Nintendogs : Initial Impressions
I mentioned yesterday that I would post my thoughts about Nintendogs for the Nintendo DS, but I didn't get a chance to really try the game out last night. Been working late all week so didn't get home until after 9pm yesterday, then had to work on a menu for Chabelita Mariscos restaurant (plug: really good Mexican food in Chino, CA - 3746 Riverside Dr.) until after midnight. When I finally had the time to start messing around with the 'dogs, sleep finally took hold of me. I did get a chance to play more of it today at lunch though.Such a weird game. Actually, it's not really a game as there's no real end goal or "finish," it's more of a puppy simulator. Upon boot, you're shown a dog kennel where three puppies are running around that you can play with. You use the DS stylus to "pet" the puppies, which respond to your affection by closing their eyes and making puppy sounds, among other things. You can then "buy" a puppy with the limited funds you start out with. Since I have the "Chihuahua & Friends" version of Nintendogs (there are two other versions), my initial choices were limited to choosing between Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. I chose the chihuahua that looked most like my parent's dog and took him home. Once there, the game's tutorial leads you through naming your new puppy (Takoyama), teaching him his name through the DS microphone, and a trick (sit) which was done by placing the stylus on top of the puppy's head and drawing it downward in a quick motion. You start off with a couple of toys for your puppy including bubbles which you can blow at him (Tako was afraid of them) and a tennis ball you can bounce around (he really liked this, and would chase it around the room). I bought a frisbee at the virtual store and walked Tako to the park to see if he would respond to it. At first
he ignored the frisbee but after a couple of throws he really got into it and started jumping for it as it passed overhead and would then bring it back to me. I was surprised at how pleased I was when he started doing this. There are competitions you can take your puppy to once it's good enough so I think he's going to do well in the frisbee event. I walked him back home and on the way he pooped which I then had to clean up by clicking on it with the stylus. Once we arrived back, I gave him some water and food (now I need to buy more).In Japan this game is huge and it seems to be a hit here in America, too. I can see why - it's way cute and easy to pick up and play in short sittings and doesn't require an innate mastery of all the buttons and interfaces of the DS. In fact, you can pretty much play the game just using the stylus. On top of that, the puppies are incredibly lifelike in their movements and behavior and there are a ton of accessories and toys to buy them and discoveries to make when training them. Yeah, I realize this game sounds totally gay, and it is to some extent (heh), but there's something totally soothing and Zen about it that makes me want to continue playing it. I'll post more impressions as I get deeper into the game, so this will be somewhat of a "rolling review." Hopefully, I'll be able to play the other DS titles I have - Tiger Woods DS and Zookeeper - and give you impressions next week, if I can just stop playing Mario Kart DS and World of Warcraft, that is.
2 Comments:
How much is that doggie in the window? I have to admit, the Tako is quite adorable. A little hard to train, but watching him play with bubbles was altogther too cute!
Um, uh....oh.
When do you get to shoot stuff?
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