It seems that Nintendo is working on a new Nintendogs game, 12 years after Nintendogs + Cats was released on the 3DS.
According to a new patent filed earlier this week, the game could include Augmented Reality technology to bring Nintendogs and Nintencats to the real world, in a similar fashion to Pokemon Go.
The patent covers “an overlay image in which an image of the virtual object is overlaid on the captured image generated.”
The diagrams used in the patent see the Nintendog being viewed via a mobile phone but that’s not to say Nintendo isn’t looking to include a camera on the follow-up to the Switch either. As with all patents, there’s no guarantee that the technology covered will ever make it to market.
Real-time pet simulation game, Nintendogs was originally released in 2005 on the Nintendo DS, with three different versions available – Dachshund & Friends, Lab & Friends and Chihuahua & Friends.
Using the DS’ touch screen, players were able to pet their virtual puppy and use a variety of objects with it. The in-built microphone also allowed players to communicate with their dog using their voice. The game went on to sell 23.96 million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling Nintendo DS game of all time.
A follow-up Nintendogs + Cats was released in 2011 for the 3DS.
Back in 2020, it was reported that Nintendo was set to turn away from mobile games due to disappointing revenue numbers around titles like Super Mario Run, Dragalia Lost and Fire Emblem Heroes.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa had initially proclaimed back in 2018 that the company had plans to grow its mobile game output into a USD$1 billion business. However, a couple of years later Furukawa noted that “we are not necessarily looking to continue releasing many new applications for the mobile market”.
However mobile games have risen popularity in recent months thanks to titles like Wordle and Marvel Snap.
In other news, Drake has apparently purchased a 14k gold-plated PSP that was commissioned in 2008 by Pharrell Williams.
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