Chittagong
Gold Member
To my great surprise, Nintendogs was playable today on GDC showfloor, on the Nintendo counter, along with fresh juice. So, a free HDTV and a surprise Nintendo first-party game both within one day - not bad at all for the first day!
Here are my first impressions:
- The demo build was based on the Japanese version but with a limited functionality
- In the build you got to interact with three dogs simultaneously
- Control was with stylus only. Rubbing the dogs or items, or going to menu.
- Functionality included only one out of five features - "Items"
- "Items" lets you choose out of a variety of items the one you want to use to interact with the dogs
- The items included
+ Frisbee - could be thrown so that the dogs would chase it. While you are holding the frisbee, the dogs follow it with their eyes
+ Balloon - throw it in, see it bouncing around and eventually popping
+ Towel - a piece of cloth is always fun with dogs, they'll try and tear it from you. You have to pull it towards yourself, then.
+ Rope - just like kids, the dogs like to jump with the rope. Just swing it around.
- Hence, the core gameplay in the demo build consisted of touching the dogs or interacting with them using some of the items.
- The dogs reacted very nicely and seemed really to be there
- The graphics, especially animation, is really nice
- The Nintendo rep didn't know much. He hadn't heard of three different versions of the game, nor did he know if Nintendogs was he real name.
- The Nintendo rep suggested that you should play around the dogs to find the one you like the most, and then focus on that one. I didn't really get to know what would happen then gameplay-wise.
Overall, Nintendogs made me smile. Much the same way as my first encounter with the DS in E3 2004. Interacting is so fun. I have pretty serious concerns about the depth of the game. The "Items" feature, which was one out of five main features, seemed to be exhausted pretty quickly. The game isn't - contrary to my initial belief and hope - a dog simulator where you would have your own virtual pet to feed, play with etc. Instead, it is sort of a minigame collection with dogs.
Here are my first impressions:
- The demo build was based on the Japanese version but with a limited functionality
- In the build you got to interact with three dogs simultaneously
- Control was with stylus only. Rubbing the dogs or items, or going to menu.
- Functionality included only one out of five features - "Items"
- "Items" lets you choose out of a variety of items the one you want to use to interact with the dogs
- The items included
+ Frisbee - could be thrown so that the dogs would chase it. While you are holding the frisbee, the dogs follow it with their eyes
+ Balloon - throw it in, see it bouncing around and eventually popping
+ Towel - a piece of cloth is always fun with dogs, they'll try and tear it from you. You have to pull it towards yourself, then.
+ Rope - just like kids, the dogs like to jump with the rope. Just swing it around.
- Hence, the core gameplay in the demo build consisted of touching the dogs or interacting with them using some of the items.
- The dogs reacted very nicely and seemed really to be there
- The graphics, especially animation, is really nice
- The Nintendo rep didn't know much. He hadn't heard of three different versions of the game, nor did he know if Nintendogs was he real name.
- The Nintendo rep suggested that you should play around the dogs to find the one you like the most, and then focus on that one. I didn't really get to know what would happen then gameplay-wise.
Overall, Nintendogs made me smile. Much the same way as my first encounter with the DS in E3 2004. Interacting is so fun. I have pretty serious concerns about the depth of the game. The "Items" feature, which was one out of five main features, seemed to be exhausted pretty quickly. The game isn't - contrary to my initial belief and hope - a dog simulator where you would have your own virtual pet to feed, play with etc. Instead, it is sort of a minigame collection with dogs.
