Miyamoto gets a dog, makes Nintendogs. Miyamoto starts weighing himself for fun, makes Wii Fit. See a trend? It wasn't always that way! While his earlier games were influenced by his life and experiences, they were influenced abstractly — more make-believe, less reality. According to Miyamoto:

I would say that over the last five years or so, the types of games I create has changed somewhat. Whereas before I could kind of use my own imagination to create these worlds or create these games, I would say that over the last five years I've had more of a tendency to take interests or topics in my life and try to draw the entertainment out of that.

Every artist goes through phases — even Shigeru Miyamoto.
Resistance is Futile [NY Times]

Have a look! Here are the Metallic Rose Nintendo DS famous people commercials we previously mentioned. Above, American Idol-born country singer Carrie Underwood has at Nintendogs on her tour bus. After the jump, she and Ugly Betty star America Ferrera talk about their experiences with the DS. Fascinating.

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Nintendogs was a great pet sim. If you didn't have a pet, you could play with your virtual pet! Because, really, let's face it, real pets are a hassle. You have to feed them, wash them and play with them. Worst part? You can't switch off real pets when you get sick of them and then switch them back on when you're keen for a game of fetch. Upcoming DS game Konnichiwa Akachan does the same — for babies! In this "communication" game, players can do things like feed a baby and wash a baby, but not play fetch. As like with Nintendogs, when you get sick of your baby, you can just cut the power. Oh, the humanity!

Konnichiwa Baby [Game Watch Impress via Hatimaki]

Nintendogs is the sort of game I never understood the appeal of. If you want to play with, feed and raise a dog, why not buy a real one?

Still, if you, or a friend, is having trouble getting to grips with Nintendo's puppy simulator, the Australian Centre for Moving Image down in Melbourne is holding a "training session" on May 15 between 6 and 7PM. The session will also include beginner's help for Animal Crossing.

At the very least, it's a great way to introduce someone to the DS and the world of casual gaming. Heck, you could even make a date out of it. Maybe. Probably not.

More details after the jump.

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We recently got a look at the top five selling Wii games in Japan, courtesy of publisher Enterbrain, but Nintendo themselves have released a more expansive list of the first party-published, platinum-plus titles worldwide, giving us a status update on just how well Nintendogs is selling. While the Nintendo DS dog-raising sim boasts an impressive 17.79 million copies sold globally, it's been bested by Wii Sports which, as of the new year, is at 17.85 million copies. Both have probably been helped by their respective hardware bundles, which are factored into totals, but we suspect Wii Sports got the biggest boost of the two.

Solid numbers for new-ish games like Metroid Prime 3, Link's Crossbow Training and Wii Fit pad the top ten, a list equally filled with mini-game comps as it is traditional games. For worldwide Nintendo DS software numbers, make the jump.

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Those new DS bundles sure are nice. Especially the Zelda one. It's especially nice. All the more pity, then, that Nintendo fans and DS collectors in the UK and Australia will be forced to import them, with both Nintendo branches stating they have no plans to introduce the consoles. Yeah, there's always the chance those plans may come later, but PAL gaming breeds nothing if not pessimism.

Apparently the Gamestop corporation believes that the recently announced Nintendo DS bundles, featuring fancy new colour schemes and packing-in of Nintendogs and Phantom Hourglass, will be in short supply. To wit, they've bundled in a bunch of things you probably aren't going to want when looking for a rose coloured DS. For example, three copies of essentially the exact same game, plus one attempted bite of the other three with poorer production values.

For the low price of $US 249.96, you can walk away with three copies of Nintendogs and single copy of Petz Dogs 2. With sucker production rates now at one per minute, it's sure to find at least one rube with enough room on the credit card. Warn friends and family who won't know any better!

Nintendo DS Lite Nintendogs Bundle [Gamestop - thanks, Jeff!]

Years later after Nintendogs first hit, we don't get Nintencats, but a Nintencats clone. Dubbed Love Cat Life, the game lets players raise one of forty cats, dress them up and have them sing karaoke or toss free throws. Yes, karaoke and free throws — stuff that was sorely missed in Nintendogs. That Love Cat Life box art is really trying to capitalise on Nintendogs. Though, as much as I did enjoy Nintendogs, I can't ever see myself playing it again. Like ever. So a cat sim? Eh... I hate cats.
Cat Game [Official Site via Siliconera]