Gaming News - G4TV: Virtual Pet Ideas: Nintendogs + Cats + Budgies + Hamsters + Ants!

Last week, Nintendo announced that their adorable Nintendogs franchise for the DS was expanding to include the other popular pet: cats. Oh, and the other popular dimension: third. Thanks to Nintendogs + Cats, girls can now virtually live out their fear of becoming the neighborhood cat lady because no one will ever love them enough to marry them, and boys can have as many cats as they want without worrying about gender roles. My only question is, what about other domesticated animals?

So listen up, Nintendo. Here are other virtual pets we'd like to raise, cuddle, wash and feed through our handheld consoles.






Nintenbudgies: Who doesn't love a pet that bursts into song? Or poop everywhere? And freak out anytime you get close to their cage? We'd like to introduce Nintenbudgies (or Nintenparakeets, if you're not a fan of British slang) for the 3DS, where bird lovers can care for their very own feathered friend. You can spend hours filling their feeder full of bird seed, cleaning their cage, clipping their wings so these sly little rascals won't fly away and listen to them incessantly chirp while you try to get some work done. The best part is at night: each game will come with a special blanket accessory which you'll throw over your 3DS to make them believe it's time for bed so they can shut the hell up.



Nintenants: Personally,I hate ants but apparently they make great pets: they are self-sufficient, mindless drones who can build incredible mazes, all without forcing you to pay attention to them. Sign me up! Nintenants would offer children and lazy adults the opportunity to learn more about the complexities of ant colonies societies in fragile ecosystems, or whatever. The dual screens would come in handy by revealing the intricacies of their tunnel systems, while you can tap the top of the screen to feed them water and food. The best part is the shake feature: grab the DS with both hands and shake your ant farm for instant fun! I'm pretty sure this goes against any ant caring protocol, but who cares. It's awesome to see how they would totally freak out when their homes collapse.



Ninteniguanas: I've always automatically filed people with pet iguanas into the "weirdos" category, but now I'm beginning to understand the advantages of such scaly pets. They barely move or make any sounds. It's the perfect pet! With the Ninteniguana game, you'd basically just have to turn on your DS and set it under a heat lamp so your virtual iguana can continuously sun itself. Oh, and sometimes feed it crickets but that should be optional, right? I don't want to have to buy a separate Nintencrickets game. Plus, live crickets are gross. It's not like the virtual Iguana actually needs food to live anyways.



Nintenfish: Fish are the best pets ever, only because you can name them the most ridiculous things and they can't hear you. Because they're underwater. Get it? Plus, everyone loves a virtual aquarium! Nintendo should invest in this 3DS game, where we can select our fish type and maintain its tank. Gameplay would consist of rubbing the touch screen to wipe and clean algae, tapping the sides to drop food into the water and then poking the screen to get the fish's attention when you're bored. The best feature would be the toilet bowl: just flush your fish away when it dies from malnutrition, lack of oxygen, dirty water, weird diseases or when you're trying to get rid of the annoying hassle of caring for a fish in the first place.



Nintenhamsters: Hamsters!!! They're so adorable, furry and cuddly. They also like to stuff food into their cheeks. How could you not want a virtual one living in your 3DS? Imagine the fun activities offered in caring for a Nintenhamster: building a massive tube maze, stocking their cage with virtual cardboard rolls so they can nibble the paper to shreds and watching them run mile after endless mile in their wheel. The best peripheral would be a giant plastic Nintenhamster Ball: just slip your 3DS inside it and watch your virtual pet run around. So maybe the actuall ball itself wouldn't roll around, but I would still totally buy it.







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