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Issue: 195
Page: 42
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warned! It's BIG!)
Text: "Man's Best Friend: With
Nintendogs set to make its mark on North America, we've documented the first 11
days in the life of a DS dog."
Page: 43
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warned! It's BIG!)
Text:
Top: "Whether you're male or
female, young or old, adopting a puppy is a big responsibility. Puppies need a
lot of love--otherwise, you'll end up with an unhappy, unresponsive pooch. The
same rule holds true in Nintendogs. In fact, raising a pup on the DS is eerily
similar to raising one in real life. It behaves the same and needs the same
things, but most importantly, it reacts to your behavior and instruction. Having
recently raised a puppy in the real world, I turned to my DS to take a stab at
raising a digital doggie."
"Day 1: Lucy, You're Home! Nintendogs is
better described as an experience than as a game. Even before you play the game,
you must decide which version to play--Lab & Friends, Chihuahua & Friends or
Dachshund & Friends--much like being at a kennel and deciding which dog to buy.
When I fired up Nintendogs: Dachshund Version on my DS for the first time, I
found myseld knocking at the door of a dog kennel. Inside, there were six breeds
available for adoption: miniature dachshund, golden retriever, beagle, pug,
Siberian husky and shih tzu--and a seemingly limitless number of dog types
within each breed. After much deliberation, I chose to adopt a female miniature
dachshund. She seemed to connect with me more than any of the other dogs at the
kennel, and I just couldn't say no to those long, floppy ears.
I was excited to introduce my puppy to her new
home. When we arrived home, however, she just sniffed around nervously. The only
thing that seemed to put her at ease was the sound of my voice, so it seemed as
good a time as any to give my dog a name. I thought I'd try out 'Lucy' and see
how she reacted. I said the name a few times into the DS microphone, and Lucy
started to notice that I was addressing her. We were communicating for the first
time, and Lucy was enjoying it. I rewarded her by gently petting her head with
the stylus. Before I knew it, she was feeling right at home. I provided her with
food and water that I had purchased from the pet-supply store, then left her
alone for a while so she could get to know her surroundings."
Brown Box: "Good Dog! Though
Nintendogs behave similarly to real-life dogs in almost every respect, there are
some behavioral patterns that make sense only on the DS. For instance, rewarding
Lucy is often as easy as petting her with the stylus. Milo, my pup in the real
world, isn't quite as receptive to the plastic stick."
Page: 44
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warned! It's BIG!)
Text: "Day 2: The Student Becomes the
Teacher: Whereas in most video games you learn as you progress, in
Nintendogs you're doing the teaching. If you are clear, concise and consistent
when communicating with your puppy, it will respond to you. During our second
day together, I decided to try my hand at teaching Lucy some very basic
commands. I read through the dog-training manual that I found in my inventory,
and opted to start with something simple, like sitting. I gently slid the stylus
downward from Lucy's back and used the words 'sit down' when she performed
successfully. After repeating this technique a few times, Lucy began to
associate my words with her action. Eventually she was sitting at my command.
Inspired by that success, I thought I'd take a
shot at some more-difficult tricks. By the end of the day, Lucy was sitting,
shaking and lying down consistently. I tried to teach her to spin around as
well, but she was too tired to learn any more tricks. We practiced the tricks
we'd already learned, she ate and we played fetch until she was pooped. Before
shutting down my DS for the day, I headed to the pet-supply store and
picked up a handsome new collar."
"Day 3: A Walk in the Park: There's only
so much doggie fun you can have within the confines of your home. Nintendogs
puppies need to get out of the house, too! I've taken Lucy outside a couple of
times, but we haven't gone far. Today we will try to make it all the way to the
park and back.
When I'm walking Lucy, she often stops to...um,
take care of business. And Lucy moves fast--I need to be quick to clean up her
mess before we continue. While en route to the park, we ran into another dog and
his owner. Lucy was very excited to play with another pooch for the first time
outside of the kennel. The dogs wrestled for a minute or two, then we moved on
to the park.
Because the park was empty, we decided to
practice our disc-catching skills. Using the stylus, I threw the flying disc for
Lucy, but Lucy is still a wee pup--I needed to start with shorter throws within
her range. If I throw it just right, she can leap and catch it midair. (What a
good dog!) Lucy picked up disc-catching quickly, but sometimes she had a
difficult time remembering to bring it back. She tired out after a dozen or so
rounds, so we headed home. On the way home, Lucy stopped to sniff the spots that
she used as toilets on previous walks, Sometimes she even felt the need to lay
down another coat."
