Cleric (level 2)
Neutral Evil (profits on the suffering of children)
Favorite saying: "I rez dead Tamagatchi"

I have a virtual cat in my Linux box

[nherm (889807)]

$ cat

?
?
hey cat theres a mouse overthere go get it
hey cat theres a mouse overthere go get it
asdf
asdf
quit
quit
^C
$

  Stupid cat.

Re:Are they STILL around?

[OzPhIsH (560038)]

I still play with my Pocket Pikachu.

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

Re:Zonk the game reviewer now?

[stlhawkeye (868951)]

I find Zonk's abilities lacking and suggest you give up the attempts at reviewing games or go to a game review site and get a job.

Perhaps you could tell us which publication, web site, or whatever you write for, so we could sample your work, and from it, form a more informed evaluation of the merits of you criticism?

Missing the Point

[LKM (227954)]

Besides that, I've already spent hundreds of dollars on him, I can ACTUALLY pet him, ACTUALLY feed him, and ACTUALLY watch him and his antics as he tries to "play" (read: hump) the cats. So this sounds even dumber than the Tomaguchi game-thingy.

Did it even occur to you that there are people who:

• don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a real animal?
• are living in a place where they can't have a real animal?
• have children who want a dog, but don't want to give them a real animal just yet?
• don't have the time needed to properly take care of a real animal?
• don't feel they can handle the responsibility a real animal brings?

I'm glad that a real animal works so well for you, but it doesn't for many people, and that doesn't make them dumb.