View Full Version : Nintendogs good for n00b?
My girlfriend is terrified of playing anything more complicated than tetris in terms of controls. I think she'd love Nintendogs though. Her real dog died recently and it hit her pretty hard. She can't get another live dog in her current situation but I think she'd enjoy Nintendogs.
Are the controls basic enough (they sure seem to be) that the game is newb friendly?
Farny
08-25-2005, 12:21 PM
It requires more real life skills than it does video game skills. You'll have to make decisions based on what a real dog would need, rather than pushing flurries of buttons.
I think it wouldn't be too hard.
1modernboy
08-25-2005, 12:24 PM
I'd say yes. The controls are pretty self-explanatory. It’s a really organic kind of interface – pat dog, feed dog, walk dog, throw stick (which my Nintendog seems to be deathly afraid of, for some reason.) I’d think this game is definitely the way to go for someone looking for a simple "non-game."
SpottedNigel
08-25-2005, 12:51 PM
I showed my girlfriends mom the game, she snatched it out of my hands and almost instinctively started to rub its head and tapping on the screen to get the dogs attention. She has NEVER played a video game in her life. It was kinda like watching that first Japanese commercial with that girl just laughing and having fun.
slidecage
08-25-2005, 12:53 PM
my dog is stupid it took like 20 mins for it to learn its name, and 10-15 mins to sit
Strell
08-25-2005, 12:55 PM
Mine learned its name in about 3-4 tries.
/has to wonder if slidecage's written posts are an indication of his speech and the dog's supposed stupidity...
Farny
08-25-2005, 01:18 PM
Mine learned its name in about 3-4 tries.
/has to wonder if slidecage's written posts are an indication of his speech and the dog's supposed stupidity...
Ooh, burn.
Haha, yeah, you can't teach tricks or its name when you're blasting music in the background and you're at a party. I had to go into the bathroom to teach him it's name after I failed in the car, and I never got any question marks in the bathroom. The only problem I'm having is trick complications, and I have to memorize exactly how I said the tricks.
It doesn't make sense to me, how he can confuse "up" with "roll over".
SAGExSDX
08-26-2005, 04:34 AM
i would say this game is mostly based around speech and everything else is just stylus interaction. probably the most "game-like" parts are the competitions like the disc competition and the agility competition since you have to flick the frisbee straight for the dog to catch it easier and you have to click at the right point in order for the dog to jump the bar or go through the pipey thing...
by the way i love the game.
eldad9
08-26-2005, 04:36 AM
my dog is stupid it took like 20 mins for it to learn its name, and 10-15 mins to sit
... and another 30 minutes to learn punctuation.
Tromack
08-26-2005, 04:38 AM
If she understands that the stylus affects things on the bottom screen, that the the DS has a microphone, and how to treat a dog she will be fine.
I think it might be the most accessible game ever.
My daughter (8 years old) started playing it today. She was able to get the dog to learn it's name with some difficulty (that being due to her noisy brothers in the background). However, she kept having to restart with the game saying the dog forgot its name. What's up with that? She had to redo it 4 or 5 times, and the game never let her do anything else, so she just gave up and turned it off. I haven't had time to play it yet, except to help her do the name at first. However, there is one thing that bothers me - it appears you cannot have 2 people sharing the game because I could not get the dog to recognize my voice when she trained it and vice versa. This makes sense, now that I see how the game works, but I had not heard that you actually call the dogs by name before so it was a surprise. Looks like I might have to buy another copy to have my own dogs if she gets back into playing it.
Tromack
08-26-2005, 03:44 PM
My daughter (8 years old) started playing it today. She was able to get the dog to learn it's name with some difficulty (that being due to her noisy brothers in the background). However, she kept having to restart with the game saying the dog forgot its name. What's up with that? She had to redo it 4 or 5 times, and the game never let her do anything else, so she just gave up and turned it off. I haven't had time to play it yet, except to help her do the name at first. However, there is one thing that bothers me - it appears you cannot have 2 people sharing the game because I could not get the dog to recognize my voice when she trained it and vice versa. This makes sense, now that I see how the game works, but I had not heard that you actually call the dogs by name before so it was a surprise. Looks like I might have to buy another copy to have my own dogs if she gets back into playing it.
Well, you can get a second dog and train it to your voice. Then you can each have your own dog.
Well, you can get a second dog and train it to your voice. Then you can each have your own dog.
Ah, OK, didn't think about that. I think that's what we'll do then. Maybe I'll start over and get my own dog, figure out how the games works, make some money, then let her get one (I noticed that the first dog took just over half our money).
AngellicLulu
08-26-2005, 05:04 PM
Those who are having problem getting their puppy to understand, I recommend turning down the mic sensitivity to normal so it doesn't muffle your commands. I had problems at the beginning because it was set on high but once I turned it down the puppy understood me much better.
daroga
08-27-2005, 03:54 AM
Those who are having problem getting their puppy to understand, I recommend turning down the mic sensitivity to normal so it doesn't muffle your commands. I had problems at the beginning because it was set on high but once I turned it down the puppy understood me much better.
Just tried this and it's already noticable better. Doesn't pick the fan up that's in my window at all. Thanks for the tip!
The VGM
08-27-2005, 03:58 AM
Mine learned its name in about 3-4 tries.
/has to wonder if slidecage's written posts are an indication of his speech and the dog's supposed stupidity...
I was wondering the same thing. If slidecage talks just like he posts, the dog might not be so dumb after all...