Topic: Nintendogs Started on GameCube, 16 Versions Initially for 3DS

[NWR_Karlie]

Miyamoto thought it would be fun to raise a pet on the television.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/25096

The latest Iwata Asks is all about Nintendogs + Cats and interviews Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideki Konno about the title.

The trio explained why cats are secondary to dogs in the title, yet doubled the amount of work.

Nintendogs was intended for GameCube and Miyamoto said that he thought it would be fun to raise a pet on the television, but ultimately the Nintendo DS was found more suitable for this kind of game. The second Nintendogs game was also considered for a Wii release, but the lack of microphone meant that it was not possible. Still, the Nintendo 3DS provided the processing power for the fluffy fur textures that had to be excluded from the first release.

Lots of detail is included about the 3DS version of the game including AR card and Activity Log compatibility. Miyamoto also remembered that, initially, the idea was to have 16 versions of the game arranged in a 4x4 grid, so that when you walked into a store, you could choose the breed of dog you wanted. The sales department refused this setup, but allowed three versions, despite preferring to promote one single edition.

Choice Iwata quotes from the interview include: 

Iwata: It had to be "+ cats"—like they come second.

Iwata: You can brag about your pet. (laughs)

Iwata: Whoa! You can brag about your pet on a worldwide scale!

Konno: And then we photographed real puppies for the packages…they are really cute.
Iwata: (looking at a photo of a toy poodle) Yeah, this is breaking the rules! (laughs)
Konno: Yeah. (laughs) It wasn't easy finding this toy poodle!

[Chozo Ghost]

Nintendogs was one of those early DS games that made the DS a must have system, and was one of the main (perhaps even the greatest) factors that brought the DS ahead of the PSP during the crucial year of 2005. It was a wise move to have the game be on the DS as opposed to the GC. By 2005 the GC was dead in the water, and a game like this probably would have gone largely unnoticed and certainly not had much impact as a system seller like it did for the DS.

[MegaByte]

Nintendogs sold very well, yes, but is there evidence that it was a system seller?

[Ian Sane]

The second Nintendogs game was also considered for a Wii release, but the lack of microphone meant that it was not possible.

That's a lame excuse.  Couldn't they have packaged a microphone with it?  They'll waste their time developing vitality sensors that never become a real product but they can't come up with a microphone attachment?  Hell, I have a Wii microphone for Guitar Hero: World Tour!

[TJ Spyke]

They even could have used Wii Speak (even if that wasn't the best choice). I think it works better as a handheld series anyways, I think the average consumer of these games would prefer being able to take their virtual pet with them.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Nintendo admits that WiiSpeak was not worth the time and effort and will never be used again.

[Crimm]

Iwata is a magical machine of quotes.

[KDR_11k]

Nintendogs sold very well, yes, but is there evidence that it was a system seller?

We can point at correlation but outside of anecdotes I think it'll be hard to prove causation.

[Chozo Ghost]

The second Nintendogs game was also considered for a Wii release, but the lack of microphone meant that it was not possible.

That's a lame excuse.  Couldn't they have packaged a microphone with it?  They'll waste their time developing vitality sensors that never become a real product but they can't come up with a microphone attachment?  Hell, I have a Wii microphone for Guitar Hero: World Tour!

I agree its a lame excuse. A specially made Wii microphone shouldn't even be necessary. The Wii has two USB ports, so it shouldn't be a problem to get it to accept standard PC USB Microphones, right? There's nothing that couldn't be addressed by a mere Firmware upgrade, assuming USB Mic support isn't there already anyway. For around $20 or less you can buy a USB Microphone on amazon.

Nintendo admits that WiiSpeak was not worth the time and effort and will never be used again.

It was basically a case of reinventing the wheel. Why did Nintendo need to design their OWN Wii microphone when USB Microphones already exist as a standard computer peripheral?

OTOH, in addition to USB the Wii also has support for Bluetooth, so why don't they just add in support for bluetooth headsets?

[MegaByte]

There should have been a microphone built into the Remote (or at least a simple attachment at the bottom), but Nintendo insisted on keeping their DS and Wii capabilities separate. Now that the 3DS has Wii features, maybe this silliness will stop.