Iwata Asks - Nintendogs + Cats - Wii sequel almost happened, originally started on GameCube, changes to walk mode, 16 versions planned at first

Konno: After Nintendogs was complete, we wondered how cats would work out and experimented by converting the dog model to a cat.

Miyamoto: That’s right. But we just stuck on cat visuals, so the cat was wagging its tail! (laughs)

Iwata: (laughs)

Konno: There were even ideas for animals like horses and dolphins. Some people said that horses would definitely sell well in Europe.

Iwata: So you were thinking about it, experimenting, and discussing it. Fate just wasn’t with those experiments and weren’t able to find that key element to validate them as a product.

Konno: Yes. We actually considered it for the Wii system. But it doesn’t have a microphone, so you couldn’t talk to your dog.

Iwata: Oh! So if the Wii Remote controller had a mic, there might have been a Wii version of Nintendogs?

Konno: Yeah. We might have moved forward with it.

Miyamoto: But there’s a distance between the Wii Remote and the television, so it might not have felt like you were petting your dog.

Konno: Right. We decided to consider any good ideas that might come up, but nothing ever developed.

Miyamoto: And to be honest, I didn’t feel like making a follow-up Nintendogs at the time.

Iwata: I wonder if it’s motivation that brings in fate. The motivation for making the first Nintendogs game was when you first got a dog, but even if you could imagine a game with other animals, you didn’t feel like making one.

Miyamoto: Right. I thought dogs were special at the time. Besides, I thought if cats followed dogs, it just wouldn’t be like Nintendo.

Iwata: Yeah. We talked about that often. If we do things that are easily predictable, we won’t be able to surprise them.

Konno: Right.

Miyamoto: I thought that with Nintendogs we had done something new beyond what previous pet-raising simulation games had offered, and I thought it would be great if third parties came out with all kinds of similar products. Besides, I didn’t have a cat yet back then. (laughs)

Konno: Right.

Iwata: But then Miyamoto-san said he got a cat and you could tell everyone who is interested in Nintendo was waiting for a game called Nintencats to appear next.

Konno: Just when we were wondering what to do for the next Nintendogs, Miyamoto-san got a cat and started telling us all about how interesting it is when a dog and cat live together. (laughs)

Iwata: Miyamoto-san, first you had a dog, and then a cat, and ended up having both at the same time. Did you observe how they got along and the differences between them?

Miyamoto: Yes, that’s right. I had heard a lot about what cats are like, and I thought having one would be difficult, but luckily my dog got along well with the new arrival. Maybe he viewed it as his own child.

Iwata: The older dog treated the new kitten like its own child.

Miyamoto: Right. That was lucky. My cat was really tiny, so perhaps it viewed my dog like a parent, and they got along right away.

Iwata: I hear there are homes where the dog and cat get along and others where they don’t.

Miyamoto: Yeah. In some homes, they won’t even look at each other. When I see my two pets getting along so well, there are all sorts of pretty pictures. For example, my dog will be padding along with the cat padding along behind it, or their silhouettes will be lined up before the evening sun. It put me in mind of The Incredible Journey, a Disney film I had seen as a child. It’s about two dogs and a cat who go on a journey to return to their owners after their owners leave on a trip and entrust them to a friend. It was quite moving. (laughs)

Iwata: Sure. (laughs)

Miyamoto: I thought how pleasing it would be if you could see a dog and cat getting along well in a game.

Iwata: But what if your cat hadn’t got along with your dog?

Miyamoto: I suppose I’d have made the game just based on my imagination, or the game might not have come out at all.

Iwata: So it probably wouldn’t have turned out the way it did.

Miyamoto: Right. Making a game called Nintencats just didn’t seem right for Nintendo, but people all over the world love cats, so I wanted to put cats in a game somehow. But when I actually got a cat, I realized there just aren’t as many things to do with a cat as there are with a dog, that we may use in our entertainment. I concluded that showing how dogs and cats interact would be just right.

Iwata: Before you discussed this idea with Konno-san, did you already have your mind made up about such a direction this new game would take?

Miyamoto: Yes. That’s why I said I definitely wanted to make it a Nintendogs game.

Iwata: With dogs as the main element. Miyamoto: Right. I wanted you to be living with a dog, but then a cat would come along for some reason. When you started the game and went to the shop, I didn’t want it to ask, “Do you want a dog or a cat?”

Iwata: I see.

Miyamoto: The title nintendogs + cats simply followed. Konno: Yeah.

Miyamoto: I even wanted to make the word “cats” smaller than “nintendogs.”

Iwata: It had to be “+ cats”—like they come second.

Miyamoto: I wanted to make it so the cat suddenly shows up, embellishing your life together with your dog.

Konno: But there were some big cat lovers on the development staff, and they said we should treat them equally.

Iwata: Treat the dogs and cats equally?

Miyamoto: When we actually started making it, dogs and cats were completely different from each other, even though they both walk on four legs, and I started thinking we would have to make something completely different.

Iwata: Cats were tougher than you expected.

Konno: Exactly. They’re a most formidable animal!

Konno: Many of the staff members said it became much harder because we put in cats. (laughs)

Miyamoto: And aside from the cats, there are a lot more motions for the dogs this time.

Iwata: And the coats are much better this time, with people in-house calling them “super-soft and fluffy.”

Miyamoto: Yeah. When we tested the game on the Nintendo GameCube system, there was a dog whose hair had grown in…

Iwata: That’s right, you first experimented with it on the Nintendo GameCube console when you first wanted to make a game like Nintendogs. Why didn’t that go anywhere and how was it decided that it would be released for the Nintendo DS system?

Miyamoto: The project started when I thought it would be fun to raise a pet in the television, but I thought the Nintendo DS hardware was much better suited to it.