"Day 4: Die Fleas, Die! On our fourth
day together, Lucy was scratching herself constantly, and every once in a while
I could see tiny black dots jumping off her fur. Ick! Lucy has fleas! I hurried
to the pet-supply store and picked up some Long-Hair Shampoo to give Lucy her
first bath. Using the stylus, I scrubbed her down with a sponge then washed off
the soap, being sure not to spray water in her eyes. Once she was clean and back
at her normal routine, she seemed much happier, and was more willing to perform
tricks. I'll have to remember the positive effects of bathing when we enter
competitions."
Brown Box: "Don't Look a Gift Puppy
in the Mouth: In Nintendogs, your pet will sometimes find presents and
obediently bring them to you without hesitation. Milo, however, is more likely
to tear up--rather than give up--a found gift."
Page: 45
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warned! It's BIG!)
Text: "Day 5: Practice,
Practice, Practice: By Day 5, I had already taught Lucy all the tricks in
the training book (though the book explains that there are many more tricks to
be learned). To help Lucy feel good and ready when we enter our first
competition, I've designated today as practice day.
First, Lucy and I walked to the local gym to
practice her agility skills. The gym has a doggie obstacle course similar to the
one used in the competition. Using the stylus, I guided Lucy through the
course's twists and turns. Her short legs made it difficult for her to jump the
hurdles, but eventually she got it. She seemed happy just to be trying something
new.
After our visit to the gym, we walked home to
work on Lucy's obedience tricks. She was very receptive to my commands. I've
been trying to mix up the moves so that she doesn't get into a routine. I taught
her how to perform a spin by moving her tail with the stylus until it caught her
attention--she learned it quickly because she liked to chase her tail anyway.
But recently she's been spinning even when I give her a different command, and
it's often hard to get her to stop once she starts. I think we've got a good
shot at taking home the gold in the obedience trials, but I'll cross my fingers
that there aren't many spin tricks on the agenda.
Our last order of business for the day was
flying-disc practice. There are two parks in our neighborhood that re great for
this. When mapping out our route with the stylus, I made sure to go to an empty
park (it's difficult to practice with other dogs running amok). We played with
the flying disc until Lucy's little legs could fetch no more."
"Day 7: You Go, Girl! After two full
days of practice, today is the day. I decided to enter Lucy in all three
competitions. We are running low on funds, and competitions are the best way to
earn money in Nintendogs. If we win the gold, maybe I'll buy another dog for
Lucy to play with, or remodel our home! Before heading for the competitions,
however, I spent some quality time with Lucy, making sure that I bathed and fed
her. I even put a ribbon in her hair--you never know what will make an
impression on the judges.
We entered the flying-disc competition first,
and Lucy was incredible. Success is a team effort: It's up to Lucy to catch the
disc, but it's up to me to throw it a distance and height that are reasonablefor
Lucy's skill level. On one throw, I thought I had tossed the disc too far, buy
Lucy moved her little heinie and made a spectacular catch. Her extra effort
earned us the gold medal and a good chunk of cash. Next was the obedience
competition. Things were going well until a spin trick came up. I couldn't get
Lucy to stop spinning for a good four seconds, and the jusges docked us big time
for it. We walked away with the bronze. By the end of the day, though we'd
earned enough money to put us in the dog-shopping market."
"Day 9: A New Day, a New Dog: On our
ninth day, I decided to use our hard-earned money to purchase a black-and-white
pug as a companion for Lucy. He was very apprehensive when I brought him home,
and Lucy wasn't helping by chasing him around the house. I dropped Lucy off at
the dog hotel so I could spend some time alone with my new pooch. I named him
Arlie and taught him to sit and lie down. By the end of the day, Arlie and Lucy
were the best of friends."
"Day 11: Meeting People is Easy: I
usually keep my DS on Bark mode when I'm not interacting with Lucy or Arlie. On
my eleventh day with Nintendogs, I was surprised when my closed DS barked at me.
Another dog and trainer were within wireless range! I opened up my DS and found
NOA Pete's dog, Yoshi, ready to play. I had Lucy bring Yoshi an extra collar
from my inventory, and the two pups played together in the park for hours.
Eleven days into my Nintendogs escapade, I've
only scratched the surface. Much is left to unlock, including a long list of
breeds and items exclusive to the US versions of the game. And there's still
plenty to experience with the puppies I already own. Every day is a new day in
Nintendogs."
Brown Box: "Toilet Humor:
Everything costs money in Nintendogs, including water. Milo is not as picky
about what type of water he's willing to drink."
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