Popular Nintendo DS title ‘Nintendogs’ could be coming to Android phones as an AR game

Nintendo could be developing the first Nintendogs game in over a decade, according to a recent USPTO application. While the Nintendo DS is long gone and the Nintendo Switch did not receive any games in the franchise despite being on the market for six years, this new game may give fans some much-needed renewed hope. However, there’s a massive difference with this potentially upcoming game – it’s set to be a VR title for Android and iOS devices! The patent, which was originally filed in November of 2021, was made public on January 17, 2023, and credit goes to Retro Dodo for first reporting on it.

Listed on the application are several Nintendo employees as contributors to the invention, including Kazuyoshi Sensui, Masahiro Nitta, and Junpei Horita. Sensui is known for his work on the Mario Party series, Nitta worked on the development of the GameCube and Wii consoles, and Horita was involved in the creation of the Switch and 3DS, so despite being a mobile-focused entry in the series, it has some heavy hitters behind it.

According to images found within, you’ll place a virtual dog in your living room space or anywhere in your home, pet it, play with it, and teach it tricks (going on the gameplay of Nintendogs games). This could become a fun new phenomenon that games like Pokemon Go have still yet to fully take advantage of. Retro Dodo mentions taking a virtual dog out on walks with augmented reality to help gamers get exercise and experience what it’s like to have a real puppy. I agree that this sounds like an exciting potential feature and hope that some sort of pedometer is implemented.

It’s unclear when this will be released or what features it may have, but fans of the original Nintendogs game are excited about the possibility of a new release after such an intense drought. The game was originally released in 2005 for the Nintendo DS and was a huge hit, selling over 24 million copies worldwide, so it’s puzzling as to why Nintendo has yet to create a remake for modern consoles. More interesting is its desire to pursue AR on handsets for the series renewal.

With the rise in popularity of augmented reality technology though, not at all surprising to see the company exploring new ways to incorporate it into their games. It’s had mixed success with previous mobile games like Mario Kart Tour, Mario Run, Fire Emblem, and more, and only time will tell if its continued efforts to pursue the mobile market will pay off. One thing’s for sure though – I’m excited about this and will let you know if we get any new information.

Photo by Christian Domingues on Pexels