owner.
serious “Ooooh! Gotta get that!” urge.
It was an interesting
purchase.
If you’ve not heard of
it, it’s a “pet simulator” for lack of a better term. You buy a dog, then raise
it – but “raise” may not be the right word. I think it remains a puppy the whole
time, which suits the Japanese “pet ideal,” I suppose. You feed your dog, walk
it, bathe it, teach it tricks, have it compete in dog shows. Some of the stuff
you’d do with a real dog, and some (the dog show thing) you’d probably never
do.
I haven’t had a dog in my home in a
rather long time, but I’d say they got a lot of the experience right. The pup is
very eager to play, but if you ignore him, he’ll go off and do his own thing.
You have to buy food and toys and other things to keep your pup happy, and if
you run low on money, you need to enter him in contests and win prize
money.
The dog has his own personality
too. Some toys he likes to play with – mine goes for the frisbee and bouncy
mushroom toy – and some scare him – the
wanwan
ball. (“Wanwan” is the sound dogs in Japan supposedly make when they bark. I’ve
yet to hear one say that though.)
When
I first got the game I played it a lot, trying to teach my dog tricks, taking
him for walks and tossing him the frisbee. I walked and fed him before I left
for work and when I came home in the evening, just like a real dog. I’d play
with him too, and he seemed happy with that level of attention. But like a real
dog, there were times when he wasn’t up for playing. I turned my DS on one
evening a few weeks ago and was greeted with this
sight:
Yes,
the little bugger was sleeping!
I
know, I know – awwwwww!
^.^ (I
was nice and didn’t wake him up.)
After
my initial fascination with the game, I moved on to other things and sorta
forgot about my dog. I knew I should’ve been playing with him, but just never
took the time.
Thankfully,
virtual dogs can’t starve.
I fired
up my DS today to check on my dog and was surprised to see little black dots
springing from his back.
He had
fleas!
I guess I hadn’t been
keeping my virtual house clean enough. Rather than just turn the game off, I
showed some responsibility. I took the pooch for a walk, let him do his
business, then brought him back home for bathing and brushing. He seemed much
happier, and I treated him to some good food and a bowl of milk (instead of
plain ol’ water) to try and make up for my
neglect.
I doubt he
noticed.
I don’t think I was
feeling guilty or anything, but it’s odd that something like a game can even
spur those thoughts, huh? I was actually thinking of trading the game in, since
I hadn’t been playing it much, but after giving it another go today, I think I’m
going to keep it. I may not go back to my daily dog routine, but it’s a nice,
relaxing break to take now and
then.
Oh, what’s my dog’s
name?
^.^