Rumors have been circulating to suggest that a recent patent released by Nintendo hints heavily toward the return of family-favorite franchise Nintendogs, but not in the traditional way you’d expect. Rather than finally receiving a Nintendo Switch release, the franchise will return as a lovable mobile game, as shown in the Patent. The news hit r/GamingLeaksAndRumours, so the legitimacy of the information is hard to verify, but it could be an exciting turn of events for anyone who grew up alongside their pocket-sized pets on Nintendo DS and 3DS.
The patent doesn’t offer much to go off, and the main reason players are jumping to the conclusion that it is on mobile is due to a diagram showing a simple line-art dog being placed into a room on a mobile device. Without an official statement from Nintendo, it’s impossible to provide much information on the concept. Still, going off the diagram, the game appears to utilize an AR camera and place the figure virtually into the player’s room, similar to Pokémon GO mechanics, which would be an exciting and entirely new take on the game.
However, one of the main concerns players are speaking about when it comes to the game receiving a launch on mobile is the possibility of microtransactions. Mobile games are a hive for microtransactions, so there’s an understandable reason why players believe a Nintendogs game would be filled, but there’s no evidence to suggest that the game will have this feature. Currently, there is no official release or information regarding the mobile game, but it’s safe to say players would jump at the chance to revisit Nintendogs, and it has the potential to be a hit mobile game, similar to Pokémon GO and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.
The release of a new Nintendogs game has been a topic of conversation for almost twelve years, and players have been desperate for the game to launch on Nintendo Switch. So, even though a mobile game isn’t what players initially had in mind, there’s a good reason for the game to cause some severe excitement should the patent be valid, but until we know more, it’s best to keep an eye on Nintendo’s Official social media and watch any upcoming Nintendo Directs with a keen eye, should the release be announced.
