by Andy Markison

Tamagotchi may have started the virtual pet concept several years ago, but Nintendo has pushed the envelope with their virtual pet (or puppy) simulator; Nintendogs. If you have always wanted a dog but for one reason or another decided against adopting one (lack of space, lack of funds, lack of commitment) then perhaps Nintendogs is just the thing for you. Nintendogs is unlike other video games in that it doesn't fall into the hard-core gamer's typical idea of fun. There aren't really high scores to break, the accuracy and quickness of your button mashing won't help you succeed and there isn't anything to fight. No, indeed Nintendogs is more a relaxed videogame for the more casual gamer.

Most of the game is played using the stylus (the Nintendo DS has a touch screen) and the microphone, in fact in all the time that I've ever played this game (and I've played it a lot) I think I've only used the d-pad (directional control pad) to maneuver the map when planning my dog walks.

You start off the game with a limited amount of money and a kennel where you can go to adopt your first dog. You'll be limited to what you can initially adopt depending on the version of the game you purchase (there are three versions of the game available, Dachshund & Friends, Chihuahua & Friends, and Labrador Retriever & Friends). I purchased the Chihuahua & Friends version so that I could adopt my little Chihuahua first. Eventually all dogs are available on all versions of the game, you just have to work to unlock them all through competitions and training.

Once you adopt your new puppy (which will never grow into a full grown dog) you bring him or her home and teach your new addition their name. This is done using the microphone in the Nintendo DS. It's a little odd when you first start to talk to your Nintendo, but eventually you get used to it. After a few tries your puppy will eventually learn his or her name (my Chihuahua is named Bob, no bonus points for creativity or lack of it in this game) and will respond when you call him (or at least hopefully he will). The more you interact with your dog the more your dog will become attached to you (neglect him and he may temporarily run away). After a little while you move onto teaching your to do simple tricks, the first is 'sit', you'll move onto 'lie down', 'beg' and other commands later. You need to reinforce the tricks even after your dog has learned them and certain breeds are more likely to be more obedient than others and individual personalities further affect how easy your dog will be to train.

After a little while your dog will get tired of training for the day and the game will prompt you that you have to wait til the next day to continue training. This may be a good time to take your dog for a walk around your virtual block. On his walk your dog may encounter other dogs, find presents for you (like a box of tissues, a stick, or perhaps an empty juice bottle) or go to the park to play. Your dog will also do his 'business' during your walk and you are provided with a little virtual doggie doody bag to clean up after your virtual pooper. You'll occasionally run across garbage on your walks that your dog will be tempted to eat, a quick tug on his leash should drag him away from the trash before he gets a nibble, but if you are too slow and he grabs a mouthfull he'll be sluggish on his walk for a few seconds while he is sick after eating the unhealthy garbage.

On your return perhaps you'll want to throw a tennis ball around or give your dog a brush and a bath (wait too long and he'll get filthy and you'll see fleas jumping off of him as he lays there in front of you).

You may also enter your dog in one of the three offered contests, disc throwing competition, agility trials or obedience competition. Place in the top three and a cash prize is awarded and your dog is upgraded to the next level of that contest for the next time you enter. The prizes increase in amount each level and you can use the earned funds for toys, food, accessories, a new apartment, and most importantly new dogs (you can have a maximum of 3 in your apartment and 8 total including dogs you put in your dog hotel).

There are a couple of things that I would like to see in a sequel to Nintendogs however; first off, an aging dog would be a nice addition, the perpetual puppy, while cute, would be much more interesting if it went through a natural life cycle, aging, losing some of his or her vigor, and eventually dying. I would also like to see the dogs be able to get sick and require a veteranarian's care. As it stands the dogs are robust and ever healthy, a nice trait in reality if you can have a dog that's never sick, but adding health issues would make this a deeper game and could be educational as well. Finally, the ability to breed dogs would be an interesting twist. Nurturing a mother through pregnancy and having a litter would be a great addition to an already fun simulation of dog life.

Overall Nintendogs is a great leisurely game for someone who loves dogs and would like to experience some of the joy that can come from owning a puppy. Of course, a video game can't take the place of a real life dog, but it's nice to play and pretend to have a Dachshund, a Pug, a German Shepherd, a Shiba Inu and a wealth of other dogs that you could never maintain together in real life unless you had a farm or your own kennel. Nintendogs is a great diversion and can be a terrific time killer for someone who finds joy in a little wet nose.

Check out Nintendogs at Amazon.com
Nintendogs - Labrador Retriever & Friends
Nintendogs - Chihuahua & Friends
Nintendogs - Dachshund & Friends

Nintendo DS System at Amazon.com
Nintendo DS - System (Silver)

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