Nintendo Patent Filing Reveals Nintendogs Revival For Mobile Devices

Nintendogs was a popular and critically acclaimed simulation title from Japanese publisher Nintendo, which lets its players care for their chosen dog, akin to the Japanese Tamagotchi. Since its release, Nintendogs has seen multiple versions, including those for Dachshund, Labrador, and Chihuahua, and two bundles versions, all launching for the DS console.

Amid recent reports that suggest Nintendo may have scrapped production on the Switch Pro console in favor of the next-gen Switch console, there appears to be more development happening at Nintendo. A recent patent filing has circulated online revealing that the Japanese publisher may be reviving the Nintendogs franchise, targeting a new market and audience.

Posted to the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, one Redditor revealed that Nintendo had filed a new patent to revive Nintendogs with the game revival coming to mobile devices and not for Switch consoles. It looks like this patent was filed recently as it dates 17th January 2023; the filing refers to its Japanese patent filing, which the date appears to have been 18th November 2020.

The filing at the United States Patent and Trademark Office shed light on some of the changes for the mobile version of Nintendogs centered around augmented reality (AR) technology. This includes fast-tracking information processing systems using images taken with players’ cameras and placing them within real-world locations.

This is evident in the diagrams included with the patent filing, which show how various items can be placed within environments and how they will interact with these items and environments. Given the success, Nintendo is utilizing AR technology for their mobile games, including Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit.

This also opens up the publisher to embracing other non-Nintendo platforms, including mobile devices, which Nintendogs could be the next gaming franchise to be brought to Android and iOS devices. As we have yet to determine if this patent filing is legitimate, we could look to this filing in hopes that, at some point, we may expect to see its spin-off, Nintendogs + Cats arriving soon.