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Review

Nintendogs

By JOSH KORR
Published September 12, 2005

Company: Nintendo

System: Nintendo DS

Price: $29.99

Grade: B

There's an old episode of The Simpsons in which Bart gives blood to Mr. Burns, who rewards the boy with the gift of a giant Olmec Indian head statue. When Homer sees the monstrosity, he says, "Marge, what does it do?" Marge answers, "It doesn't do anything." Homer doesn't believe her: "Maaarge, really, what does it do?"

I felt for Homer after playing the pet simulation Nintendogs. My dog was way cuter than Xt'Tapalatakettle, but I couldn't help wondering what I was missing.

Nintendogs falls somewhere between Tamagotchis and The Sims - far more lifelike than the former, not nearly as complex as the latter. You visit a kennel and buy a puppy, then take care of it.

Doesn't sound like much. But the Nintendo DS' much-hyped unique features, a touch screen and microphone, make for an undeniably cool premise.

You record yourself saying the puppy's name and repeat it until the dog recognizes your voice. You run the stylus from the top of the puppy's head downward so it sits, and record yourself saying "sit down" until it follows the command. You flick the stylus up and quickly lift it off the screen to throw a tennis ball. You pet the dog's tummy until its hind legs waggle in unleashed happiness. You show your friend how when you blow into the microphone, bubbles come out of the bubble toy on the screen.

And then you give a shrug and a half-smile and tell your friend there's not much else to do. But see, you're actually blowing the bubbles! See?

The problem is the DS itself. While Nintendogs couldn't exist on any other system, the DS doesn't seem powerful enough to give the game more than a few glances worth of depth. You teach the dog some tricks, take it on walks - in front of a repeating background of a sparsely detailed neighborhood - enter it in three types of competitions, wash it, feed it, pet it.

Then you're ready for the game part of the game - but there isn't anymore. There are no complex emotional matrices like in The Sims; you just have to make sure the dog isn't hungry, thirsty or dirty. The dogs don't grow, so there's no real goal beyond getting more points in the Frisbee competition.

Of course, if kids can show devotion to a Tamagotchi's handful of gray pixels, they'll go nuts over the lifelike snuffle and sneeze when they pet a Nintendogs puppy's nose.

But those who have difficulty getting attached to a hunk of plastic may find that "Isn't that cute!" quickly turns into "What does it do?"

- JOSH KORR, Times staff writer

[Last modified September 9, 2005, 11:00:05]