In the August of 2005, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS' best-selling game, Nintendogs. While I found it fun for a time, it became old after a while. I still have it sitting on my shelf, but I feel it needs something more. Here are some ways I think the next Nintendogs could be made into a more complete package.
More customization options. In any version of Nintendogs, there are many ways to customize your pup with accessories and such. However, little could be done with the dog's surroundings. You could change the backgrounds by paying huge amounts of cash, but it had no effect other then being different to look at. How about some additions to the dog's play area? A bed or something would be nice. No matter how much cash you have, your dogs never have any choice but to snooze on the floor.
Further customization such as tables and furniture would be nice, too. This would help make things all more realistic. Who has a huge open indoor area for their dogs to romp around in? Nobody I know. All my friends like to have furniture to work with.
More ways to train your dogs. In the original Nintendogs, all you can do is teach your fuzzy pal tricks. How about actually training him? I'm talking obedience. No dog's a perfect angel the second you get it! How about punishing them for being bad? If your dog scratches the furniture or pees on the new rug, there should be some way to negatively impact them to teach right and wrong.
Speaking of peeing on the rug, ever notice how the virtual pups always seem to wait until their walks to do their business? If you leave a dog inside all day, they're gonna whiz on the carpet no matter what! Training your dog to want to go for walks to relieve themselves instead of piddling in the corner would be a key step in getting a new pup.
More variety in during walks. When you talk a dog for a walk in real life, you run across many things. Neighbours, strangers, other animals and much more. None of this happens in Nintendogs. All you see are other dog walkers and the occasional pile of trash. How about passing by the occasional squirrel once in a while? Your dog would naturally try to chase after the little critter, and it would be a great lesson in obedience to keep him away from the wildlife.
What if you're walking about and come across something new? A fallen tree, a broken statue, something along those lines. Depending on the situation, your path may need to be altered in order to avoid the obstruction.
So much more can be done to make the next Nintendogs something a lot more substantial than the fairly short-lived original game. This is just a start, and I'm sure there a literally hundreds more things I haven't even thought of. With some work, Nintendogs could become a huge franchise, and not just some game you play for a month and stick on the shelf.
The Duck Has Spoken.
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