Introduction
Nintendogs is arguably one of the most successful titles on the Nintendo DS. Some examples of it success are how only one week into its American release 15% of everyone with a DS had purchased the game and in Europe the game increased DS sales by 700%. From these figures it’s not hard to be impressed at how popular this game is but as we all know a lot of products don’t live up to the media hype. So is Nintendogs one of these games? Read on and find out.


Gameplay
The gameplay in Nintendogs is incredibly simple yet still pretty deep at the same time. However the one major complaint that arises after a weeks play is that there is just not enough things to do in the game to keep you motivated to play it. No doubt many players will find this to be a title they keep coming back to, but if you find other simulation games bore you quickly don’t expect this title to convert or amaze you.

When you first start up the game you will be taken to the Kennel to buy your first dog. Only 6 dogs will be available to you at the start depending on which version you bought but eventually all breeds will become available. After you have chosen a puppy you are sent to your digital home to spend some time with your new pet. Eventually when the dog is comfortable enough around you the game will ask you to name him and take you through a small tutorial where you are taught basic interactions like how to feed your dog and make him do tricks. From the very beginning of the game it becomes very apparent that Nintendogs was built to show off what the Nintendo DS is all about, offering new kinds of game play that cannot be found anywhere else.

In the game the touch screen is used for basic interactions with your dog, whether it be petting him or using one of the many items in the game, like tennis balls and Frisbees. Then when it comes to commands like calling your dog or getting him to break dance you simply have to call out the word you assigned to each action and almost every time your dog will properly interpret it. Personally I was really amazed at the accuracy of the DS microphone considering how it’s only a pin prick hole.

After the tutorial is all done you are given free reign to everything the game has to offer. This essentially boils down to walking your dog, entering one of the 3 competitions and playing, feeding or teaching your dog at home. In writing it sounds very limited and it essentially is. As a result players will see most of what the game has to offer in only a few sessions of play.

However despite being overly limited in what you can do the game play options that are available are very well executed. From the competitions to taking your dog for a walk, everything has an innocent and appealing charm to it. Maybe when the almost inevitable Nintendogs 2 comes around the developers will keep what has already been done intact and focus on filling out the amount of game play options because that is really the games only major flaw.