Nintendogs: Dalmatian and Friends (Nintendo DS)

Nintendogs is a game for the Nintendo DS which is a portable, handheld games console. The DS (or DS Lite which is the newest version) folds in half to make it compact and when opened it has two screens. The top screen is simply a screen, whereas the bottom screen is a touch screen where you can interact with it using your fingers or the pen stylus. There are a few buttons either side of the bottom screen although the main concept behind Nintendo ...
...intuitively therefore these buttons are rarely used with many games.

The game Nintendogs has been highly publicised on television adverts showing adults enjoying playing with cute puppy dogs!! The Nintendogs game is not actually mine, it was a Christmas present for my 9 year old brother who also got the Nintendo DS console for Christmas. However, since he has had it I have played on it at every opportunity!!

The game ... more

Nintendogs is a game for the Nintendo DS which is a portable, handheld games console. The DS (or DS Lite which is the newest version) folds in half to make it compact and when opened it has two screens. The top screen is simply a screen, whereas the bottom screen is a touch screen where you can interact with it using your fingers or the pen stylus. There are a few buttons either side of the bottom screen although the main concept behind Nintendo is that you can interact with their products physically and intuitively therefore these buttons are rarely used with many games.

The game Nintendogs has been highly publicised on television adverts showing adults enjoying playing with cute puppy dogs!! The Nintendogs game is not actually mine, it was a Christmas present for my 9 year old brother who also got the Nintendo DS console for Christmas. However, since he has had it I have played on it at every opportunity!!

The game is similar to the old virtual pets that were popular when I was younger only more high-tech! The whole purpose of the game is to care for and look after a Puppy (or more than one if you wish!) and to train it to respond to you. The puppies will never grow older so they will always look cute. If you do not care for them properly they may run away.

Nintendogs comes in a few different versions with the only real variants being the breeds of dog available. This particular game is the Dalmation and friends game although there are a wide variety of breeds available on the game including a Shih Tzu, German Shepard, Labrador, Dalmatian etc. The game is generally on sale for £30 although there are some packages where you can get a slightly better deal.

In order to give a complete review of the game I will evaluate each key aspect.

Kennels (buying a dog)

At the kennels you can play with some of the dogs that are already there to experience the different breeds and you can then buy your own dog. Once you have chosen a name for your dog you need to say its name clearly into the microphone in the middle of the console. It asks you to repeat the name three times to ensure that the dog clearly knows its name. I found this easy with my dog as I chose a simple name which can always be said in the same tone (My German Shepard's name is Poop - yes I am very mature!) My brother however tried to call his dog Sammy and it struggled to recognise its name so he ended up calling it Oi!

The dog breeds that you can choose from initially are limited but as you progress in the game you will unlock more breeds to choose from. Dogs cost around £550 in the virtual Nintendog money and initially you will only be able to afford one but as you earn more money you can buy as many as you want.

You can only keep up to three dogs in your house so any more that you buy will have to go into the dog hotel. The Kennels tell you a little bit about the characteristics of each breed which as far as I am aware is pretty accurate. When you select the breed you want you can choose between three puppies - it shows their gender but sometimes there can only be puppies of one gender available.

Care

The leaflet that comes with the game emphasises that the game does not portray the real level and type of care required to own a real dog and should be treated as nothing more than a game! Having said that the game does require you to provide food and water for your puppies which you have to purchase. You can monitor how hungry, thirsty etc your puppies are and if you do not keep on top of this they may run away! Your puppy requires grooming and cleaning which can be done by purchasing items such as a brush and shampoo from the shop. This aspect of the game is quite good and particularly for children it makes them think - for example - long haired puppies require one type of brush whereas shorthaired puppies need another. There are also books which on how to care for your puppy which can be read on the Nintendo screen. Caring for the puppy is strangely addictive and there are a variety of options here so it is quite entertaining.

An important part of caring for your puppy is also playing with them. There are a lot of options here and I think this is a key feature of the game which makes it more interesting than typical "virtual pets". There are various chew toys you can give to your dog and other toys and items that you can throw for them to catch (both in your house or at the park!). There are always new items to be discovered which can be toys for your puppies - one that I was impressed by today is a bubble maker. On the lower screen you see one of those stick things that you get in a bottle of bubbles and by blowing at the microphone it blows bubbles for your puppies to play with. Its so clever how it works and you can blow them in all sorts of ways, with it all seeming very realistic!

Training

Training is another key part of the game and Nintendo have made sure it is an incredibly interactive process. There are books in your supplies section of the game which tell you how to train your puppy and the process involves you using the stylus to encourage the puppy to do something (such as give paw) then you give the voice command. After a few attempts the puppy will eventually associate the voice command with that particular trick. This can be a little frustrating as if you struggle to say the words in the same tone each time then it may not recognise it well, although saying that I have been impressed with how successful it is.

One trained these commands can be used in the obedience contests and can be used to earn your some money! The training is fun although as it involves using voice commands I must say that as an adult I have had some funny looks coming my way as I sat staring at the screen repeating "roll over"!!! It also means that its not something you can just sit down and do whilst other people are watching television as they will get annoyed with you talking. I also found that as I was giving the commands to the game, my poor (real) dog was running round like a madthing trying to desperately meet all of the commands that I was suddenly saying!

