Nintendogs is Nintendo's flagship "non-game" game—an entertainment product designed to appeal to those who currently do not play. Nintendo had a playable (though limited) version on the GDC showroom floor.

A large part of Nintendogs involves training your puppies with vocal commands and building relationships with the digital bundles of joy. Gaming expositions are never the quietest of settings, and building a relationship with a virtual pet takes time, so the GDC demo had neither of these key aspects of the game.

While I couldn't judge the game's interesting voice recognition and AI features, one thing was clear from the GDC demo: the game is unique. Playing with the three virtual puppies was amusing: the dogs behaved playfully but believably. The dogs loved to be petted, often with a preferred region in mind, and were anxious to climb onto my lap...er, lean against the screen.

Interacting with the puppies is intuitive: the stylus is used both to browse the menu (with very limited options on the showroom floor) and play with the puppies. There was interaction among the dogs: if I tossed a ball by flicking the stylus across the screen, they would fight each other to retrieve it. When I threw a towel, the dogs played in a game of tug-a-war. When I picked up the towel I wound up tugging against one of the dogs.

After I had petted and played fetch (and a little jump-rope) the game brought me to a Frisbee-catching competition. The premise was simple: get as many points as possible before time runs out. Players earn points for throwing the Frisbee further, and more if the dog catches it in mid-air. If the dog does not catch the Frisbee, no points are awarded. The premise is no more complex than a Wario Ware Microgame, but it was amusing nonetheless.

Nintendogs isn't for most gamers. From what I've played, it is the latest in interactive distractions—a successor to the Tamagotchis that took casual gamers by storm a few years ago. Unless Nintendo has not improved its voice recognition software since Hey You, Pikachu!, this game should find a market in both Japan and America. From what I've seen so far, Nintendo has done an excellent job of simulating the dog-owning experience. Current gamers may not be interested in Nintendogs, but pet lovers will absolutely eat it up.