The Video Game Critic

Alright, so I bought my godson's little sister a copy of Nintendogs-Dalmations for Christmas.  I did it because I thought "Hey, this is the perfect girl-game to go along with the pink Nintendo DS Lite I bought her for her birthday."  I was right apparently, or at least, only partly right.

Anyway, I ended up playing with it a good bit with her.  I figured it would just be your usual Tamagotchi (pocket pet), but I was surprised to find it was much much more.  It is probably the single best pet simulation I've ever encountered.

All a Tamagotchi ever did was b#$%^ at you when it needs something, and maybe through a wire, interact with someone else's Tamagotchi.  Nintendogs goes a lot farther.  You interact with the dog.  You pet it with the stylus, you teach it its name with the microphone.  You use the stylus to teach it tricks, and then speak the name of the trick into the microphone.  After doing that an adequate number of times, the dog learns to recognize your voice commands.  There are a huge number of toys that the dog can play with, as well as accessories for your dog.  When you take the dog on walks, it finds presents along the way, and interacts with other dogs in the community.  Bark mode lets you wirelessly connect with other Nintendog owners, so your dogs and theirs can play together.  You are able to go to parks and teach the dog to interact properly with the various toys it finds, particularly frisbee training.  You can also agility train the dog at the local gym.

None of it is just for the novelty of it either.  There are several competitions you can enter your dog into.  Obediance competitions allow you to show off your dogs tricks that he's learned, and demonstrate that he's learned to trust and obey you.  Frisbee competitions allow you to show how the dog has become more athletic, and agility competitions allow you to showcase more of your dogs athletic ability as learned in the local gym.

If all of this weren't enough, every breed has both physical and personality characteristics, and every individual dog is so different from the other dogs, even in the same breed, that no two dogs out of the several I've made are anything alike personality-wise.

I realize that this game is not the typical game, and that I will eventually lose interest in it once I've figured out all of its nuances.  But I am more than impressed at just how realistic this game is.  It is hands-down the finest SIM game I've ever seen.  It has a level of polish that puts it above most game releases on any platform.  And it hands down makes the best use of all of the Nintendo DS' unique features.  Considering that I had an automatic hatred of this game, I am very very impressed that it has instead won me over.

Sounds neat, except that I have a REAL dog that does all of the same things.   I would feel like a bad "parent" if I was "petting" my Nintendog while my real dog was lying on the floor.

Though if they ever make a Welsh corgi Nintendogs, I would have a hard time resisting...

[QUOTE=Dennis]Sounds neat, except that I have a REAL dog that does all of the same things.   I would feel like a bad "parent" if I was "petting" my Nintendog while my real dog was lying on the floor.[/QUOTE]

I realize that.  I am just amazed that quality of the game really.  When my jaded self starts believing the dog is real, that's saying something.

I've gotten to the point where I am teaching the dog some really advanced tricks.  To dance, breakdance, backflip, bunny hop, etc.  It's both absurd and hilarious.  This thing has a ton of depth and I am geeking out over it right now.

[QUOTE=Dennis]Though if they ever make a Welsh corgi Nintendogs, I would have a hard time resisting...[/QUOTE]

That dog is unlockable in the game   It becomes available once you gain 2000 owner points (very easy to do).

The game stops being fun after like 2 weeks and then just gets annoying like all digital pets.  I was hyped as anyone for this game and it an amazing tech demo for the DS but it's light in actual playability. 

Maybe so, but if it provides me with 2 weeks of gameplay, then it's done more than many other titles I've purchased in a while

Maybe so, but if it provides me with 2 weeks of gameplay, then it's done more than many other titles I've purchased in a while

[/QUOTE]

And it really was great fun for 2 weeks, but it really is just like all those other pet sim games.

And it really was great fun for 2 weeks, but it really is just like all those other pet sim games.

[/QUOTE]

In terms of how long it is fun?

Because other pet SIM games I've played are nothing compared to this level of detail.  Besides the fact that other pet SIM games don't have the features the DS provides.  I don't remember ever being able to teach a dog commands or his name using his voice before.

I think the key here is to have somebody to play this with. When I bought my wife her DS lite, I bought two different Nintendogs (with different sets of dogs) because I thought she would like it (I probably would have done better if they made Nintencats, I think). She hasn't really ever gotten into it, and although I enjoyed the clever software design, I couldn't get into it too much myself then.

She did like Brain Age, and so we spent quite a bit of time with it. Certain DS titles really work well if you have somebody else around with a DS. Tetris is another good one in that respect (I actually don't like playing it online... too many @#$$@#$@ elite players that dominate me).

-Rob

www.therobzone.com

I feel bad for the little girl, seems somewhat dishonest to steal a game and a DS just to play nintendogs.  Poor child.  

[QUOTE=ActRaiser]I feel bad for the little girl, seems somewhat dishonest to steal a game and a DS just to play nintendogs.  Poor child.   [/QUOTE]

Ha!  Well, I don't want her Pink DS Lite.  I'd rather be caught dead, frankly.  I live too close to the Montrosse area in Houston to be flying dishonest flags about my sexuality.

I bought my own copy rather than taking hers.  I bought the Nintendogs-Daschund version, because I like weiner dogs.  Again, no correlation to sexuality is intended by that statement.