SO Adorable!

Ok, I am a 31 year old mother with a Master's degree and I am a Nintendogs addict. The Nintendogs games come in 3 different varieties and each have unique breeds that accompany that particular game. That said, if you "meet" another breed while playing with a game link you are than able to access that breed as well. More on that later.


I chose the Chihuahua and Friends as my starting breeds. This game is extremely interactive and fully utilizes all of the unique features of the DS system.


You begin with a set amount of money to purchase your first puppy. You can play with the puppies by using the touch screen to pet and tease the puppies, are told about their personalities and gender before purchasing your dog. You can have up to 3 puppies in your "home" and another 5 in the kennel at one time but you'll have to earn money to buy more than one dog.


The game is in real time so your puppy will need to eat, drink, sleep, be groomed and go out throughout the day. Not to worry though, you can either take it to a Dog Motel Kennel, devote time each day or just leave it and forget it because though the puppies get hungry, thirsty and filthy they won't die or actually age.


Once you have it home you name it by calling the name you have chosen out loud a number of times until the puppy signals that it recognizes your voice and it's name. Using your voice and the touch pad you will are able to train your puppy to do tricks, come when called, let you rub and pet it and play with you.


You have the options of taking your puppy for walks, to a park, to a gymnasium, a thrift store, a pet supply shop or just around the neighborhood. Your puppy will gain stamina and will be able to take longer walks as time goes by. This is important because these activities will help you earn money to buy supplies and eventually more dogs. Around the neighborhood there are "gifts" that your dog will find that you can keep and use with your dog, or sell at the thrift store. These are things like balls, bows, collars, or junk like empty juice cartons. They are interactive as you can play with the balls and dress up your pup. You will also meet other generated dogs with owners who like to dole out advice while your dogs get to know one another. (These generated dogs are not the same as other player's dogs, I promise, I will come back to that.)


The park and the gym are places to train your dog for events. There are three events you can enter your dog into, up to 3 in a given real time 24 hours. There is the obedience event, which you practice at home with commands. There is the disk event that you teach your dog in the park, think frisbee. Then there is the endurance competition in which you take your pup to the gym and teach it to run through tunnels, jump hurdles and the like. By placing in an event competition you earn money and move up to the next competition level.


Ok, back to "meeting" other dogs and accessing new breeds. The DS has wireless linking capability to which you can link to other players to send messages and/or pictures and to play 2+ player games. There is a "bark mode" that allows your DS to seek out other Nintendog player within a 30 foot radius. You can then take your dog for a walk and meet up with the other player and their dog. Once you have met you can chat with the player and will now be able to access that player's dog breed, not ALL breeds, but the one that you are meeting. You will be able to put them on your "friends list and exchange your found treasures. My daughter also has a DS with the Lab and friends, so we were able to access each others breeds systematically this way. That is the gist of playing Nintendogs.


The graphics are advanced as this game was created to utilize and showcase all of the DS capabilities. The puppies are adorable and interaction is simple. It allows the player to learn all of the features of the DS which carry over to other games. It is suitable for all ages and addictive. However, once you master the game there isn't much else to do other than start again with another puppy.