Nintendogs: Lab & Friends

Nintendogs is a real-time pet simulation video game developed and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld platform. It was initially launched in Japan before expanding to North America, Australia, Europe, and other territories. It was initially available in three versions: Dachshund & Friends, Lab & Friends (Shiba & Friends in Japan), and Chihuahua & Friends. Since then, it has been re-released twice, first as a bundled release with a special edition Nintendo DS, with a new version named Nintendogs: Best Friends, and then Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends. Nintendogs take advantage of the DS’s touchscreen and microphone. The player may use the touch screen to pet a dog and use numerous goods that can be found or purchased. These include anything from balls and frisbees to toys and grooming items to entertain the dogs. The microphone is used to summon the player’s dog by saying the dog’s name at the start of the game and to teach the dog skills such as “sit” or “rollover.” Players can bring their pets on walks and to the park if they choose. They may use the DS’s wireless linkup to engage with other players in multi-player mode. It also uses the DS’s internal clock and calendar to make the dog hungry or dirtier as time passes. Critics welcomed Nintendogs. It has an 85% aggregate score on Game Rankings and has received several honors, including the 2006 PC World Innovation Award and the Associated Press’s Best Handheld Game. As of March 31, 2015, all versions of Nintendo had sold 23.96 million copies worldwide, ranking it second only to New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS best-sellers list. Because of the success of Nintendogs, Nintendo has created several related goods, including Nintendog toys and a set of Nintendog trading cards. It was confirmed at E3 2010 that a sequel, dubbed Nintendogs + Cats, will be launched for the Nintendo 3DS.