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Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Dogz for Nintendo DS
In Dogz for Nintendo DS, you get a puppy and learn how to look after it. You choose from eighteen dog breeds, name your pet and begin everyday life with a dog. You also control its young owner, who lives at home and can walk around the neighbourhood. You therefore meet not only your puppy but also family members and other residents. The rooms and streets, drawn from an angled overhead view, form a little world that you explore together.
Food, water, attention and training shape your days. You teach your dog tricks, take it outside and enter competitions. With the money you earn, you buy food, toys or clothes. The stylus helps you select things and provide care; the built-in microphone gives you another way to communicate with your puppy. Between activities, people around you offer guidance. The game thus alternates between looking after your dog and events at home and in the neighbourhood.
You play the ordinary care activities alone. For the local wireless features, two players can connect, each with their own DS. Download Play requires just one Dogz cartridge; with Multi-Card Play, everyone uses their own copy. You do not need a link cable. The second system and any additional game are not included.
Region and language
Our Nintendo DS games are European editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
With Dogz for Nintendo DS, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.
The history of Dogz
Dogz arrived on Nintendo DS in 2006. The Japanese edition was called Kawaii Koinu DS and was published by MTO; Lancarse worked on its development. Ubisoft then brought the game to Western countries under the name Dogz. That name had already been part of the Petz series for some time. The DS edition followed MTO's Japanese puppy games and came after an earlier Dogz for Game Boy Advance, but now also used Nintendo's newer handheld's touch screen and microphone.
Ubisoft greatly expanded its animal-game range during that period. Alongside Dogz, DS releases included Catz, Horsez and Hamsterz Life. Each game focused on a different animal and different daily activities. In Dogz, the human owner had a visible place in the game world. You walked a character through rooms and streets, instead of only looking directly at a large image of the dog. Family life and conversations gave the care activities a narrative framework.
The first DS Dogz belongs to the wave of pet simulations that explored dual screens and stylus controls for a broad audience. Ubisoft subsequently used the Petz name for many more releases. Dogz 2 followed in 2007, with a different emphasis on decorating rooms and minigames. The original Dogz from 2006 instead retained its combination of a young owner, daily responsibilities, walks and training your own puppy.
Similar games for Nintendo DS
Nintendogs: Labrador & Friends for Nintendo DS also lets you care for, train and walk a puppy. There, you mainly approach the dog directly through the touch screen and spoken commands. Dogz additionally gives the owner a visible character who moves through a house and neighbourhood. Comparing the contact with the dog therefore mainly reveals the difference between direct animal care and everyday life with conversations and family members.
Catz on Nintendo DS replaces the puppy with a kitten. Feeding and giving attention remain important, while helping neighbours earns money for clothes and accessories. Dogz has you train and walk the dog more within its own daily schedule. Both revolve around a small pet, but the animal's behaviour and the activities through which you earn new items give the care a different rhythm.
Dolphin Island for Nintendo DS expands animal care to an entire marine park. You consider different species, habitats and missions to preserve the park. Dogz concentrates on your own puppy and the household around it. Feeding, attention and training are the similarities; scale is the difference. In Dolphin Island, you spread your care across a collection of sea animals and the interests of the park.
Zoo Tycoon 2 DS on Nintendo DS combines building animal enclosures with managing money and visitors. You can also move closer to care for an animal. Dogz starts with a personal bond with one puppy and does not have you plan a whole zoo. Both reward attention to animals' needs, but in Zoo Tycoon, those decisions also affect a growing park's layout and income, rather than mainly your daily routine.
Animal Crossing: Wild World for Nintendo DS also offers a house, a neighbourhood and conversations with residents. You collect items, catch fish and insects and furnish your home, without raising a puppy becoming your main task. Dogz centres its daily activities on caring for and training a pet. If you enjoy walking around and meeting familiar faces, both offer a small living world, but with very different goals.
