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3DS

Japan

Nintendogs + Cats

by James Charlton - January 9, 2011, 6:17 am EST
Total comments: 8

Those are some cute dogs. Plus cats.

A rather short and simple demo of the next iteration of Nintendogs was shown at Nintendo World. As you’d expect, many of the other people in the line next to me were parents with their kids, who couldn’t wait to stroke a new virtual puppy (or kitten).

As a long-since-retired Nintendog owner (R.I.P. Max), I instantly recognised the interface, which aside from some minor tweaks, is an exact copy of the original game.

Before playing this, I wondered how they would get around the fact that the animals can only be displayed on the top 3D screen, as having them on the regular 2D touch screen would kind of ruin the whole point of it being on the 3DS. The answer was simple, a real time silhouette of your pet is displayed; when touched, a virtual hand strokes the corresponding point on the animal on the 3D screen.


Three dog/cat pairs were available to choose from in this demo, I went for the Husky/stripy ginger cat team. As in the previous games, you click on the pet you want to interact with, then click the hand icon to call them over. First, I called over my husky, (adorable and awesome) and I gave him a good stroking, which he loved. Animation has improved somewhat, as have the textures; there was a noticeable fluffiness to the puppy that wasn’t in the DS version. After throwing a ball and a boomerang around for him, I moved onto the cat.

Okay, reality check here: as a cat and dog owner, I must say this next aspect of Nintendogs + Cats is highly unrealistic. I clicked the cat and called him over, where he immediately came running towards me and sat down. How many cats do you know that do that?

Anyway, interaction was handled in the same way and the animations were suitable for a cat. My husky friend also sniffed the cat while I was playing with it. After play time was over, I decided to give them a quick make over; I found a nice straw hat for the dog and a great flower for the cat.


One final feature that the Nintendo rep was keen to point out to me was face-licking. If you move your face close to the screen, the 3DS internal camera recognises this and your puppy will begin to lick your face. Together with the 3D saliva spilling out the screen, I must say it was quite a convincing effect.

In my last few minutes with the game, I threw a tennis ball around and watched the animals interact together playfully; it was all completely adorable and sure to be popular with the Nintendogs DS audience.

Talkback

Ryan CannonJanuary 09, 2011

Question, I haven't played a Nintendo 3DS yet, but I have heard that you obviously need to hold the DS in a "sweet spot" for the 3D effect to work. does putting you face close to the screen so your dog can lick your face mess up the effect, or does the 3D effect adjust, or something else?

famicomplicatedJames Charlton, Associate Editor (Japan)January 09, 2011

Quote from: Ryan

Question, I haven't played a Nintendo 3DS yet, but I have heard that you obviously need to hold the DS in a "sweet spot" for the 3D effect to work. does putting you face close to the screen so your dog can lick your face mess up the effect, or does the 3D effect adjust, or something else?

A valid question!
You don't have you squish your face against the screen for it to work, merely moving forwards activates it.
Imagine if you were taking a picture using the inwards-facing camera of a DSi, I'd compare it to if your face filled the screen on that, then it would work.
As for it messing with the 3D sweet spot, if you did move too far forward, yes it would affect it, but as I mentioned you don't need to be that close.
It is tricky staying in the perfect 3D zone sometimes, but not in a slow-paced game like this.

Mop it upJanuary 09, 2011

Am I to assume that every version will have dogs and cats?

famicomplicatedJames Charlton, Associate Editor (Japan)January 10, 2011

Quote from: Mop

Am I to assume that every version will have dogs and cats?

Yes, the 3 versions of the game will have different combos of dogs and cats.
Husky team FTW!

Shorty McNostrilJanuary 10, 2011

Any pugs? 

famicomplicatedJames Charlton, Associate Editor (Japan)January 10, 2011

Quote from: Shorty

Any pugs? 

TBC! :)

TheBlackCatJanuary 11, 2011

Reminds me of a sign a saw in a store once:

"Unattended children will be given a cappuccino and a free kitten"

TJ SpykeJanuary 11, 2011

I don't know if I will get it. I bought the first game on day one, but got bored after a few weeks. It's a good thing they couldn't die since my dog would have starved after awhile.

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3DS

Game Profile

Nintendogs + Cats Box Art

Genre Simulation
Developer Nintendo

Worldwide Releases

na: Nintendogs + Cats
Release Mar 27, 2011
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Nintendogs + Cats
Release Feb 26, 2011
PublisherNintendo
eu: Nintendogs + Cats
Release Mar 25, 2011
PublisherNintendo
Rating3+
aus: Nintendogs + Cats
Release Mar 31, 2011
PublisherNintendo
RatingGeneral
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