Source: Nintendo
The Nintendo DS was home to tons of great games, but few have the nostalgia of Nintendogs. This quirky pet simulator saw you caring for a variety of virtual doggos, eventually spawning a sequel that brought cats into the mix.
Now, it seems Nintendogs might be gearing up for a return, with Nintendogs mobile game leaks surfacing around the web. More intriguing, however, is a patent from Jan. 17, which discusses software that can place virtual figures in your home using augmented reality.
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‘Nintendogs’ mobile game leaks spur excitement for the mobile game.
Before getting too excited, it’s important to note that a Nintendogs mobile game has not been confirmed by Nintendo. And just because the company has filed a patent doesn’t mean it’ll eventually become a product. Many patents end up in limbo, with neither an official announcement nor a product release from the filing company. With that being said, there are a few reasons these specific leaks have caused a lot of excitement in the Nintendogs community.
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While the patent itself is a bit light on details Nintendogs, it includes several figures with dogs as the central focus. One image, for example, shows a person using a phone to seemingly place an AR puppy in their room. Another shows the dog in different poses, with the player possibly picking up and moving the pup to a new location.
It’s difficult to parse the entire patent application, but it’s clear that AR is at the heart of the filing – and using a dog as the featured object seems like an odd choice, unless it’s relating to an upcoming Nintendogs release.
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Nintendo hasn’t been shy about moving its popular franchises to mobile (with Mario Kart, Fire Emblemetc Animal Crossing titles all available on iOS and Android), so it’s not out of the realm of possibility the same could happen to Nintendogs.
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What we know about a potential ‘Nintendogs’ mobile release date.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say when this was rumored Nintendogs mobile game would launch. The time from when a patent is approved to when a final product is launched varies wildly – and just because the patent was approved doesn’t mean Nintendogs mobile has been confirmed.
It’s also unclear if this patent will correspond to a secondary one Nintendogs launch on Switch. Since the Switch lacks a camera, these patents are clearly meant for iOS and Android. It’s possible Nintendo would launch titles on both mobile and Switch as a way to cross-promote the revival of the franchise, but at this time, the fate of Nitnendogs is unclear.
The patent date is listed as Jan. 17, so here’s hoping Nintendo provides the community with more details in the coming weeks.
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