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Posts with tag pets

Pet Shop Story: Taito's other game

Posted Apr 23rd 2008 9:45AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Screens, Imports

Last year, Taito announced that they were supporting the DS in a big way, revealing Arkanoid DS, The Legend of Kage 2, and Exit DS to go with Cooking Mama 2. Then shortly afterward, they unveiled Space Invaders Extreme and ... this. Pet Shop Story DS is the only one of Taito's TGS games that has yet to be released in Japan, and it is the one that gets by far the least attention.

Pet Shop Story, a sequel to a Game Boy franchise, puts players in charge of -- you guessed it -- a library pet store. The player character and her mother have moved from the big city into a small town in which nobody has any pets. You interview the customers to determine what kind of pet they would like, then you go out into nature to catch them, Pokémon-style. That's right, you catch wild animals to sell to children. That means that not only can you sell cats (including Scottish folds) and dogs, but baby bears and wild boars as well.

Pet Shop Story also features the same totally cute character design style as Cooking Mama. The apron-wearing mother even bears a striking resemblance to the Mama we know and don't understand.

Cats remain hard to please in Yume Neko DS

Posted Mar 26th 2008 4:00PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News, Screens

As if any further evidence were required, Yume Neko DS proves that cats are overly fussy buggers considerably more complex and high-maintenance than their canine counterparts. For example, whereas Nintendogs had us keeping an eye on our puppy's hunger, thirst, and general cleanliness, the cats in Yume Neko DS need to be kept content on seven different fronts, including hunger, thirst, cleanliness, stamina, energy, overall happiness, and even claw care.

These new screens from Dengeki also reveal more on the game's interior design mode, as well as showcasing a few of the sixty breeds the game will feature (happily, this blogger's favorite is included). So, will Yume Neko DS provide the longevity that the otherwise excellent Nintendogs lacked? Probably not, but hey, look: cute widdle kittens.

Continue reading Cats remain hard to please in Yume Neko DS

Yume Neko DS: Cat-approved

Posted Mar 25th 2008 2:15PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Imports


As admitted fans of both cats and adorable pictures of cats, we'd like to extend our thanks to whoever at Famitsu decided to go document the Cat Cafe Calico/Yume Neko DS event. Sega's marketing for this game has been note-perfect, serving mostly to remind people that cats are cute.

Not only do the pictures demonstrate the staff's acceptance of Yume Neko DS into their environment, you can also see the promotional materials available at the cafe. Mostly, however, Famitsu took pictures of the cuddly bunch just hanging out and being adorable. Also there are a few screens, if, for some reason, you'd want to see those.

Yume Neko DS promoted to cat lovers

Posted Mar 5th 2008 11:15AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Imports


If anyone would be likely to buy and enjoy a game about taking care of virtual cats, you would expect it to be patrons of a cafe where people pay to spend time in the company of cats. That's why Sega's partnership with Cat Cafe Calico is so brilliant.

The Tokyo cafe has 18 friendly cats (and one dog) "on staff" to hang out and play with cafe customers. It is frequented by people whose apartments or busy lifestyles make a cat of their own impossible. Or people who just really like cats. From March 26th to May 6th, those cat enthusiasts will all receive a Yume Neko DS postcard and seals upon entering Calico, which will be decorated in a Yume Neko DS theme and will play the game's music.

This is how you do a trailer with no gameplay footage

Posted Mar 2nd 2008 12:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Video, Imports


We vaguely remember Sega's Yume Neko DS to be some kind of Nintendog-esque virtual cat game. At this point, we want to buy it right now, because Sega's trailer is perfect. Except for the whole not one second of gameplay being shown bit. But is the actual game going to be better than cute kittens?

That's right, instead of showing off the game's graphics or features, Sega just created a video of four and a half minutes of cute kittens. We support the adoption of the "kitten footage" style for more game trailers -- we'd rather stare at kittens than know what games are about. Mew!

Pet Pals boxart designer unfamiliar with humans

Posted Nov 12th 2007 9:50AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News


The boxart for Pet Pals: Animal Doctor clearly shows where the artists' (and developers') priorities lie. The animals are all presented using what appear to be real photographs, looking totally realistic and even cute. The humans, on the other hand, are awkward 3D models hastily Photoshopped into position.

The troubling thing about this is that it probably would have been cheaper just to take pictures of whoever happened to be around instead of going to the trouble to render these subhumanoids, and the game is already full of 3D renders of animals. So they unnecessarily modeled humans, and also unnecessarily photographed animals.

Show these IQ Breeder screens to your cat

Posted Oct 24th 2007 10:40AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

We think IQ Breeder is our new obsession. We can't help but approve of the insane premise behind the game-- blending Nintendogs and Brain Age to create an unfathomably weird training game in which you perform brain training exercises to increase the IQ of a virtual pet. The new screens at Famitsu show some of the games that you and your "friend" can play together in the interest of boosting its fake IQ. And as for those pets, you can choose a dog, a cat, a pig, or one of four types of turtles!

The games range from math problems to rhythm games, as well as classic distractions like mazes. One of the math games involves solving equations to win a race, like in the Atari 2600 game Math Gran Prix. Our favorite game, however, is the cat-picture jigsaw puzzle, because it looks like developer MegaHouse actually went to the trouble of making a 3D model of the same cat that appears in the sample puzzle. We hate puzzles, but we love cat pictures!

Brain Training for fake pets

Posted Oct 9th 2007 11:30AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

Megahouse's IQ Breeder is a cross between a Nintendogs-style virtual pet and a brain training game-- which, you must admit, is kind of a clever way to try to make money on the DS. It's a brain training minigame collection in which the goal isn't to lower your Brain Age, but to raise the IQ of a virtual pet.

As you complete the minigames and improve your performance, your pet's IQ increases. It's brain training by proxy. And as if that concept weren't bizarre enough, the goal of all the training is to raise your nonexistent pal's IQ until it can complete the training games itself. We've played countless hours of Brain Age in front of our cat, but we have yet to see him attempt any Sign Finder. Maybe we should get him his own DS so he can practice.

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