How Dogs Will Get Moms Gaming

Companies realize that growth will come with expansion of the market, and for Nintendo success comes bearing slippers.

For Nintendo, success with the average person on the street comes with fuzzy feet and a wet nose. Nintendogs is a virtual puppy simulator for DS that has proven unstoppable in Japan, and it's coming to Europe on October 7th.

Nintendogs has melted half a million hearts in Japan

The game promises all the joy that comes with raising a puppy of your own but without the frustration of having to dig hair out of your toothbrush or pick up the little presents it inevitably leaves on your new carpet.

Using the stylus, touch-screen and microphone, you'll be able to teach your dog tricks, take it for walks, play games and meet up with other dogs and their owners or simply roughhouse a little to pass the time. Think of it as a Tamagotchi with virtual fleas.

The simple concept is a testament to how Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are trying to reach out to those that wouldn't consider picking up a game.

Though Nintendo has been experimenting with non-gamer-friendly games for a while, Nintendogs is the company's most successful stab at the mass market.

The game has sold around half a million copies in Japan, and there are reports that it's doing well with women - a key demographic not catered to by current games - and others who wouldn't necessarily be interested in games.

Sony has been even more successful, especially in Europe. The company's London development studio has come up with several ideas with mainstream appeal, most notably the EyeToy and SingStar series, both of which have been snapped up by millions of people.

Millions of people have shamed themself with SingStar

An important factor in the broad success of these two franchises has been their eschewing of the traditional controller - EyeToy uses the EyeToy camera while SingStar uses microphones included with the game. Next up from the studio is Buzz!, a music-themed game show that uses special buzzer controllers.

Nintendo is focussing on controls too. The DS's touch-screen and microphone levelled the field in a way, forcing games and non-gamers alike to get used to a new way of doing things.

The controller for Revolution, Nintendo's next-generation home console, is shrouded in mystery. Revolution will be able to play games from all of Nintendo's past home consoles, and to do this the company is overhauling the controller design that's been in place for the last 20 years.

There is much speculation about how the controller will look, with a full-face touch-screen and gyroscopes being among the more zany predictions. Nintendo has ignored the rumours, but it is moving forward and the company has started showing the controller off to outside game makers, so that they can get on board to make Revolution games.

Microsoft is approaching the mainstream a little differently. Xbox owners are cut from a more hardcore cloth, and for Xbox 360 Microsoft is going to play up the community and communication aspects of the console.

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo may have completely different views about how games will evolve over the next decade, but they're united in the belief that growth and further success, individually and for games as a whole, means bringing in non-gamers.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games