Wappy Dog (Hands-On) (Nintendo DS) Preview

By Mike Mason 20.09.2011

Review for Wappy Dog (Hands-On) on Nintendo DS

The robotic dog - a long time favourite of kids and big kids alike, from pound shop flipping puppies right up to high end Sony Aibos. Activision’s new ‘thing’, perhaps to fill in the gap left open by the resting of the Guitar Hero franchise, is to experiment with small toys alongside its games. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure uses statistic-tracking figurines that allow access to different in-game characters, but Wappy Dog takes it slightly further by supplying a robo-puppy friend that moves, barks out noise and can be prodded to your heart’s content.

The clean white plastic of Wappy Dog, a product developed in collaboration with SEGA Toys, houses touch sensors, speakers, various LEDs and a microphone - everything you need to play with your new electronic pal. Wappy can be petted on his head and back and he will react accordingly, yapping playfully at each touch. Pull his tail and he will let out a less than appreciative groan. Leave him to his own devices and he will stretch out his legs and swivel his head to look around.

Take things to Nintendo DS and you can care for Wappy, bathing and feeding him, your actions transmitted wirelessly to the toy so that it can act appropriately. Tricks can be taught, though you’re not going to catch the physical product doing backflips we’re afraid - just his on-screen representation.

Screenshot for Wappy Dog (Hands-On) on Nintendo DS

Wappy’s data can also be transferred over to the cartridge for travel mode, allowing players to continue teaching and looking after the hyper hound on the move without the need to carry the toy with them.

Poking a synthetic dog is not the only thing you can do with Wappy Dog, thankfully. You can spend all your time repeatedly offering it cake if you like, but you’d probably get more out of it by playing the mini-games included. You can co-operate with Wappy, racing him or finding the requested food item out of a pile of delicious treats, or you can pit your wits against the pup in games such as Rock, Paper, Scissors and Whack-A-Mole. He’ll react depending on the outcome - expect mournful, vocal exhalations when your scissors slice his paper in two.

Screenshot for Wappy Dog (Hands-On) on Nintendo DS

Final Thoughts

Though the actual gameplay is quite shallow, comparable to plenty of mini-game collections, Wappy Dog’s physical component should help to set it apart from the many other virtual pet simulators on the Nintendo DS market. If nothing else it’s a cute idea, and it seemed to enthrall several children during our time with it at GAMEfest.

Developer

SEGA Toys

Publisher

Activision

Genre

Simulation

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  n/a

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

Comments

I knew this would happen...Activision are turning into some scary version of Cyberdyne Systems. If that thing gets sent back in time humanity will have no chance!.

3DS Code 2578-3122-0744

Cyberdyne systems already exist;
http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/
(seriously, that isnt a joke, those things work AND thats the real company name. And yes, that model is called HAL too....)
--

Anyway, this could be fun for younger gamers....but I cant help thinking we need a standard "robotic wifi protocol" so DS/phone/pc software could connect and interface with any robot(or ARDrone).


http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+

I think it's a neat idea, but it's kinda silly too. D:

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