Online - September 13, 2005

Off the Leash

Nintendogs

January 5, 1985
Dear Diary,
Christmas came and went again. Barbie Dream House, Mall Madness, “Weird” Al Yankovic album. No drum set. And, again, no dog.

October 31, 1994
Dear Diary,
Sweet Sixteen. I awoke with visions of wagging tails and wet-nose kisses. No dice: They got me a Cabriolet. Jerks.

September 1, 2005
Dear Diary,
Eighteenth-floor, rent-controlled apartment. $800 less than market. No utilities. No pets.

Temporary solution for lifelong canine deprivation: Nintendogs, a virtual pet game for the Nintendo DS handheld system. Had they invented this sooner, you’d have been spared years of futile longing.

Start by visiting the on-screen kennel and picking your puppy. Then you bring your newly adopted bundle of wriggly joy home and begin the training process. A voice recognition microphone lets your pup learn your voice as well as its name. You can even teach it to respond to your commands. Feed it, bathe it, toss around the virtual Frisbee. Or rub its cute little belly with your stylus.

This is no boring Tamagotchi — these digital friends are surprisingly life-like and loveable. And while they may not be quite as wonderful as the real thing, they’ve got one thing over the flesh-and-blood version.

Cleanup is only a click away. 

Available online at amazon.com. For more information, go to nintendogs.com.