Nintendogs; Dachsund and freinds review
I picked up my copy of the Nintendo DS game “Nintendogs; Dachsund and Freinds” a few days ago
Dachsund gives you the choices of the following dogs;
Miniature Dachsund
Pug
Shih Tzu
Beagle
Golden Retriever
Siberian Husky
I have now spent a few days with my new puppy, a female Siberian Husky named Chiana…
first impressions; the animation is eerily lifelike, sure there are the occasional polygon collision errors, like the fact that Chiana’s lower jaw apparently has the ability to be out-of-phase with normal matter, thus allowing her to eat/drink from the edge of the water bowl, her lower jaw passing thru the side of the bowl…
apparently she can control this at will, as it doesn’t seem to affect her fetching skills, no idea what evolutionary advantage a “phasing lower jaw” would give her…
anyway, onto the game, you start out picking your puppy (just one to start, but you can have up to 5) and teaching it it’s name (speaking the name repeatedly, then scratching the dog’s head for positive reinforcement), once the dog knows it’s name, you teach it the first command, to come when called…
…apparently, the dog can tell the difference between being scratched with the stylus, or your finger, using your finger makes the dog happy much faster (i imagine the game senses the larger contact point of your finger/fingernail and responds accordingly)
Chiana, in true Husky fashion, is very independent, and will come when called…when she damn well feels like it, tapping the touch screen to get her attention works just as well though, i know she knows the command, because she will respond to it, she just choses not to (unless of course, i happen to be proffering a toy…)
wait a minute, who’s training who here exactly…
so far she knows the following commands;
Come here (whenever you’re damn good and ready, or if you feel like it)
Sit
Shake (she proffers her paw to shake, rather cute actually)
Spin (chase her tail)
she’s in the process of learning;
Jump up
lie down
roll over
ignore me
yeah, walk away
now flip me off
good dog!
no reaction on the following commands
speak
play dead
attack
kill
(yes, the last two were jokes)
you interact with your pup thru the touch screen, using the stylus or your finger to scratch/rub/brush/wash her, and to throw objects for her to fetch
the game generates unique personalities for every dog, that manifest themselves in many ways, for example, Chiana loves the tennis ball and frisbee, oftentimes pouncing on them like a cat or pummeling them with her paws, yet she was mortally terrified of a simple stick (timidly approached it with her tail between her legs and whimpering and shaking in obvious fear), and she was initially afraid of, but now loves the bubble blower wand (which you use by blowing into the microphone to produce bubbles for the pup to chase)
she could care less about an empty tissue box or plastic juice bottle, but loved carrying around the doggie photo and broken disposable camera (these are things the dog finds as “gifts” when you go out for walks around the city, apparently there are other, legitimate toys to find as well)
when you go out for walks, the dog will often find presents for you (see above) or meet other dogs in the game, some it likes, some it doesn’t, Chiana likes the German Shepherd, Logan, but is afraid of the tiny Chihuaua, Lucy, go figure, i thought she’d see Lucy as a snack…
just make sure to pick up after your dog when it leaves…presents, or the other trainers will yell at you for soiling the city streets (again, who’s training who exactly here…)
you earn money by entering your puppy in competitions (Disc, Agility, Obedience), Chiana is a menace in the Disc competition, haven’t yet tried the agility competition yet, and i’m dreading the Obedience competition, perhaps i should try that comp. after i’ve saved up enough for a more “eager to please” dog like a Golden Retriever, or Beagle…