The original versions of Nintendogs both jump-started Nintendo DS sales and established an enormously successful franchise for Nintendo, all with a single wag of the tail. This game is yet another Miyamoto brainchild that will surely see sequels and spin-offs at some point, if Nintendo's accountants have anything to say about it. The series has four Pokemon-style variants with total sales of several million units.

Aside from the obligatory Nintencats, probably in development for Nintendo DS as you read this article, there is also a good argument for bringing some form of Nintendogs to the Wii. Just as the original kicked off the non-gaming trend for DS, so too could a console version bring non-game success to Wii, which is thus far populated by mini-game fests and PS2/PSP ports.

Nintendogs is an innately tactile game, and Wii is the most tactile gaming system of all time. You could pet your puppy's head or rub his belly with the Wii remote – that much should be obvious. But you could also use the motion sensing features to teach your dog tricks in a much more natural and open-ended way than was possible on the DS. Rather than point to a part of the dog's body (such as his front paw) and then move it around, you could simply roll the Wii remote to make the dog roll over. The Frisbee tournaments would be completely overhauled with motion control for a more natural throwing sensation with as much depth as a golf game, if you so desire. The rumble feedback would also allow for much better immersion that can be achieved on the DS. Imagine hearing your puppy pant or whine right through the remote's speaker; that's going to tug on your heartstrings just a little bit more than hearing those sounds from the television.

Mii integration is a must for when you're out walking your dog, and ideally, some sort of online feature would let you go to the park and play with your friends' pets. More likely, new toys and accessories could be provided through occasional downloads over WiiConnect24, providing more replay value where the original really needed it. Local multiplayer should also play a major role in Nintendogs for Wii, as family members could each have their own puppies and let them interact in a common area, much like how Animal Crossing handled multiple players on GameCube.

The original Nintendogs relied heavily on the DS microphone, and there is no analogue for Wii…yet. In fact, there will be a microphone available for Wii by the fall of 2007, as EA's Boogie and Disney Interactive's High School Musical: Sing It! will both require this peripheral. EA's Rock Band should also arrive on the Wii one of these days, and that too will require a microphone. This peripheral could easily plug into the bottom of the Wii remote and even have a pass-through for the nunchuk, although the latter would probably not be needed to play Nintendogs. It may also just plug into the USB ports on the back of the system. Players who don't own a Wii microphone should have the option of mapping commands for their dogs to specific gestures. Imagine an air traffic controller at the Westminster dog show, and you've got the idea.

Nintendogs have already made a goofy cameo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii. The question is not whether Nintendo will actually release a console version of Nintendogs, but rather when and with what features. Maybe it will even be the debut of Nintencats, or some kind of Nintenpets hybrid. (Purring would translate perfectly into a combination of low rumbling and remote speaker sounds.) - Jonathan Metts

Pokémon games have sold at obscene rates on the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. Fans have been clamoring for a 3D version to hit Nintendo's home consoles. The only attempts made at appeasing the masses, Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, were hammered by many critics. Neither game captured the feel of the portable games in any real way.

The premise of the Pokémon games is so strong that fans of the original were able to overlook the pixelated monochrome graphics of the original Game Boy. It stands to reason that a transition to a powerful 3D platform would be an easy thing to do. For some reason the console games released thus far have intentionally strayed from the original formula. If the developers just took the 'towns with battle gyms' structure of the portable games and added gorgeous 3D battles and encounters, fans would buy it in a heartbeat.

The concept could be taken a step farther by adding some great online capabilities. Given that a large portion of the game's audience is made up of youngsters, a fully massively multiplayer online game would create some risks that Nintendo surely wouldn't want to deal with. Using an elaborate friends list system, a similar feel could be created amongst players who exchange friend codes. Whenever a player logs on, his or her character could show up in the same spot in the world on each of their friends games, assuming they were playing at the same time. This would achieve most players' dreams of being able to stumble upon a friend while out adventuring, possibly resulting in a spur of the moment battle or trade. Parents of youngsters wouldn't have to worry as much and it wouldn't require a central server that stores a persistent world.

A beautiful Wii title that isn't just a glorified plug-in for the DS games would be a great addition to one of the best selling videogame series of all time. Taking the online features to the point where people actually felt like they were playing the game together, as opposed to planning precise times to link up, would be a level of immersion the players of the series have yet to experience. The Wii's potential audience is growing fast enough that the investment would definitely be worth it. - Mike Gamin