Contests

There are three contests that you can enter with your puppy to try and win some money and trophies. These are the disc throwing contest which involves you throwing a frizbee type thing for your puppy to catch, this is strangely addictive and you can take your puppy to the park for some practise. The second is an agility contest where you need to guide your puppy over and through obstacles, you can also practise this one at the gymnasium although I do find that this one gets boring quite quickly. The third is an obedience contest which is where your training comes in as your dogs obedience in regards to your commands will be tested. This one is frustrating more than anything as if your puppy is a bit thick you will end up getting very annoyed with it!

My biggest criticism of the contests is that you can only enter each of your puppies into three contests per day. This seems a little silly on the basis that you are playing the game because it is a GAME!! I suppose it is so that it makes it harder to earn money but it is very annoying that there is no way to get around this.

Walkies

As with real dogs, your puppy needs walking. This part of the game allows you to choose the puppy you want to take for a walk and then select a route. You can pass your route through question marks shown on the map which means that something will happen at that spot (either you find an item or meet another dog). Going for a walk also enables you to visit the park to play fetch or the gymnasium to do some agility training. You could also visit the discount shop and buy your supplies at bargain prices! You dog has a stamina level and this limits the distance you are able to walk - although this does increase the longer you have the puppy.

When walking your puppy is on a lead which you hold using the stylus. Walking is a good way to find items that you can sell in the second hand shop for a bit of cash! After you have taken your dog for a walk it makes you wait 30 minutes before you can take it again - I guess this is fair enough although it can be a little annoying.

Supplies & Shopping

As you buy and find items you build up an array of supplies, there are a wide variety of these ranging from toys, food, water, collars, hats etc. The more you play the games the wider the range of items that is available in the shop. These are quite fun to buy and it gives more of an incentive for earning a lot of money in the contests. Some supplies are essential whereas other are just for enjoyment. You can access your supplies in your house or whilst at the park. Your supplies also contain a range of books which help you learn how to care for and train your puppy for various aspects in the game.
You can go shopping and buy supplies at the main shop, or you can visit the discount shop on one of your walks. You can also sell items that you own but do not want at the second hand shop to get some extra cash although you don't get as much as you brought them for!
I like the range of items available for purchase and the fact that you gradually unlock more items adds more excitement to the game.

Dog Hotel

You can only keep up to three dogs in your house so if you wish to buy additional dogs you will need to put them in the dog hotel. This is a nice idea as it means you can buy plenty of puppies if you want. You can swap the dogs over at any time meaning that you are still able to spend time with all of your puppies.

Bark Mode

This feature enables you to interact with your friends puppies. You can link up to their Nintendo DS (as long as they have the Nintendogs game). This enables your puppies to play together and you can exchange and share supplies. I do feel that it is fairly limited in its appeal but I have seen children absolutely loving it!

Fun & Enjoyment

The idea behind the game is a simple one yet the variety of features make it fun. I enjoy it as an adult and the other adults that I have seen play it have also enjoyed it. I think that children will get the most enjoyment out of it and after all, the game is aimed at them! The game is surprisingly addictive - I sat at the kitchen table earlier with the intention of simply entering my puppy in a contest - an hour later I suddenly looked up to realise that I was sitting there all alone in the dark and had wasted an hour of my life!! But in my opinion a good game is one that I can absorb myself in and not have to think about the real world for a while!

Graphics

The graphics in this game are surprisingly good. Nintendo tend to focus more on interactivity than graphics yet here they have made a real effort. The puppies look very cute and their movements are incredibly realistic. The scenery and background are fairly limited but the main feature is the puppy and the supplies which are both very well done. For example when you put a water bowl down and the puppies go to drink from it - it looks just like my real dog drinking and moving.

Sound

The sound is also quite good with this game, the puppies make an wide range of barking, growling and yelping noises which are very realistic and quite adorable!! The background music is quite limited and I do find that the music during the contests is quite annoying so I tend to turn it down. When you speak commands, they get played back so that you can hear them. The other sounds such as when the puppies eat and drink are also impressive and a lot of effort has been put into getting these just right.

Interactivity

The game is predominantly played using the stylus with very occasional use of the buttons. The stylus is used to interact with your puppy - to touch it, stroke it, move it, encourage it and train it. It is also used to navigate through the menus in the game. The other key method of interaction is through voice commands. As mentioned above, this does limit the places that you can play the game as I don't think there are many people brave enough to sit at the bus stop or on the train talking to a virtual puppy!!

The Good Points

• Fun and addictive
• Enjoyable for all ages
• Good graphics
• Good sound quality
• High level of interactivity
• Good range of features
• Range of dog breeds to choose from
• Dog hotel enables you to buy lots of puppies!
• You can interact with your friends puppies.
• Puppies require a realistic level of care
• Menus easy to navigate

The Bad Points

• You can only enter 3 contests a day per puppy
• The game is only set for one player per Nintendo DS so if you have your own puppy, you will be spending the other persons money.
• Voice commands are required to train the puppy limiting where you can play it
• limited options for houses

Overall

I do quite like this game but I think it has limited appeal, after the novelty has worn off I doubt I will be quite so addicted to it. My 9 year old brother loves it and it is definitely a great one for children as it will appeal to both boys and girls. I enjoy playing it on my brothers DS but wouldn't bother buying one myself. Although saying that, I would definitely recommend this game for children as they will love it and it is fun to play as an adult too if you can nick it off a child!! So 4 out of 5 stars from me as there are some areas that could be improved but generally it is pretty good. 

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