Iwata: With the Nintendo DS systems, you can use the stylus to pet it. Miyamoto: But with Nintendo DS, we couldn’t show the character of the coat. We now had more hardware power, so we could go back to that super-soft and fluffy feeling. (laughs) And it’s in 3D, so you can pet around their back.

Iwata: With the Nintendo 3DS system, the expression of the eyes is richer.

Konno: Yes. Before, we illustrated the eyes of the puppies, but this time we actually made eyeballs, so they follow moving objects with their eyes. Last time the eyeballs weren’t modeled, textures (pictures to place over polygons) were placed on their faces, so the eyes didn’t move like real eyes.

Miyamoto: Also when representing eye movement, as dogs move their whole head when watching something but cats follow it only with their eyes, we had to make everything separately for them.

Iwata: You had to make the dogs and cats different, not just in bone structure and movement, but also in how their eyes follow objects.

Konno: Right. There’s something called “cat’s eye.” In bright places, their pupils narrow.

Miyamoto: In the dark, they get round. Iwata: The pupil changes in light and dark. Konno: Right. And the Nintendo 3DS system has the inner camera, so we wanted to use the camera function to create the feeling of the puppy or kitten watching the person who is playing with them.

Iwata: And this time, you put in a new form of play using the two outer cameras, didn’t you.

Konno: Yes. The system is compatible with AR Cards4. It’s just a little extra, but when you use the camera to view the AR Card with the question mark on it, which comes with the system, your puppy will jump on top of that card.

Miyamoto: You can have it sit in your hand! Konno: If you put the card on your shoulder, your dog will get on your shoulder!

Iwata: Either way is okay! (laughs)

Konno: Yeah. And it will learn tricks.

Miyamoto: It will shake hands in the palm of your hand! Konno: And do back flips there, too. And you can take 3D photos of it with the camera.

Miyamoto: You can have it do tricks in something like a diorama and take a picture of it.

Iwata: Can you take a photograph of any scene in the game?

Konno: Yes. You can take photos when you’re walking your dog or when it’s jumping. And, of course, you can take pictures when you’re just playing with your puppies or kittens in your room as usual. You can also exchange cute photos of your favorite puppies and kittens through StreetPass.

Iwata: You can distribute super cute photos of your pet to people you pass on the street who also have a Nintendo 3DS with the StreetPass feature enabled.

Konno: Yeah. The photos you take with the AR Card are a composite photo including a real photo, so you can’t distribute those, but you can pass out in-game photos that you’re proud of as much you want.

Iwata: With Tag Mode, you had to put in the Game Card, set it to Sleep Mode, close the lid, and walk around with it. But with StreetPass, if you’ve enabled the StreetPass feature, you can exchange game data even if the cartridge isn’t in.

Konno: Right. So even if you’re playing a different game while commuting, when you get home and put in nintendogs + cats, you might find that you have exchanged game data with someone.

Iwata: What happens when you exchange data for nintendogs + cats?

Konno: You encounter people you passed while you’re out walking. And you have fun with that communication. And when you open your in-game notebook, you can find out who you passed and meet them in the park that’s in the game.

Iwata: Then you can exchange photos of your nintendogs + cats pet, like we discussed earlier.

Miyamoto: Right. And the owners’ Mii characters may show up, so you can get an idea of the pet owners you encounter while going back and forth to work or school each day.

Konno: You can give presents or send short comments bragging about your pet. (laughs)

Miyamoto: When a father goes to Tokyo on a business trip, his child can give him his or her Nintendo 3DS system. You can even do that overseas this time.

Konno: Right. Last time, Japan’s Tag Mode only worked in Japan, and America and Europe were compatible, but this time we plan for StreetPass to be universal worldwide. So if you go to America, Americans’ Mii characters and their puppies will come to play!

Konno: Yeah. I thought of it as a little extra and there wasn’t much time to do it, so I couldn’t put enough effort into it. In the end, it turned out a bit like a chore.

Iwata: But you want to say, “It’s different this time!”

Konno: Yes. (laughs) The path is plenty wide and you can go this way and that way. Iwata: You walk away, toward the other side of the screen.

Konno: Right. You hold the leash with the stylus and walk off into 3D space. Then a Mii character and dog will approach from up ahead, you meet, and you communicate.

Miyamoto: You’re passing someone, and their Mii is walking their dog.

Iwata: Are the approaching Mii characters with dogs only for people you’ve actually passed by in your real lives?

Konno: No, some people are programmed into the game. As owners of real puppies know, when a puppy doesn’t listen, it pulls you along. That feeling of being pulled is something you can really feel in 3D space. I think we were able to represent that feeling of pulling on the leash to say, “This way!”

Miyamoto: In real puppy training, if you walk your dog by pulling the leash tight, it becomes increasingly hard to control. Iwata: It just keeps pulling its owner along.

Iwata: We released three versions of packages for the previous Nintendogs on the launch day. In some ways that was a first, so we had to explain the point to the in-house sales team and seek the distributors’ understanding.

Konno: I think we internally began by discussing 12 versions.

Miyamoto: No, it was 16 at first.

Konno: Huh? It was 16? (laughs)

Miyamoto: At the very start.

Iwata: Not 15?

Miyamoto: I think we talked about making the rack four-by-four…which makes 16. Or was it three by five?

Iwata: Then you explained to the sales people that the game begins from the moment you look at the store display in the real life and trying to decide which dog to choose. (laughs)

Miyamoto: That’s actually what I wanted to do.

Iwata: But when we consulted with Sales, we understood it would be hard for the retail outlets and ended up settling on three versions. This time, when we said, “Won’t one version be enough?” the sales people said, “Absolutely not!” (laughs)

Miyamoto: Right. They said three were a must. (laughs)