Where’s Nintendogs on the Switch? A Look at the Missing Canine Adventure

If there were an award for missed launch opportunities, Nintendo would undoubtedly have a sizable collection in their possession. For example, why did we not receive a new Donkey Kong game alongside the release of the Super Mario Bros. movie last year? Why wasn’t the Wii U labeled as ‘Wii 2’? And why, for the love of everything holy, is there no Nintendogs title on the Switch?

A part of me, clearly influenced by some bizarre Mandela Effect, was optimistic that the beloved pet simulation game had made its way to our latest Nintendo hybrid in the past eight years. But no, I have thoroughly scoured the Ancient Scrolls (our video game database) and navigated through the Switch eShop, and no such game can be found. That is, aside from the eerily similar-looking Little Friends: Dogs & Cats, but that is not a truebred Nintendo pet.

This is not a franchise I have pondered much over the last two decades, yet, upon reflection, the lack of a pet simulation game in the Switch lineup feels like a significant oversight. The original title sold like hotcakes on the DS (in fact, with 23.96 million copies sold, it was the handheld’s second best-seller after New Super Mario Bros.), and while the creatively-named follow-up, Nintendogs + Cats, on the 3DS was not quite as immensely successful, I struggle to conceive of many people who have never experienced the joy of training one of those virtual dogs to respond to its name.

You would assume Nintendo would do everything possible to attract some of that DS and 3DS audience to the new console following the difficult years of the Wii U, but no! Lesser-known gems like ‘Zelda’ and ‘Mario’ apparently made for a “smarter business decision,” regardless of the method.

The question remains: why? The sales numbers are crystal clear, the delightful gaming community has thrived on the Switch, and if hidden treasures like Another Code and Endless Ocean have found their place at the table this year, why not the star of the show? I can totally envision one simple explanation: Nintendo dislikes dogs Switch hardware.

I played Nintendogs because I was not permitted to have a real dog (something I, as a fully grown adult, am completely over), and all the charm lay in mimicking the ‘real dog’ experience without any of the real-life messiness. The reality is that all that enjoyment was confined to the DS, and in most cases, the Switch isn’t equipped to replicate that experience.

Admit it; you pet, play with, and pamper the dog through the touchscreen. Training is largely about shouting into the microphone with varying levels of frustration. You encounter other dogs by putting the device in ‘Bark Mode’ and crossing paths with fellow players in the real world — hello, StreetPass has a lot to do with it. A game without a